Blagojevich's brilliant idea

I'm being sarcastic.

This week, Governor Blagojevich (D-IL) pledged a million dollars from the state treasury toward rebuilding the recently burned Pilgrim Baptist Church. I lamented the historic building's destruction in my previous entry, but despite my desire to see it rebuilt, I must respectfully point out that the Governor is wrong.

First, it runs afoul of the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Also, as Eric Zorn pointed out in his Chicago Tribune column on Thursday, the Illinois Constitution contains language that is redundant to the 1st Amendment that further clarifies the separation of church and state.

There are many good uses for taxpayer dollars: law enforcement, public education, roads, public transportation, etc. Building houses of worship isn't one of them, especially to the tune of a million dollars, and especially when the state isn't exactly swimming in cash. If Mr. Blagojevich wants to save the church, he is welcome to contribute money out of his own pocket.

On a somewhat related note, the same issue of the Chicago Tribune contains an article reporting on Cardinal George's (of the Chicago archdiocese) desire to have the State of Illinois help bail out financially struggling Catholic schools. The article is lacking in specifics, but once again, this would likely violate the Establishment Clause.