We support this amended version of the Copenhagen Declaration on Religion in Public Life. We invite other people and groups to also support it.
Personal Freedoms
- Freedom of conscience, religion and belief are unlimited. Freedom to practice religion should be limited only by the need to respect the rights of others.
- All people should be free to participate equally in public life, and should be treated equally before the law and in the democratic process.
- Freedom of expression should be limited only as prescribed in international law. All blasphemy laws should be repealed.
Secular Democracy
- Society should be based on democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Public policy should be formed by applying reason to evidence.
- Government should be secular. The state should be strictly neutral in matters of religion, favoring none and discriminating against none.
- Religions should have no special financial consideration in public life, such as tax-free status for religious activities, or grants to promote religion or run faith schools.
Secular Education
- State education should be secular. Children should be taught about the diversity of religious beliefs in an objective manner, with no faith formation in school hours.
- Children should be educated in critical thinking and the distinction between faith and reason as a guide to knowledge. Science should be taught free from religious interference.
One Law For All
- There should be one law for all, democratically decided and evenly enforced, with no jurisdiction for religious courts to settle civil matters or family disputes.
- The law should not criminalize private conduct that respects the rights of others because the doctrine of any religion deems such conduct to be immoral.
- Employers or social service providers with religious beliefs should not be allowed to discriminate on any grounds not essential to the job in question.
