Celebrate religious--and personal--freedom

[rug]

Date published: 1/6/2014
Matt Jordan
Mr. Jordan is media representative for FredCoR.

Once again, the Fredericksburg Coalition of Reason will march in the Jan. 12 Religious Freedom event sponsored by Knights of Columbus.

Respect for the rights of all people to make their own decisions regarding whether or not to worship a deity is every bit as important as all other rights in the Constitution. That some may reject the notion of a spirit world should not hinder the free exercise of those who embrace it, and vice versa.

As in each previous year we have marched, we have requested (not demanded) representation at the ceremony at the Religious Freedom Monument. We consider ourselves guests of the Knights.

This year, the request carried more meaning as we have an invited guest in town for the occasion. A leading advocate of religious freedom, the Rev. Barry Lynn, has agreed to speak.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2014/012014/01062014/813156

http://unitedcor.org/fredericksburg/page/home

[longship]

1. Constructive non-believer outreach. Always a good thing.

BTW, Barry Lynn is a UCC pastor.

R&K

[rug]

2. Yes, he's the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State

https://www.au.org/

[longship]

4. Yup. I've a fan of AU for some time.

Lynn is such a calm, reasonable guy, but I've seen him take on some real fire breathers. His demeanor totally disarms them. The guy's great.

Probably the best is the creationist debate set up by William F. Buckley on Firing Line. It had Philip Johnson, David Berlinski, Michael Behe, and Buckley on the creationism side and Kenneth Miller, Eugenie Scott, Michael Ruse, and Barry Lynn on the evolution side. It's nice to see Lynn in action along with the biologists, Scott and Miller, and philosopher, Ruse.

It's an interesting thing to watch:

[cbayer]

3. I wonder what they mean by representation and "place".

The event appears to be public. The is an invocation, a couple of speakers and the mayor doing something official.

[cbayer]

5. Here is another article from what happened in 2012

http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2012/01/08/religious-freedom-day-celebrating-the-right-to-be-religious—or-not-religious/

Fredericksburg CoR asked the Knights of Columbus if it could be included in Sunday’s ceremony as another step in introducing itself to the community, Jordan said. Members also plan to do community service.
The group was approved because the event is a celebration of religious freedom, which includes the freedom not to be religious.
“Religious freedom,” said William McCarthy, immediate past deputy of the Knights of Columbus State Council, “is what it’s all about.”