BY CATHY JETT
THE FREE LANCE-STAR
The right to religious freedom has a rich history in Virginia, and its birthplace was Fredericksburg.
It was here 235 years ago that Thomas Jefferson helped draft what would become the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, a significant step leading to the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, noted Rep. Rob Wittman, R–1st District, in his keynote address Sunday at the annual Religious Freedom Day ceremony.
“He understood how critical that right was for our nation,” Wittman said as the Knights of Columbus and Knights Templar in their plumed hats and capes and several other groups stood on either side of the Thomas Jefferson Religious Freedom Monument on Washington Avenue.
Virginians at the dawn of the new United States of America had “vigorous debates” over what fundamental rights Americans should have, Wittman said. Patrick Henry refused to ratify the Constitution if it didn’t include a bill guaranteeing certain ones, and James Madison battled opposition to get such a bill included.
Like the statute that Jefferson said was among his three proudest accomplishments, the first amendment in the Bill of Rights prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion or impeding the free exercise of religion.
“It’s an honor to live in a nation where we have such religious freedom,” said Wittman, who asked for a moment of silence in honor of the men and women who are fighting and dying to preserve it.
The ceremony, which began with a parade from the Fredericksburg train station, included the laying of a wreath at the monument.
Religious Freedom Day got its start in 1974 when the late Kurt F. Leidecker, then a professor emeritus at Mary Washington College, urged the Fredericksburg Bicentennial Commission to “commemorate in some way the establishment of religious freedom here in its plans for the city’s celebration in 1976 and 1977,” according to The Free Lance–Star’s archives.
Leidecker, who founded the Thomas Jefferson Institute for the Study of Religious Freedom, also asked the City Council in 1976 to move the Religious Freedom Monument from its original place on the Maury School grounds to its current location on the northern end of the Washington Avenue green near Pitt Street.
The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic group which had held observances at the monument on Columbus Day since 1955, later joined in the Religious Freedom Day activities and have kept the annual parade and ceremony alive.
The event brings together people of various faiths to recognize the anniversary of the drafting of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in Fredericksburg. New this year were five groups that banded together last fall to form the Fredericksburg Coalition of Reason, which includes nontheists, agnostics and atheists.
The umbrella group includes Drinking Skeptically, the Fredericksburg Secular Humanists, Reading Skeptically, Conservative Skeptics of Virginia and Fredericksburg Parenting Beyond Belief.
The Fredericksburg Coalition, or Fredericksburg CoR, as the alliance is nicknamed, recently put up a billboard along southbound Interstate 95 near the Stafford Regional Airport interchange. It says, “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.” The message is aimed at people who may be struggling with their beliefs and are unsure if anyone else feels the same way.
Spokesman Matthew Jordan of Thornburg said he was initially concerned that people would misunderstand, but has been pleased by the response the coalition has received so far.
“Being visible is important to us, because, in our society, atheists and agnostics often don’t know many people like themselves,” he said. “Moreover, if traditionally religious people can be open about their views, why can’t we be open about ours?”
Fredericksburg CoR asked the Knights of Columbus if it could be included in Sunday’s ceremony as another step in introducing itself to the community, Jordan said. Members also plan to do community service.
The group was approved because the event is a celebration of religious freedom, which includes the freedom not to be religious.
“Religious freedom,” said William McCarthy, immediate past deputy of the Knights of Columbus State Council, “is what it’s all about.”
Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
cjett@freelancestar.com
