"To secure the people’s right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of their own conscience: The people’s right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage or traditions on public property, including public schools, shall not be infringed. The government shall not require any person to join in prayer or other religious activity, initiate or designate school prayers, discriminate against religion, or deny equal access to a benefit on account of religion." -proposed Religious Freedom Amendment to the Constitution

On May 22, 1997 the Christian Coalition held a "Religious Freedom Rally" that they announced would be the beginning of their all-out $2 million effort to pass the so-called "Religious Freedom Amendment." The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) and over 100 others, is innocuous in name but threatens to open a disastrous floodgate of coercion, indoctrination, and litigation. As The Interfaith Alliance First Vice President Rev. Dr. Philip Wogaman told reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference on the amendment, "This deceptive legislation would pit members of different faith communities against one another, and promote religious intolerance in our public schools…Frankly, we prefer James Madison’s original version [of the Constitution] to that of Representative Istook and his supporters from the religious right." Reasons to oppose this misguided amendment are numerous. Among them are the following:

• -Silent public prayers, religious clubs, and even non- coercive and non-state sponsored group prayers are already constitutionally protected. All the proposed amendment would do is allow coercion and preaching by teachers and others in positions of power over students.
• -The amendment would alter a Bill of Rights that has stood unsullied for over 200 years. The free exercise clause, establishment clause, and wall of separation constructed by our founding fathers would all become null and void. In the name of promoting their brand of religion, the religious right would destroy a Bill of Rights that has made the United States the most religious country in the Western World, where 96% of its residents believe in God and more people regularly attend a house of worship then in any other industrialized country. Clearly, this ill-thought out amendment will hurt religion, not help it.
• -The amendment would create a "majority rule" system of religion where the rights of minorities can be carelessly tossed aside to satisfy the whim of the majority. Finding prayers acceptable to all will be nearly impossible because of the multitude of faiths that exist throughout America. The amendment would either single out one tradition to the exclusion of all others or force a prayer that somehow includes all traditions present but is therefore virtually devoid of meaning and demeans the devout.
• -The amendment will not increase freedom but will instead legalize coercion. According to Rabbi Jack Moline, Interfaith Alliance Board Member, "The right to engage in personal and private prayer anywhere is, was, and always will be protected." The amendment would allow teachers and school officials to proselytize under the guise of their official duties -a teacher could legally criticize the faith of some students, lead other students in prayer, and set up religious shrines in his/her classroom.
• -State-sponsored or sanctioned prayer infringes upon parental rights to determine the religious upbringing of their children.

The Interfaith Alliance strongly opposes the Istook Amendment precisely because we support the religious liberty of our over 60,000 members from over 50 different faith communities. The Istook amendment would endanger the freedom of conscience of religious minorities across America who would become a captive audience to the religious traditions and beliefs of those around them. The Interfaith Alliance believes that religion best contributes to public life when it works for reconciliation, inspires common effort, promotes community and responsibility, and upholds the dignity of all human beings. The so-called Religious Freedom Amendment accomplishes none of these, instead embracing an agenda of divisiveness, coercion, and exclusion.

The Interfaith Alliance asks all of its members and supporters to take action against the Istook Amendment. What you can do to help:

• -Call your Congresspeople via the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 and encourage them to vote against the RFA. If you are unsure of who your Senators and Representative are, simply ask the Congressional Switchboard operator who answers.
• -Write your Congresspeople at:
  Senator _________ Congressperson _________
  United States Senate United States
  House of Representatives
  Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515
  
  
• -Educate those around you by writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper about the dangers of the Istook Amendment
• -Forward this email to as many of your friends and colleagues as possible.