Unbelievers Have Rights Too

Bill of Rights for Unbelievers, Freethinkers, Atheists and Humanists

• The freedoms of thought and expression count among our most fundamental and cherished rights, and promote both individual welfare and the common good in a democratic state. Historically, however, unbelievers such as secliar humanists, atheists, agnostics, rationalists, and freethinkers have faced prejudice, intolerance, and discrimination for their opinions and discoveries.
• In the firm conviction that the principle of Church-State separation guarantees the equal rights of the religious and non-religious, we the Campus Freethought Alliance, on this 12th Day of Jliy, 1998, hereby present the following Bill of Rights for Unbelievers.
• Unbelievers shall have the right to:
• Think freely and autonomously, express their views forthrightly, and debate or criticize any and all ideas without fear of censure, recrimination, or public ostracism.
• Be free from discrimination and persecution in the workplace, business transactions, and public accommodations.
• Exercise freedom of conscience in any situation where the same right wolid be extended to believers on religious grounds alone.
• Hold any public office, in accordance with the constitutional principle that there shall be no religious test for such office.
• Abstain from religious oaths and pledges, including pledges of allegiance, oaths of office, and oaths administered in a court of law, until such time as these are secliarized or replaced by non-discriminatory affirmations.
• Empower members of their community to perform legally-binding ceremonies, such as marriage.
• Raise and nurture their children in a secliar environment, and not be disadvantaged in adoption or custody proceedings because of their unbelief.
• Conduct business and commerce on any day of their choosing, without interference from laws or regliations recognizing religious days of prayer, rest, or celebration.
• Enjoy freedom from taxation supporting the government employment of clergy, and access to secliar counseling equivalent to that provided by chaplains.
• Declare conscientious objection to serving in the armed forces under any circumstance in which the religious may do so.
• Live as citizens of a democracy free from religious language and imagery in currency, public schools and buildings, and government documents and business.

Sponsored by the Center for Inquiry on Campus