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Blasts Vermont Decision & Ohio School Voucher Ban UFMCC Hails Vermont, AU Praises the Ohio Decision |
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By Jack Nichols
An avowedly Catholic candidate unlikely to win the highest seat in the land, Buchanan collects matching taxpayer funds, nevertheless, just for running. The judicial decisions which have clearly distressed him were handed down Monday by (1) Vermont's Supreme Court which extended full rights there to same-sex couples and by (2) Cleveland, Ohio's Federal District Court, which called the city school voucher system unconstitutional because it funnels undeserved taxpayer support to Roman Catholic educational institutions with vouchers of up to $2,500 going to to Cleveland students to attend religious and other private schools. "Yesterday," Buchanan complained, " The American people were given a brute demonstration of how their constitutional right to govern themselves has been usurped by an imperial judiciary. They may also see today just how far that imperial judiciary has gone in repudiating the moral order, as Western civilization has always understood it. "The Vermont Supreme Court gave advocates of homosexual marriage what they have repeatedly failed to win before the bar of public opinion. The court unilaterally ceded to homosexual liaisons all the legal benefits of married couples, and declared outdated and obsolete the Judeo-Christian idea that traditional marriage deserves special consideration."
In contrast, The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), the world's largest gay and lesbian organization with more than 41,000 members in 21 countries and 310 congregations around the world, was pleased by the Vermont ruling. UFMCC leaders say they understand, however, that "this victory is a small step in the journey to full civil rights for all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons - the court has yet to determine whether these protections will come through formal marriage or a system of domestic partnerships. Same-sex couples have not yet won the battle of inclusion within the marriage laws." The Rev. Troy D. Perry, Moderator and founder of UFMCC said: "We thank God for this victory, but I also urge all of you to pray with me that we will one day have laws that truly protect each and every one of us."
"On the very same day (Monday), a federal district judge in Cleveland ruled that a voucher program passed by the Ohio legislature was unconstitutional, because parents used the vouchers to send their children to religious schools. There in a nutshell is the mindset of the judges who now rule over us: 'Gay marriage good; religious schools bad.' Without the consent of the American people, a social revolution is being imposed upon them from above by unelected judges appointed for life and answerable to no one. "We, the people, are, with little protest, ceding control over the most basic aspects of our public life to such judges. The pseudo-conjugal arrangements endorsed by the Vermont Supreme Court would likely never have won the support of Vermont's people or even of its generally liberal legislature. But the voucher program struck down in Cleveland was supported by the people of Cleveland and their representatives. When Americans are no longer able to decide, through their elected officials, the most fundamental questions of their public lives, they are no longer living in a democratic republic. "I condemn these two illegitimate judicial decisions, as I condemn Roe v. Wade and other decisions where federal and state courts have ruled in unconstitutional and immoral ways. It is time the American people took back from these arrogant judges the right to make the decisions that govern their daily lives." Both Americans United for Separation of Church and State and People for the American Way praised the Ohio voucher decision, however.
Lynn noted that the Ohio decision marks the second time this year that a federal court has declared vouchers unconstitutional. In addition, state supreme courts in Maine and Vermont struck down vouchers this year. People for the American Way President Carole Shields' statements conflicted bluntly with Buchanan's. She said: "This is a victory for Ohio's public school children and our Constitution…Taxpayer dollars should be put to work in the public schools where they belong and not be used to subsidize someone's religion." "Every ruling from a federal court on vouchers has been against the use of public funds to support religious schools. This case will likely present the Supreme Court's next chance to clear up the confusion caused by differing federal and state court rulings on vouchers." Full text of the ruling: U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio |
