President Starr joins group in urging Congress to act on worldwide religious persecution

In a 1920 sermon delivered on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., the legendary George W. Truett, AB 1897, proclaimed the historic Baptist emphasis on the need for religious liberty. “This is the chiefest contribution that America has thus far made to civilization,” the Baylor graduate and longtime pastor of First Baptist Dallas told the gathered crowd. “A Baptist would rise at midnight to plead for absolute religious liberty for his Catholic neighbor, and for his Jewish neighbor, and for everybody else.”

Nearly a century later, Baylor — led by President Ken Starr — continues the call for religious freedom for people of all faiths, all over the world. Last week, Judge Starr joined a bipartisan group of religious leaders, public intellectuals and scholars, representing a wide variety of faiths, in urging Congress to quickly develop a national strategy addressing the tragic global crisis in religious freedom.

The group’s letter was hand-delivered to Senate and House majority and minority leaders, asking that U.S. foreign policy work to specifically protect global religious freedom and advance the cause of religious liberty. Among the letter’s signatories were prominent pastor Rick Warren, former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, and Harvard Law scholar Alan Dershowitz. [Click here to read the letter in its entirety.]

“The freedom to practice one’s religion without fear is the precious birthright of every human being, of whatever class, status, or location on the earth,” the letter states. “It is also the providence of persons of faith, everywhere. Of all people, we Americans should be united in defending this human right — on behalf of those who suffer grievously for its absence, and for the noble and essential cause of protecting our own beloved country.”

The letter came on the heels of a Washington, D.C., panel on religious liberty moderated earlier this month by President Starr, which featured U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslim member of Congress, and Katrina Lantos Swett, of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The conversation was part of a conference on “Religious Freedom: Rising Threats to a Fundamental Human Right,” hosted by Georgetown University’s Religious Freedom Project and co-sponsored by Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion. Former U.S. Representative Frank Wolf, now the Jerry and Susie Wilson Chair in Religious Freedom at Baylor, gave the conference’s closing keynote address.

Sic ’em, Judge Starr!