Pagan Village News

Legal Rights: The Pagan Bill of Rights and Religious Tolerance Organizations

We are all granted certain inalienable rights set out in the United States constitution. Oftentimes, however, those rights are denied us for various reasons. When those rights are denied because of religion, it is called religious discrimination. Under the United States Constitution, all Americans are granted the right to choose the religion that is best for them and are protected from persecution because of those beliefs. As many Pagans have found over the years however, that is not always the case. From neighbors to teachers, from law enforcement officers to judges and government officials, religious discrimination against Pagans happens daily.
Several years ago the Pagan Unity Campaign set out to write a guideline for rights all Pagan American citizens should be entitled to under the law. What emerged was the Pagan Bill of Rights:

1. Pagans shall have the same freedom to worship that is granted to followers of other religions.

2. Pagans shall have the same respect of all elected officials who represent them that is afforded to followers of other religions.

3. A Pagan parent's religion shall not be used as evidence for the purpose of deciding child custody issues.

4. Pagans shall be free to work without regard their religion, and should be free from proselytizing and harassment at the workplace.

5. Pagans shall have the same freedom to conduct their lives that is given to followers of other religions, within the boundaries of the law, without interference by, or discriminatino from representatives of their local, state, or federal government.

6. School district personnel and classroom visitors shall not proselytize or harass Pagan children while on public school property or at public school functions.

7. Pagans shall have the same freedom to exercise all of their rights as do all other American citizens.

8. Pagans are entitled to the free exercise of their beliefs and rituals and must must be protected from the interference of others during the practice thereof.

9. Pagans shall have the right to redress when their religious rights are abused.

10. Pagans shall be able to wear sacred symbols of their faith in environments where followers of other faiths are free to express themselves similarly.

For many, these rights are never questioned. For others, ensuring these rights often means a long uphill battle. The first thing you should do if you feel your right to religious freedom has been ignored is write down everything that happened. Be as specific as possible. The more details you have of the incident(s) the better. If there are witnesses, write down their information and ask them to write out a statement about the incident. Make copies of everything.

Once you have all of the pertinent information, contact the organizations below and find out if they can assist you in any way. You should also contact a lawyer for advice about how you should proceed. You might also consider contacting the media. The more attention your story garners, the more likely you will be able to reach a conclusion sooner rather than later.

Don't think that you must accept religious discrimination for any reason. If you think that your right to religious freedom has been ignored, contact the organizations below for information and assistance:

PAGANS UNITED - http://pagansunited.com (*This organization works to promote the freedom and tolerance of all religions, most especially Paganism through education, increased awareness and activism.)

THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION (ACLU) - http://aclu.org (*This organizations works to ensure that our basic civil rights guaranteed under the Constitution are met. They help with many different cases.)

ALTERNATIVE RELIGIONS EDUCATION NETWORK (AREN) - http://aren.org (*This organization works to educate and support Pagans through various means.)

AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE - http://www.au.org (*This organization works to defend the seperation of church and state clause and helps with cases in which a violation of said clause has been made.)

LADY LIBERTY LEAGUE - http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/ (*This organization is an internation information and support organization for Pagans dealing with freedom of religion cases)

PAGAN UNITY CAMPAIGN (PUC) - http://paganunitycampaign.org (*This organization deals solely with Pagan political instances. IE: In a public chat session Faith Based Iniative Director Jim Towey stated that Pagans were uncaring and not inclined to help the poor. The PUC organized a campaign calling for an apology from Jim Towey that garnered national media attention.)

If these organizations are unable to assist you, they can direct you to someone that can.

But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782