By Bob Allen
Florida voters rejected a measure to repeal the state’s ban on public funding for religious organizations, 55 percent to 45 percent, Nov. 6.
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 leading supporter of the amendment, said it would advance religious freedom. The Florida Education Association opposed it, claiming it opened the door to vouchers to allow 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 Home can continue to contract with the state to provide social services. The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty opposed it, saying parents have the right to send their children to religious schools but not to ask other taxpayers to pay for it.
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. Polls for some time have shown public opinion shifting toward acceptance of gay marriage, but until now ballot votes in several states over the years had gone against granting same-sex couples the right to wed.
Washington and Colorado became the first U.S. states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Previous attempts to legalize pot have failed since 1972. Massachusetts voters approved a measure allowing medical use of the drug. Arkansas, which would have been the first southern state to approve medical marijuana since California first approved it in 1996, rejected the measure 51 percent to 49 percent.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State termed Tuesday’s election a “bitter defeat” for Catholic bishops and the Religious Right, two groups that invested heavily in both presidential 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 over a Tea Party conservative opponent.
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.”
California voters rejected a referendum to repeal the death penalty and replace it with life without parole by six percentage points. Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, termed the margin, closer than earlier votes rejecting abolition, “a clear indication that an increasing number of voters have changed their minds on the death penalty.”
Massachusetts voters narrowly turned down a “death with dignity” measure that would have allowed terminally ill patients to end their lives with medication prescribed by a physician.
Maryland voters upheld a “dream act” passed by the General Assembly in 2011 allowing qualifying undocumented immigrant students to pay in-state tuition and receive financial aid. As Marylanders voted to make their state more inclusive, Montana voters denied state services to undocumented immigrants.
Alabama voters rejected amendments to delete vestiges of segregation from the state’s constitution. Opponents argued that scrubbing the racist language would also remove a 1956 amendment guaranteeing that Alabama children have a right to a public education.
Oklahoma voters banned affirmative action in government hiring and public education.
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