WASHINGTON — In a program broadcast through the CBS Television Network, Baptist Joint Committee General Counsel K. Hollyn Hollman speaks to the principles inherent in religious freedom and how the BJC works to protect those rights for all citizens.
Click here to watch "Working for Religious Freedom" on the CBS website.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees religious freedom to all citizens, but what does that look like in the world's most religiously diverse country? According to CBS:
This program explores this matter, particularly among our religious minorities. While the government remains neutral in matters of religion, some fringe groups create fear of “the other” through hate speech and even violence. To counter this, watchdog organizations and religious scholars work to protect this freedom for religious minorities.
Also featured in the program are Charles C. Haynes, a senior scholar with the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, who speaks about the great threat to religious freedom present today; the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance; and representatives of The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who address “Islamophobia” and how anti-Muslim sentiment is affecting the civil and religious rights of the Muslim community.
In the special, Rajdeep Singh, director of law and policy for The Sikh Coalition, discusses the efforts to bring equal protection under the law to the Sikh Community and Dr. Chris Seiple, president of The Institute for Global Engagement (IGE), speaks about protecting religious freedom worldwide.
The executive producer is John P. Blessington, and Liz Kineke is the producer. It is produced in cooperation with The National Council of Churches, a consortium of Roman Catholic organizations, The Islamic Society of North America, The Union of Reform Judaism, and the New York Board of Rabbis.
The program is a CBS Interfaith Special. It first aired in December of 2012.
