Symposium on Religious Freedom to be Held at University of Richmond Jan. 19
January 18, 2005
The three winners of the 2005 First Freedom Awards, presented by the Council for America’s First Freedom, will speak at a symposium Jan. 19 at the University of Richmond. “The Rights and Responsibilities of Religious Freedom: Views from the Front Lines,” will be held at 9 a.m. in Jepson Hall, room 120. Co-sponsored by the council and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, it is free and open to the public.
Speakers include William Lee Miller, winner of the First Freedom Virginia award; the Hon. Robert A. Seiple, First Freedom national award winner; and The Rev. Elias Chacour, First Freedom international award winner. They will receive their awards at a dinner that evening at The Jefferson Hotel.
Miller is author of “The First Liberty: America’s Foundation in Religious Freedom,” a scholarly account of the meaning of religious freedom in America. He is a scholar in ethics and institutions at the Miller Center and former University of Virginia professor and director of the Program in Political and Social Thought. He was founding director of the Poynter Center on American Institutions at Yale University and Smith College.
Seiple was the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, charged with advancing religious freedom worldwide, promoting reconciliation in areas of conflict from religion and making sure that religious freedom is woven into U.S. foreign policy. He later created the Institute for Global Engagement to develop sustainable environments for religious freedom worldwide. He also served 11 years as president of World Vision, the largest privately funded relief and development agency in the world.
Chacour has dedicated his career to furthering reconciliation between Palestinians and Jews. He is founder of Mar Elias Educational Institutions, providing excellence in teaching while fostering a learning environment open to students of all faiths, ethnicities and nationalities. He is a three-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize and a recipient of various world peace awards. He is author of three books, “Blood Brothers,” “We Belong to the Land,” and “J’ai foi en nous.”