Religious Liberty: The Cornerstone of All Human Rights
You may remember him as a U.S. senator, governor, or 2008 candidate for president. During the Donald J. Trump administration, Sam Brownback served as Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom from February 2018 through January 2021. He currently serves as co-chair of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit and chairman of the National Committee for Religious Freedom.
Earlier this year, the Southern Poverty Law Center attacked the International Religious Freedom Summit, complaining about the presence and influence of “anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups” and other conservative religious organizations. “To many of these extremists,” the SPLC wrote in an article, “religious freedom means, simply, the right to discriminate – particularly against the LGBTQ+ community.”
Ironically, according to The Daily Signal, the IRF Summit “highlighted persecution of Kyiv-aligned Christians in Ukraine, Christians in Nigeria, and many religious minorities—particularly Uyghur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists—in China. Members of atheist, Baha’i, Falun Gong, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and Yazidi organizations took part in the summit, as did Christian minorities such as Assyrians.”
Religious liberty is a fundamental, God-given right. Not only is it enumerated in and protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, but it is also recognized by dozens of nations around the world as the cornerstone of all human rights. We can ill afford to ignore that there are still far too many instances where religious liberty, conscience, and practice are violated around the world. Here in the United States, attempts to regulate or censor religious thought, practice, and/or speech continue to raise their ugly heads.
Should Crisis Pregnancy Centers be fined $50,000 for disseminating Biblical views about the sanctity of human life because some believe it is “misinformation?” Should florists, photographers, and bakers be forced to provide their services for same-sex weddings and celebrations that violate their religious beliefs? Should peaceful pro-lifers be arrested for praying in front of abortion mills?
Religious freedom is more than the “freedom to worship” at a synagogue, church, or mosque. It means people shouldn’t have to go against their core values and beliefs to conform to the creed of a dominant culture or government. Religious freedom protects people’s right to live, speak, and act according to their beliefs peacefully and publicly. It protects their ability to be themselves at work, in class, and in social activities.
Join us on June 1st to hear from Ambassador Brownback about the threats to religious liberty around the world and here at home, as well as how we can reinforce this critical right. There will also be a time of Q & A when you will be welcome to ask the Ambassador your questions.
We will also be joined by Arielle Del Turco, Family Research Council’s Director of the Center for Religious Liberty and co-author of the organization’s “Hostility Against Churches” report. This new report “indicates that criminal acts against churches have been steadily on the rise for the past several years… The first three months of 2023 saw approximately 3x the number of acts of hostility perpetrated against churches in the same timeframe last year.
UPDATE: We are pleased to announce that former state legislator Peter Breen has been added to our line-up of speakers for the IFI Special Forum on Religious Liberty. In addition to being a pro-life hero, Peter leads the Thomas More Society’s Legal Team in service of its Life, Family, and Religious Liberty missions.
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