Churches that become dependent on government money are forced to compromise their beliefs. And if they refuse to compromise those beliefs while still taking government money, then the government is compromising the beliefs of other churches that believe differently … which in turn sets a precedent for those original churches to have their beliefs compromised.
Or, put another way, the Catholic Church (not the only ones, but the ones in a lot of the news at present) can't say, "Give us public money but let us follow our consciences as to how that money is or is not spent" (e.g., discriminating against gay couples in adoption agencies, or being exempt from providing insurance that covers birth control) and at the same time say, "You cannot spend public money on other things that some may approve of but which offend our consciences" (e.g., abortion). They cannot have it both ways, without fundamentally arguing that some consciences are to be valued more than others, which is not religious freedom, but religious discrimination … something that will only eventually bite them (and everyone else) on the political ass. #ddtb
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slacktivist » Upside-down religious liberty in Illinois and Hungary