I think it is true that this is the earliest in an election year that we've seen so much use of churches and religion for partisan purposes in states like Ohio, Texas, Alabama, Pennsylvania.

This is just another example of the administration trying to create the illusion that it's in control of something. [President Bush] is winking and nodding to these groups about the rules.

Some religious organizations are openly using the hurricane relief efforts to win new converts. If these groups can't separate their evangelism from their relief work, they should not be eligible for public funding. People displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita should not be subjected to unwanted, high-pressure religious coercion as the price of getting help from their own government.

We're picking a Supreme Court justice here, not a Sunday school teacher. President Bush and his allies should be talking about Miers' knowledge of the Constitution, not the Bible.

This whole contest is just totally inappropriate because of the themes of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe . It is simply a retelling of the story of Christ.

I don't think the Constitution prohibits the use of this textbook, but I have real doubts about the wisdom of this approach. At this time in America, it's better to simply talk about religious influences when they come up during the study of literature, art, and history, and not take the text of one religious tradition and treat it with special deference.