| Liberty Links |
|
ChurchState.org Freedomsring.com The "Best of" Religious Liberty Links: Listing of these links does not constitute an endorsement. Organizational descriptions may quote from the site’s own description, rather than reflect our view of that organization. If you know of a site that you feel should be included here, e-mail webmaster. Seventh-day Adventist Religious Liberty Sites Liberty Magazine The home of Liberty magazine, www.libertymagazine.org the nation’s oldest and best publication devoted exclusively to religious liberty. Office of Legislative Affairs for the Seventh-day Adventist Church - Washington, D. C. - Be sure to sign up for their free e-mail updates on breaking religious liberty news. Liberty Express Liberty Express Home of the Northwest Religious Liberty Association Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church State Council is a ministry of this administrative branch of the Adventist Church. www.puconline.org Seventh-day Adventist Church - General Listings A complete organizational listing can be found here: Seventh-day Adventists Links Non-partisan Organizations The First Amendment Center of the Freedom Forum, www.freedomforum.org, The Freedom Forum is a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on three main priorities: the Newseum, First Amendment freedoms and newsroom diversity. North American Religious Liberty Association. (NARLA) This the action site for the North American Religious Liberty Association, www.religiousliberty.info where you can instantly send emails on religious liberty bills pending in Congress or state legislatures. International Religious Liberty Association The oldest international organization addressing religious freedom issues, sponsoring conferences in every continent, and publishing Fides et Liberte. International Religious Liberty Association - "We believe that religious liberty is a God-given right, and hold that it is best exercised where separation is maintained between church and state...." The J.M. Dawson Institute of Church State Studies, http://www3.baylor.edu/~Church_State/ Established the J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies in 1957, so named in honor of an outstanding alumnus, an ardent advocate of religious liberty, and a distinguished author of publications on church and state. The Institute is the oldest and most well established facility of its kind located in a university setting. It is exclusively devoted to research in the broad field of church and state and the advancement of religious liberty around the world. The Pew Forum on Religion in Public Life, www.pewforum.org, The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life seeks to promote a deeper understanding of how religion shapes the ideas and institutions of American society. [This web site is an excellent source of current news articles on religious freedom issues; the Pew Forum also hosts numerous public events discussing the major religious freedom issues of the day, and frequently posts articles/papers from those events.] ReligiousTolerance.org, www.religioustolerance.org, seeks to provide balanced information about the religious issues that cause conflict. The Human Rights Resource Center of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center is an excellent source of documents, links and resources. Human Rights U.S.A. Religion in the Public Schools, a Joint Statement of Current Law was issued in 1995 by a coalition of groups spanning the religious and political spectrum. Although some aspects of the law has changed since then, this remains an excellent resource representing a consensus approach on the what the law is, not what some group wants it to be. This link shows that then Secretary of Education Richard Riley, supported the document: Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law Advocacy Organizations The American Center for Law and Justice, www.aclj.org, is a public interest law firm committed to insuring the ongoing viability of constitutional freedoms in accordance with principles of justice. American Jewish Committee, www.ajc.org, includes a strong emphasis on religious freedom among its activities and concerns. AJC’s legislative director, Richard Foltin, chairs the Workplace Religious Freedom Coalition, sponsoring the Workplace Religious Freedom Act in Congress. American Jewish Congress, www.ajcongress.org, has been a frequent participant in major legal battles over religious freedom, filing briefs in important cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and lower Federal and state courts. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, www.au.org. This is the organization that is seeking to remove religious symbols from public display, like crosses on hilltops, and the Ten Commandments from courthouse displays. The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith, http://www.adl.org/adl.asp is a prominent Jewish organization that is active on many religious freedom issues. Its mission statement: The immediate object of the League is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens." Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, http://www.bjcpa.org/ The mission of the Baptist Joint Committee is to defend and extend God-given religious liberty for all, bringing a uniquely Baptist witness to the principle that religion must be freely exercised, neither advanced nor inhibited by government. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, http://www.becketfund.org/ The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a bipartisan and ecumenical, public-interest law firm that protects the free expression of all religious traditions. This organization has a specialty in litigating religious land use cases. Capitol Resource Institute, www.capitolresource.org, is a California-based pro-family grassroots advocacy group. Christian Legal Society, Center for Law and Religious Freedom, www.clsnet.org, Through litigation, legislative advocacy, friend of the court briefs, and public education, Christian Legal Society's Center for Law and Religious Freedom works to protect the religious liberty of all Americans and the sanctity of human life. The Interfaith Alliance, www.interfaithalliance.org, The Interfaith Alliance is a non-partisan, clergy-led grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the positive, healing role of faith in civic life and challenging intolerance and extremism. Liberty Counsel, www.lc.org, is a nonprofit civil liberties education and legal defense organization dedicated to preserve religious freedom. Liberty Counsel has over 400 affiliate attorneys throughout the United States with experience in practically every area of law, ranging from antitrust to zoning. People for the American Way, www.pfaw.org, The Rutherford Institute, www.rutherford.org, The Rutherford Institute is a civil liberties organization that provides free legal services to people whose constitutional and human rights have been threatened or violated. American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization maintains some resources and information on religious liberty. Religious Liberty Link OTHER RELATED SITES OF INTEREST U.S. Government Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This is the Federal agency that both investigates and litigates employment discrimination. Before you can bring a lawsuit in Federal court claiming employment discrimination, you must file a charge with this agency. Quickly find the contact information for your local district office, and other valuable information about discrimination law on this site. www.eeoc.gov Supreme Court Decisions. The complete text of United States Supreme Court decisions can be freely accessed at Cornell Law School The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is a State Department based organization that both monitors religious freedom problems around the world, but also issues foreign policy recommendations to address such problems. www.uscirf.gov White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives has information for religious charities seeking to participate in government aid programs. White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Government Constitutions, Charters of Rights and other Documents
Historical Documents Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Roger Williams is the Baptist preacher who founded the colony of Rhode Island after being exiled from Massachusetts Bay, in part, due to his ideas about the separation of church and state. Yes, the concept originated with Williams, not Thomas Jefferson. Williams is really the theological foundation for the First Amendment’s religious freedom protection.From The Bloody Tenet of Persecution, for Cause of Conscience, in a Conference between Truth and Peace, 1644. James Madison’s most famous written contribution to the philosophy of religious freedom is a petition that he circulated in Virginia in support of Thomas Jefferson’s Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, and seeking to dismantle the existing religious establishment. This is the article you should read first, last and often. Memorial and Remonstrance, 1785. Thomas Jefferson’s famous “separation of church and state” letter to a group of Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut, including the letter Jefferson was replying to. Danbury Baptist Association's letter Thomas Jefferson wanted to be remembered on his tombstone for three things: the Declaration of Independence, founding the University of Virginia, and authoring the legislation that brought religious freedom to Virginia. Here is: A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia, 1785 and his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association on Separation of Church and State John Locke was an Englishman whose A Letter Concerning Toleration 1689 was very influential in the development of ideas concerning religious freedom. Philip Schaff was a Protestant historian whose book, Church and State in the United States, 1888, is an important classic. Excerpted here is an article: "The American Idea of Religious Freedom" Declaration of Independence at the US National Archives & Records Administration (NARA)
Google Directory - Declaration of Independence Churches United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "Human Rights/Religious Liberty" - Office of Social Development & World Peace – Southern Baptist Convention, The Baptist Faith and Message, Adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention May 9, 1963 XVII. Religious Liberty. This is an official Southern Baptist statement on religious liberty. [other religious-based advocacy organizations are listed above]
|
| [http://strategicnews.com/parl1/Footers/NavigationPlusCopyright.htm] |