Religious Freedom Day, 2011

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Part V

The President

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Proclamation 8623--Religious Freedom Day, 2011

Proclamation 8624--Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2011

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 8623 of January 14, 2011

Religious Freedom Day, 2011

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Our Nation was founded on a shared commitment to the
values of justice, freedom, and equality. On Religious
Freedom Day, we commemorate Virginia's 1786 Statute for
Religious Freedom, in which Thomas Jefferson wrote that
``all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to
maintain, their opinion in matters of religion.'' The
fundamental principle of religious freedom--guarded by
our Founders and enshrined in our Constitution's First
Amendment--continues to protect rich faiths flourishing
within our borders.

The writ of the Founding Fathers has upheld the ability
of Americans to worship and practice religion as they
choose, including the right to believe in no religion
at all. However, these liberties are not self-
sustaining, and require a stalwart commitment by each
generation to preserve and apply them. Throughout our
Nation's history, our founding ideal of religious
freedom has served as an example to the world. Though
our Nation has sometimes fallen short of the weighty
task of ensuring freedom of religious expression and
practice, we have remained a Nation in which people of
different faiths coexist with mutual respect and
equality under the law. America's unshakeable
commitment to religious freedom binds us together as a
people, and the strength of our values underpins a
country that is tolerant, just, and strong.

My Administration continues to defend the cause of
religious freedom in the United States and around the
world. At home, we vigorously protect the civil rights
of Americans, regardless of their religious beliefs.
Across the globe, we also seek to uphold this human
right and to foster tolerance and peace with those
whose beliefs differ from our own. We bear witness to
those who are persecuted or attacked because of their
faith. We condemn the attacks made in recent months
against Christians in Iraq and Egypt, along with
attacks against people of all backgrounds and beliefs.
The United States stands with those who advocate for
free religious expression and works to protect the
rights of all people to follow their conscience, free
from persecution and discrimination.

On Religious Freedom Day, let us reflect on the
principle of religious freedom that has guided our
Nation forward, and recommit to upholding this
universal human right both at home and around the
world.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2011, as
Religious Freedom Day. I call on all Americans to
commemorate this day with events and activities that
teach us about this critical foundation of our Nation's
liberty, and to show us how we can protect it for
future generations here and around the world.

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