Editorial

It’s not often that this newspaper becomes part of a story.

From time-to-time our reporting or commentary gains the attention of other news outlets, which has resulted in our coverage impacting a story. Some examples include our coverage of the Terri Schiavo case, which played a role in the presiding judge’s broken relationship with a Florida Baptist congregation, or last December when former President Jimmy Carter was forced in response to our editorial to admit an error about Adrian Rogers in his recent book and apologize to the Rogers’ family.

As should typically be the case, we report the news, rather than make it ourselves. Recently, however, Florida Baptist Witness became part of a developing story before the Florida Supreme Court in a case that, if wrongly decided, could have far-reaching consequences for this newspaper and our readers, and possibly for all churches in the Sunshine State.

On March 17, the Florida Supreme Court granted a motion from the Witness and The Florida Catholic to file an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in the case Wiccan Religious Cooperative of Florida, Inc. v. Jim Zingale, et. al. The brief was officially filed March 1.

In a case that has only recently received attention, the Wiccans brought a lawsuit against the state after one of its representatives was erroneously charged sales tax for the purchase of the Satanic Bible and the Witch’s Bible Compleat, religious publications that are not subject to sales tax under Florida Statute 212.06(9). Rather than seeking a refund, the Wiccans filed suit, claiming the statute is unconstitutional because it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

No date has been set for oral arguments in the case, and the Wiccans were recently granted an extension until April 11 to file one of its briefs. (The case number is SC05-873; for more information, go the Florida Supreme Court Web site: www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/index.shtml.)

Who are the Wiccans? According to the group’s Web site (using its unique spellings), “Wicca, a.k.a. the Craft of the Wise, may be monotheistic, polytheistic, and/or a blend thereof. Wicca is non-dogmatic, non-dualist, nonsexist, non-racist, magickal, holistic, and ecologically oriented. The [Wiccan Religious Cooperative of Florida] is dedicated to the preservation of Mother Earth, the full achievement of the potential inherent in all beings, the revival of the worship of the Old Ones, both Gods and Goddesses, and the creation of a world of peace, love, freedom, happiness and prosperity for all sentient beings.”

The Wiccans claim membership in “over five counties in Florida and three states across the country.”

The Wiccans are recognized by the State of Florida as a church and, as such, enjoy the privileges of the sales tax exemption they are requesting the Florida Supreme Court to find unconstitutional.

As Mathew Staver, president and chief counsel of Liberty Counsel, has said, the Wiccans are trying to “collapse the entire house on itself by seeking to eliminate all sales tax exemptions on Bibles and religious publications.” Liberty Counsel has also filed an amicus brief in the case.

The Witness was asked by The Florida Catholic to join in its brief before the court in order to demonstrate the potentially far-reaching implications of this case for millions of consumers of religious publications in this state. The Florida Catholic is a bi-weekly newspaper published by the dioceses of Orlando, St. Petersburg, Pensacola-Tallahassee, Venice, Palm Beach and the Archdiocese of Miami. Like the Witness, The Florida Catholic serves a statewide readership.

The Witness agreed (with the affirmation of the Executive Committee of our Board of Directors) to join the brief of The Florida Catholic because of our mutual interest and concern about the implications of this case. Taking this action is consistent with our conviction, as expressed in the Baptist Faith and Message, “Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth” (Article XV, “The Christian and the Social Order”). As evangelicals have worked with Catholics in the pro-life arena and other areas of mutual moral concern, it’s appropriate that we join them in this matter.

Our amicus brief (which is available on our Web site: www.FloridaBaptistWitness.com) argues against the Wiccan challenge on two grounds: standing – the Wiccans do not have the proper legal status to challenge the sales exemption since they are beneficiaries of it, and constitutional – the First Amendment does not prohibit the state from granting tax exemptions to religious charities when similar exemptions are granted to secular charities.

Our brief focuses mostly on the constitutional challenge.

“Amici Curiae have a direct interest in upholding the constitutionality of this statute because they do not charge sales tax to their subscribers based in part on the statutory exemption for religious publications contained in Statute 212.06(9),” the brief notes.

The brief traces the history of tax exemptions for religious entities both at the federal level and in Florida and notes the compelling fact that religious publications are just one of many types of charities that benefit from the sales tax exemption, convincingly demonstrating the Wiccans’ challenge to the statute in question is entirely without merit.

“The law is well-settled, and the Petitioner can rely only on a skewed reading of a plurality opinion in a case involving a non-analogous statutory scheme to foment an argument challenging Section 212.06(9), Fla. Stat. (2005). In so doing, the Petitioner ignores a litany of cases supporting the statutory scheme adopted by the Florida Legislature.”

This case has important implications for this newspaper and, potentially, for every consumer of religious products in the Sunshine State. The narrow implications of an unfavorable judgment would impact the Witness and our readers in that we may be forced to charge sales taxes for our subscriptions. More broadly, a Wiccan victory may potentially impact all consumers of various kinds of religious publications, including Bibles, as well as on the tax exemption of all religious charities.

As our motion to the Florida Supreme requesting to file the amicus brief argues, “the Court’s decision regarding the constitutionality of this particular tax exemption for religious publications may have an effect far beyond this case in that any decision holding the statute unconstitutional may restrict the legislature’s ability generally to legislate exemptions for other beneficent religious, non-profit, and charitable entities and their activities, including publications.”

On its face, the Wiccan challenge should be summarily rejected. Nevertheless, the fact that the Florida Supreme Court accepted this case (narrowly, 4-3), is cause for some concern. As we continue to follow this case – even as we are now part of this story, I urge Florida Baptists to be in prayer for the Florida Supreme Court.