Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience

Statement of Principles

Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience was established to draw attention to discrimination based on faith and religion and to fight this phenomenon in today's Romania. Over time, Romanian society and authorities have acknowledged discrimination targeting other types of groups and have taken steps to eliminate it. Nevertheless, religious discrimination has reached alarming proportions, while remaining a largely unacknowledged occurrence, frequently misunderstood by the public. The association's main priorities include the adoption by Romania of an adequate legal framework guaranteeing religious freedom and the clarification of the current state of confusion, made worse by the long tradition of state authoritarianism in this country.

Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience believes that the violation of the secular character of the state is instrumental in the perpetuation of the current crisis of freedom of conscience. Although implicit in constitutional provisions and in the values of the international system of which Romania aims to be a part, the secular character of the state is in practice violated on a regular basis. The interference of religious institutions in the affairs of the state has become an established fact of public life - substantial assets are transferred to religious institutions, clerics are involved in the activities of public authorities, religious symbols are associated with the symbols of the state, while cultural policies and the existing practices in religious education undermine the principles of secularism. Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience militates for the affirmation of the secular character of the state as a fundamental value of modernity and a foundational principle of European culture. The association will encourage legislative and political measures furthering the goal of a secular society.

Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience promotes the values of rationality, openness, and free inquiry, which we consider to be indispensable ingredients in the individuals' ability to achieve their full humanity. The association emphasizes that freedom of conscience means liberty to hold and enjoy together with others a religious faith, as well as the freedom not to share in any religion or religious association. The extraordinary pressures put by leaders of religious groups on public life in Romania, as well as the increasingly manifest religious attitudes expressed within public institutions, constitute in our opinion a formidable obstacle to the country's modernization. While fully respecting religious conscience and encouraging its free manifestation, Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience will, in view of the current social context, promote the values of rationalist Humanism.