By Jeff Brumley / Associated Baptist Press
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Baptist and other American religious leaders are praising President Barack Obama’s selection of a rabbi and law professor to lead the U.S. State Department’s anti-religious-discrimination efforts around the world.
Obama today announced his nomination of Rabbi David Nathan Saperstein as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.
“I am grateful that Rabbi Saperstein has chosen to dedicate his talent to serving the American people at this important time for our country,” Obama said in a prepared statement.
The selection, which requires Senate confirmation, comes during an era that the White House and State Department described as one of the most tumultuous and repressive for people of faith around the globe.
If confirmed, Saperstein would be the fourth person — and the first non-Christian — to hold the position responsible for monitoring and countering religious discrimination and persecution.
Statements from various religious leaders quickly followed the president’s announcement.
“Rabbi Saperstein brings theological training and legal expertise, valuable experience serving on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and a passion for religious liberty both in the United States and around the world,” said Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
“The United States’ commitment to the cause of international religious liberty will be in good hands under Rabbi Saperstein’s tutelage,” Walker said in a statement released by the BJC.
Saperstein is director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He teaches First Amendment church-state law and Jewish law as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center. Among his numerous board appointments are the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment.
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