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PROCLAMATION <br />DESIGNATING NOVEMBER 24 THROUGH NOVEMBER 30, 2014, AS <br />RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WEEK IN INDIAN RIVER COUNTY <br />511 <br />WHEREAS, George Washington, in the first Thanksgiving Proclamation issued on October 3, <br />1789, noted: "It is the duty to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be <br />grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor"; and <br />WHEREAS, much of the ideology of the American Revolution was developed by ministers and <br />promulgated from the pulpits of various churches throughout the colonies, but dominated by no one <br />church or set of beliefs; and <br />WHEREAS, as set out in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, adopted in 1785, "... all <br />men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and <br />that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities; and <br />WHEREAS, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "Among the most inestimable of our blessings <br />is that ... of liberty to worship our Creator in the way we think most agreeable to His will; a liberty <br />deemed in other countries incompatible with good government and yet proved by our experience to be <br />its best support"; and <br />WHEREAS, the recognition of the natural right of every individual American to religious <br />freedom means that men and women are free to pursue their highest aspirations, be they religious or <br />hilosophic, free from the threat of political passions and is embodied in the First Amendment to the <br />onstitution of the United States of America, which states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an <br />establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY <br />COMMISSIONERS, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, the week of November 24 through <br />November 30, 2014, be known and set aside as RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WEEK in Indian River <br />County, in recognition of the right to worship, however one chooses, which has played so crucial a role <br />in the development and success of the American Republic. <br />Adopted this 18th day of November, 2014. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />IN N RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA <br />tgoti73 <br />Peter D. O'Bryan, Chairm <br /><7t -- <br />Wesley S. Davis, Vice Chairman <br />•seph E. Flescher <br />Solari <br />