Interfaith Alliance

The Interfaith Alliance is a national interfaith organization founded in 1994. Its stated goal is to protect faith and freedom by respecting individual rights, protecting the boundaries between religion and government, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism and build common ground.

Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members from more than 75 faith traditions and belief systems, [ [http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/c_welton_gaddy/2007/01/religion_is_not_a_political_st.html "Brandishing Religion is Not a Political Strategy"] , Washington Post.] in addition to many persons who are irreligious. Members of The Interfaith Alliance realize the powerful role that religion plays in America, and they value the positive impact that religious belief can have on American politics. However, The Interfaith Alliance's concern is that religion and the United States government are becoming dangerously entangled. TIA believes that religion is being manipulated as a tool to influence policy and advance political strategy. The Interfaith Alliance works to ensure the sanctity of religion and the integrity of politics. The group also supports an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation. [ [http://www.idahopress.com/articles/2007/02/01/news/news3.txt "Coalition pushes 'sexual orientation' protection"] , Idaho Press-Tribune.]

The Interfaith Alliance and its partner organization, The Interfaith Alliance Foundation, work out of their main office in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The group has local chapters around the country. [ [http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070207/NEWS/202070330/1001/NEWS01 Newspaper article about a local chapter] , from The Ocala Star-Banner of Ocala, Florida] The Interfaith Alliance UK is a charitable interreligious organisation based in the Great Britain to promote interfaith dialogue and advocacy, and is independent of the Interfaith Alliance in the United States. [ [http://www.interfaithalliance.org.uk Interfaith Alliance UK website] ]

The president of the organization is Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, who serves as Pastor for Preaching and Worship at Northminster (Baptist) Church in Monroe, Louisiana. Rev. Gaddy is also the host of "State of Belief", a weekly radio show on Air America Radio, on which he claims that "religion and radical freedom are best friends and how the religious right is wrong—wrong for America and bad for religion."

References

External links

* [http://www.interfaithalliance.org/ Interfaith Alliance USA website]