Rochester Chapter's Spring Speaker

Donald Rehkopf Jr. speaking on Defending Religious Freedom in the Military

The New York City Police Department has agreed to reform a discriminatory surveillance program that broadly targeted American Muslims based on their religion. Just as it was wrong for the NYPD to use religion to single out Muslims for mistreatment, it is wrong today for the Trump administration to use religion as an excuse to ban Muslims from the United States.

Religious freedom means students can attend public school without being forced to pray, pressured to adopt religious beliefs or encouraged to engage in religious activities. Students can pray, read the Bible and talk about their religion if they choose, but it must be student-led and initiated, voluntary and non-disruptive.