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Universal Declaration of Human Rights article
Example of the persecution of Christians
Example of the persecution of Christians
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Preserving Religious Freedom in the United States
In article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights its states that, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscious and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community of others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” Back in the late 1800s the Bible Students, (currently known as Jehovah’s Witnesses), were beginning to become an established people and religious organization. As they steadily grew in number, they began facing severe opposition, specifically from the Catholic Churches, members of the clergy, and certain other government officials. Oppression and persecution especially began to intensify in the
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A place to which all people could live in peace and harmony while freely worshipping whomever they choose. Clearly though, America was not upholding the civil right to freedom of religion. Since the clergy especially did not appreciate the Witnesses exposing lies about their doctrines and teachings, they would raid their homes where meetings were being held and physically abuse the Witnesses. Even their Bible literature was banned or confiscated, though the amendments also grant rights to the freedom of speech and the press. When these cases were brought forth to the Supreme Court, however, they were often overturned. This article will state how the fight for religious freedom, in the United States, was won majorly through the efforts of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Also, freedom of religion leads to freedom of thought which in turn leads to freedom of conscious. This is a right granted for all religions. Specfically, As the Witnesses deeper understanding of the Bible grew they began to conscientiously refuse to engage in certain nationalistic requirements such as military service or saluting of the
The New England colonies of Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Maryland [Pa. and Md.are not in New England] were founded with the express purpose of dispensing of with a statechurch [not exactly. Rhode Island was “put together.” Maryland did not have a single statechurch, but the Calverts did not intend to dispense with state support of a church]. In this theydeviated not only from the other British coloes in the New World but also from their Motherlandand indeed all the civilizations of western Christendom to date. Before the founding of RhodeIsland, Pennsylvania, and Maryland these three colonies, a state without an official state churchwas inconceivable. As the Church of England evolved in Britain, the other British colonies inNorth America adopted either Congregationalism, Anglicanism, or Presbyterianism [never a statechurch in the colonies] as their own “state church.” The idea of a state without a state church wasunprecedented (Cohen 9/30).In place of the usual state church, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Maryland adopted anew concept: “liberty of conscience.” Here, “liberty” is synonymous with “freedom.” By“conscience” our forefathers meant one's personal religious persuasion and its duties, as RogerWilliams explained to Governor John Endicott: “... I speake of Conscience, a perswasion fixed inthe minde and heart of a man, which inforceth him to judge (as Paul said of himself apersecutour) and to doe so and so, with respect to God, his worship, etc.” (Williams 340) To thefirst citizens of Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, civil “freedom of conscience” wasthe ability to live freely as a member of one's religion-that is, to perform such reli...
In the 17th and 18th centuries, people from Great Britain, moved and voyaged to the colonies for many reasons. A bulge of people moved to the “New World” , because there were more opportunities, as well as freedoms. The colonies offered freedom of religion and freedom and belief. As a colonist you had a right to believe in different religions than another person. In England you were to believe in the Church of England. In the colonies you were allowed to belief in any religion, stated in the first amendment(Brannen Jr., et al pg. 109).
William Penn, in converting a personal belief in religious freedom into the basis for governing a colony and in time for the nation, proved that religious diversity was beneficial not detrimental to faiths, colonies, and countries.
Throughout the history of mankind, numerous events such as the Crusades, have occurred in the name of religion and religious freedom. Sadly, the motivation for the early settlers coming to America wasn’t strictly about finding religious freedom. It was actually deeply rooted in the desire for economic growth and new trade opportunities. The New World presented itself as an opportunity for many to gain higher social economic status and growth in their business ventures. A number of known historical facts, including: hunger for new trade, poverty of many English inhabitants, and the rivalry between Spain and England, contributed and fostered the foundation and settling of the American Colonies.
The Protestants who emigrated to America knew from experience of the negative effect the government had on religion when the two were operating together. With the mindset of creating a new perfect holy land, they decided to make sure both church and state worked separately. While Puritans still did everything they could to enforce their beliefs in New England, including exiling those who did not attend church regularly, the core idea of separation of church and state was in the minds of the people. In order to have a country that values the freedom of religion, the church has to be out of any government policy. Any laws that are created around a single church’s faith, even if the majority of the population believes in them, threaten the freedoms of all other denominations. Ame...
The Heaven’s Gate religious group is one group in particular that has aroused much controversy in terms of the extent of religious freedom. In 1997, members of this group partook in an infamous mass suicide, claiming thirty-nine lives. There has been an extensive debate as to whether or not the government should have intervened in this group’s practice due to the violence and danger that it obviously posed to its members. However, through the acknowledgment of personal prejudices, an evaluation of coercion, the breadth of violence, legalities, and ethics revolving around this group’s violence, it can be concluded that government involvement in the religious practice of Heaven’s Gate would have been an inappropriate limitation of religious freedom. It would have been legally and morally unjust for the government to prevent the believers of Heaven’s Gate from making independent decisions.
Jehovah’s Witness started as a bible study movement in 1870 by Charles Taze Russell. In 1879, Russell started a magazine called Zion Watchtower and the organization became the Zion’s Watchtower Track Society in 1884, and in 1908 Russell moved the headquarters to Brooklyn, New York where the organization has been based ever since. After Russell’s death in 1916, the organization was lead by a man called Franklin Rutherford. Rutherford led the organization very successfully and in 1931 the name “Jehovah’s Witnesses” were adopted. Rutherford wrote over hundred books and fundamentally shaping group’s theology. The Jehovah’s Witness publishes magazines “Watchtower” and “Awake” which circulates about twenty seven million and thirty two million copies respectively nowadays. And because Jehovah’s Witness do not have professional clergy, the Watchtower magazine also functions as means of distributing its doctrine and practice to faithful worldwide.
"Prayer has been banished from schools and the ACLU rampages to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Moreover, “Separation of Church and State” is nowhere found in the Constitution or any other founding legislation. Our forefathers would never countenance the restrictions on religion exacted today." -- Bill Flax, Forbes, 2011
It has been suggested that there is currently a culture war taking place in the United States. Depending on who you listen to, you will get vastly different descriptions of the two sides. Some will insist that the fight is between the upholders of strong Christian, moral values and godless, secular-minded, moral relativists. Others will tell you that defenders of religious freedom and rational thought are battling religious fundamentalists who wish to impose their radically conservative views on the whole of the American populace. Regardless of which way you view the debate, the entire so-called “culture war” boils down to a basic disagreement over the place of religion in public life. In light of President Bush’s recent nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, I believe it is prudent to have a thorough discussion of the Constitutional principle of separation of church and state, because how the Supreme Court rules on issues related to this principle in the future will have a profound impact on how we define ourselves as a country. In order to conduct a thorough inquiry into this debate, I believe it is necessary to start at the beginning and attempt to discern how our founding fathers viewed religion’s place in public life, and how they relayed this view in the First Amendment. After I have done this, I will try to apply some of the principles I have gathered to current hot-button social issues which are likely to come before the Supreme Court in the not too distant future.
On January 1, 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Committee of the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut in which he stated:
From the beginning, when Joseph Smith first told of his visions, people discriminated against him and his new profound faith. Smith proves his belief by continuing to have faith in his belief and religion. Smith takes his faith to Ohio where he receives persecution and assault, persecution caused by the peaceful living of their faith. No law gives people the right to discriminate and abuse a religion based on their beliefs. In the same way, the Mormon Church received continuous discrimination when they moved to Missouri. As the crimes against the Mormon Church rose and more attacks took place the government stood by taking no action (Bushman 21). These continuous attacks amongst all parts of the Midwest show the lack of equality amongst all religions. The idea founding the United States, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” that is stated in the Declaration of Independence has been ignored. The government poss...
The basis of the Pilgrims leaving Europe and coming to America was for religious freedom! Multiple different religions in our “God fearing” nation have been shutout or cast down simply because of their right to believe in a higher being. In saying this, it must be safe to assume that religious freedom was NOT the sole reason because ever since the dust, from Europe to the “West Indies” settled, our ancestors began to tell different religious sects what they could and could not do to worship their own omnipresent deity. Even as the Pilgrims arrived full of the hatred that the religious oppressions had brought them, one of their goals was to convert Native Americans to Christianity! As our colonies became a unified nation, we began passing laws that varied religions from their normal rituals of worship. Henry Louis Mencken said, “Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.” (Leray, 2014) Thomas Jeffereson said, “I never will by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others.” (Petrie, 2014) These two quotes make the point that even though we the people, “one nation under God,” are completely severed ...
Religious Freedom Restoration Act In this paper I will describe the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This Act was used to contradict the decision of the court case of Employment Division v. Smith, which allowed the government to forbid any religious act without giving a reason. The RFRA brought back the requirement that the government provide an adequate reason to forbid any religious act. The government once again had to show that the act was of compelling interest to the state.
Many of the British North Americans who settled faced religious persecution in Europe. They refused to conform to the teaching of the Church of England and fled Europe. Among those who fled were the Quakers and Puritans, two large religious groups in Britain. However, not everyone was willing to accept these religious groups in America either. Many of the Europeans already living there were of the Christian faith. They didn’t want these groups corrupting the minds of the people in their town. Because of this several religious groups started their own colonies. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maryland were founded by the Puritans, and Pennsylvania was founded by the Quakers. The Age of Enlightenment also contributed to religious toleration. The Maryland Act Concerning Religion (1644) was a breakthrough in the early history of religious freedom in America. According to Maryland Act Concerning Religion “matters concerning religion and the honor of God ought in the first place be taken into serious consideration and endeavored to be settled” (Maryland Act 28). Many colonies, however claimed to practice religious freedom, but still had an official state religion. Freedom of religion is considered to be a fundamental right. People are now able to worship whatever and whoever they choose as long as they do transgress on public
America has been named the "melting pot" of the world. It houses many different cultures, nationalities, ideas and religions. There are Christians, Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, Mormons, Hindus, Spiritualists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Islamic, plus many more. America is unique in that all these religions are represented in a nation that is only 200 years old. And America has upheld, throughout history, that the freedom and equality of religion is extremely important in order for this nation to function as a free nation. The foundations of America were set as a result of England's persecution; more specifically, England's religious persecution. The colonists wanted to create a nation that allowed people to be free. They desired to speak what they wanted to speak, do what they wanted to do, and practice what they wanted to practice... without the government watching their every move. Thus came religious freedom.