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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/7/2007 3:39:42 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Virginia--Victory in the Legislature for Religious Freedom |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Virginia--Victory in the Legislature for Religious Freedom Dear HSLDA members and friends: Thank you for your calls to your delegate. Incredibly, the Religious Freedom Act passed 67-30, with three delegates not voting. This is a tremendous result after trying to get the Religious Freedom Act passed for the previous three years and never getting it out of committee. The Religious Freedom Act will provide protection for people of faith in every area when their religious convictions conflict with the state's regulations. We are using it to protect homeschoolers in Pennsylvania and Florida. We hope that with your help, the Religious Freedom Act will pass the Senate and Virginia will be on its way to protecting religious freedom--just like the other 13 states that have already passed the Religious Freedom Act. To this end, we are planning to testify before the Senate committee. ACTION As this bill is now in the Senate, we urge you to contact your senator and ask him or her to support the Religious Freedom Act. You can reach your senator via the capitol switchboard at (804) 698-7410 or (804) 698-1470. Or you can use our legislative toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox to find your senator's contact information. You can give them this message: "Please vote in favor of House Bill 3082, the Religious Freedom Act. This bill will protect one of the most important freedoms in the state of Virginia--religious freedom." BACKGROUND On June 25, 1997, by a 6-3 majority, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in The City of Boerne v. Flores that the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was unconstitutional. By doing this, the Court gave the lowest level of protection to religious liberty--one of the foundational freedoms of homeschooling. Under this minimal standard, the State can override a homeschooler's or other citizen's right to freely exercise his religious beliefs merely by proving that its regulation is "reasonable." Since nearly all state regulations can be determined to be "reasonable," Christians will lose. Since the devastating U.S. Supreme Court Boerne decision, state and federal courts across the country have diminished religious freedom in many ways. For example: > The long-standing practice of pastor-laity confidentiality has been repeatedly violated; > A Catholic hospital was denied accreditation for refusing to teach abortion techniques; > There have been conflicts with zoning ordinances, such as the forced termination of a church ministry to the homeless because it was located on the second floor of a building with no elevator; and > A church was prohibited from feeding more than 50 people per day. Passage of H.B. 3082 will raise the standard of protection for religious freedom in Virginia for individuals, homeschool parents, churches, and all who desire to freely exercise their religious beliefs. If passed, the Virginia RFRA will restore the high standard of protection for religious liberty previously guaranteed in the federal RFRA and earlier Supreme Court decisions. Under the Virginia RFRA, if an individual's religious belief is in conflict with a state regulation, the state will have to prove, with evidence, that its regulation is essential to fulfill a compelling state interest and is the least restrictive means of doing so. If the state fails to carry the burden, the regulation must give way to the individual's religious freedom. Restoring this protection for religious freedom will simply "even the playing field." In a somewhat ironic twist, Congress passed a law giving this higher level of protection--but only to prisoners! Prisoners now have greater protection for their religious liberty than you do. This must be changed. For more detailed information on Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, visit our website at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3691 . Don't let one decision by the U.S. Supreme Court denigrate this priceless inalienable right. Urge your state senator now to restore protection for religious liberty in Virginia by supporting the Virginia RFRA! Thanks again for your calls! Sincerely Yours, Chris Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> What do you look like when you get out of bed? It's hard to look our best all the time. HSLDA works to present homeschooling in an engaging, dynamic, and informative light to the public news media. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
