Religious Freedom Where U R

[Ennio]

With the way that some things seem to be going, the subject of 'religious freedom' came to mind recently. One question I have is, how much religious freedom do I have in theory, and in practice, where I live? What freedoms are afforded to me? And then I thought it might be an interesting question for anyone anywhere to ask - as many folks consider religious places of worship a sort of last place of refuge - even, sometimes, at religious institutions that we don't ascribe to. I'm thinking now of all the stories I've read on Sott, and elsewhere, where someone being pursued by an oppressive force runs into a church or other such place for refuge. Or like the scenes at the end of the original 'War of the Worlds' where many of the people who aren't running around like headless chickens are in church praying for relief from the onslaught on humanity. They're all looking for religious freedom - or freedom through religion, just as they're about to get clipped down! But, I digress.

Way before the possibility of being pursued by crazies, running into a church from whoever, or whatever, it probably makes more sense to think about how religion and the laws of one's country are set up to protect it's citizenry. Or not. Maybe knowing the laws can help insure that one isn't 'left behind' with the sleeping

Now, I happen to live in the U.S. which means that, according to this website http://www.religiousfreedom.com/wrpt/USrpt.htm, I am basically protected under the first amendment.

Here's some of what the site says:

The US Constitution adopted in 1789 is the oldest written constitution in the world. Article Six forbids any religious test for the holding of national office. The First Congress of the United States passed ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law regarding an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The First Amendment also guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

In American constitutional law, the section of the First Amendment concerning religion is generally divided into two clauses: the Establishment Clause - “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion;” and the Free Exercise Clause - “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” At the time of adoption, and for over a hundred years after, the Bill of Rights was construed to apply only to the federal legislature. Gradually, the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights were extended to the state governments by the Supreme Court through the application of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which was passed after the Civil War. The Free Exercise Clause was extended to the states in 1940, and the Establishment Clause was extended to the states in 1947. Since that time, the Supreme Court has heard numerous cases concerning the right of religious freedom.

And then to complete the picture, there's an interesting piece of legislation called the ‘‘International Religious Freedom Act of 1998’’. Introduced to the U.S. Senate by, of all people, Mr. Magic Bullet himself, Senator Arlen Specter. The law basically positions the U.S. as the world's righteous watchdog of religious persecution. It seems like it has been so busy lately watching what other countries are doing that it forgot to look at itself!

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Religious_Freedom_Act_of_1998

As per the Act, the Congress and the President are obligated to take into account the various issues of religious freedom while developing the country's foreign policy. As under the Title I of the Act, a bureaucratic infrastructure is created for dealing with religious issues. This is known as the Office of the International Religious Freedom which is regulated under the US Department of State. Title II creates the Commission on International Religious Freedom and Title III a special advisor to the president on international religious freedom within the National Security Council. The crux of the Act lies in Title IV. Title IV details the possible options available to the president and his actions based upon them in response to the states which violate the provisions under the Act. Under Sec. 401(b)(1), the President shall identify specific countries that the Commission on International Religious Freedom designates as having obstructed religious freedom. The president must then, with the consultation of the secretary of state, the ambassador at large, the National Security Council special advisor, and the commission, design a response to those countries. [6]

Countries that are severe violators of religious freedom are categorized under Sec 402 of the Act and this subjects them to punitive sanctions which are listed in Sec. 405. Under this section, the president must either enter into a binding agreement with the concerned country to end the religious persecution, or to choose from remedies outlined in Sec. 405 of the Act. This section offers the president with fifteen options to exercise against countries engaging in religious persecution. These include

* a private or a public demarche;
* a private or public condemnation;
* the delay or cancellation of scientific or cultural exchanges;
* the denial, delay, or cancellation of working, official or state visits;
* the withdrawing, limitation, or suspension of some forms of U.S. aid;
* direction to public and private international institutions to deny assistance;
* and sanctions prohibiting the US government from entering into import or export agreements with the designated governments. [6]

Under Title IV, the president may waiver punitive measures against the concerned country. This would allow the president in balancing of the objectives of the bill with other US Foreign Policy interests. The Title V of the act seeks to promote religious freedom abroad through the way of international media, exchanges and foreign service awards for working to promote human rights. The Immigration and Naturalization Service officials are trained under the venues of Title VI of the Act.

The final provision of the Act, Title VII contains miscellaneous provisions, including 701, which urges transnational corporations to adopt codes of conduct sensitive to the right to freedom of religion. [6]

It will be interesting to see how the U.S. uses this act in the near future to "help" the people of other countries.