Religious Liberty Event Pays Tribute to 130 Years of Advocacy

AUGUST 23, 2023

Religious Liberty Event Pays Tribute to 130 Years of Advocacy

IRLA 9th World Congress encourages participants to reflect and act for the good of all people.

Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Attendees of the IRLA’s 9th World Congress follow the proceedings in Silver Spring, Maryland, on August 21. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

Nearly 150 religious liberty leaders, scholars, and advocates from around the world met for the 9th World Congress of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, August 21-23.

The international event invited attendees to discuss “a wholistic understanding of freedom of religion or belief as a pivotal human right,” organizers said.

In his remarks on August 21, Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, welcomed attendees, reminding them of the historical focus of the denomination on the topic.

“Adventist pioneers … saw in religious liberty an incontrovertible value without which our very humanity could be at risk of being diminished and impaired,” thus embracing “the priceless value of religious freedom, and the foundation of freedom itself,” Wilson said.

Wilson shared how Adventist pioneers fought against oppression of others, against slavery, and against early attempts at Sunday laws. “Adventist leaders officially adopted a solidarity with the whole human family through the advocacy of religious liberty,” he reminded attendees.

Ambassador Brownback: World faces a 'critical moment' for religious minorities

Sam Brownback, US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. (public domain)

By Courtney Grogan


Washington D.C., Mar 26, 2018 / 04:11 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- “It is more dangerous now than any time in history to be a person of faith,” said Ambassador Sam Brownback at an event marking the second anniversary of U.S. recognition that the Islamic State committed genocide against religious minorities, including Christians, in Syria and Iraq.

Brownback, who was sworn-in as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom last month, said that religious freedom should be advanced in U.S. national security policy, assistance programs, and economic strategies.

“I would like to see religious freedom be for this administration what climate change was for the last,” said Brownback at the March 23 event hosted by the Heritage Foundation.

“ISIS’ Genocide of Christians: The Past, Present and Future of Christians in the Middle East” brought together human rights experts, academics, and religious freedom advocates to examine how best to address the threats posed to religious minorities by extremist groups such as the Islamic State.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously “that the atrocities perpetrated by ISIL against religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria include war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide” in March 2016. Shortly after, Secretary of State John Kerry named Yazidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims as victims of genocide in the region.

While the panel discussions focused on Christians in the Middle East, Brownback also spoke of threats to religious liberty throughout the world. He highlighted the plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma, Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghur Muslims in China, and Catholic leaders in Venezuela, who came under fire from President Nicolas Maduro for speaking out about the country’s current crisis.

Brownback called for alliances between the political left and right in working towards greater religious freedom abroad urging, “We are at a critical moment for the future of religious minorities globally.”

He also asked for prayers for the persecuted and for those involved in religious freedom causes.

"By God's grace, life always triumphs over death, freedom overcomes oppression, and faith extinguishes fear. This is the source of our hope and our confidence in the future,” said Brownback.

Source

Pence casts tie-breaking vote to confirm Brownback as ambassador

By Chad Pergram, Alex Pappas | Fox News



Vice President Mike Pence was summoned to the Senate on Wednesday to break a tie -- twice -- on an ambassadorship nomination for Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

It’s rare for a vice president to be needed to break a tie, especially for a former senator like Brownback.

Pence had to vote twice: first on a procedural vote to break a filibuster, and then again on the final vote to confirm Brownback.





Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback was nominated by President Donald Trump to become ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. (Associated Press)



The vote was tied 49-49. Then Pence voted "in the affirmative," making it 50-49.

Brownback was nominated by President Donald Trump as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

The last vice president to twice break ties on the same day was Vice President Alben Barkley on October 4, 1949.

The Senate is operating with two Republicans absent. Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is battling cancer, remains out. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker is at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Under the Constitution, the vice president also serves as president of the Senate and votes in the event of ties.

This is the seventh tie Pence has broken in a little more than a year in office. Former Vice President Joe Biden never had to break a tie during his entire eight years.

Pence cast the tie-breaking ballot to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary last year -- the first time a vice president had ever broken a tie to confirm a nominee.


Alex Pappas is a politics reporter at FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlexPappas.

Source

5 faith facts about Sam Brownback: Political champion of religious freedom

By Adelle Banks Religion News Service

19 hrs ago




FILE - In this June 7, 2017 file photo, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback speaks during a news conference at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. President Donald Trump will Brownback as ambassador at large for international religious freedom. (AP Photo/John Hanna, File) The Associated Press




WASHINGTON • Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, President Donald Trump’s nominee for international religious freedom ambassador, describes religious freedom as “the choice of what you do with your own soul.”

If confirmed, the 60-year-old, two-term Republican governor, former U.S. senator and onetime presidential candidate would be the first politician confirmed as the ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. Previous ambassadors were religious or nonprofit leaders, and Brownback would follow a rabbi and a Protestant minister.

“Religious Freedom is the first freedom,” he said in a tweet responding to Trump’s announcement. “I am honored to serve such an important cause.”


Here are five faith facts about this Methodist-turned-Catholic politician: