The Institute is dedicated to the principle of appropriate separation of religion and government whereby government neither establishes, nor favors, one religion over another.
The principle of separation of religion and government was brilliantly and succinctly stated by Jesus of Nazareth: "Render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and to God that which belongs to God." The First Amendment to the United States Constitution also brilliantly and succinctly states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and constitutions of the fifty states also enforce this principle on the states.
The Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution prohibits government from oppressing the individual's right to freely practice his religion. The Establishment Clause prohibits government from establishing or favoring one religion over another. Tension between the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause arises when adherents of one religion ask government for accommodations. The point where government accommodation reasonably protects free practice of religion as opposed to where government accommodation favors or establishes religion is often vague and subject to manipulation.
It is common for religions to push the limits of accommodation. As a result it is common for government to deliberately or inadvertently cross the line from protecting free exercise to favoring certain religions over others. Since favoring the rights of one religion inevitably restricts the free exercise of another, it is essential that the public be timely and fully advised of inappropriate entanglements of religion and state.
In recent decades media and public organizations have been reasonably diligent in identifying and discussing traditional religious movements seeking accommodations by public institutions. However, the Institute has observed that media and public organizations remain largely unaware of, or unconcerned by, successful and unsuccessful attempts by other religious movements to obtain favored treatment from government. Accordingly, the American public remains largely unaware of these religious movements' growing influence upon American government. One of the primary purposes of the Institute is to identify, and increase public awareness of, demands for favored treatment by these religious movements and to thereby uniformly discourage entanglement of church and state.
The Institute advisedly uses the words "religious movements" in lieu of "churches" or "faiths" because the words "religious movements" include groups with religious agendas whether or not they are organized or recognized as formal churches. The Institute has noticed that many of the groups seeking government accommodations on the eve of the 21st Century are not formal churches but religious movements espousing religious principles which are couched in terms of "spirituality," "culture" or "ethics." The Institute believes that the lack of traditional church form is irrelevant where religion is at issue and favors are being inappropriately requested from government. Court decisions support this view as the First Amendment prohibits "establishment of religion" without regard to form.
Among the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson is most associated with the principles of religious liberty and their resulting limits upon government. This Institute bears Jefferson's surname as well as the words "21st Century" thus signifying that the governing principles championed by Jefferson to limit the demands of competing 18th Century sects remain the guiding principles which must uniformly and fairly limit the demands of all religious movements asserting themselves on the eve of the 21st Century.
The Institute believes that the American people are dedicated to the governing principles established by the Founding Fathers. The Institute believes that, adequately provided accurate information, the public will, through established institutions of government, uphold the principle of separation of religion and government. It is only a dearth of information, or cacophony of inaccurate information, which limits the public's ability to direct its government. Therefore, the Institute strives to educate the public through dissemination of information through newspaper and journal articles, newsletters, opinion columns, public discussions, broadcast discussions, the Internet and other means.
The Institute believes that the great majority of government policy makers believe in and desire to uphold the First Amendment. These policy makers are frequently faced with competing demands to not favor particular religions (under the Establishment Clause) and yet to reasonably accommodate the exercise and expression of adherent of the same religions (Free Exercise Clause). Without adequate accurate information, policy makers have at times violated the Establishment Clause through government actions perhaps altruistically intended to respect beliefs under the Free Exercise Clause, including where "new" or "minority" religions are involved. Therefore, the Institute provides educational materials to policy makers to help them detect and properly address Establishment Clause issues when faced with requests for accommodation.
The Institute strives to communicate with leaders of all religious movements in order to understand their positions and to educate them regarding Establishment implications of their policies and the policies of other religious movements. As previously noted, the words "religious movements" include groups with religious agendas whether or not they are organized, or recognized as, formal churches. Because some religious movements lack formal designation as churches, Establishment implications of accommodation requests by these movements may be overlooked by themselves, other religious leaders, government policy makers and the public. Therefore, the Institute includes leaders of all religious movements in its discussions and disseminations of information.
The Institute communicates with government administrators, religious leaders and the public at large through the Institute's information releases and public discussions; however, as provided in the Institute's Articles and Bylaws, the Institute does not participate in political campaigns or engage in substantial lobbying activities. The Institute's purpose is to educate citizens, governmental policy makers and religious leaders to respect the appropriate separation of religion and government. The Institute does not function as a political action committee or lobby group. The Institute disseminates accurate information in a sufficiently objective manner so as to allow citizens and policy makers to make educated choices.
The Institute is a non-profit corporation. Contributions to the Institute are tax deductible.
The Institute's mailing address is P. O. Box 1294 Centerville, Utah 84014. E-mail address is j21c@aros.net. Telephone: (801) 298-7856. Fax: (801) 292-7059. Home page address: www.j21c.org.
Those sharing the Institute's views are invited to become Institute Associates.
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