03-20-2007, 12:59 PM
Department of Justice seeks to protect religious freedoms
(One NewsNow.com) A new program has been introduced by the U.S. Department of Justice to educate Americans about their religious liberties. During the past decade, complaints of religious discrimination regarding employment practices rose 69 percent -- which is one reason why the Justice Department has unveiled the "First Freedom Project."
Wan Kim is assistant attorney general with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. He says not only will the First Freedom Project educate citizens about their religious rights and freedoms, but the initiative is being backed up with action.
"We filed a brief in a case in New Jersey where, during a talent show, a girl was prohibited from singing the song that she wanted to sing to demonstrate her singing talents," Kim notes. "The song was 'Awesome God,' and the school censored her because of the religious content of that song," the assistant attorney general says. Now that's just out and out viewpoint discrimination," he says, "and we're fortunate that a federal judge agreed with us and allowed the girl to go forward free of that type of discrimination."
Recently, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asked Southern Baptist Convention leaders to help when it comes to identifying and reporting cases where the rights of Christians have been violated. Kim says there are many common issues that lead to discrimination against believers.
"We see in many school districts across the country where school officials stop kids from handing out candy canes with a religious message," the Justice Department official points out. "And they do so because they think that that's impermissible, when in fact just the opposite is true," Kim adds. "It's impermissible for them to bar that type of viewpoint from being disseminated -- that's viewpoint discrimination. That's forbidden."
As part of the First Freedom Project, the U.S. Department of Justice has set up a Web site, http://www.firstfreedom.gov, to provide information including how to file a religious discrimination complaint. Also, Attorney General Gonzales has said he plans to create a Religious Freedom Task Force to review religious discrimination cases and policies and help make people more aware of their First Amendment Rights.
(One NewsNow.com) A new program has been introduced by the U.S. Department of Justice to educate Americans about their religious liberties. During the past decade, complaints of religious discrimination regarding employment practices rose 69 percent -- which is one reason why the Justice Department has unveiled the "First Freedom Project."
Wan Kim is assistant attorney general with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. He says not only will the First Freedom Project educate citizens about their religious rights and freedoms, but the initiative is being backed up with action.
"We filed a brief in a case in New Jersey where, during a talent show, a girl was prohibited from singing the song that she wanted to sing to demonstrate her singing talents," Kim notes. "The song was 'Awesome God,' and the school censored her because of the religious content of that song," the assistant attorney general says. Now that's just out and out viewpoint discrimination," he says, "and we're fortunate that a federal judge agreed with us and allowed the girl to go forward free of that type of discrimination."
Recently, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asked Southern Baptist Convention leaders to help when it comes to identifying and reporting cases where the rights of Christians have been violated. Kim says there are many common issues that lead to discrimination against believers.
"We see in many school districts across the country where school officials stop kids from handing out candy canes with a religious message," the Justice Department official points out. "And they do so because they think that that's impermissible, when in fact just the opposite is true," Kim adds. "It's impermissible for them to bar that type of viewpoint from being disseminated -- that's viewpoint discrimination. That's forbidden."
As part of the First Freedom Project, the U.S. Department of Justice has set up a Web site, http://www.firstfreedom.gov, to provide information including how to file a religious discrimination complaint. Also, Attorney General Gonzales has said he plans to create a Religious Freedom Task Force to review religious discrimination cases and policies and help make people more aware of their First Amendment Rights.