School choice

Does Act 59 of the Wisconsin school choice program cross the line of separation of church and state ?

Let me pass along responses from previous, similar questions.

“God has established government so that people may live in some degree of peace in a sin-filled world. The government’s responsibility is to preserve the greatest possible peace and order in the world by punishing evil-doers, rewarding those who do good, and protecting the rights of the law-abiding…The mission and tools of the church are quite different. God has established the church so that people may live with him in peace forever. The church’s responsibility is to preach the gospel and to administer the sacraments through which saving faith is created and nourished. The church does not wage its battles with the sword of the state, but with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Matthew 28:19-20, John 18:36-37, also 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, Ephesians 6:3-17). The church is not responsible for disciplining those outside the church (1 Corinthians 5:12). Since God has assigned to both the church and the state their own distinct purposes and distinct tools, these should not become mixed or confused. Neither church nor state should try to do the work of the other. Neither should ask the other to do its work. Neither should seek to accomplish its ends by using the tools of the other. Observing these distinctions of purposes and tools is what we mean by ‘the separation of church and state.’

“In dealing with issues of church and state and Christian education we have to distinguish between three questions: 1) Is this activity scriptural? This, of course, is determined by the Bible. 2) Is this legal? This is determined by the courts. 3) Is this cooperation with the state wise or might this entangle our school in government controls? Finally, this judgment rests with the responsible governing body of the school.”

By making financial aid available, government is not establishing or supporting a specific faith (cf. the First Amendment).