LEGISLATIVE E.LERT!!!

[Stan]

Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty

April 28, 2005

LEGISLATIVE E.LERT!!!

WORKPLACE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT OF 2005

MOMENTUM BUILDING

YOUR SUPPORT NEEDED NOW!!!

Every day three Seventh-day Adventists lose their jobs

rather than work on Sabbath. Others are never hired because

they won’t work on Sabbath. Thousands of e.mails and

petition signatures have already been gathered in support

of the Workplace Religious Freedom Act, S-677 and HR 1445,

but much more is needed.

The May issue of the Pacific Union Recorder will soon

appear in mailboxes, containing a copy of the petition we

circulated by e.mail last month. Additional copies of the

petition have been included below and as an attachment for

your convenience.

Goals Established!

It is imperative that we generate at least 100,000 e.mails

and petition signatures in support of the Workplace

Religious Freedom Act. To this end, the Public Affairs &

Religious Liberty Department has established a basic goal

of 500 e.mails and petition signatures for the smaller

churches (up to 250 members) and a basic goal of 1,000

e.mails and petition signatures for the larger churches.

The super goals are 1,000 and 2,000 respectively.

This means that everyone needs to send their own e.mails

and sign the petition, but also, to obtain support from

their immediate circle of friends, neighbors, co-workers,

and even to go into the community to obtain support.

Incentives!

We believe in putting our money where our mouth is. Helping

members avoid work on Sabbath should be incentive enough,

but we still want to honor those who make a serious effort

to pass this bill. On November 18-20, we will be conducting

our annual religious liberty retreat at Leoni Meadows,

located just East of Sacramento, California. One individual

from each of the conferences in the Pacific Union will be

welcome as our guest, with meals, housing and registration

expenses paid. These will be the individuals who have

gathered the most signatures on petitions or generated the

most e.mails in support. Report your accomplishments to us,

and you may just be our guest!

What to do now! It is time for all who care about

religious freedom to make a major effort to pass this bill.

There are different methods of influencing Congress to

support a bill. We are suggesting that you utilize all of

them: e.mails, petitions, faxes and phone calls. Here is

what we all need to do:

· Send an e.mail to our Senators and Representatives at

www.religiousliberty.info

<http://www.religiousliberty.info>.

· Print this e.lert and distribute it widely, at church, to

family and friends, and at work;

· Forward this e.lert as widely as possible, and add your

own encouragement to people to care enough to send their

own e.mails.

· Print the petition form included in this e.mail, copy and

distribute it widely, collect signatures yourself, and urge

others to circulate the petition.

· Phone, fax or mail your members of Congress. The blue

government pages located in your local phone book have this

information listed. Congress’s contact information can

also be found on the NARLA site, www.religiousliberty.info

<http://www.religiousliberty.info>, by entering your zip

code. However, there is still nothing better than a

personal letter.

Special note to pastors and religious liberty leaders:

Passage of this bill will directly impact the life of your

congregation. You may or may not know of individuals within

your congregation who are working on Sabbath, although they

don’t want to. If WRFA is passed, many of these members

will be able to avoid Sabbath work. Please make a

commitment to see that every member of your church supports

passage of this bill. Thank you in advance!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These religious liberty newsflashes and legislative e.lerts

are published by the Pacific Union Conference of

Seventh-day Adventists, Department of Public Affairs &

Religious Liberty.

For assistance with a religious liberty problem:

Alan J. Reinach, Esq., []misterliberty@churchstate.org;[/]

805-413-7396

Michael Peabody, Esq. []mpeabody@puconline.org;[/] 916-446-2552

More information about religious liberty issues can be

found at www.churchstate.org <http://www.churchstate.org>.

Join the North American Religious Liberty Association at

www.religiousliberty.info

<http://www.religiousliberty.info>.

Contributions to support the work of NARLA can also be made

at www.religiousliberty.info

<http://www.religiousliberty.info>.

Subscribe to Liberty: a Magazine of Religious Liberty, at

www.libertymagazine.org <http://www.libertymagazine.org>

Petition in Support of

Workplace Religious Freedom Act

We, the undersigned, do petition our representatives in the

United States Congress to enact the Workplace Religious

Freedom Act (WRFA), S-677 and HR 1445. This Act is required

to insure Americans are not forced to choose between the

free exercise of their religion and keeping a job. WRFA

will restore vital civil rights protection for people of

faith, to combat an epidemic of religious discrimination in

the workplace.* It strikes a balance by requiring that

employers provide reasonable accommodation for workers’

religious beliefs, but only if it does not cause

significant difficulty or expense. In a nation where

freedom of conscience is fundamental, employees should be

free to follow their conscience and exercise their

religious beliefs without fear of being fired.

*Religious discrimination charges filed with the EEOC are

up 82% in the past decade.

____________________________________________________________________________

Print Name Sign Name

_____________________________________________________________________________

Address, City, State and Zip [so legislator knows you are a

constituent—very important!]

_____________________________________________________________________________

e.mail [so we can follow up with you on important issues]

________________________________ _____________________________________________

Print Name Sign Name

_____________________________________________________________________________

Address, City, State and Zip [so legislator knows you are a

constituent—very important!]

_____________________________________________________________________________

e.mail [so we can follow up with you on important issues]

______________________________ _____________________________________________

Print Name Sign Name

_____________________________________________________________________________

Address, City, State and Zip [so legislator knows you are a

constituent—very important!]

_____________________________________________________________________________

e.mail [so we can follow up with you on important issues]

______________________________ _____________________________________________

Print Name Sign Name

_____________________________________________________________________________

Address, City, State and Zip [so legislator knows you are a

constituent—very important!]

_____________________________________________________________________________

e.mail [so we can follow up with you on important issues]

_______________________________________________________________________________

Print Name Sign Name

_____________________________________________________________________________

Address, City, State and Zip [so legislator knows you are a

constituent—very important!]

_____________________________________________________________________________

e.mail [so we can follow up with you on important issues]

Return Petition to: North American Religious Liberty

Association – West

Fax: 805-497-7099; e.mail: []parl@puconline.org;[/] P.O. Box

5005, Westlake Village, CA 91359

[aldona]

Stan, is there anything that we non-US citizens can do to help?

aldona

(member of Amnesty International)