null
Written by Don Byrd

For those of you who are Florida voters, or are following the debate over Florida’s Amendment 8, the Baptist Joint Committee has put together a page of links to resources on the issue, encouraging a NO vote on the referendum. The measure would undo decades of religious liberty protection by removing a provision that prevents the state from sending taxpayer funds to religious organizations. As the BJC says, “Amendment 8 is misleading, unwise, and could harm religious liberty.”

Check out their page of links on the topic, and their argument against this proposed change to the state constitution. Here’s a snippet:

Amendment 8 is misleading because its language suggests that the measure is somehow necessary to prevent discrimination against religious entities seeking state aid to provide educational and other social services. In fact, under Florida law, the government can and does successfully partner with religiously-affiliated organizations to provide such services. Houses of worship and other religious organizations are free to form separate affiliates that use tax money to provide social services, but they may not integrate religious activities into the tax-funded services or discriminate based on religion in publicly-funded programs. These limitations help preserve religious liberty by making it clear that the government does not endorse any particular religious message or require religious adherence as the price of receiving generally available benefits.