Why My Default is to Vote "No" on Constitutional Amendments

My default position on any constitutional amendment is "no." I am not saying this is an issue of biblical faithfulness (so feel free to do otherwise). However, I think many of us don't give much thought to a philosophy of ministry in this area of our lives. So, below are my thoughts. Maybe they will help you as you consider how you will exercise your responsibilities as a citizen during an election cycle.

The main reason I default to "no" is that most issues should be able to be addressed by the legislature. These amendments generally stand no chance of getting through the normal legislative process because, upon scrutiny, they are not good for society. Thus, special interest groups use the amendment process to try to get voters, who will spend no time thinking about what the text of the law means or its implications, to vote based on how they feel about things in the moment. Thus, issues that are bad for our state get enshrined in our constitution. Or, issues that might be fine laws end up as silly parts of our constitution (eg, I think we have something about the treatment of baby pigs in our constitution).

Second, many amendments are written and promoted by special interest groups that stand to make A LOT of money from passing their amendments. For example, amendments 3 and 4, on recreational marijuana and on the right to abortion, are HEAVILY funded by industries that stand to make HUGE sums of money if they pass.

I would only vote yes on an amendment if: 

1. It is required to fix a constitutional issue (e.g., undo a previously approved and bad amendment or free the legislature to do its job). This seems to be the case with Amendment 6 on this year's ballot in Florida (to undo a campaign finance amendment that set up taxpayer-funded campaign money for candidates).  

2. My second reason for a yes vote is if it is a fundamental, bedrock issue that should be seen as basic to law-making itself. So, I would vote for an amendment that clarified the right to life for babies in the womb (even though I think that is already covered in our constitution and laws) because people seem to believe there is no God-given right to life for a baby. This willful misunderstanding is having a huge effect on our ability to apply laws related to murder to protect children or avoid evil laws that legalize abortion.

In my next post, I'll address reasons to vote no on Amendment 4 in Florida.