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Any religious organization should be allowed to hire based on their religious preference- but not with federal dollars.

From the beginning, there have been some religious leaders who greeted the funding of faith-based social services by government with ambivalence.

Government needs to stay out of the religion business altogether.

What I have said is that I think the federal government and we as a society have come too far in trying to separate good organizations that perform good functions for people just based on the fact one has a religious association and one doesn't.

I don't think we should discriminate against an organization or congregation because they're religious, if they're doing good work. But government can't subsidize proselytizing or worship or religious activity. It can't.

Churches should not be directly involved in politics.

The people of God want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials.

I think that the churches do a better job in many respects than the government does in various kinds of things. Extending aid, the helpfulness, and so on, yes.

We must never forget what government is not. Government is not a philanthropic organization. Government is not the family. And government certainly is not the church.

Getting the government to put money into social programs run by religious institutions is a practice that started during the Clinton years, when Bill Clinton advocated the AmeriCorps program.