The American Civil Liberties Union — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) protects the liberties of all Americans, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. In the area of religion, the ACLU works to uphold the religious liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The free exercise clause of the First Amendment guarantees the right to practice one's religion free of government interference. The establishment clause requires the separation of church and state. Combined, they ensure religious liberty.

The Becket Fund — The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a bipartisan and ecumenical, public-interest law firm that protects the free expression of all religious traditions. We believe freedom of religion is a basic human right that no government may lawfully deny. Religious expression — from all traditions — is a natural part of life in civilized society, and religious arguments, on all sides of a question, are a normal and healthy element in public debate. Religious people and institutions are entitled to participate in government affairs on an equal basis with everyone else, and should not be excluded for professing their faith.

Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance — You, and I, and everyone else have two options: to accept the right of other people to freely follow religions that are strange to us, without hindrance, or: To continue living in a world saturated with religious intolerance. We will then experienced more religiously-based wars, terrorism, and civil disturbances, as we have seen recently in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cyprus, India, Kosovo, Israel, Macedonia, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, etc. The ultimate cause of the 9-11 terrorist attacks was religious hatred and intolerance. It's your decision to make. What kind of a world do you want you and your children to live in?

Tolerance.org — A Web project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Tolerance.org encourages people from all walks of life to "fight hate and promote tolerance." Through our public service announcements and this Web site, we hope to awaken you to the problem of hate and intolerance, equip you with the best tolerance ideas and prompt you to act in your homes, schools, businesses and communities.

The World Congress of Ethnic Religions — The purpose of the WCER is to serve as an international body that will assist Ethnic Religious groups in various countries and will oppose discrimination against such groups. By Ethnic Religion, we mean religion, spirituality, and cosmology that is firmly grounded in a particular people's traditions. The World Congress of Ethnic Religions was established in June 1998 at the initiative of delegates from 16 different countries (Europe, Asia, and America).

The Pluralism Project — The Pluralism Project was developed by Diana L. Eck at Harvard University to study and document the growing religious diversity of the United States, with a special view to its new immigrant religious communities. In the past thirty years, the religious landscape of the U.S. has changed radically. There are Islamic centers and mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples and meditation centers in virtually every major American city. The encounter between people of very different religious traditions takes place in the proximity of our own cities and neighborhoods. How Americans of all faiths begin to engage with one another in shaping a positive pluralism is one of the most important questions American society faces in the years ahead.

The International Association for Religious Freedom — Our vision is Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

The United Religions Initiative — Since 1996, thousands of people have shared their visions and worked together to create the URI. It is an organization for global good rooted in shared spiritual values. People from many different cultures and perspectives are working to create an organization that is inclusive, non-hierarchical and decentralized; one that enhances cooperation, autonomy and individual opportunity. This co-creative work offered by people of many cultures is producing a unique organization composed of self-organizing groups which operate locally and are connected globally. We have established the United Religions Initiative to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings.

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom — The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-292) to monitor religious freedom in other countries and advise the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress on how best to promote it. Congress passed the IRFA to promote religious freedom as a U.S. foreign policy goal and to combat religious persecution in other countries. The law created an Office of International Religious Freedom in the State Department, headed by an Ambassador-at-Large. That office is responsible for issuing a report on religious freedom and persecution in all foreign countries by September 1 of each year. On the basis of that report, the State Department designates "countries of particular concern" on the basis of their "systematic, ongoing, and egregious" violations of religious liberty. The law identifies the wide range of diplomatic and economic tools that the President can apply to those countries. To assist the President, the law recommended creation of a special advisor on international religious freedom as part of the National Security Council staff. The law also created the Commission on International Religious Freedom and required it to issue an annual report each May 1. The Commission expires in May 2003.

The Foundation for Religious Freedom — Educating the public on religious rights, freedoms, and responsibilities.

Facts about Religious Discrimination — Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment. The Act also requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee or prospective employee, unless to do so would create an undue hardship upon the employer.

The International Coalition for Religious Freedom — The International Coalition for Religious Freedom is a non-profit, non-sectarian, educational organization dedicated to defending the religious freedom of all, regardless of creed, gender or ethnic origin. In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which operates as an authoritative guide in the field of human rights. The ICRF seeks to promote the vision of religious freedom found in Article 18 of the Declaration: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, alone or in community with others, and, in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

The Network of Religious Futurists — Look at the story of your own religion, your own denomination, and ask how you can improve its story -- by God's grace. It's a story, a history, which includes you who is studying it. You are not here to make it worse; and you cannot leave it alone. You can make it better. You can make a better future religion. Who do you admire; whom would you imitate in your faith's story? A Pope, a Saint, a peace activist, a healer, a reformer? "Go thou and do likewise!" Religious futures scholarship focuses on predictable occurrences in the future of religion, based on present observable trends, and past trends in religion, compounded by expectations of wild cards or quantum leaps, in the context of society's future as a whole, ranging from science to technology. What kind of science and technology excites you, what kind worries you? Get involved in bringing religious values to the future of these sciences and technologies!

Center for Global Ethics — The Center for Global Ethics coordinates the work of thinkers, scholars and activists from around the world, who are working to define, implement and promote policies of responsible global citizenship. As profoundly interconnected members of a global community, we recognize the need to develop and advance the acceptance of a viable and sustainable Global Ethic.

Declaration Toward a Global Ethic — Dr. Hans Kung: "We are women and men who have embraced the precepts and practices of the world's religions: We affirm that a common set of core values is found in the teachings of the religions, and that these form the basis of a global ethic. We affirm that this truth is already known, but yet to be lived in heart and action. We affirm that there is an irrevocable, unconditional norm for all areas of life, for families and communities, for races, nations, and religions. There already exist ancient guidelines for human behavior which are found in the teachings of the religions of the world and which are the condition for a sustainable world order."

The International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance — The Foundation was established to increase awareness of the vital importance of religious freedom and to promote religious tolerance internationally. It carries out projects to restore religious rights and freedoms by uniting people and groups of faith and goodwill to defend the rights of all religions.


The International Support Tibet Network — The International Tibet Support Network (ITSN) is a network of Tibet-related non-governmental organizations from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australasia and Europe. The ITSN works to maximize the effectiveness of the international Tibet support movement. This movement is dedicated to ending human rights violations in Tibet, and to actively supporting the Tibetan people's right under international law to determine their future political, economic, social, religious and cultural rights.


Adherents.com — Adherents.com is a growing collection of over 41,000 adherent statistics and religious geography citations — references to published membership/adherent statistics and congregation statistics for over 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns, etc. Basically, researchers can use this site to answer such questions as "How many Quakers live in Indiana?", "What are the major religions of Nigeria?", or "What percentage of the world is Buddhist?" We present data from both primary research sources such as government census reports, statistical sampling surveys and organizational reporting, as well as citations from secondary literature which mention adherent statistics.

About the Anti-Cult Movement — Wikipedia article on the anti-cult movement.