Quote of note:
Section 16 says in part that "all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion."
His House Joint Resolution 537 would have added that the "the people's right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, and traditions on public property, including public schools, shall not be infringed."
Religious Freedom Revisions Rejected
Va. Senate Panel Kills Amendment
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 22, 2005; Page B01
RICHMOND, Feb. 21 -- A Senate committee spent two hours Monday debating what Virginia's founders intended when they wrote about religious freedom two centuries ago before soundly rejected a proposal to expand on their words.
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 10 to 5 to reject a proposed constitutional amendment that would have explicitly recognized the right to pray on public property, including schools.
The amendment to Article I, Section 16, would have inserted a paragraph amid wording on religious liberty composed by founding fathers Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Mason and unchanged since 1786.
Del. Charles W. Carrico Sr. (R-Grayson), who authored the proposed amendment, said it would strengthen and preserve the spirit of the founders' words. New language was needed, he said, to counter court decisions that have persecuted Christians and expelled expressions of faith from the public square.
"Our country was built upon the Christian principals of the Bible," he told the committee. "Today our Constitution, in my opinion, has to be strengthened to protect those rights of all Christians around the nation."
Senators opposed to the amendment said the Constitution protects the right to pray individually in schools and other government buildings, making the amendment unnecessary. Section 16 says in part that "all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion."
Others said they feared the amendment could lead to trampling upon the rights of minority religions.
"Having survived 219 years of honored Virginia tradition, can we really improve on the language of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison?" asked Sen. John S. Edwards (D-Roanoke).
