From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org
New Mexico's Religious Freedom Bill
From
APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com
Date
08 Apr 2000 02:11:13
April 8, 2000
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland
07/2000
New Mexico's Religious Freedom Bill is Part of a
Nation-wide Trend, says Adventist Leader
Santa Fe, New Mexico. A bill protecting freedom
of religion is one step closer to becoming law in
New Mexico, say local Seventh-day Adventist Church
members who support the legislation. The proposed
law, which was unanimously approved last week by
the House in New Mexico, would make it more
difficult for state governments to pass laws that
restricted a person's faith.
Adventist Church members in Albuquerque worked in
support of the legislation, joining a broad
coalition of civil rights activists and religious
organisations, including the American Sikhs, the
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations and a
number of Christian groups.
"This may seem like an isolated state action, but
it has a broader significance," says Richard Lee
Fenn, associate director of the public affairs and
religious liberty department for the world Church.
Pointing to the eight similar bills that have been
passed by state legislatures since 1991, Fenn says
there is a "growing realisation throughout the
United States of America that we can no longer
afford to take our religious free exercise rights
for granted, and that if the federal government
cannot act, then the states must move to ensure
that our heritage of religious liberty is
safeguarded."
The recent move to shore up religious rights in
the United States is in response to post-1990
decisions by the Supreme Court that have lowered
the level of legal protection available to people
of faith. Under current precedent, federal or
state laws that operate to inhibit the free
exercise of religion will not run afoul of the
First Amendment, unless it can be shown that the
government has specifically intended to restrict
religious action.
But as Fenn points out, the majority of laws that
hurt people of faith are not specifically targeted
at religion. He points to zoning laws, which can
make it difficult for religious organisations to
get permission to build houses of worship, or
dress codes for state employees that may not make
allowances for special religious headgear. "Why
should these laws be exempt from scrutiny?" asks
Fenn.
An attempt to fix the problem at the federal level
failed, when in 1997 the Supreme Court struck down
the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of
1993 as being outside the constitutional authority
of Congress.
A similar federal bill-the Religious Liberty
Protection Act-passed the House in 1999 but now
appears to have stalled in the Senate.
The fate of the New Mexico measure is uncertain;
although the state Senate is likely to pass the
bill, New Mexico's governor, Gary Johnson, vetoed
a similar law passed by the legislature last year.
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