Starting a new faith is a bitch. Just ask David Koresh, Jim Jones or Jesus.

I just can’t get people to buy the concept that science is a faith, as malleable as warm Silly Putty. But there’s no time for a wholesale conversion.

Now, we’ve got to form that putty into a new Amendment to the Constitution, the 28th. The last two were pretty dull: No. 26, passed in 1971, made it unconstitutional to prevent anyone older than 18 from voting (cc: The South); and No. 27, passed in 1992, that all congressional pay raises  must be voted on by Congress.

I propose Number XXVIII: Congress shall pass no laws restricting or restraining the collection and dissemination of scientific data gathered buy government health agencies (i.e., the separation of Science and State.)

The need comes after Donald Trump ordered hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all COVID-19 patient information to a central database in Washington, starting Wednesday.

Anthony Fauci may want to hit the Craigslist job board. The administration sees the object hurtling toward it, reality — in the form of a Depression, pandemic and Cold War loss — and are hoping to deflect its impact until after the Nov. 3 election.

But this has been an Amendment whose need arose long ago. No president — Democrat or Republican — should be the gatekeeper to the scientific data collected nationwide. We fund every department in the federal and state government, including the CDC and the departments of Health and Human Services.

Every American citizen has a right to find out the crime rate in their neighborhood. Shouldn’t we have the same access to scientific data as we do criminal data? If we can obtain the murder rate in our city, why not the COVID rate?

The Trump response is to be expected. His inclination has traditionally been to NDA any problem he sees as a threat to his power or profits. The antics just get more desperate the closer we get to a quarter to late.

So come on, Joe. Propose change. The founders saw this threat when religion held sway. You can make a nod to them, while telling younger voters there’s an option of change.

We’ve got a grim choice before us come November: The ailing grandpa versus the ailing, crazy grandpa. You want a real base in your corner? Try science. They’re drawing believers by the legions.