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Our country was founded in faith and upon
the truth that self-government is rooted in religious conviction. While the
Constitution guards against the establishment of state-sponsored religion, it
also honors the free exercise of religion. We believe the federal courts must
respect this freedom and the original intent of the Framers. We assert the
right of religious leaders to speak out on public issues and will not allow the
EEOC or any other arm of government to regulate or ban religious symbols from
the workplace. We condemn the desecration of places of worship and objects of
religious devotion, and call upon the media to reconsider their role in
fostering bias through negative stereotyping of religious citizens. We support
the First Amendment right of freedom of association and stand united with
private organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, and support their
positions.
Because we treasure freedom of conscience,
we oppose attempts to compel individuals or institutions to violate their moral
standards in providing health-related services. We believe religious
institutions and schools should not be taxed. When government funds
privately-operated social, welfare, or educational programs, it must not
discriminate against faith-based organizations, whose record in providing
services to those in need far exceeds that of the public sector. Their
participation should be actively encouraged, and never conditioned upon the
covering or removing of religious objects or symbols. |
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We honor the central place of faith in the lives of our people. Like our Founders, we believe
that our nation, our communities, and our lives are made vastly stronger and richer by faith and
the countless acts of justice and mercy it inspires. We will strengthen the role of faith-based
organizations in meeting challenges like homelessness, youth violence, and other social problems.
At the same time, we will honor First Amendment protections and not allow public funds to be
used to proselytize or discriminate. Throughout history, communities of faith have brought
comfort to the afflicted and shaped great movements for justice. We know they will continue to
do so, and we will always protect all Americans' freedom to worship.
We pledge to stand up for our beliefs and rally Americans to our cause. But we recognize that
disagreements will remain, and we believe disagreement should not mean disrespect. Members of
our party have deeply held and differing views on some matters of conscience and faith. We view
diversity of views as a source of strength, and we welcome into our ranks all Americans who seek
to build a stronger America. We are committed to resolving our differences in a spirit of civility,
hope and mutual respect.
That's the America we believe in. |
| Freedom of ReligionIssue: Government routinely invades personal privacy rights based solely on individuals' religious beliefs. Arbitrary tax structures are designed to give aid to certain religions, and deny it to others.
Principle: We defend the rights of
individuals to engage in (or abstain from) any religious activities that
do not violate the rights of others.
Solution: In order
to defend freedom, we advocate a strict separation of church and State.
We oppose government actions that either aid or attack any religion. We
oppose taxation of church property for the same reason that we oppose
all taxation. We condemn the attempts by parents or any others -- via
kidnappings or conservatorships -- to force children to conform to any
religious views. Government harassment or obstruction of religious
groups for their beliefs or non-violent activities must end.
Transitional Action: We call for an end to the harassment
of churches by the Internal Revenue Service through threats to deny
tax-exempt status to churches that refuse to disclose massive amounts of
information about themselves.
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