Religious Freedom Day, 2008

Proclamation 8215 of January 14, 2008

Religious Freedom Day, 2008

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Thomas Jefferson counted the freedom of worship as one
of America's greatest blessings. He said it was ``a
liberty deemed in other countries incompatible with
good government, and yet proved by our experience to be
its best support.'' On Religious Freedom Day, we
celebrate the 1786 passage of the Virginia Statute for
Religious Freedom.

The freedom to worship according to one's conscience is
one of our Nation's most cherished values. It is the
first protection offered in the Bill of Rights: that
``Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof.'' In America, people of different
faiths can live together united in peace, tolerance,
and humility. We are committed to the proposition that
as equal citizens of the United States of America, all
are free to worship as they choose.

In an era during which an unprecedented number of
nations have embraced individual freedom, we have also
witnessed the stubborn endurance of religious
repression. Religious freedom belongs not to any one
nation, but to the world, and my Administration
continues to support freedom of worship at home and
abroad. On Religious Freedom Day and throughout the
year, we recognize the importance of religious freedom
and the vital role it plays in spreading liberty and
ensuring human dignity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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, 2008, as
Religious Freedom Day. I call on all Americans to
reflect on the great blessing of religious liberty,
endeavor to preserve this freedom for future
generations, and commemorate this day with appropriate
events and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two
thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.