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Religious Freedom in the U.S. Senate

Target:
Members of United States House & Senate
We seek to take a stance in defense of religious freedom, condemn ugly statements against Chaplain Rajan Zed (a Hindu who gave the July 12, 2007 invocation at the U.S. Senate) and U.S. Keith Ellison (the first Muslim elected to the House of Representatives), and call for a peaceful and productive dialogue among all religious groups.
We seek to take a stance in defense of religious freedom, condemn ugly statements against Chaplain Rajan Zed (a Hindu who gave the July 12, 2007 invocation at the U.S. Senate) and U.S. Keith Ellison (the first Muslim elected to the House of Representatives), and call for a peaceful and productive dialogue among all religious groups.
We the undersigned would like to call your attention to the recent statement by Representative William Sali of Idaho regarding the recent Senate invocation by Rajan Zed, the election of Representative Keith Ellison, and the Founding Fathers views on freedom of religion:

"We have not only a Hindu prayer being offered in the Senate, we have a Muslim member of the House of Representatives now, Keith Ellison from Minnesota. Those are changes -- and they are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers".

I beseech you, as my Congressional representatives, to unite and inform Representative Sali, in writing, that the views of the Founding Fathers can be found in the U.S. Constitution, and that his statement is in direct contradiction to the U.S. Constitution he has sworn to uphold, which reads:

Bill of Rights - Amendment I, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Additionally Article VI, paragraph 3, states: "[N]o religious Test shall be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

The idea that adherence to a certain religion should be a requirement of eligibility to hold governmental office is completely contrary to the fundamental core American values on which our Nation was established. Please take a stand against this gross rewriting of history; don%u2019t let us forget that America was founded on the idea of freedom of religion.

Sincerely,

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We signed the "Religious Freedom in the U.S. Senate" petition!
# 87:
7:50 am PDT, May 20, Name not displayed, United States Minor Outlying Islands
# 84:
2:22 am PDT, Mar 24, Shannon Sultan, Wisconsin
# 82:
11:50 pm PST, Feb 22, Bilal Ur Rehman Qadri, Pakistan
In some news papers of Denmark, Cartoons of our Holy Prophet are published, once again. It,s a very great & unbearable shock for Muslims. We love our Holy Prophet more than our lives. But European Media tries to hurt our sentiments again & again.We respect leaders of all the religions, why You dont respect our religious & Beloved leaderss. Hazrat Muhammad PBUH was massenger of Love, peace & respect for humanity. we also love peace. But why You do not show your inclination for peace. If you will not appologise for it then we shall bycott your products in all the Muslim countries & will exile your embassadors from our countries.
# 81:
12:43 am PST, Feb 22, Terie Jean Carney, Washington
knock off the mean prejudices what are ya kindergarteners? Yer men and women some of ya older than me! what a terrible example you are! Very unprofessional too. You sure don't act like learned college educated people!
# 80:
4:42 pm PST, Feb 4, Name not displayed, Greece
# 79:
8:43 pm PST, Jan 11, Tyler Rud, Minnesota
# 78:
10:03 pm PST, Jan 8, Name not displayed, Kentucky
# 77:
5:26 pm PST, Jan 6, Name not displayed, Maryland
# 76:
1:58 am PST, Jan 4, Carina Nilsson, Sweden
# 75:
5:47 pm PST, Jan 1, Anne Martinez, Arizona
because if i don't stand up now, there will be no one left to stand for me! Dr. Ron Paul is our last hope for a free country! find out more at www.RonPaul2008.com "we the people" are speaking - if they won't listen, we'll make them!
# 73:
2:51 am PST, Dec 30, Steven Heaver, New Jersey
# 72:
1:15 am PST, Dec 11, Cassie Toner, Washington
I am a minority religion and believe in freedom of expression and separation of church and state
# 71:
2:42 pm PDT, Oct 27, Jamie Richards, Massachusetts
# 70:
12:36 pm PDT, Oct 24, Brandy Kerr, Ohio
# 69:
2:13 pm PDT, Oct 21, Laurel Burns, Maine
# 68:
7:48 am PDT, Oct 19, Name not displayed, Oklahoma
# 67:
7:13 pm PDT, Oct 9, Jason Turgeon, Maine
# 66:
12:16 pm PDT, Sep 27, Name not displayed, Arizona
# 65:
4:46 pm PDT, Sep 17, Name not displayed, Colorado
# 64:
1:45 pm PDT, Sep 17, Denise Reiser, Arizona
Stick to the subject on the table, and stop your childish bickering. God is watching you.
# 63:
4:38 pm PDT, Sep 16, Bob Willman, Pennsylvania
I support relious freedom in this country.
# 62:
6:00 am PDT, Sep 16, Carola Mitchell, North Carolina
# 61:
2:23 pm PDT, Sep 13, Chuck Dowe, Massachusetts
# 60:
4:35 pm PDT, Sep 5, Name not displayed, Rhode Island
# 59:
1:23 am PDT, Sep 5, Allan Diewold, Canada
# 58:
6:47 pm PDT, Sep 4, Gentle Deer Lion Tamer, Texas
# 57:
10:42 pm PDT, Sep 3, Autumn Silvermoon, Illinois
THE REPUBLICRAT PARTY ONLY BELIEVES IN FREEDOM OF RELIGION ONLY IF YOUR ARE A RELIGIOUS RiGhT-WiNg-nUt. THESE ARE THE SAME ONES THAT CONDEMN ANYONE WHO DOESN'T BELIEVE THE LIES THEY PERPETRATE. THEY ARE CATEGORICALLY INSANE AND SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY HOSPITALIZED FOR THERE OWN GOOD. THEY ARE SO INSANE THEY EVEN THINK A NUCLEAR WAR CAN BE WON. HOW INSANE IS that?!?! GODDESS THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME THE LOVE AND THE LIGHT! Signed, One of MANY WITCHES... WE ARE EVERYWHERE.
# 56:
4:58 pm PDT, Sep 2, Name not displayed, California
# 55:
2:30 pm PDT, Sep 2, Helenita Pangman, New York
# 54:
5:39 am PDT, Aug 31, Cheryl Townsend, North Carolina
# 53:
10:39 am PDT, Aug 29, Tim Pluta, North Carolina
# 52:
9:23 am PDT, Aug 28, Steve Chaput, California
# 51:
1:39 am PDT, Aug 28, B Wilson, California
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