The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Opinion

Discussion

August 2, 2012

Guest columnist, Paul Teverow: Public Prayer Amendment deserves an emphatic 'no'

By Paul Teverow Special to The Globe

JOPLIN, Mo. — The Joplin Globe’s editorial (July 29) misses some important facts about the Public Prayer Amendment that will appear on Tuesday’s ballot.

 Much of what is in this amendment is superfluous; the rest is, to say the least, problematic. First of all, note that it calls for the repeal of Article I, section 5 of the Missouri Constitution. This article, which has served our state well since its adoption in 1875, asserts “that all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience.” Thus, Missourians already enjoy the right to pray in public or private.

But despite the misleading title of Amendment 2, public prayer is not the only subject it addresses. Going just by the ballot summary, voters might not realize that buried in the middle of the rambling text are the provisions “that students may express their beliefs about religion in written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of their work; that no student shall be compelled to perform or participate in academic assignments or educational presentations that violate his or her religious beliefs.”

Now to be sure, the public has a right to expect educators at all levels to respect the religious beliefs and practices of their students. But do we really want to grant students from elementary school up the “right” to refuse to write reports on assigned literature or to allow them to pick and choose which assignments they will complete in science classes required for their college majors and professional accreditation, lest we offend their religious sensibilities? Nor are these only questions of educational integrity. Despite the assertion on the ballot that passage of the amendment would entail no costs, if it passes, I anticipate expensive litigation that will entail significant costs for school districts and taxpayers.

Finally, when the Globe calls on voters to approve an amendment that, as the paper says, only re-asserts existing rights, just so voters can send a message, I think it misses the point of amending a constitution. The purpose of a constitutional amendment is to address an identifiable problem with the existing system of government. Already, the Missouri Constitution runs some 125 pages versus 17 for the United States Constitution. It guarantees that the people of Missouri, individually or collectively, may send whatever messages they wish on vital issues of the day.

But only rarely is a constitutional amendment the proper way to convey a message. For the most part, the 34 sections of Article I that constitute the state’s Bill of Rights provide fairly direct and concise assertions of the basic principles on which our government is constructed. Amendment 2, by contrast, consists of a long, convoluted sentence that, in the end, seems more like talking points for a party platform than a constitutional principle.

To be sure, any durable constitution must from time to time be adapted to reflect new circumstances or changes in public sentiment. But if Amendment 2 is allowed to provide a precedent for how we go about this, I fear that Missouri’s Constitution will no longer prove very useful for establishing and regulating a workable system of government. In short, this amendment sadly fails the “Show-Me” test. For all these reasons, I urge an emphatic “no” on Amendment 2.



Paul Teverow lives in Joplin and is a university professor.

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