On January 16, people across the country can celebrate National Religious Freedom Day, which is declared annually by the President of the United States. According to awarenessdays.com, “On January 16, 1786 the Virginia State Assembly adopted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1777.”

“Religious freedom is a fundamental human right that protects the conscience of all people,” according to scientologyreligion.org. “It allows people to think, express and act on what us people believe. Around the world it’s eroding.” 

““I like it because I want to choose what I want to believe in and not be forced to believe in a religion that I don’t believe in,” said Raquel Cervantes.

The concept of religious freedom was one of the primary purposes of people coming to the United States and, while many of those original settlers were firmly dedicated to their own faith, the founding fathers wanted to make sure that religion was not mandated in the new country.

“Freedom of religion is considered to be a fundamental human right. Everyone has the right to manifest belief or religion, change religion or not to follow any religion,” said awarenessdays.com. “The right to change religion or belief is stated in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Jennifer Ocha said, “It’s cool that we get to choose our own religion to believe in.”