Freedom of religion continues to distinguish our country from so many others around the world, writes guest columnist John T. Bender. In fact, it is woven into the very essence of what it means to be a citizen.
IN a recent speech, President Obama said the United States “is not a country that imposes religious tests as a price for freedom. We’re a country that was founded so that people could practice their faiths as they choose.”
The president’s point is worth repeating: This country was founded on the promise (one of many) that people should be free to exercise the religion of their choice without persecution, punishment or government interference. Freedom of religion continues to distinguish our country from so many others around the world. In fact, it is woven into the very essence of what it means to be a citizen.
My wife and I recently volunteered at a citizenship workshop organized by the city of Seattle’s New Citizen Campaignand the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. The campaign is a project with an ambitious goal: helping more than 70,000 legal permanent residents living in the Seattle-King County area become naturalized citizens through outreach, education and free legal assistance. Programs like these have sprung up in major cities across the country.
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I, along with dozens of other volunteer attorneys, paralegals and interpreters, spent the day helping hundreds of Seattle-area legal residents fill out their citizenship applications.
As I helped a young Muslim woman from Sudan complete her application for naturalization, it occurred to me that the values that distinguish our country from others could be gleaned from the questions we use to screen prospective citizens. In particular, one of the questions all applicants must answer is whether they have ever discriminated against others because of their religion.
I dread the thought of a future workshop volunteer being required to “flag” someone because of their religious beliefs, which will be the case if some of the campaign promises from the most recent election season come to fruition.
Even worse, how hypocritical would it be for our country to screen applicants based on their track record for discriminating against others, and at the same time require all Muslims entering the country to register and carry special identification?
President Obama was right. That proposition is emphatically un-American.
Seattle’s New Citizen Campaign Citizenship Workshop illustrates what has always made America great: adherence to democratic principles such as freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and so forth.
Without these national priorities guiding us, we’ll lose what sets America apart from much of the world. Now, more than ever, it’s imperative for lawmakers and the public to adhere to them in everything we do.
I’m afraid for the America that doesn’t.