WHEREAS, From our first president to the last, we have
acknowledged America's faith, with President George Washington
recognizing "it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the
providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for
his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor,"
and President Joe Biden most recently acknowledging Thanksgiving
as a "time to reflect on our many blessings from God, this
Nation, and each other"; and
WHEREAS, America's Judeo-Christian founding promotes
religious diversity and tolerance; and
WHEREAS, Religious liberty serves to strengthen our country's
appreciation of all peoples, regardless of faith; and
WHEREAS, Eternal diligence is needed to preserve religious
freedom; and
WHEREAS, Attacks on religious liberty and people of faith
continue to plague our nation, with some religious charities
even being forced to betray the tenets of their faith in order
to participate in certain government programs; and
WHEREAS, Many seek to criminalize religious beliefs in
certain controversial areas; and
WHEREAS, This Commonwealth's founder William Penn said "No
people can be truly happy, though under the greatest enjoyments
of civil liberties, if abridged of the freedom of their
consciences as to their religious profession and worship"; and
WHEREAS, Gouverneur Morris, a representative of this
Commonwealth at the constitutional convention said, "There must
be religion. When that ligament is torn, society is disjointed
and its members perish...[T]he most important of all lessons is
the denunciation of ruin to every state that rejects the
precepts of religion"; and
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