idea of people on the federal payroll going out or telephoning other Americans to explain what Ms. Miers' religious views ... is truly repellent

Editorial: God's White House / Using government employees to talk about faith: "Saturday, October 15, 2005 | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

President Bush's statement that White House officials are conducting an 'outreach effort' to reassure his supporters about Supreme Court nominee Harriet E. Miers' religious beliefs is astonishing and, possibly, inconsistent with the First Amendment's stricture on separation of church and state.

White House officials are public employees whose salaries are paid by the American taxpayer. The idea of people on the federal payroll going out or telephoning other Americans to explain what Ms. Miers' religious views are -- to tell them not to oppose her because her church affiliation and beliefs make her almost certainly anti-choice on abortion -- is truly repellent.

It approaches a case of the U.S. government promoting particular religious beliefs. Let us imagine that President John F. Kennedy had lived, had sought a second term and had faced questions about his Catholicism, as he did in the 1960 campaign. Would he then have used White House officials to explain to any Catholics with reservations about him -- or to people of other faiths -- that they shouldn't be worried about his religious convictions?" ...