New report reveals state of religious liberty within the United States

TUPELO, Miss. — In a new report conducted by the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy at First Liberty Institute, all 50 states were ranked by the number of safeguards in place for religious liberty. This year, Illinois received the highest score with 85%. The study further reported that nearly all states allow some sort of absentee voting for religious reasons and that more than half of the states do not have a version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in place.

American Family Association (AFA, www.AFA.net) President Tim Wildmon commented on this report:

“It is a blessing from God to live in a country with protections for religious liberty. However, the nature of our republic rests on the concept of federalism –– i.e., divided government and separation of powers. That means that the citizens of each state must take responsibility for self-governance, requiring active participation in issues like religious freedom. From this report, there is much to celebrate on this front but also much work still to be done. Clearly, in some states in our nation, Christians will be required to work hard to guarantee the free exercise of their liberties.”

For over 40 years, AFA has operated within the mission to inform, equip, and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission.  Founded in 1977, AFA has long been on the front lines of America’s culture war. Today, AFA is one of the largest and most effective pro-family organizations in the country, with nearly a million online supporters and approximately 110,000 subscribers to The Stand (formerly known as the AFA Journal), the ministry’s monthly magazine.  Find AFA Action Alerts here. In addition, AFA owns and operates nearly 180 radio stations across the country under the American Family Radio banner. 

View the media page for AFA here. For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or Twitter @AmericanFamAssc.        

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To interview an AFA spokesperson, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105.