Church-State Watchdog Disappointed in Bondi's Rewrite

The attorney generals rewrite of the Religious Freedom amendment proposed to go before voters in November 2012 is disappointing and voters are unlikely to understand that the effort would mandate taxpayer funding of religion, a church-state watchdog group stated Wednesday.

The Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the parties that challenged the amendment, claimed in a release that the measure requires the government to fund religious institutions.

I am deeply disappointed with the attorney generals rewriting of this amendment. Her version still fails to make it clear to the voters that Amendment 7 mandates taxpayer funding of religion, Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, stated in a release.

If this goes on the November ballot, I hope voters do their homework. This amendment is not about religious freedom; its about forcing all Florida taxpayers to subsidize houses of worship, religious schools and other ministries, whether they want to or not.

Bondi on Tuesday resubmitted ballot language a week after Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis agreed with critics that the wording of the "Religious Freedom" amendment was too ambiguous.

The revised ballot summary for Amendment 7 adopts suggestions from Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis, the attorney generals office stated in a release.

Groups joining Americans United in fighting the amendment include the Florida Education Association, Florida School Boards Association and Florida Association of School Administrators. Groups such as the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, the ACLU Foundation of Florida, the Anti-Defamation League, and the National Education Association, have joined the suit.

The revised language reads:

Proposing an amendment to the state Constitution providing that no individual or entity may be denied, on the basis of religious identity or belief, governmental benefits, funding, or other support, except as required by the First Amendment to 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.

The rejected language stated:

Proposing an amendment to the state Constitution to provide that no individual or entity may be discriminated against or barred from receiving funding on the basis of religious identity or belief and to delete 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.