PRINTER'S NO. 2488
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
164
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY KAUFFMAN, BOROWICZ, METCALFE, RYAN, M. MACKENZIE,
JOZWIAK, LEWIS, PICKETT, STAMBAUGH, R. BROWN, ROAE, RAPP,
OWLETT, HAMM, ZIMMERMAN, STAATS, MILLARD, MOUL, BROOKS,
BERNSTINE, GLEIM, COX, B. MILLER, KEEFER, ROWE, SCHLEGEL
CULVER AND JONES, DECEMBER 7, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, DECEMBER 7, 2021
A RESOLUTION
Affirming the commitment to adhere to the strictest measures
within our power to preserve religious freedom.
WHEREAS, Religious freedom is the bedrock upon which our
Commonwealth was founded; and
WHEREAS, Religious freedom was referred to by our framers as
"the first freedom" without which no other freedom could long
last; and
WHEREAS, The Declaration of Independence affirms the
sovereignty of God, proclaiming "that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of
Happiness"; and
WHEREAS, The right to freedom of religion was guaranteed in
the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
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thereof"; and
WHEREAS, The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment,
protecting the right of citizens to practice their religion,
applies to the states through the Incorporation Doctrine of the
14th Amendment; and
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court opined in Cantwell
v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296, 303 (1940) that "Freedom of
conscience and freedom to adhere to such religious organization
or form of worship as the individual may choose cannot be
restricted by law"; and
WHEREAS, The government may not determine which moral or
religious beliefs are acceptable and, in Thomas v. Review Board
of Indiana Employment Security Division, 450 U.S. 707, 714
(1981), the Supreme Court stated that "religious beliefs need
not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to
others in order to merit First Amendment protection"; and
WHEREAS, The fundamental right to freedom of religion has
resonated throughout the unique history of our Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, In 1701, protection of religious freedom from an
intrusive government was granted to the colonial government of
Pennsylvania by William Penn in the Pennsylvania Charter of
Privileges, which states "BECAUSE no People can be truly happy,
though under the greatest Enjoyments of Civil Liberties, if
abridged of the Freedom of their Consciences, as to
their Religious Profession and Worship"; and
WHEREAS, Penn's words of freedom and hope are echoed on the
walls of our Capitol Building: "There may be room there for such
a holy experiment. For the nations want a precedent. And my God
will make it the seed of the nation. That an example may be set
up to the nations"; and
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WHEREAS, The Constitution of Pennsylvania grants religious
freedom in section 3 of Article I, declaring that "All men have
a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God
according to the dictates of their own consciences; no man can
of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of
worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent; no
human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere
with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be
given by law to any religious establishments or modes of
worship"; and
WHEREAS, In 2002, to further protect the religious freedom of
Pennsylvanians, the General Assembly passed the Religious
Freedom Protection Act for the purpose of "Protecting the free
exercise of religion; and prescribing the conditions under which
government may substantially burden a person's free exercise of
religion"; and
WHEREAS, Today, we find ourselves at a crossroads in what
appears to be an ongoing attack on our religious freedom; and
WHEREAS, As individuals, we have spiritual needs and
physical needs and one cannot coexist without the other; and
WHEREAS, The ability to acknowledge and worship God in an in-
person religious setting is a spiritual matter essential to the
well-being of those committed to their faith; and
WHEREAS, The ability to assemble together with those of like-
minds and hearts to pray for one another and draw strength from
one another should be a source of encouragement during a public
crisis; and
WHEREAS, Protection of religious liberty remains undeniably
intertwined with the freedoms inherent in democracy; and
WHEREAS, Ronald Reagan stated "To those who cite the first
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amendment as reason for excluding God from more and more of our
institutions and everyday life, may I just say: The first
amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the
people of this country from religious values; it was written to
protect religious values from government tyranny"; therefore be
it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives affirm the
commitment to adhere to the strictest measures within our power
to preserve religious freedom; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives protect religious
freedom established centuries ago, at the behest of the founder
and visionary of this great Commonwealth, William Penn.
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