OUR STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
We declared our nation on one essential proposition: that we are all created equal. President Franklin D. Roosevelt expanded on that proposition with his famous Four Freedoms speech on January 6, 1941 outlining our true American values:
- Freedom of Speech and Expression
- Freedom of Worship
- Freedom from Want
- Freedom from Fear
On December 10, 1948, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stating that “the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family [are] the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” and that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
We uphold these universal values, and reject all forms of bigotry, hatred and prejudice. We proclaim the transcendent truths of our equal humanity, of decency, of compassion. We believe in equality and in the Four Freedoms for all peoples, anywhere in the world. We stand with those whose Freedoms are threatened, and we work towards inclusiveness, connectedness, justice and the protection of human rights for all people. And we invite all to join us.
STATEMENT OF NON-PARTISANSHIP
The Four Freedoms Coalition is centered on universal human values regardless of partisan issues.
The Four Freedoms Coalition advocates for core American values, values based on universal human values, represented by the Four Freedoms. Through these shared values, we will work toward a common goal of protecting and promoting those values for all Americans, starting here in the Berkshires.
In order to effectively serve their members or clients in our community, some of our community partners may be politically active. Some of our partners are indeed partisan groups, and we welcome partnership from groups of all political leanings.
The coalition itself, however, is non-partisan. Our guideline for action is straightforward: if an action by any party, group, faction, or individual threatens one or more of our Freedoms, as with bigotry and prejudice, we will oppose those threats and stand with those who are threatened, no matter their partisan persuasion, if any.
We will work with any groups, individuals, elected officials, and policy makers who share the goal of protecting the Four Freedoms and rejecting bigotry and prejudice. Opposing the threats to these Freedoms, these values, is not a matter of left or right, conservative or liberal, Democratic or Republican, but a matter of right or wrong.