The down-ballot issues people of faith are watching

[rug]

By Kimberly Winston and Adelle M. Banks | 19 hours ago

(RNS) The nation’s attention may be on the presidential election, but there are a number of down-ballot issues of interest to religious and nonreligious voters. Here’s a sampling of what’s being considered and how people of faith are weighing them:

Marijuana

Recreational: Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada
Medicinal: Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota

More states than ever will be mulling whether marijuana should be legalized, and many religious leaders have spoken out against it. More than 125 Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox leaders in Massachusetts signed a statement urging defeat of Question 4 in that state.

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Gun control and ammunition initiatives

California, Maine, Nevada, Washington

The Golden State is still reeling after last year’s terror attack in San Bernardino, in which a heavily armed couple killed 14 and wounded 22 more. Polls now show two-thirds of Californians support the state’s Proposition 63, which would require background checks for the purchase of ammunition and would ban possession of ammunition magazines with more than 10 rounds.

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Minimum wage

Washington, Arizona, Maine, Colorado

A higher minimum wage — a “living wage” in some parlance — is on the to-do list of many religious groups, some of which frame it as an economic justice issue, a kind of “What would Jesus pay?” Initiatives across four states would raise the wage to between $12 and $13.50 over four years.

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Repealing the death penalty

California, Nebraska, Oklahoma

Repealing — or maintaining a repeal of — the death penalty seems to have the most support of any ballot initiatives across the states. In California, almost 30 different religious groups support a death penalty repeal, while in Nebraska, celebrity Christian author Shane Claiborne has spoken in support of retaining a repeal of the death penalty at anti-death penalty events.

http://religionnews.com/2016/11/04/the-down-ballot-issues-people-of-faith-are-watching/

[Jim__]

1. As noted in the article, death with dignity is on the ballot in Colorado.

People with a prognosis of death within 6 months can obtain drugs that give them the option of not living out the 6 months. There is a lot of religious opposition to the measure.

I'm not sure whether or not it's expected to pass.

[rug]

2. A poll in September found 70% in favor of the proposal.

Focus on the Family, Colorado Christian University, and the Archdiocese of Denver oppose it, along with The Denver Post and Not Dead Yet, a disabilities advocacy group.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/colorado-assisted-suicide-measure/

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/10/11/497540453/colorado-wrestles-with-ethics-of-aid-in-dying-as-vote-looms

http://notdeadyet.org/

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/10/11/no-on-proposition-106-aid-in-dying-measure-lacks-proper-safeguards/

I haven't been following this proposition but it looks like it will pass, joining the five states who have previously approved it.

[stone space]

3. As an atheist who smokes pot religiously, let me be the first to say that guns are a religious issue

Guns can really harsh the mellow of your typical pothead.

And the harshing of a mellow is a sin.

Here's a video of 80,000 potheads gathering together and lighting up.

I'm not really seeing the problem here.



But all it takes is a single gun to harsh the collective mellows of 80,000 potheads.

Together, pot and guns can cause pandimonium!



Maybe it's the Bible, maybe it's the pot, but if it were up to me, ...