Religious Freedom Day 2010
January 16, 2010 by Lillie
Today, January 16, 2010, is Religious Freedom Day, a day proclaimed by the president to celebrate our freedom, honor our tradition of religious liberty, and commemorate the signing of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on January 16, 1786.
In the United States, we are free to worship the God of our fathers—the God the founders recognized as the One who granted us the “inalienable rights” described in the Declaration of Independence. We are free to worship other deities or follow other beliefs. We are free to choose not to worship anything. No one and no government can stand between us and the free worship of our God.
Unfortunately, many people around the world do not enjoy religious freedom. We must stand up for them and do all we can to teach the world the value of allowing its citizens to worship as they choose. We who enjoy this amazing freedom must remain vigilant to protect it. And we must exercise it to set an example for the world and to keep our country great.
O God, who art the giver of all good gifts; We bless thy Name and give thee thanks for the religious freedom guaranteed to us in these United States. Grant that we worship thee, the one true God, faithfully and reverently, and that we protect this freedom for future generations, ever mindful that we enjoy liberty that many have not. We offer supplications for thy children around the world who do not enjoy the freedom to worship thee openly and freely without fear of persecution. We beseech thee to remember them in thy mercy and spread religious freedom around the world. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who liveth and reignth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
In Australia we have freedom to worship any of our faiths. I think it is a good thing
Matthew,
I’m glad you have freedom of religion in Australia. If only that were the case everywhere!
Yes Australia is a good place to be, free from worship of any kind. i use to live there when i was young and moved to the States. Missed the good old times.
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phillip,
I’ve never been to Australia but everyone I know who has been there or who lives there loves it.
I have gotten a chance to go to Australia and i loved the way they worship their God.
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Safari Rachael,
I wish every country in the world had religious freedom.
I wish that There’s more freedom here in the world. Great.
Maria,
I wish for the same thing.
@Matthew Robert Payne: We recently visited Uruguay (a little country in South America) in a fishing trip and we were amazed at how developed their sense of freedom of faith is. All kinds of people, each with their own religious views, share everyday life without any problem at all.
John,
Interesting to learn that about Uruguay.
I had the chance to go to the Philipppines, it’s an island nation in South-east Asia and I was amazed at how deeply rooted their religious practices are. Each month, they seem to have a festival devoted to a particular christian saint.
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Daniel,
That’s very interesting. Do people freely practice other religions there also?
Many nations in 10-40 window have no religious freedom. statistics (from JoshuaProject) says that 43 of 50 countries in 10-40 window persecutes Christians!
Chris,
Those numbers are appalling! We must continue to pray for religious freedom for everyone around the globe.
May we do everything in our power to extend our religious freedom to others who do not have them.
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Absolutely, Claire. It’s easy for us to forget the persecution others suffer, but we must not do that.
The world would be really a peaceful place when religious freedom is present everywhere .
raabita,
We have to pray and work for that goal.
The U.S. was founded upon freedom of religion, and I believe we should all not judge another person because we can never walk in their shoes.
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Hugo,
Absolutely, freedom of religion should never be taken for granted.
I knew about this because Jan 16th was also my birthday! I work in a very big office (700 people) and it was also well known here as we have people of all faiths working here.
Fortunately and perhaps amazingly…everyone gets along!
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Ed,
Hope you had a wonderful birthday!
I’m so glad to hear that everyone gets along where you work. That’s what religious freedom is all about—everyone believing and worshipping as they please and respecting other rights to do so as well.
There are lots of countries in the world where there’s freedom of religion, and in my humble opinion it’s the only way to peace in the world: everyone respecting others beliefs. Trying to convince others that what you think is right is not the way, let’s try to find points of agreement instead of points of disagreement.
Helmut,
I wouldn’t go so far as to say there’s anything wrong with trying to convert others to your beliefs. In fact, if you sincerely believe that your faith can help someone, I think it’s wrong to avoid giving them that help out of political correctness.
Religious freedom, I believe, also includes the freedom to share your beliefs with others. However, that must be in a respectful and honorable way—no killing someone because they disagree with your beliefs! If the person isn’t interested in hearing what you have to say, you shouldn’t try to force them—either verbally or physically—to listen. But the freedom to share your beliefs with others is part of religious freedom.