Religious Freedom in Virginia's 20th House District

The right to practice any religion, or none at all, is one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed to all Americans under the Constitution. The Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom further guarantees that no candidate for public office must submit to a "religious test."

Yet, you have said publicly that "people in the 20th District are solid hardworking Christian individuals. They are a replica of what this country was found on and built on."

This statement is factually incorrect about both the people of the 20th District today and about the founders of the United States.

Even worse, by singling out people of one religion, such a comment contradicts the spirit of the US Constitution and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. It excludes and insults all the residents of the 20th House District who practice religions such as Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism, or who practice no faith at all.

We call on you as a candidate for public office to apologize for this comment and to to openly affirm your commitment to the principle of religious freedom as enshrined in the US Constitution and in the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Religious bigotry and intolerance poison American political life and represent a grave threat to the civil discourse necessary to our democracy.

Therefore, we further call on you, until the end of this election campaign, to refrain from appealing to religious prejudice in hope of political gain in this race.