Happy Religious Freedom Day! What, didn’t know? Yep, every January 16 is RFD. From President Biden’s Proclamation (emphasis mine):
The constitutional right to practice our faiths peacefully and openly is a core tenet of our democracy and helps us fulfill one of our highest aspirations as a Nation: to be a citadel of liberty and a beacon of freedom. On Religious Freedom Day, we renew our pledge to protect that right by ensuring each person of any faith or belief can live out the deepest convictions of their conscience with dignity and respect.
-snip-
On this day, we recognize that the work of protecting religious freedom is never finished. In our quest to build a more perfect Union, may our faiths and beliefs help us heal divisions and bring us together to safeguard this fundamental freedom guaranteed by our Constitution and to ensure that people of all religions or no religion are treated with dignity and respect.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2024, as Religious Freedom Day.
Every recent president has made a similar proclamation for this day. Unfortunately, it overlaps MLK Day, not to mention the lingering Christmas/New Year’s hangovers. But this is the date in 1786 that Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was passed. It says in part:
No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
Please go to the link; Jefferson penned MANY more great lines, especially in their reasoning for enacting such a statute.
So even though I personally worship Ceiling Cat (ha!), I posted this so that we’d have at least a little observance of RFD. Please feel free to post religion diaries and/or comments today!! It’s your day!
Please note also that officebss is the first to post on this topic today, AFAIK. Great poetery she has! Please visit and enjoy.