On Jan. 16, 1786, the General Assembly adopted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Thomas Jefferson penned the legislation; James Madison was its principal sponsor. The statute served as the basis for the First Amendment to the United States Constitution; it also perfected trends dating to the nation's early days. In 1657, for instance, friends of the friends petitioned Peter Stuyvesant to end New Netherland's ban on Quaker worship. The Flushing Remonstrance deserves greater prominence in the nation's memory.
Tomorrow marks Religious Freedom Day, a national event since 1993. Presidents issue proclamations to draw attention to American traditions and to the state of religious tolerance around the world. Richmond's First Freedom Center may be the pre-eminent organization promoting religious liberty — which includes not only religion's freedom from governmental encroachments but the citizenry's freedom from compelled observance and established faith.
"Why are the nations in an uproar?" the Psalmist asks. "Why do the peoples mutter empty threats?" This week the center issued a report on Minority Religious Communities at Risk, which assesses the status of religious freedom worldwide. The study correctly concludes that the condition of religious minorities remains a key indicator of human rights more generally. Regimes that either directly oppress religious minorities or fail to offer protection from civic abuse are not likely to respect the rule of law. The violent persecution of Coptic Christians suggests disturbing things about Egypt's government. Christians are not alone. The divisions within Islam suffer at the hands of their co-religionists as well. Competition among religions in Africa has resulted in blood.
Tomorrow's Op/Ed page will feature a column by the Cato Institute's Doug Bandow that discusses the global religious climate today. The kingdom is not so peaceable as practitioners of the various religions would have it be. Faith is besieged not only by denominational strife but by secular ideologies that consider religion a challenge to their intransigent claims to earthly power and prestige. The piece complements the First Freedom Center's good work.
Miguel de Unamuno said, "My religion is to seek for truth in life and for life in truth, even knowing that I shall not find them while I live." Those who in quiet confidence subscribe to other creeds agree that the Spanish philosopher-poet describes the human condition all too vividly. Unamuno was an enlightened tragedian. Many in this world are not — which is why Religious Freedom Day is as essential as a catechism for those of goodwill who believe and those of goodwill who do not.
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