We welcome you to a new feature here at the American Atheist Magazine web site -- our on line forum. Here, we will periodically ask your opinion of some of the many questions confronting nonbelievers.

THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AMENDMENT

Background...

The House Judiciary Committee has approved the controversial proposal known as the Religious Freedom Amendment. It now moves to the floor of the full House of Representatives. Action on RFA could take place as early as this coming week. Check out AMERICAN ATHEISTS FLASHLINE for updates on the status of this crucial legislation. Known as HJR 78, it reads:

“To secure the people's right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience: Neither the United States nor any State shall establish any official religion, but the people's right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, or traditions on public property, including schools, shall not be infringed. Neither the United States nor any State shall require any person to join in prayer or other religious activity, prescribe school prayers, discriminate against religion, or deny equal access to a benefit on account of religion.”

To become an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the RFA must be approved by each house of Congress by a two-thirds margin; following that, 3/4 of the legislatures in the individual states must ratify the proposal within a seven-year period. Only a majority vote is required in those legislatures. If successful, the Religious Freedom Amendment would then become part of the Constitution. Presidential approval is not required, and the measure cannot be vetoed.

The RFA is considered the most workable of a series of measures which have been introduced to address issues such as prayer and other religious rituals in public schools. It would legitimize many practices which over the past 35 years the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have found to be unconstitutional, and violative of state-church separation. Critics have charged that the Religious Freedom Amendment would effectively "gut" the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment; but backers insist that such an amendment is necessary in order to protect public expressions of religion.

Learning More...

The Religious Freedom Amendment is discussed extensively on a website operated by the office of Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) who is the main sponsor of this measure. Links from there will take you to some of the groups which are supporting the Religious Freedom Amendment. You can also find additional background through search engines like YAHOO, HOTBOT and ALTAVISTA.

American Atheists has background on the issue of prayer in schools, starting with the landmark case of MURRAY v. CURLETT And our FLASHLINE web site offers a number of articles on the measure. Visit http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/rfa10.htm for the latest news, and follow links from that article for more information.

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