[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 12 (Thursday, January 17, 2008)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3375-3376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 08-184]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 12 / Thursday, January 17, 2008 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 3375]]

                Proclamation 8215 of January 14, 2008

                
Religious Freedom Day, 2008

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Thomas Jefferson counted the freedom of worship as one 
                of America's greatest blessings. He said it was ``a 
                liberty deemed in other countries incompatible with 
                good government, and yet proved by our experience to be 
                its best support.'' On Religious Freedom Day, we 
                celebrate the 1786 passage of the Virginia Statute for 
                Religious Freedom.

                The freedom to worship according to one's conscience is 
                one of our Nation's most cherished values. It is the 
                first protection offered in the Bill of Rights: that 
                ``Congress shall make no law respecting an 
                establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free 
                exercise thereof.'' In America, people of different 
                faiths can live together united in peace, tolerance, 
                and humility. We are committed to the proposition that 
                as equal citizens of the United States of America, all 
                are free to worship as they choose.

                In an era during which an unprecedented number of 
                nations have embraced individual freedom, we have also 
                witnessed the stubborn endurance of religious 
                repression. Religious freedom belongs not to any one 
                nation, but to the world, and my Administration 
                continues to support freedom of worship at home and 
                abroad. On Religious Freedom Day and throughout the 
                year, we recognize the importance of religious freedom 
                and the vital role it plays in spreading liberty and 
                ensuring human dignity.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2008, as 
                Religious Freedom Day. I call on all Americans to 
                reflect on the great blessing of religious liberty, 
                endeavor to preserve this freedom for future 
                generations, and commemorate this day with appropriate 
                events and activities.

[[Page 3376]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 08-184
Filed 1-16-08; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P