CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Alice Chao, (866) FRC-NEWS or (866)-372-6397
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, May 2, Family Research Council is hosting a panel discussion on the intersection of religious freedom and national security and the opporunities for newly confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to address in his tenure. The panel will feature the President of the Religious Freedom Institute, Dr. Thomas Farr, and Prof. Robert Destro, Professor of Law and founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Law & Religion at Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, and co-director of the Iraqi Kurdistan Religious Freedom Project. Family Research Council president Tony Perkins will deliver the opening remarks for this event.
Travis Weber, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, who will be moderating the panel, offered the following comments previewing the discussion:
“To the degree it has been addressed in our foreign policy, we have dealt with religious freedom as an isolated humanitarian concern, and it has not been incorporated into any wider, strategic thinking about our own national security. This is a mistake.
“It is now apparent that there is a strong correlation between whether a nation poses a threat to the U.S. homeland, and whether that same nation disrespects and violates religious freedom within its borders.
“Add to this the fact that the so-called “secularization thesis” has by now been debunked. According to the Pew Research Center, 84 percent of the world population adheres to a religious identity, and that percentage is only expected to increase.
“In our ever more religious world, we need to understand how to cultivate religious freedom around the world—for its own sake, and for our own survival,” Weber concluded.
For an introduction to this topic, please see FRC's new Issue Analysis: "Religious Freedom and National Security"
WHO:
Dr. Thomas Farr, President of the Religious Freedom Institute
Prof. Robert Destro, Professor of Law and founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Law & Religion at Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, and co-director of the Iraqi Kurdistan Religious Freedom Project
Tony Perkins, Family Research Council president
Travis Weber, FRC’s Director of the Center for Religious Liberty
WHAT: “Religious Freedom and National Security: Opportunities for Secretary Pompeo”
WHEN: Wednesday May 2 at noon eastern
WHERE: In person: 801 G Street NW, Washington, DC
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