Religious Freedom

In the birthplace of religious freedom, state police chaplains should not be censored; students should be allowed to share their faith at graduations; Christian-run businesses should not be forced to violate their conscience to be allowed to operate; and pastors should not fear reprisal for speaking truth. Yet in Virginia today, all those scenarios have either happened or could happen in the very near future if we don’t reestablish our First Freedom. While our state Constitution contains the Statute for Religious Freedom, penned by Thomas Jefferson, it is no longer being applied appropriately.

For over three decades, the Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation and our Commonwealth has been under constant assault. The “separation of church and state” message of the media, politicians, and special interest groups like the ACLU, and the actions of activist judges, have whittled away at one of our most precious liberties—the right to practice our faith in public.

The Family Foundation fights every day to reestablish Virginia as the model for religious liberty by increasing the legal protections for public displays of faith.

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

Supporting Religious Liberty in Schools | Students in public schools do not check their religious liberty rights at the schoolhouse door. They have the right to express their faith in the classroom and share their faith with others.
Protecting Religious Liberty | Virginia’s Constitution includes the Statute for Religious Freedom, the model for our First Amendment religious expression rights. Sadly, however, it has been misinterpreted and misused to thwart religious freedom. Additional protections are needed to ensure our religious freedoms, particularly in light of the imposition of same-sex marriage on Virginia by the courts.
Fighting Workplace Discrimination | Business owners should be allowed to operate their business according to their conscience. Employees shouldn’t fear losing their job for not denying their conscience.
Defending Religious Liberty in the Courts | With the increasing threats to religious liberty, we can no longer limit our fight to the Legislature or the Executive branch. We must now take our fight to the courts in order to protect religious liberty. For that reason the Founding Freedoms Law Center was formed.