Subsidizing religious schools spells disaster

Subsidizing religiousschools spells disaster
EDITOR:
The Sept. 15 Vindicator had two syndicated articles extolling the virtues of diverting public tax funds to nonpublic schools, especially religious ones. One was by George W. Will, well known for his right wing anti-public school parochialism. Washington Post writer Marc Fisher was the other.
Fisher advocates the use of charter schools instead of vouchers to subsidize religious schools. Will promotes the use of vouchers.
Any scheme that will divert tax funds to religion or any of its appendages is a blueprint for disaster. The United States has avoided religious civil wars and has had freedom from religion because of the concept of separation of church. Religion of all sorts and conditions in this multicultural nation have flourished because the separation has been observed.
Nowhere in any official document has this nation ever been proclaimed a Christian nation. The bigots who pass on this propaganda do a great disservice to our nation. D. James Kennedy, Ph.D., of Florida is a promoter of this untruthful propaganda.
President Theodore Roosevelt in 1915 wrote, "I hold that in this country there must be complete severance of church and state; that public moneys shall not be used for the purpose of advancing any particular creed; and therefore that the public schools shall be nonsectarian and no public moneys appropriated for sectarian schools."
Conservative Republicans would have their religious dogma enforced by law. This means there would be no freedom of religion or freedom from religion.
MELVIN S. FRANK
Poland