Celebrate our Religious Freedom! Did you know that our nation has a day dedicated solely to religious freedom? The tradition of this important day goes back to the passage of the statute by the Virginia General Assembly in January of 1786. The historic statute was authored by Thomas Jefferson who took as his inspiration the religious freedom clauses in the First Amendment to our Constitution. The First Amendment reads, "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. Religious liberty is often called the first freedom because our Founding Fathers valued it so highly. The Fathers recognized that religious freedom in America must be protected with great vigilance. That is the guarantee of the Constitution, and that is the promise of our government throughout the generations from the 1780's to the current day. President Bush recently said, "Religious faith has inspired many of our fellow citizens to help build a better nation. In America today, people of faith continue to wage a determined campaign to meet needs and fight suffering ... [we have] been working to ensure that faith-inspired organizations do not face discrimination simply because of their religious orientation." Remember to celebrate the privilege of religious freedom in America, and pray for those who do not enjoy this important right. If any information is not found to be public domail, please let me know immediately so that I may remove it.  Most of the information has been received by emails and articles from students and friends. submitted by a friend original source unknown