Braun is a staunch defender of the government-run public school establishment. Likewise, he unequivocally opposes parental school choice based upon any method that diverts the government's education tax dollars - probably any tax dollars - for that purpose. In this piece, he leans heavily upon the doctrine of separation of church and state to make his case. He writes:
It is just plain wrong to use taxes to promote a religious message.
While I might endorse the Catholic message, not everyone does — not even all Catholics. I’ve heard Catholic priests use pulpits to urge the defeat of marriage equality. I’ve heard them use pulpits to condemn abortion and birth control. Must all people, through their taxes, pay to endorse these messages — even if these beliefs offend the beliefs of others?
Wasn’t that issue settled by the First Amendment — and the specific ban on tax money going to religious ministries in the New Jersey Constitution?
I am a Catholic.
But no Catholic — neither I nor Chris Christie — has the right to expect Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and non-believers to support our causes, convey our messages, involuntarily through their tax dollars.
I agree with the principle Braun is espousing here. That principle - that no one should be forced to financially support ideas that they may not agree with - is an absolute. There's a funny thing about principles, though: they are "universal", meaning that their abstract message can be applied to an unlimited number of specific, concrete issues - past, present, or future. When one espouses a principle, he in effect opens up his entire repertoire of issue positions to scrutiny.
I've left the following commentary.
zemack February 11, 2011 at 6:55PM
Follow
Bob Braun’s argument is easily refuted by the facts. A tax credit represents taxes not being collected. The corporations funding the Opportunity Scholarship Act are contributing their own money. None of it goes to the state, and the state is issuing no checks to religious schools or to the Opportunity Scholarship Board that dispenses the funds.
These are the facts. There is no violation of the separation of church and state. Money belongs first to those who earn it. The government has no inherent claim on that money. How in the world do taxes not collected translate into tax-funded religion, or tax-funded anything? If that is the case, then every private dollar we spend is tax-funded something or other. The idea is absurd.
Having said that, Braun does a good job defending separation of religion and state:
“It is just plain wrong to use taxes to promote a religious message.
“While I might endorse the Catholic message, not everyone does — not even all Catholics. I’ve heard Catholic priests use pulpits to urge the defeat of marriage equality. I’ve heard them use pulpits to condemn abortion and birth control. Must all people, through their taxes, pay to endorse these messages — even if these beliefs offend the beliefs of others?
“Wasn’t that issue settled by the First Amendment — and the specific ban on tax money going to religious ministries in the New Jersey Constitution?”
I concur. So, why should I be forced to support, through my taxes, educational ideas that I may or may not agree with, or that “offend” me? I abhor the collectivist theories of John Dewey, which dominates modern progressive education. I believe in the individualist educational and epistemological philosophies of Maria Montessori and Ayn Rand. Why should I be forced to pay for Dewey? And why should I be forced to pay for the education of other people’s children, any more than be forced to pay for the church religious training of those same children?
Braun writes:
“But no Catholic — neither I nor Chris Christie — has the right to expect Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and non-believers to support our causes, convey our messages, involuntarily through their tax dollars.”
James Madison’s 1785 Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments argued forcefully against tax-supported religion, and won the day. The result was a thriving and free religious sector, including for non-believers. The same arguments can be made against tax-supported education, which would lead to a thriving and free educational marketplace. [For an indepth assessment on this point, see Dr. C. Bradley Thompson's lecture, The Case for Abolishing America’s Government Schools
]
Braun argues persuasively for the separation of church and state. In doing so, he inadvertently makes the case for the separation of education and state. Though flawed in significant areas, the Opportunity Scholarship Act is a small but meaningful step in that direction – the right direction. It should pass. [The flaws in the Opportunity Scholarship Act are too serious to warrant my unequivocal support - namely, the state-approved intermediary called the Opportunity Scholarship Board, which ultimately gives politicians the power to choose, and exclude, participating schools. My position is elaborated on in my Objective Standard article.]
In a future post, I'll deal with a couple of correspondents who rebutted this posting.
No comments:
Post a Comment