1st Freedom First: Defend the Separation of State and Church

A freedom about which people are afraid to speak, for fear of giving offense to some crackpot sentiment, is not a freedom that is secure. The guarantee of 'freedom of religion' is meaningless unless it also, and equally zealously guarantees 'freedom FROM religion'. A candidate for office who fears to endorse the separation of State and Church for fear of offending 'people of faith' who are attacking that necessary separation is NOT defending 'freedom of religion'. Yet Democratic campaign advisers ARE counseling Democratic candidates NOT to take ANY position on the 'issue' of separation unless they are not afraid to alienate people of faith.

Religious Freedom Day slipped right past us during the last week (Jan. 16). The day is the anniversary of the passage, in 1786, of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. In effect, it is the textual evidence of the intention of Jefferson--and by extension, the rest of the Founders and the Framers--of the very proscription against which the "wise ones" (read the NYTimes article and decide for yourself; sufficeth it for me that the name "Mike McCurry" is not accompanied by vile epithets of any kind).

In that spirit, I have cut and pasted the text of a petition I received today; along with which I am including a hearty endorsement of the sentiments expresses, and a serious appeal that the reader both sign the petition and try to further promulgate it.

I signed the First Freedom First petition -- about the importance of safeguarding separation of church and state and protecting religious liberty. The founders of our nation believed that all Americans should have the right to worship according to their own beliefs, or not to worship at all. It was so important to them that they placed it in the first sentence of the Bill of Rights.

I believe that religion is a deeply personal matter and that Americans must be free to practice their religion without coercion. Simply put, there must be a separation of church and state.

I know that we agree about the importance of these issues, so I hope that you will ACT NOW, like I just did. Be a part of First Freedom First.

Sign the petition and encourage others to join you. Together, we will send a powerful and resounding message -- safeguard the first freedom! Please visit the website below and join me in standing up for this fundamental American freedom.

A freedom is not secure if people are afraid to talk about it. There is more information at the FirstFreedomFirst site. Simply forwarding the petition to friends, printing it (pdf) and sending us your signed copy, or volunteering to collect signatures locally makes all the difference.