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    Religious Freedom Letter

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    Casey
    The letter is addressed to several sports and entertainment industry leaders who recently issued statements against religious liberty legislation. It argues that laws should protect citizens' right to freely exercise their religious faith in all aspects of life without facing discrimination or penalties. The signatories, who include state legislators from several states, encourage the leaders to reconsider their positions in order to avoid further restricting religious freedom.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Religious Freedom Letter

    Uploaded by

    Casey
    9K views3 pages
    The letter is addressed to several sports and entertainment industry leaders who recently issued statements against religious liberty legislation. It argues that laws should protect citizens' right to freely exercise their religious faith in all aspects of life without facing discrimination or penalties. The signatories, who include state legislators from several states, encourage the leaders to reconsider their positions in order to avoid further restricting religious freedom.

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    Religious Freedom Letter

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    The letter is addressed to several sports and entertainment industry leaders who recently issued statements against religious liberty legislation. It argues that laws should protect citizens' right to freely exercise their religious faith in all aspects of life without facing discrimination or penalties. The signatories, who include state legislators from several states, encourage the leaders to reconsider their positions in order to avoid further restricting religious freedom.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    9K views3 pages

    Religious Freedom Letter

    Uploaded by

    Casey
    The letter is addressed to several sports and entertainment industry leaders who recently issued statements against religious liberty legislation. It argues that laws should protect citizens' right to freely exercise their religious faith in all aspects of life without facing discrimination or penalties. The signatories, who include state legislators from several states, encourage the leaders to reconsider their positions in order to avoid further restricting religious freedom.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    An Open Letter to:

    Mr. Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner


    Mr. Bob Bowlsby, Big 12 Commissioner
    Mr. Mark Emmert, NCAA CEO
    Mr. Isaac Perlmutter, Marvel CEO
    Mr. Robert Iger, Disney CEO
    We write to you today because you recently issued statements against religious liberty
    legislation in various states around the country. Giving you the benefit of the doubt, we
    understand that you may have been misinformed and misguided into a position of
    condoning and promoting government use of the force of law against people of faith in
    America.
    Human dignity requires that a person be free to exercise his or her religious faith; and that
    no government entity will discriminate or oppress a person based on the persons thoughts
    or beliefs.
    Freedom of conscience and freedom exercise of religion can include nothing less than the
    way a person lives all aspects of his or her life. As a nation, our laws must encourage and
    support, not penalize, citizens who seek to adhere to their moral convictions.
    Religious liberties form the first freedom in the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment prevents
    government from infringing on the free exercise of religion. In recent years, there has been
    a concerted effort to redefine this foundational truth to mean people of faith can freely
    exercise their faith in their heart and home, not in the public square. We are here to help
    correct this false narrative. God, Judeo-Christian principles and prayer are an integral part of
    our nations Founding; and together undergirds freedom for all Americans.
    Government, unelected Justices, and big businesses should not be in the business of forcing
    individuals and entities to act in a manner that contradicts their conscience. The Obergefell
    decision, the United States Supreme Courts effort to redefine marriage throughout America,
    has left private schools, charities, businesses, churches or individuals that disagree
    unprotected. We need laws protecting their right to live their faith, thus the reason for the
    recent bill in Georgia. All across this nation, people of faith are being fined, severely penalized
    or even serving jail time for simply adhering to their deeply held convictions.
    Now, most non-discrimination acts or ordinances provide special protections based on
    sexual identity and orientation and undermine the original definition of religious freedom.
    The pressure to leave faith at the door of the public square is continually increasing for
    religious schools, nonprofits, public employees, private employees, small business owners,
    and entities interacting with the government via grants, contracts, or other means (including

    obtaining tax accommodations from the government). All of these individuals and entities
    (and more) should be protected from government coercion that would make them violate
    their consciences.
    Lastly, if you were to remove your events and other economic activities from every state
    that already has significant religious liberty legislation or state court decisions with the
    same effect, you will find yourselves operating in an increasingly shrinking pool of states.
    As of now, 32 states contain these, and others are in the process of adoption.
    Please ask yourselves this question: Do we really want to live in a society where our
    government may, under the penalty of law, force its citizens to engage in the promotion or
    solemnization of an act that they find contrary to their conscience and their religious
    beliefs? Your efforts are indeed forging a path that contradicts and undermines the
    principles and concepts that our Founders incorporated as the building blocks of this
    Constitutional Republic.
    We, the undersigned, hereby encourage you to reconsider your recent public threats. We
    stand ready to meet with you in order to help you more fully understand the issues facing
    Americas significant religious population that form the basis of the First Freedom in our
    Constitution.
    Respectfully,
    Representative Scott Sanford (TX-70)
    Representative Matt Krause (TX-93)
    Representative Randy Powell (KS-30)
    Representative Rick Saccone (PA-39)
    Senator Kevin Lundberg (CO-15)
    Former Representative Ken Kurtz (MI-58)
    Representative Dade Phelan (TX-21)
    Representative Dennis Paul (TX-129)
    Representative Paul Workman (TX-47)
    Representative Jodie Laubenberg (TX-89)
    Representative James White (TX-19)
    Representative Scott Turner (TX-33)
    Representative Mark Keough (TX-15)
    Representative James Frank (TX-69)
    Representative Jeff Leach (TX-67)
    Representative Matt Schaefer (TX-6)
    Representative Matt Shaheen (TX-66)
    Representative Molly White (TX-55)
    Representative Will Metcalf (TX-16)
    Representative Phil King (TX-61)

    Representative Matt Rinaldi (TX-115)


    Representative Stephanie Klick (TX-91)
    Representative DeWayne Burns (TX-58)
    Senator Janice Bowling (TN-16)
    Representative Mike McClellan (ME-66)
    Representative Gilbert Pena (TX-144)
    Senator John Cosgrove (VA-14)
    Representative Tom Newell (OK-28)
    Representative Stuart Spitzer (TX-4)
    Senator Norman Sanderson (NC-2)
    Representative Sally Kern (OK-84)
    Representative Dale Crafts (ME-56)
    Representative Sandy Salmon (IA-63)
    Representative Rick Miller (TX-26)
    Senator Mark Allen (OK-4)
    Representative Dean Fisher (IA-72)
    Representative Bert Jones (NC-65)
    Representative Mike Hill (FL-2)
    Representative George Cleveland (NC-14)
    Representative Steven Holt (IA-18)
    2

    Representative Greg Duckworth (SC-104)


    Representative Mike Ryhal (SC-56)
    Senator Wes Hayes (SC-15)
    Senator Danny Verdin (SC-9)
    Representative Pat Fallon (TX-106)
    Representative Trent Ashby (TX-57)
    Representative John Zerwas (TX-28)
    Representative Dan Flynn (TX-2)
    Senator Kevin Bryant (SC-3)
    Representative John Smithee (TX-86)
    Representative Phil Stephenson (TX-85)
    Representative Todd Hunter (TX-32)
    Representative Tony Tinderholt (TX-94)
    Representative Cecil Bell, Jr. (TX-3)
    Representative Wayne Faircloth (TX-23)
    Representative Anne Thayer (SC-9)
    Representative Allen Fletcher (TX-130)
    Representative Ed Thompson
    (TX-29)
    Representative Doug Miller (TX-73)
    Senator Wayne Shaw (OK-3)
    Senator Katrina Shealy (SC-23)
    Representative Cindy Burkett (TX-113)
    Representative Jonathan Strickland (TX-92)
    Representative Gary VanDeaver (TX-1)
    Representative Charles "Doc" Anderson
    (TX-56)
    Senator Ronnie Cromer (SC-18)

    Senator Jason Schultz (IA-9)


    Representative Tan Parker (TX-63)
    Senator Jerry Sonnenberg (CO-1)
    Representative Gordon Klingenschmitt
    (CO-15)
    Representative Paul Stam (NC-37)
    Representative Jeff Collins (NC-25)
    Senator Larry Grooms (SC-37)
    Representative Ed McBroom (MI-108)
    Representative Chris Whitmire (NC-113)
    Representative Pat McElraft (NC-13)
    Representative Yeulin Willett (CO-54)
    Representative Larry Pittman (NC-82)
    Representative Rayne Brown (NC-81)
    Representative Dean Arp (NC-69)
    Representative Lori Saine (CO-63)
    Representative Garry Smith (SC-27)
    Senator Dennis Guth (IA-4)
    Representative Joe Daning (SC-92)
    Representative Eric Bedingfield (SC-28)
    Representative Allen McNeill (NC-78)
    Representative Thomas E. Pope (SC-47)
    Representative Paul Lundeen (CO-19)
    Representative Kenny Bingham (SC-89)
    Senator Tom Corbin (SC-5)
    Senator Paul Campbell (SC-44)
    Representative Stephen Goldfinch
    (SC-108)
    Representative David Hiott (SC-4)
    Senator Larry Martin (SC-2)
    Representative Todd Atwater (SC-87)
    Representative McLain Toole (SC-88)
    Representative Peter McCoy (SC-115)
    Representative Ralph Norman (SC-48)
    Representative Don Wells (SC-81)
    Representative Mike Forrester (SC-34)
    Representative Steve Moss (SC-30)
    Senator Harvey Peeler (SC-14)
    Representative Gary Simrill (SC-46)
    Representative Bill Taylor (SC-86)
    Representative Mike Burns (SC-17)
    Senator Chip Campsen (SC-43)
    Senator Ross Turner (SC-8)
    Representative Jeff Johnson (SC-58)

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