Why Americans Must Defend the First Amendment
Saturday, June 30, 2012
1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Nash Auditorium, Patrick
Henry College,
Purcellville, Virginia
Speakers
Classical Foundations of Western Christendom
Mr. Criton Zoakos, Leto Research
The Cultural Continuity of the West: Aristotle at Mont Saint-Michel
Ms. Vivian Freyre, Leto Research
The Post-Secular Solution to the Crisis of Our Culture
Legal Fronts in the Fight for the First Amendment
James Cottone, Esq. Knights of Columbus Council 1136
A virtuous
citizenry committed to transcendent moral truths is the bedrock of American
democracy. In his famous examination of
early American culture, Alexis de Tocqueville made note of the influential role
of religion. He wrote, “Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with
righteousness did I understand the greatness and genius of America. America is
good. And if America ever
ceases to be good, America
will cease to be great.”
Freedom of religion—including
a robust presence of religiously informed moral truths in public life—is an
indispensable foundation for freedom. If
we are not free in our conscience and our practice of religion, all other
freedoms are fragile. If our obligations and duties to God are impeded, or even
worse, forbidden by the state, then we can no longer claim to be the land of
the free, for we will not be free. Democracy is not a machine that can run by
itself. It must be built on a firm
cultural foundation rooted in the virtues of the people. When those virtues and
the moral truths that shape them are banished from the public square, the
foundations of the house of freedom are weakened.
The remedy is for the people
to educate themselves and work together to demand that the state respect their
exercise of freedom of religion. Please
join us in doing just that.
Free and open to
the public.
Check the spelling of Amendment.
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