1. Religious Liberty
Religious Liberty in American Public Life
&
The Free Exercise Clause
The Religion then of every man must
By Charles C. Haynes
be left to the conviction and conscience of
From the colonial era to the present, religions and every man; and it is the right of every man
religious beliefs have played a significant role in the to exercise it as these may dictate. This
political life of the United States. Religion has been
at the heart of some of the best and some of the worst
right is in its nature an unalienable right.
movements in American history. The guiding prin- James Madison (1785)
ciples that the Framers intended to govern the rela-
tionship between religion and politics are set forth There is . . . need of a badge which shall express at first
glance, without complexity of detail, that basic principle of
in Article VI of the Constitution and in the opening
freedom of thought for which Liberals of all isms are contending.
16 words of the First Amendment of the Bill of This need seems to have been met by the Freethinkers
Rights. Now that America has expanded from the of France, Belgium, Spain and Sweden,
largely Protestant pluralism of the seventeenth cen- who have adopted the pansy as their
tury to a nation of some 3,000 religious groups, it is badge (French pensee, meaning
thought). We join with them in
more vital than ever that every citizen understand
recommending this flower as a
the appropriate role of religion in public life and simple and inexpensive badge of
affirm the constitutional guarantees of religious Freethought.
liberty, or freedom of conscience, for people of Let every patriot who is a
all faiths or none. Freethinker in this sense, adopt
the pansy as his badge, to be
The philosophical ideas and religious convic-
worn at all times, as a silent
tions of Roger Williams, William Penn, John and unobtrusive testimony of his
Leland, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and principles. In this way we shall
other leaders were decisive in the struggle for free- recognize our brethren in the cause,
dom of conscience. The United States is a nation and the enthusiasm will spread; until,
before long, the uplifted standard of the
built on ideals and convictions that have become
pansy, beneath the sheltering folds of the United States flag,
democratic first principles. These principles must be shall everywhere thrill men’s hearts as the symbol of religious
understood and affirmed by every generation if the liberty and freedom of conscience.
American experiment in liberty is to endure. “The Pansy Badge” circa 1880s
American Secular Union
The Religious Liberty clauses of the First
Amendment to the Constitution are a momentous Freethinkers at Virginia Tech is a student
decision, the most important political decision for organization which seeks to educate the Virginia Tech
religious liberty and public justice in history. Two community of the importance of church-state separation
hundred years after their enactment they stand and increase awareness of cult phenomena.
Information info@freeatvt.org
out boldly in a century made dark by state repres-
sion and secratarian conflict. Yet the ignorance Website http://www.freeatvt.org/
and contention now surrounding the clauses are a Annoucement List http://www.egroups.com/group/freeatvt-announce
reminder that their advocacy and defense is a task Discussion List http://www.egroups.com/group/freeatvt-discussion
for each succeeding generation. Affiliated with
Campus Freethought Alliance
The Williamsburg Charter (1988) http://www.secularhumanism.org/cfa/