Originally created for the Church of Satan’s celebration of Religious Freedom Day – LII, A.S. – http://www.churchofsatan.com/religious-freedom-day.php
On this Religious Freedom Day let us recall that our First Amendment to the Constitution of United States of America
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
was informed by Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom stating in part
“That our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which in common with his fellow-citizens he has a natural right; that it tends only to corrupt the principles of that religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments, those who will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way;”
Was fought and sacrificed for in every conflict since.
That our forefathers paid the ultimate price so we could believe and worship or not in our own way, so that I could openly state without fear of discrimination I am a Satanist, I will forever be thankful and take upon that spirit the mantle of defending those civil rights that are not granted but inherent in our constitution and remind those that to require or insist upon following their beliefs is nothing short of criminal.
I will not forget. I will not sit down. Hail Satan!