SPECIAL ELECTION SECTION
Also in this section:
Report finds religiously, racially diverse voter coalition key to election
‘Ten Commandments Judge’ wins old job back
By Bob Allen, Associated Baptist Press, and BJC Staff Reports
Florida voters rejected a measure to repeal the state’s ban on public funding for religious organizations Nov. 6, 55 percent to 45 percent.
Amendment 8 would have removed language from Florida’s constitution prohibiting state funds from being used “directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.”
The Roman Catholic Church, a supporter of the amendment, said it would advance religious freedom. The Florida Education Association opposed it, claiming it opened the door to vouchers allowing students to attend private schools at taxpayer expense.
It also divided Baptists. Leaders of the Florida Baptist Convention said the measure is needed to ensure that faith-based groups like the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes can continue to contract with the state to provide social services. The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty opposed the amendment, sending a letter to Florida supporters in advance of the election expressing its concerns. The BJC says parents have the right to send their children to religious schools but not to ask other taxpayers to pay for it. The letter said bans on public funding for religious organizations “ensure that government does not improperly advance religion, and they restrict government interference into the private affairs of religious organizations.”
Florida voters rejected by a similar margin a measure to prohibit public funding for abortion, and also a proposal that would have prohibited the state from requiring people to obtain health insurance, 52 percent to 48 percent.
Elsewhere, voters in Maryland, Maine and Washington approved same-sex marriage. They are the first three states to do so directly by the electorate and not by legislature or the courts.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State termed the election a “bitter defeat” for Catholic bishops and the Religious Right, two groups that invested heavily in both national and state elections.
“The bishops and the Religious Right bent every rule to try to impose their political will, but they failed badly,” said AU Executive Director Barry Lynn. “The American people clearly are not inclined to take voting orders from presumptuous preachers.”
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., called the 2012 election “a catastrophe for crucial moral concerns.”
“Clearly, we face a new moral landscape in America, and a huge challenge to those of us who care passionately about these issues,” Mohler wrote Nov. 7 in his blog. “We face a worldview challenge that is far greater than any political challenge, as we must learn how to winsomely convince Americans to share our moral convictions about marriage, sex, the sanctity of life and a range of moral issues.”
“This will not be easy,” Mohler said. “It is, however, an urgent call to action.”
The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists celebrated wins for marriage equality, including Minnesota’s rejection of an amendment to ban same-sex marriage in their constitution and New Hampshire’s election of a governor who advocates minority rights.
The association’s board and staff predicted “2013 will be a big year for AWAB.” The organization, which turns 20 next year, celebrated new civil-marriage victories and pledged to work on behalf of others “who do not yet have this right.”
This article was part of the election recap in the November/December 2012 Report from the Capital. Click here for the next article.
