The International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) is a non-sectarian and non-political organization promoting religious freedom. It was originally organized by the Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in 1893 to campaign for

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

for all when the danger of restrictions from

blue laws Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, ...

became apparent. Its headquarters are in Silver Spring,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

.About Us
. International Religious Liberty Association. Retrieved 2009-08-21

Mission statement

The IRLA's mission statement says: "The International Religious Liberty Association will disseminate the principles of religious liberty throughout the world; defend and safeguard the civil right of all people to worship or not to worship, to adopt a religion or belief of their choice, to manifest their religious convictions in observance, promulgation, and teaching, subject only to the respect for the equivalent rights of others; support the right of religious organizations to operate freely in every country by their establishing and owning charitable or educational institutions; and organize local, regional, and national chapters as well as seminars, and congresses."

History

Activities

Since 2003, IRLA has organized the annual ''Religious Liberty Dinner'' to celebrate and bring attention to freedom of religion or belief, both in the United States and around the world. It also presents ''International Religious Freedom Award'' to individuals for their outstanding service to freedom of religion or belief. Previous awardees include H. Knox Thames (2007), Mikhail P. Kulakov (2008), David Saperstein (2009), Denton Lotz (2009), Dave Hunt (2010),

Gunnar Stålsett Gunnar Johan Stålsett (born 10 February 1935, in Nordkapp) is a Norwegian theologian and politician. He was leader of the Centre Party 1977–1979, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation 1985–1993 and bishop of Oslo, in th ...

(2011), Kit Bigelow (2011), Brian Grim (2016), and Thomas F. Farr (2017).

References

External links

International Religious Liberty Association website

Seventh-day Adventist Church State Council

North American Religious Liberty Association
{{Coord, 39, 3, 40, N, 76, 57, 58, W, region:US-MD, display=title General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Religious organizations established in 1893 Freedom of religion Seventh-day Adventist organizations

Mission statement

History

Activities

See also

References

External links