Among the state ballot initiatives that we will vote on Tuesday, November 6 this year is the so-called Florida Religious Freedom Amendment which is presently designated as Ballot Initiative 8. This Ballot Initiative was passed overwhelmingly by the Florida legislature this year. The original version was challenged in court by the Florida Education Association and a number of other groups. In December a Leon County Circuit Judge ruled that the measure would no longer appear on the 2012 ballot. Due to a 2011 law, the Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi, was able to rewrite the proposal and with the new wording, the measure was placed on the ballot again.
The new proposal reads as follows:
“Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution providing that no individual or entity may be denied, on the basis of religious identity or belief, government benefits, funding or other support, except as required by the First Amendment of the United States constitution, and deleting the prohibition against using revenues from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution”.
To further clarify what this amendment would do if passed by the required 60 % majority.
Section 3: Religious Freedom would be changed as follows:
“There shall be no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Religious freedom shall not justify practices inconsistent with public morals, peace, or safety. A new last sentence would read: No individual or entity may be discriminated against or barred from receiving funding on the basis of religious identity or belief. “ The following last sentence in Section 3 would be deleted: No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.
As I see it, this amendment is part of a massive attack on religious freedom in this country that is being spearheaded by radical right proponents. Among their aims are the elimination of our public school system and making our country a sectarian: that is, a Christian nation. The authors want tax money to flow to private schools, including church-run schools, and to make sure that our children get “proper” religious training.
There are many organizations that are opposed to the amendment including Americans United for Separation of Church and State. A list of their grievances is available on the Social Justice table. Nevertheless, I fear that many people reading the proposal will not really understand what it is and blindly vote for it thinking that the present state law attacks religion.
So what did our forefathers really mean by the separation of church and state? My understanding is that they wanted to make sure that people could worship in any religion freely and that no single religion could control this freedom of worship. And that the wall of separation of church and state would ensure that the government would not interfere in this freedom of worship nor favor one religion over others. Unfortunately, the Far Right advocates are now trying to claim that the State by passing laws that they disagree with has interfered with their freedom of religion. Some examples are laws protecting abortion rights and women’s rights to choose, laws that protect gay rights, and laws that restrict proselytizing orally or by use of scriptural displays in public facilities such as schools.
But these laws were established to protect the equal rights for all that have been established constitutionally and do not stop anyone from the freedom to worship in their churches, their homes, or in any other place as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others.
So, I plead with all of you to study the issue and work to protect the rights that have been established through the years to make sure that we maintain the true separation of church and state in Florida and in the rest of the country.
