Missouri Family Network analyzes ballot issue

Offers biblical perspective on how
Missouri Baptists should vote Nov. 7

JEFFERSON CITY – Breaking down the five statewide ballot questions in Missouri in time for the Nov. 7 election is a challenge that Kerry Messer, founder of Missouri Family Network, enjoys.

Messer, a member of First Baptist Church, Festus-Crystal City and lobbyist for the Christian Life Commission of the Missouri Baptist Convention, said he approaches his duty with two tools in hand. The first is to find out what words are on the ballot so that he can determine what the proposed statute, if passed, would look like. The second tool is God’s Word, which has proven itself to be greater than man’s reasoning.

“I’m trying to help people in the pews, or pastors, to discern from a biblical view what the appropriate way is to vote on these ballot questions,” Messer said.

Here is how Missouri Family Network is advising Missouri Baptists to vote on these five issues:

Amendment 2: Much has been written about this deceptive embryonic stem cell initiative. Messer said it attempts to redefine the biological, medical, physiological, scientific, moral, ethical and theological truths of human embryology. Jesus Christ was once a single cell human embryo. Every human embryo has a soul. Vote No.

Amendment 3: The tobacco tax purports to help the poor, but God’s Word forbids sin taxes, Messer said. He noted that the slick lawyers and politicians who want to get their hands on this money cannot be trusted. Some of this money, if the amendment passes, will likely go toward performing abortions, Messer said. Vote No.

Amendment 6: Messer called this the only “purely honest” ballot question of the five. Veterans’ organizations deserve a tax break, he reasoned, by no longer having to pay property taxes to the state for their facilities. It is estimated this proposal will have a minimal cost to state government, with estimated costs to local government entities ranging from $0 to $45,000. Vote Yes.

Amendment 7: This appears to be an attempt to deny politicians convicted of felony crimes their state pensions, but anyone who resigns voluntarily so much as one day before ultimate removal could still keep his pension, Messer said. The amendment also would liberalize the ground rules for pay increases for politicians. Vote No.

Proposition B: Raising the state’s minimum wage sounds like a good idea, but it threatens to upset the balance of Missouri’s free market economy, Messer said. It is important to keep entry level jobs available for those who need them, and it is important to keep Missouri’s products and services at a lower cost for everyone. Vote No.