1 State of Arkansas
2 94th General Assembly
3 Regular Session, 2023 HCR 1005
4
5 By: Representative Bentley
6 By: Senator G. Stubblefield
7
8 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
9 TO PROCLAIM RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY.
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12 Subtitle
13 TO PROCLAIM RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY.
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15 WHEREAS, our country's democracy is rooted in the fundamental truth that all
16 people are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights,
17 including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and
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19 WHEREAS, the freedom of conscience was highly valued by individuals seeking
20 religious freedom who settled in the American colonies early; the founders of
21 the United States; and Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in his letter to the
22 Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church at New London, Connecticut, dated
23 February 4, 1809: "No provision in our constitution ought to be dearer to
24 man, than that which protects the rights of conscience against the
25 enterprizes of the civil authority"; and
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27 WHEREAS, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was drafted by Thomas
28 Jefferson, who considered the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom to be
29 one of his greatest achievements, enacted on January 16, 1786, and the
30 forerunner to the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United
31 States Constitution; and
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33 WHEREAS, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the
34 right of individuals to express freely and to act peacefully on their
35 religious beliefs and also protects individuals from coercion to profess or
36 act on a religious belief to which they do not adhere; and
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2 WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1798 that each right encompassed in the
3 First Amendment to the United States Constitution is independent of the other
4 rights described in that amendment, "thereby guarding in the same sentence
5 and under the same words, the freedom of religion, of speech, and of the
6 press; insomuch that whatever violated either, throws down the sanctuary
7 which covers the others"; and in 1822, he wrote that the constitutional
8 freedom of religion is "the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights";
9 and
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11 WHEREAS, individuals who have studied United States democracy from an
12 international perspective, including Alexis de Tocqueville, have noted that
13 religion plays a central role in preserving the United States Government
14 because religion provides the moral base required for democracy to succeed;
15 and
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17 WHEREAS, after quoting George Mason's statement from the Virginia Declaration
18 of Rights that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion
19 according to the dictates of conscience", President Franklin D. Roosevelt
20 went on to state in a 1935 speech delivered at the University of Notre Dame,
21 "in the conflict of policies and of political systems, which the world today
22 witnesses, the United States has held for its own guidance and for the
23 guidance of other nations if they will accept it, this great torch of liberty
24 of human thought, liberty of human conscience. We will never lower it"; and
25
26 WHEREAS, religious freedom "has been integral to the preservation and
27 development of the United States", and "the free exercise of religion goes
28 hand in hand with the preservation of our other rights", as expressed by
29 President George H.W. Bush in his Presidential Proclamation on Religious
30 Freedom Day in 1993; and
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32 WHEREAS, "our laws and institutions should not impede or hinder but rather
33 should protect and preserve fundamental religious liberties", as expressed by
34 President William Jefferson Clinton in his remarks accompanying the signing
35 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993; and
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1 WHEREAS, we "continue to proclaim the fundamental right of all peoples to
2 believe and worship according to their own conscience, to affirm their
3 beliefs openly and freely, and to practice their faith without fear or
4 intimidation", as expressed by President Clinton in his Presidential
5 Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day in 1998; and
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7 WHEREAS, "Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right that must be
8 upheld by every nation and guaranteed by every government", as expressed by
9 President Clinton in his Presidential Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day
10 in 1999; and
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12 WHEREAS, "Religious faith has inspired many of our fellow citizens to help
13 build a better Nation" in which "people of faith continue to wage a
14 determined campaign to meet needs and fight suffering", as expressed by
15 President George W. Bush in his Presidential Proclamation on Religious
16 Freedom Day in 2003; and
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18 WHEREAS, the principle of religious freedom "has guided our Nation forward"
19 and "is a universal human right to be protected here at home and across the
20 globe," as expressed by President Barack Obama in his presidential
21 proclamations on Religious Freedom Day in 2011 and 2013, respectively; and
22
23 WHEREAS, in Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U.S. 565 (2013), the United
24 States Supreme Court quoted John Adams that "people of many faiths may be
25 united in a community of tolerance and devotion"; and
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27 WHEREAS, for countless people of the United States, faith is an integral part
28 of every aspect of daily life and is not limited to their homes, houses of
29 worship, or doctrinal creeds; and
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31 WHEREAS, the role of religion in the society and public life of the United
32 States has a long and robust tradition,
33
34 NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-
35 FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, THE SENATE CONCURRING
36 THEREIN:
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2 THAT the House of Representatives and the Senate concurring, proclaim January
3 16, 2023, as "Religious Freedom Day", honor the anniversary of the enactment
4 of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and affirm that religious
5 freedom is a fundamental human right.
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