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Protecting and Strengthening Religious Freedom: A Memo to President-elect Obama
Publication Date: December 2008
Publisher(s): Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)
Author(s): Ryan Messmore; Thomas M. Messner
Special Collection: Presidential Advisory
Topic: Culture and religion (Religion and religious groups)
Government (Public services and utilities)
Politics (Political ideologies and movements)
Keywords: Faith-based government; Presidential transition; Secularism
Type: Brief
Coverage: United States
Abstract:
President-elect Obama, you spoke truthfully when you said that "[o]ur law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition." That being the case, it is, as you note, a "practical absurdity" to expect Americans not to "inject their 'personal morality' into public policy debates." We agree with you that "[s]ecularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square."