Interfaith Alliance

Subscribe

For Immediate Release
Contact: Ari Geller or Samantha Friedman, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, 202-265-3000, ari@rabinowitz-dorf.com or samantha@rabinowitz-dorf.com

Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the War Memorial Protection Act (H.R. 290), which would allow the government to erect religious symbols as war memorials. The legislation is an attempt to circumvent a 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that the 43-foot Mt. Soledad Latin cross war memorial is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.  Interfaith Alliance joined an amicus brief in this case, and Interfaith Alliance President Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy issued the following statement in response to today’s vote:

I am both troubled by and disappointed in the House’s passage of the War Memorial Protection Act today.  Though there are times when the government can appropriately include religious symbols and imagery on public land, a memorial featuring a Latin cross as the only symbol seems far from appropriate.  What this legislation does is set our government up to fail by putting it in a position in which it must choose between religious symbols and thus, between religions, in direct opposition to the tenets of our First Amendment.  

At issue here is not the Free Exercise right of soldiers, who have sacrificed their lives for our nation, to be able to have a symbol of the faith of their choosing on their headstones.  Nor is this an issue of whether a host of religious symbols representing the faiths of the fallen can be included in a private, or even a government-created, war memorial. Simply put, this legislation could allow the government to build crosses as monuments to our fallen soldiers.

Such a move would be both bad for government—placing it in the unconstitutional position of showing preference for one religion over another—and bad for religion—reducing the age-old symbols of our faiths to secularized markers. Those who have fallen in battle for our country often have done so while protecting the rights that are the cornerstone of our democracy and, specifically, our First Amendment.  Central to these defining characteristics are our religious liberties—the ones jeopardized should this bill become law.

# # #

The Interfaith Alliance celebrates religious freedom by championing individual rights, promoting policies that protect both religion and democracy, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism. Founded in 1994, the Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members across the country from 75 faith traditions as well as those without a faith tradition. For more information visit www.interfaithalliance.org.

Subscribe

For Immediate Release
Contact: Ari Geller or Samantha Friedman, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, 202-265-3000, ari@rabinowitz-dorf.com or samantha@rabinowitz-dorf.com

January 24, 2012
 

Dear Representative:
 

We are writing to urge you to oppose H.R. 290 and H.R. 2070. H.R. 290 would broadly authorize the use of religious symbols on any government memorial or monument honoring United States veterans. H.R. 2070 would inscribe a prayer onto the WWII Memorial, which was dedicated nearly a decade ago. These bills are misguided attempts to sanction government promotion of religion.
 

H.R. 290 is an ill-advised attack on a federal appeals court decision that held a 43-foot tall cross at a war memorial was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion because the cross is a preeminent Christian symbol that no other religion shares.¹ Although in limited circumstances the government
may allow religious symbols to appear on public property, it must take steps to ensure that in doing so, it does not convey a message of preferring religion over non-religion, or advancing a particular religion over others. In addition to constitutional concerns, certain government uses of religious symbols can harm religion by assigning a secular meaning to a sacred religious symbol. H.R. 290 ignores the delicate analysis for evaluating religious symbols on public property in which the courts have long engaged. Religious symbols do not become something else merely by congressional say-so.
 

Further, Department of Defense reports show that the U.S. Armed Forces is highly religiously diverse. Indeed, nearly one-third of all members of the armed services identify as non- Christian.² The government should not use religious symbols that do not represent a large segment of our service members. All of those who have served should be equally respected, regardless of their beliefs.
 

Notably, none of our organizations, nor any organization that we know of, has the slightest doubt that veterans and their families can mark their burial places with a cross, a star of David, a crescent, or any of the nearly 100 other symbols of belief. In fact, we support and defend their right to do so. Thus, H.R. 290 is not necessary to protect religious symbols found on headstones in military cemeteries throughout the country. These religious symbols are not considered military memorials, but are instead personal religious speech that reflects the personal faith and choice of each individual fallen service members. In such cases, the government simply respects and facilitates an expression of an individual’s personal beliefs.
 

Although the constitutional analysis is somewhat different for adding an inscription of a prayer to the WWII Memorial, as would be authorized under H.R. 2070, our policy concerns are similar. Both bills are an attempt to use religion for political purposes, which harms the beliefs of everyone.
 

Respectfully,

American Civil Liberties Union
American Jewish Committee
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Interfaith Alliance
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

¹ Trunk and Jewish War Veterans v. City of San Diego, 629 F. 3d 1099, 1110-11, reh’g denied, 629 F. 3d 1099 (9th Cir. 2011).
² Religious Diversity in the U.S. Military, Military Leadership Diversity Comm’n, Issue Paper No. 22 (June 2010).

# # #

The Interfaith Alliance celebrates religious freedom by championing individual rights, promoting policies that protect both religion and democracy, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism. Founded in 1994, the Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members across the country from 75 faith traditions as well as those without a faith tradition. For more information visit www.interfaithalliance.org.

Subscribe

For Immediate Release
Contact: Ari Geller or Samantha Friedman, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, 202-265-3000, ari@rabinowitz-dorf.com or samantha@rabinowitz-dorf.com

January 18, 2012

Dear Senator,

On behalf of Interfaith Alliance’s more than 185,000 members nationwide, I write to ask your support for and co-sponsorship of the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) (S. 555). Interfaith Alliance’s support for SNDA and similar legislation is rooted in our commitment to religious freedom, promoting policies that protect both religion and democracy, and protecting against the abuse of religion as a justification for violence, malice, or discrimination.

As someone who has been a member of clergy and a student of religion for most of my life, bullying for any reason is contradictory to authentic religion. Religion inspires respect, empathy, compassion and humility—values that prompt healing and condemn hurting. Too often, we have seen those who condemn homosexuality because of religion-based beliefs claim that their religious freedom should trump anti-discrimination and anti-bullying laws. But nothing should trump the safety and well-being of our children.

Personally, over the past 12 months, as a pastor, I have listened to three parents and an aunt who functioned as a parent pour out their grief over the death of a child in their respective families prompted by relentless, life-sapping bullying perpetrated by school mates.  One was too many.  But, four!  As a nation that values children, freedom, security, minorities, and the rule of law, we have to do something to improve the situation.

According to recent studies, bullying affects almost 30% of American children on a monthly basis and results in serious academic, physical and mental health problems including, in some cases, suicide. While some schools, districts and states have already enacted anti-bullying and harassment policies, most have not. Additionally, in many cases school policies on preventing bullying and discrimination are not spelled out resulting in existing policies going unenforced, school officials unsure of what they can do, and children continuing to get hurt.

This important legislation would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition against discrimination, including harassment, in public schools based on a student’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, providing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students with much needed protections. The legislation also protects those who associate with LGBT people including students with LGBT parents and friends.

This legislation is consistent with nearly fifty years of civil rights history, which clearly demonstrate that laws similar to SNDA are effective in preventing discrimination, including harassment from occurring. Though federal laws currently protect our children from discrimination and harassment on the basis of their race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin, no federal laws explicitly protect students on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. It is time to pass SNDA to fill this gap in civil rights protections. A vibrant democracy guarantees the protection of civil rights for everyone with no exception made because of an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. 

No children should be discriminated against, bullied, harassed and feel unsafe in a place where they are not only required to be, but a place that should be a safe haven for them to learn and grow. Those who would waive the banner of religious freedom as an excuse to demean and hurt others forget that in a democracy, we must be willing to allow people to be different without condemning them religiously or denying their rights politically. This is even more so when we are dealing with the safety and wellbeing of our children—the future of our democracy. The Student Non-Discrimination Act is a step in the right direction.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy

President

Interfaith Alliance

# # #

The Interfaith Alliance celebrates religious freedom by championing individual rights, promoting policies that protect both religion and democracy, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism. Founded in 1994, the Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members across the country from 75 faith traditions as well as those without a faith tradition. For more information visit www.interfaithalliance.org.

Subscribe

For Immediate Release
Contact: Ari Geller or Samantha Friedman, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, 202-265-3000, ari@rabinowitz-dorf.com or samantha@rabinowitz-dorf.com

Washington, D.C. — Marking the anniversary of the passage in 1786 of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, each year, the President declares January 16 to be Religious Freedom Day.  Interfaith Alliance President Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy issued the following statement commemorating the significance of Religious Freedom Day:

I am proud to live in a democracy that protects my right to follow the faith I choose, and I cherish the freedoms guaranteed to us by our founders.  As someone committed to protecting the boundaries between religion and government, the First Amendment to the Constitution often serves as the foundation for my work.  However, on this day, chosen for good reason, I am reminded of what an incredible document the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom is and how forward-thinking its author, Thomas Jefferson, was. 

To those who seek to chip away at our liberties by redefining religious freedom to only include their own faiths, I would ask only that you go back and read the text of this important document and embrace what Jefferson knew well more than 200 years ago: ‘That the impious presumption of legislators and rulers … setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible ...’ would in effect be setting up a false religion.

So sure of themselves were Jefferson and his fellow legislators that they expressed a desire for the act to be irrevocable, and yet they understood that someone might try to do just that, and therefore characterized doing so as being ‘an infringement on natural right.’

At a time when the definition of religious freedom is itself under attack, when the fallacy that ours is a ‘Christian Nation’ starts to become accepted in the mainstream, when fear of and discrimination against minority religious groups has become widespread, when some in the religious community would use their religion to trump the civil and basic human rights of others, we know we have our work cut out for us.

This year’s celebration of Religious Freedom Day coincides with the day we remember the great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a leader who successfully demanded equal rights for all based on the Constitution, while at the same time lent his moral voice to the cause.  Dr. King embraced all those who stood with him in his quest for civil rights and gave his life for the establishment of a society in which all citizens are equal and none more important to government than others.  We who are committed to protecting faith and freedom, religion and democracy, look to his example today as an inspiration to push forward.

# # #

The Interfaith Alliance celebrates religious freedom by championing individual rights, promoting policies that protect both religion and democracy, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism. Founded in 1994, the Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members across the country from 75 faith traditions as well as those without a faith tradition. For more information visit www.interfaithalliance.org.