Recognizing our country was founded by people fleeing religious persecution from countries with state religions, and that our religious freedom has been protected by the separation of church and state, we ask all candidates to the highest offices in the land to reaffirm their commitment to freedom, and to religious freedom, by reaffirming their belief in and commitment to the separation of church and state.
Why is this important?
The Republican party has captured the myth laden ideas of "freedom" and "religion" and uses them, with great success, as propaganda to further their corporate agenda. They imply that it is patriotic, and in the service of freedom, to have a closer union of church and state. The founders would be appalled; they recognized that the separation of church and state was necessary for religious freedom. The radical union of church and state proposed by the religious right is a threat to both religion and to freedom.
