TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida voters will be asked this November to consider a religious-freedom amendment that seeks to protect faith-based social services while also tackling anti-religious bias. Launched on April 4, the Religious Freedom Act is being supported by the SayYesOn8 initiative and a broad range of organizations to protect social services offered by faith-based groups. Amendment 8 is one of two ballot initiatives being actively supported by the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Amendment 8 is intended to do three things: It would preserve partnerships between government and social-service organizations; it would ensure continued delivery of social services by faith-based organizations; and it would eliminate discrimination against churches and religious institutions that provide social services.
“The citizens of Florida have an opportunity to correct an historic injustice,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, president of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. “If voters approve the Religious Freedom Act, our Florida Constitution will be more aligned with the U.S. Constitution and, at the same time, will allow religious entities to continue to participate in public programs.”
What the amendment essentially seeks to do is replace and repeal the anti-religious Blaine Amendment language currently in the Florida Constitution. Approximately 30 states currently have Blaine Amendment language in their constitutions.
In 1875, Rep. James Blaine, influenced by the anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic “Know Nothing” movement, sought to amend the U.S. Constitution to effectively shut down Catholic schools, which were being built in great numbers as an alternative to “Protestant” public schools. While Blaine failed, he did succeed in having approximately 30 states incorporate his language into their state constitutions. The result: banning the use of public funds to support “sectarian institutions.”
That language states that “no revenue of the state… shall be taken directly or indirectly in aid of any … sectarian institution.”
“Interpreted literally, this no-aid clause shuts out any of a long list of potential partnerships between Florida government and faith-based providers,” said Juan Zapata, former state representative and one of the amendment’s original authors. “The list is long and diverse: food pantries for low-income families; housing assistance programs; foster-care agencies; substance-abuse treatment and recovery programs; prenatal and pregnancy-care centers; prison ministries, as well as religiously affiliated universities and hospitals. You might know them by names like … The Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Metropolitan Ministries, Abe Brown Ministries, to name just a few.”
“Religious institutions have a long history of participation in state programs that serve the public,” wrote Archbishop Wenski in a Sun-Sentinel editorial. “That participation is in jeopardy, as appellate courts have cited Article 1, Section 3 in recent decisions.”
Michael Sheedy, associate director for health with the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that faith-based food banks, homeless shelters, halfway houses, Catholic hospitals and The Salvation Army could be at risk.
“Secular humanists could challenge any kind of faith-based organization,” said Sheedy.
Broader Than Vouchers
Opponents of the measure and several news outlets have described the amendment as a battle over school vouchers.
“No one should be forced to pay for religious education that they don’t believe in,” Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, a board of trustee member with the secular-rights group Americans United, told Fox News. “Ultimately, Muslims will be paying for Catholic education. Catholics will be paying for Hindu education. Hindus will be paying to educate Buddhists. Buddhists will be paying to educate Presbyterians. Presbyterians will be paying to educate Jews.”
Supporters, however, disagree.
“This is about more than vouchers,” said Sheedy. “To say that this opens the doors to full-scale vouchers is wrong.”
“The amendment doesn’t favor any religious group over another and doesn’t favor religious groups over those that are secular,” added Sheedy. “What it does is remove required discrimination against an organization simply because it’s religious.”
“The Florida Supreme Court did not use the Blaine Amendment to strike down vouchers,” explained Sheedy. “It relied on Article IX, Section 1, the Florida Constitution’s ‘Uniformity Clause,’ which requires the state to provide a ‘uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high-quality system of free public schools.’ This would not be changed in any way by Amendment 8.”
“It is ironic to note that it was religious communities and churches that were responsible for the creation of hospitals … and for much of the development of the health-care system in this country,” said Zapata. “Yet, today, the Florida Constitution would tell them it doesn’t want their help because people of faith would deliver it.”
Amendment 8 is one of two ballot initiatives the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops is supporting. The other, Amendment 6, strengthens parental rights by allowing future legislation to require parental consent for children seeking an abortion, prohibits the use of public funds for abortions or health-care coverage that would include abortion, and aligns Florida’s state law with existing federal law regarding limits on the use of public funding for abortions or health-care coverage that would include abortions.
“At the core of Amendment 8 are the basic building blocks of our society: liberty and fairness. Florida law currently excludes religious organizations from receiving state funds, even when those funds are used for the benefit of all people,” said Bishop Frank Dewane of the Diocese of Venice. “To deny state funds to an organization specifically because of its religious affiliation ignores the tremendous good faith-based organizations do, and it violates religious freedom. The passage of Amendment 8 would help religious institutions like the Catholic Church continue to do what they do very well, which is to serve the community and improve the common good.”
Register senior writer Tim Drake is based in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
Dan Burke: The Light of God in Nashville, Tennessee
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I understand the desire to do away with the Blaine Amendment. What concerns me is the liberty we lose when we take money for anything from either the Federal or State governments. As soon as we do, we also give them the ‘right’ to have a say in how and where we apply the money and run our faith based organizations that receive the help.
It would be one thing if our nation was run by ‘faith based’ people. For the most part it is not; it is run by people who crave power. Power and the sovereignty of God cannot survive together. No one can serve two masters, he ends up loving one and hating the other. Based upon our cultural and governmental history over the past 60 years, it isn’t hard to see who is loved and who is hated.
Perhaps it is time to take back what belongs to the Christian community, to all faith based communities: charity. In this economy, it is difficult but we need to step out on faith, work together and support our own organizations and schools.
The Blaine amendment should go, but whether we use this new avenue to partnership is another question altogether.
Excellent point Chris! Taking government $$$ was what got faith based organizations in trouble in the first place. Does anyone have a website
to go to find out the names of the 30 states whose constitutions are
influence by the Blaine ammendment?
“No one should be forced to pay for religious education that they don’t believe in,” Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, a board of trustee member with the secular-rights group Americans United, told Fox News. “Ultimately, Muslims will be paying for Catholic education. Catholics will be paying for Hindu education. Hindus will be paying to educate Buddhists. Buddhists will be paying to educate Presbyterians. Presbyterians will be paying to educate Jews.”
***
We already are in a defacto way by paying for public schools that rigidly reinforce secularism.
I have no problem paying tax dollars that allow folk to pick schools run by faiths other than mine.It’s just freedom of choice.
Several years ago Florida voters approved a class size amendment reducing the number of students allowed in each classroom in the public schools.
Most county school boards are struggling to reduce the sizes to be in compliance with state law.
As a result, most county schools will benefit from the voluntary reduction of class size and classroom space needed when amendment 8 is passed.
My tax dollars go to things I don’t believe in every day: wars, abortions, secularism promoting schools. No one should be forced to pay for those either, but here we are. Whoever yells the loudest and has enough money gets whatever they want, and everyone else has to put up with it.
Who better than faith-based organizations (of any faith)to distribute the funds and goods anyway? Does the giovernment know us or know our needs? Hardly? Whereas Catholic bishops and other religious leaders know where the real needs are and are far better equipped to help serve those in need. The clincher of this commentary is found near the end of the article:
“It is ironic to note that it was religious communities and churches that were responsible for the creation of hospitals … and for much of the development of the health-care system in this country,” said Zapata. “Yet, today, the Florida Constitution would tell them it doesn’t want their help because people of faith would deliver it.”
Ditto for the massive Catholic schools system we have out there; plus this nation’s great colleges and universities, orphanages, Catholic charities, adoptions and countless other entities. In other words, the Catholic church built this great nation of ours—inspite of the unwelcome attitiude toward Catholics initially received in this country.
Bless you, Mr. Zapata and Florida bishops for bringing this forth. Now bring it to November’s sessions of the USCCB and make it a national ballot-initiative!
I am not a catholic, but know that they do much good to help the common public. I have those I know who are catholic. I think that the opportunity to help others is greatly needed, and shouldnot be limited by ‘church denomination titles’ but rather be accepted by those who support Biblically based ministries that serve to help the public in many different ways. I attend and am a member of a Baptist church, but consider myself to be Christian. So I pray that those who are able to participate in the support of others to not just limit themselves to one denomination but to support the Bible in what and Who the Bible makes known to all who are His Children.
For “Thirst for Truth,” above:
Blaine Amendment states are listed at http://www.blaineamendments.org/states/states.html
The site not only lists the states that have adopted all or part of the Blaine Amendment, but also provides quotations from the respective state statutes. Very useful.
@Bighoss…Thanks for the reference! Most informative and interesting!
Down with 6 and 8! If I want to support any religion’s efforts I will donate to them. Leave the taxes alone.
The “Freedom of Religion Amendment” in Florida is a bad idea in so many ways. It took western civilization a long time to remove the power of the Catholic church and other religions over government and the founding father wrote a constitution insuring it stays that way. Some founding fathers didn’t embrace organized religion, because they aware of how tyrannical they were in their persecution of many innocent people, if you give an inch they will take a mile. Many churches are hate groups, some advocate for political parties others discriminate against women and people with alternative life styles, one religion believes God marked people of color so they can’t enter the kingdom of heaven, many evangelical are so full of hate and devoid of compassion they would vote to prevent millions of Americans from having affordable health insurance, they love Jesus, but make him look like a liberal. The Constitution of the United States guarantees the freedom to worship the religion of choice, while protecting citizen from their imposition. One thing no American should forget is that Americans are fighting in Afganistan to prevent an extreme right wing conservative religious group(Taliban) from imposing its will on the government of that country. I recognize that some religions provide great community service and help many in need, but not all religions are good and if you give tax dollars to one you have to give it to all.
Ty, It appears from your post that you do not approve of freedom of religion, but instead you want freedom from religion. The US Constitution guarantees us freedom of religion. What has made this country great is “One Nation under God”. I agree that there are so-called “churches”, established mainly to make money for their founders, but if they provide needed services to the community and do a better job of it than the government can ever do, we are all better off. Government does a great job of patting themselves on the back and claiming they have solved a problem, but actually solving the problem is just doesn’t happen. The Blaine Amendment is not the answer to the problems you cite, government interference & waste only make the problems worse. Provide incentives for the churches and businesses do what they do best. Amendment 8 is one of those incentives.
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