Petition Text: 22619-CS-NonDis-O

Understanding Petition Numbers

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Whereas, we, the Nashville United Methodist Church believe that the marginalization of religion and the pushing of faith out of the public square denies Christians in America freedom of religious expression; and

Whereas, we believe that three decades of United States Supreme Court decisions have eroded 200 years of legal precedent regarding religious liberty; and

Whereas, we oppose government intrusion into religion, including government designed school prayer; and

Whereas, support of efforts to protect religious expression is consistently in the 70 percent range; and

Whereas, we believe every citizen should have freedom of religious expression as well as secular expression; and

Whereas, we believe a religious equality amendment to the United States Constitution is needed to clarify the freedom of religious expression which the First Amendment already allows;

Therefore, be it resolved, that the General Conference hereby enthusiastically support the following proposed Religious Equality Amendment to be proposed in the United States House of Representatives:

Section 1. Neither the United States nor any state shall abridge the freedom of any person or group, including students in public schools, to engage in prayer or other religious expression in circumstances in which expression of nonreligious character would be permitted; nor deny benefits to or otherwise discriminate against any person or group on account of the religious character of their speech, ideas, motivations, or identity.

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Petition Text: 22619-CS-NonDis-O
1996 United Methodist General Conference