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BY VICTORIA CRAIG ANCHOR LAUREN GORES Separation of church and state? Tell that to Paul Ryan. The Republican chair of the House Budget Committee is under fire for comments he made about his religion and its role in relating to his budget plan. Here's NPR with the rundown. "Liberal religious leaders said the Republican plan...was an affront to the gospel...Not so, says Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan...He recently told Christian Broadcasting Network, that it was his Catholic faith that helped shape the budget plan." Ryan is set to speak at Georgetown University on Thursday. But 90 faculty members from the school are more than unhappy with the congressman's comments. And they sent a letter to Ryan Tuesday expressing their dissatisfaction. They say the congressman is misinterpreting church doctrines with his budget, which slows spending, lowers taxes, and cuts social welfare programs. "In short, your budget appears to reflect the values of your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her call to selfishness and her antagonism toward religion are antithetical to the Gospel values of compassion and love." A contributor for MSNBC sides with the Georgetown faculty. He says it's "unusual" the way Ryan crafted his budget with deeper cuts this year — wondering why he's drawing battle lines when he knows his budget won't pass. "The Republicans often want to use the Catholic Church to their advantage on issues such as abortion, but then forget there is another half of the equation and they have been fairly consistent on that." The letter from the Georgetown faculty isn't the start of the controversy, but rather one in a long series. Catholic bishops sent letters of their own to the Congressman just last week. In a joint letter, they say... "Congress faces a difficult task to balance needs and resources and allocate burdens and sacrifices. Just solutions, however, must require shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and fairly addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement programs. The House-passed budget resolution fails to meet these moral criteria." But a writer for the Washington Post fiercely disagrees — saying... "Put aside for a moment the fact that 'shared sacrifice' appears nowhere in the catechism of the Catholic Church. It is a reelection slogan for the Democratic Party. Put aside, as well, the fact that the bishop of Stockton, Calif., has near-zero competence to judge what military spending is necessary or unnecessary. The fact is Ryan's budget does not cut spending at all — it simply slows the growth of spending." Despite all the letters and dissatisfaction with his plan, Ryan is standing firm. He defended his comments — and his budget — on Fox News. "We think quadrupling spending in this area has not succeeded in getting people out of poverty. One in six people, Martha, are in poverty today. Poverty is at the highest it's been in a generation under the president's failed policies." Despite the not-so-warm welcome, Ryan says he's looking forward to his visit to Georgetown.