government mixing with religion in Walton County

[Smiling JOe]

I'm reading through the agenda for tomorrow's County Commissioners Mtg and I see:

c. Consider request from Bobby Beasley, Supervisor of Elections, to move Voting Precinct 18 (Santa Rosa Beach Community Center) to Good News United Methodist Church


It seems that we are able to keep separate gov't and religion to the Nth degree, by not displaying something as simple as a Christmas tree on the lawn at the Court House, unless it is accompanied by at least one other representation of religion, like a Jewish Star, but somehow, the gov't still requires some voters to show up at churches all over the USA to cast their governmental ballot for elections. Personally, going to a church to cast my ballot would be no different than casting it at the Tom Thumb (gas station), but it does seem strange how we, as a Country, are so strong opinionated on drawing lines in some places, but not others.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

I can honestly say that out of all the things that bother me about government, this is not one of them. If I'm not there for church, I don't think about it.

 

[ckhagen]

It doesn't bother me either... they're willing to let the county use the space to give everyone the opportunity to vote in places closer to home with big enough facilities to handle the load (parking lots, areas with enough room for voting machines, etc...). You can vote absentee or early at the annex if for some reason you're vehemently opposed to standing in a church gathering facility for 15 minutes. Besides, I've never voted in a church sanctuary... normally it's a fellowship hall, gym, or something of that sort. Unless you're keen on having the taxpayers build multiple "community center" type facilities to handle these once or twice a year events, then there's not a whole lot that can be done about it.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I can honestly say that out of all the things that bother me about government, this is not one of them. If I'm not there for church, I don't think about it.

What if the voting polls were located in a mosque (muslim church)?

Again, going into a Christian Church wouldn't bother many Americans, but voting should have much more separation of church and state than some seasonal lawn decorations, don't you think? For the record, I am for mixed use of gov't building space.

 

[ckhagen]

I have no problem with going into a Mosque or Temple or UU church to vote... we're not talking about going into their sanctuaries. Unless I'm out of the loop and there are people standing at voting machines on an altar, I see no problem with using benign areas of a church building.

 

[Smiling JOe]

ckhagen, I think it is safe to say that most people wouldn't publicly object to a Christmas Tree on the lawn at a court house, and likewise for a place of voting. But, since the law is interpreted that the courthouse lawn cannot be decorated solely with a manger scene or a Christmas Tree, wouldn't you think there would be even more hell-raising about some voting places also being properties owned by the Churches. After all, it seems that many Democrats think that the lines are drawn around the "religious right."

 

[ckhagen]

Well, I'm looking at it from a practicality standpoint. If you are really opposed to voting on property owned by a church, you've got two weeks worth of time to go to the annex or you can vote absentee. I don't think anyone will be able to come up with a building in each and every precinct, with enough indoor space and parking space to handle the registered voters in those precincts. No one is being denied a right to vote. I don't recall a story of anyone ever being proselytized or preached at while waiting in line for a ballot, and in the years that I've voted in churches, I've never even seen a religious fixture in the room where the voting took place (perhaps there's a rule against that?).

 

[beachmouse]

The reasoning I've heard about shifting voting to church halls (not the sanctuary proper) is that they aren't disrutping a school day like they would be if they kept the precinct at a public school, and that church halls are conveniently located within a community and provide easy access, complete with meeting ADA standards.

They don't put a polling site into the sanctuary proper, at least in Okaloosa. They've been wanting to shift my precinct out of Bluewater Elementary for years, but only did so this spring because Resurrection finally got their church proper built, and the building they had been holding services in was now 'only' a church hall and no longer used for religous services. So it was now a go for using it as a polling site.

As for Christmas displays, there was a city down by Tampa that threw open the city hall holiday display to any faith that wanted to make a presentation there, and they ended up with additional contributions from the Zoarostrians and a group urging the celebration of Festivus.

 

[ckhagen]

DE 90-13 (a pdf) on this page addresses the situation that may be of interest.
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/opinions/yearIndex/de1990index.shtml

 

[Smiling JOe]

The Church itself is a religious symbol of Christianity. It matters not whether one is in a sanctuary of the church or a gathering hall. You don't see the Church opening its gathering halls to a group of Satanic worshipers, do you? They are Christians, or hopeful converts meeting in those gathering halls, typically.

Yes, in Walton County, you can vote absentee to avoid having to go to church to vote. However, that is not true for all places. For example, I have lived in towns where you could vote absentee only after swearing that you would be out of town during the election, or if you were handicapped.

The last thing I would want to see is a line out the door at my place of voting, due to it being the only place to vote, in order to keep voters out of the church. It is just a curious and notable difference in where Americans draw lines in separation of church and state, and it seems to be that way only for our convenience. Convenience is wanted by many, but I wonder when convenience overcomes the Constitution and Laws, if we will really have a decent gov't.

I'm an early voter and never have a wait, which is far different from my last three places of living, where voting took 4 hours of standing in line if I was lucky.