The image last week of the Rev. Jack Madry of Madry Temple Church in New London learning from Margaret Lancaster of Ledge Light Health District how to administer nalaxone to an overdose victim sends a bright signal. The joint effort widens the health and social services campaign to prevent deaths, and it strengthens Madry Temple and nine other houses of worship in their mission to comfort the troubled and heal the sick.

Their shared goal is to reduce the harm done by opioids, which has sharply risen during the pandemic, particularly among Black people. The churches and the substance abuse prevention teams also share the viewpoint that people begin to heal when they believe the invitation, "You are safe to come in here, and we can make you safer." A welcoming faith community is a good place to start.

The partnership is along the lines of the "faith-based initiatives" begun by President George W. Bush and re-established in both the Obama and Biden administrations. It took some trial and error in the Bush years as religious organizations came around to the idea that they could do more to serve their communities, not as arms of government, but with federal funds backing their chosen missions of mercy.

A visible example has been state government using federal funds and partnering with trusted pastors and community leaders to assuage fears about Covid vaccines. But the right hand, left-hand approach is also used every day for food distribution, homeless sheltering, aid to refugees and much more.

Most Americans have no trouble understanding that faith traditions and civic action share common ground and can unite effectively in projects that meet human needs. They also comprehend that the First Amendment to the Constitution sets the ground rules for separation of church and state. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." 

And yet some people who have been closest to the center of power are dismissing the Constitutional language that encourages citizens to exercise their consciences.

The exchange of text messages between Ginni Thomas and Mark Meadows in the weeks between the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol casts the contentious business of democratic elections as a fight between good people on one side and evil ones who disagree with them on the other. On Nov. 24, 2020, then-Trump Chief of Staff Meadows wrote to Thomas, a conservative activist married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: "This is a fight of good versus evil [...] Evil always looks like the victor until the King of Kings triumphs. Do not grow weary in well doing. The fight continues...."

Former national security advisor to Donald Trump, Michael Flynn, also referred to a battle between good and evil in a speech in Texas last November, taking it that unconstitutional step further by calling for "one religion" in the United States.

The free speech of all three is protected by the same Amendment that prohibits Congress from doing anything to establish such a religion.

It was my experience covering the religion beat in past years that people who live by different faiths nonetheless share an added dimension in their decision making, their civic sense, the way they relate to others. They make society stronger when they live their beliefs. Some are enjoined to proselytize, but that would apply to one convert at a time — not wholesale, unconstitutional establishment of "one religion."

Society is fortunate to have can-do people in both church and state who seek common ground in the face of urgent human needs. Religion and government can share tasks that neither can accomplish as well on their own. They can serve as each other's moral checks and balances, as when churches call out governments on treatment of refugees and ethnic minorities, or when courts hold religious leaders to the same standards as anyone else accused of civil or criminal behavior.

It's springtime in America. Many Christians are observing Palm Sunday today and preparing for Easter next week, with Orthodox Christians a week later. Jews are getting ready for Passover. Muslims are midway through the Ramadan fast. Organ music, electric guitars, chants and trumpets are about to sound. One Constitution, many religions.

Lisa McGinley is a member of The Day Editorial Board.