Fight Religious Discrimination

Posted by Bethany on September 20, 2006

Religious Discrimination can and does happen to anyone, and we are all at risk, no matter what our faith background may be. Government-funded programs should not discriminate against any person because of his or her religious beliefs, whether it is for hiring this person, or for providing him or her services. To combat religious discrimination, we must raise awareness and reinforce the spiritual and cultural diversity of America, and reinforce religious freedom as a founding principle of the constitution.

One diverse faith-group, the Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and Shamans of this country, are doing their part on Sept. 21 and 22 to raise awareness about religious tolerance. Messages are going out through e-mail, discussion boards, and by word-of-mouth to encourage everyone, not only Pagans, to wear a purple ribbon to show their support for religious tolerance. Say NO to religious discrimination!

Show your support by signing the petition to safeguard separation of church and state and protect religious liberty.

Click here to watch the First Freedom First video called "No Religious Discrimination".

free speech in houses of worship?

Submitted by jml on Mon, 2006-09-25 11:04.

i have signed the petition, but have a bit of a problem with
"Political candidates should not be endorsed or opposed by houses of worship." seems to me that the First Amendment speech guarantee covers speech in churches, temples, etc.
i'll accept the petition's statement as an ideal of civil discourse, but i would have been more comfortable with something more along the lines of "Houses of worship that endorse or oppose political candidates should not receive tax exemption or other forms of public subsidy."

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IRS Regulation

Submitted by Beth on Mon, 2006-09-25 14:53.

IRS regulations prevent any 501(c)(3) non-profit tax-exempt organization from engaging in "partisan" political activity. This regulation does not just apply to houses of worship. The IRS designates partisan as supporting or opposing a specific candidate or political party. Houses of worship are allowed to discuss issues, just not candidates or political parties.

For additional information on this subject I would encourage you to visit: http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_churchelectioneering

Beth Corbin
First Freedom First Director - AU

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