Minute on Religious Persecution

Approved at Cincinnati Friends Meeting for Business

10^th Month, 9^th Day, 2011

Cincinnati Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends notes with sadness the conflict between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Egypt. New media have reported that since 2010 this conflict has led to violence perpetrated by both Coptic Christians and Muslims against each other.

Remembering that 17^th century Friends “ministered without prejudice to Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Moslems [sic]” (page 11, and

Recognizing that the “steadfast insistence [of early Friends] on the right of the freedom of conscience, peaceable assembly, and worship did much to gain religious liberty for citizens of both England and America” (page 38), and

Agreeing “That conscience should be free, and that in matters of religious doctrine and worship man [sic] is accountable only to God, are truths which are plainly declared in the New Testament” (page 128), and

Acknowledging that “Friends regard the state as a social instrument to be used for the cooperative promotions of the common welfare” (page 39),

We feel led to reaffirm our spiritual commitment to religious liberty and to the right of all religious people freely to worship and practice their religious principles, so long as that worship and practice does not infringe on the religious liberty of others, and does not imperil the lives, health, and economic welfare of others.

We further affirm that it is the responsibility of just governments to encourage and support religious liberty and the right to worship and practice religious principles according to conscience.

Note: All quotations taken from Faith & Practice of Wilmington Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, 1977.