Father Breen makes it official: referendum loses

The hero of Nashville's Hispanic community, the Rev. Joe Pat Breen, has just called me singing "alleluia".

The EnglishOnly referendum has officially been defeated. And Breen, and pastors such as the Rev. Enoch Fuzz across Nashville, deserve much credit for using their pulpits to stress the moral wrong of discriminating against the newcomers among us.

In one of the most moving displays during the campaign, a group of clergy assembled on the stage of the Music City USA Presidential Inaugural Ball Tuesday night made an impassioned presentation before 700 Nashvillians of different races and ethnicities in urging defeat of the referendum.

A lot of people will be seeking credit for the defeat of this measure, and rightly so. But the best thing about its defeat is that the moral message prevailed.