it has become the severance of religious and public life. and now caught again in the misunderstanding of the most basic rudiments of our religious faith.

>> when need to find unity of religious traditions if we are to preserve robust freedom and religious liberty. in the short time that i have today, i want to call attention to a new player in the arena of religion and public life and was commonly called the west -- so- called eastern orthodox christianity can no longer be described or confined as a religion of the east. our world today is global and movement is at an ever increasing rapid pace. technology has broken down borders. access to information, of course, has contributed greatly to the discovery of a different christianity by those living in the west and also those who have

lost their faith and spiritual roots two decades of godless communism or persecution and intimidation by life under intimidation byyolk. as we contemplate the threat to our religion today, in the last century, orthodox christianity has produced more markers for the fate then in all the previous two dozen years of christian history combined. orthodoxy know by experience the tierney of communism and life as a minority religion in regions dominated by islam. the religious liberty enjoyed by christians living in western countries has not been experience of most orthodox christians and the world. the religious liberty we enjoy today was absent for most orthodox christians living in the former soviet union, eastern

europe, middle east, and parts of africa. we orthodox recognize the signs of persecution even those of the more subtle variety found in most western societies today. to message seems now to be very clear in the west -- the message is that christianity can be tolerated as long as it remains within the confines of the walls of our churches. what comes next? i believe that like a canary carried by minors, that the orthodox christians to our unique history of living in parts of the world that religious liberty is not normal. through our experience, reliable marker is predict that something is wrong and maybe even a life threatening. judaeo-christian foundations that inspired christians to found hospitals, orphanages,

universities and countless other centers for the good of society for believers and nonbelievers alike is now very weak in much of the west. theology which was once the centerpiece of universities is now, for the most part, simply an isolated discipline somewhere in the religion department full professors mostly with little conviction of any stripe. one president of a major university stated he would abolish the religion department of his university if he could. he believes that god is simply a word for people with an incurable nostalgia for something that never was. we must ask why and how this happened. why has this misguided interpretation of the doctrine of the separation of church and state been allowed to bar any talk of god, faith, and borrows

from the public square in countries that supposedly value the doctrine of freedom of religion? these are countries that value free speech and a so-called liberal education. could the fault actually lie with christians? as divided christianity been the basis for isolating the judeo- christian foundation as a building block for the western world which once honored such ideals as the common good of man, the golden rule, the right to life, freedom, and democracy? could are teaching of what i call locale theology and the let's all get along theology caused our witness to become anemic and irrelevant? it is not the present crisis of what i call the fairness doctrine.

life is to be live without values, moral guidance or much else beyond the present moment. the concern for the threat to our american religious liberty is real. orthodox history comes with some bible lessons. here's one from recent history that should inspire us to leave here today determined to raise our voices loudly in defense of our religious freedom. most of us present here today recognize with great enthusiasm the influence that ronald reagan, margaret thatcher, and pope john paul ii had in ending the cold war and bring it and to communist rule and the soviets -- and bring an end to communist rule. there's also the powerful influence of the millennial celebration of what is called the baptism of the ruse which took place in 988. mchale a tour -- mckelway

gorbachev in 1988 it would not go back on for the russian orthodox church was up from the underground and there was no going back. holy mother russia turned quickly into the got less bolshevik state where religion and religious liberties were under attack, large portions of the faithful simply remained silent. we cannot afford to not learn from this historical lesson that is only one of many that are almost identical. an author notes about ronald reagan -- religion has been an essential component of massive interest in the soviet union. in russia, religion is alive,

beleaguered, tormented, but alive. the author had written this after her first visit to the soviet union in 1967. in a state where great cathedrals have been turned into anti-religious museums, this is a sublime example of his enduring strength in the hearts of men. she had studied the history of the russian orthodox church for her book. the church is always represented the aspirations of the russian people and provided them with the inspiration and strength from the darkest hours of their history. this passage in form inspired president reagan. the must ask ourselves today if there is not a lesson to be learned about just how quickly things can change and cultures where religious liberties are chipped away and eventually forgotten altogether.

let us be attentive as we often repeated in our orthodox liturgies. orthodox christianity is now finding a home in places like western europe and north america and beyond. this is the christianity tried and tested by the oppression of every sort in very recent times. in many places in the west, she can still be found hiding in safe havens or ethnic ghettos but this is changing quickly as the fear of being different dissolves. converts from every cultural background are now and bring in new kind of zeal to orthodoxy. they are bringing with them what i would call a familiarity with the way that americans do business. it is has been said that to live aboard a large christian life is to be engaged in an endless

series of risk-taking. this step -- the status quo can indeed be changed. our history testifies to this fact. not by forcing our beliefs and common on willing but by living individual christian lives that reflect the light of christ in a darkened world. "find inner peace and thousands around you will be saved." i can say to you today that we orthodox are not only finding our interior way but we are finding our external voice. orthodox pirates have issued many directors over the years but i believe the following statement is the first record of protest against the infringement of religious liberty given in response to the recent unpleasantness with the

department of health and human services. the orthodox bishops joined their voice with the u.s. catholic conference of bishops and call upon all orthodox christians to contact their elected representatives to voice their concern in the face of this threat to the sanctity of the church's conscience. they go on to write," in this ruling by health and human services, religious hospitals, educational institutions, and other organizations will be required to pay for the full cost of contraceptives including some abortion- inducing drugs and sterilization for their employees regardless of their religious convictions of the employers." the first amendment of the u.s. constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. this freedom is transgressed when a religious institution is required to pay for contraceptive services including abortion-inducing drugs that directly violate their religious

convictions. providing such services should not be regarded as mandated medical care. we, the assembly call upon the hhs secretary kathleen sibelius and the obama administration to rescind this unjust ruling and respect the religious freedom guaranteed all americans by the first amendment. the orthodox have begun to be confident americans. the united voice of orthodoxy is being heard in a way that is, in the opinion of this baker, simply long overdue. the lines we formed today does much to give body into our efforts to call attention and defend religious liberty for every american. the once unknown christian witness from the east is now sinking deeper into new places including this land of the free and home of the brave.

we bring our history and experience from recent times and we know the importance of not being intimidated and silent when something as precious as religious liberty is at stake. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, it is an honor to be here with you, my teacher, today and be part of such a distinguished panel of clergy. i recently came upon an extraordinary letter that was written in 1787 by dr. benjamin rush, then the formal physician in america. he was a devout christian and an american founding father signatory to the declaration of independence. in his 1787 letter, he recounts to his wife julia his experience having just attended a jewish wedding in philadelphia.

the only firsthand account of a jewish wedding from this error which i am aware. he tells his wife upon being invited to attend his wedding at the home of a jewish associate," i accepted the invitation with great pleasure for you know i love to be in the with adding to buy stock of ideas upon all subjects." the ceremony began with "the erection of a beautiful canopy composed of white and red silk in the middle of the floor." this structure is the chupa under which a jewish brides and grooms are traditionally married. he goes on to confirm that all jewish homes are the same everywhere and reported to his wife that when he went after the wedding to bid farewell to the mother of the bride, she "put a large piece of cake to buy a pocket for you." you can't leave a jewish home without having cake. [laughter]

let me talk about the chupa which tells us something profound about jewish life. it is the embodiment of a home that the man and wife tend to build their home. it is an odd home to build because there are no boundaries, a breeze and all sides. it is perceived as an act -- as a abraham and sarah. it opens doors and all four of its sides. the open sides symbolize their commitment to bear the monotheistic message of the four corners of the air. under the chupa standing in the medical -- metaphorical shadow, the man and wife commit themselves to the abraham a commission to carry judea's and into the world around them. judea's and is affirming. it obligates them wherever they need be or go or whatever they

may do or say or become whether in their own home or in the public square on to the four corners of the earth. what is striking to me about the account is that rush, a devout christian, is the one describing it. the fact that he was there shows how welcome jews felton a relatively open about their faith they were in an era which would have been on welcome in most other parts of the world. in the europe of the enlightenment, jews were tantalized by the vision of full integration into german or french society but only if they're willing to sacrifice their public jewishness to do so. when european jewish intellectual went so far as to famously capitulate to these demands by saying, "i shall be a jew in the 10th but a german industry to." the chupa embodies the traditional jewish belief that one cannot become a fundamentally different person upon crossing a threshold.

one cannot check one's heritage at the door. the message of fidelity to fate was embraced by russia and fellow pitchers to understood the first amendment and the religious freedom means loyalty to your beliefs even if they are unpopular with tornadoes and engaged with those neighbors. a jewish wedding witnessed by a devout christian american founder embodies the pluralist a promise of america. teh chupa is a uniquely jewish symbol but it translates an american idea that anyone here can understand. our faith is an essential part of ourselves and cannot be amputated from our identity upon opening hour from doors. if we who are here today understand this, it is not clear that others do and this brings us to be hhs policy that 43 catholic institutions have challenged this weaken corporate

the current policy exempts only religious organizations that do not employ members of other faiths. before congress, i noted that there are two important corollaries. by carving out an exemption, the administration acknowledges that forcing employers to purchase these policies may violate religious freedom. the of ministration also sones that those -- the administration also assumes that in order to engage with and serve members of other fights, no longer acting in a religious capacity and are not entitled to first amendment protection. this betrays a complete misunderstanding of the nature of religion. for orthodox jews, religion and tradition govern their religion,

religion informs our conduct in the manifestation of religious beliefs from feeding the hungry to assessing medical ethics to a million things in between. in refusing to extend religious liberty beyond the parameters of what the above decision chooses to dean religious conduct, the administration denies people of faith the ability to define their religious activity. not only is this a threat to the root -- peaked liberty of religion by requiring individuals and organizations to violate their religious tenets but also the administration and played -- impedes religious freedom. [applause] this, as it were, is an attempt to well up chupa, to force americans to relegate religious

beliefs to the private domain. several months after attending the jewish wedding and mentioned earlier, benjamin rush participated in celebration of another union -- a parade in honor of the american constitution had had just been ratified by the state. he noted the parade featured a spectacle impossible in the europe of his death. "the clergy of the different christian denominations with the rabbi of the jews walking arm in arm." he reflected this was a most delightful site. he said there could not have been a more better emblem that opened says the offices to every sector of christian but were the men of every religion. the freedom to remain loyal to one's own fate while engaging americans of other faiths is the essence of what this country and its constitution means to jews and it is this quintessential american idea that is now being challenged by the of ministration. to the clergy on my pal, it is

my privilege to join arms with all of you and the fate of this troubling attempted to restrict the very rights the first amendment was crafted to protect. when my fellow americans are threatened and the definition of religion is being redefined by bureaucratic fiat, i am proud to stand with you. thank you for having me. [applause] >> maybe you see why i am so proud. thank you to all of our panelists. it is wonderful to have this wide representation of traditions, five major traditions in the united states represented. of course there are people from other traditions as well who are doing heroic work in the battle for religious freedom. we could expand the panel if we have more space and more time.

one thinks of islamic figures for the back of fund for religious freedom t --eh beckett fund for religious for, members sikh fund. this is a cause that unites us across christian and judeo- christian lines but even more broadly. with that, let's have a little discussion appear on the panel and then, i understand, you will have the opportunity to send some questions up from the audience. if i could begin, i was struck by something that c shipor teleone said. catholics had to work toward a truly robust understanding of

religious liberty that embraces the broader principles of democratic-republican government. my own sense of that and i would be curious to know your perspective is that part of it had to do with what the for raised"religious liberty" meant to a church whose hierarchy for a long time really was european. the experience of the french revolution really shaped the idea that catholics have about religious liberty and that meant things like religious indifference or relativism and the idea that religious vows did not bind or that it is immoral to take religious vows, attempting to bind your own conscience against future reflection and a complete comprehensive subservience of the church to the state. it was only when the church got

a sense of a different idea about religious liberty, when i think that americans can camp -- can claim some credit for. it was strongly to test from the french idea. it would not relegate religious liberty to a secondary status. catholics really could step forward with the conception of religious liberty. and my near the mark on this? >> you would know better than i. [laughter] >> i don't have one chains. [laughter] >> the difference between the french revolution and the american revolution -- a. yes the french concept which would make the church subservient to the state and that religious indifference whereas the concept of the founders of our nation was a different understanding with the importance of the role

of religion and public life that they call this an experiment in democracy. if the experiment is going to work, they knew it had to be based on a body of virtuous citizens. and helping people develop those virtues necessary to make this society work. we know how they endorsed the importance of the american people having that religious sense without establishing a particular religious tradition or church as the state religion. >> timothy, you can help me on this. it looks to me that although the catholic church took a while longer to get there in its formal pronouncement, when one reads, if one or a baptist, which you of course are, one would not find a lot to disagree

with their. >> item that anybody has a perfect record on religious freedom including baptists. we have been champions but sometimes an hour on practice, we have not lived up to what we profess. if you are right, and when the documents i have been recently involved with, the most recent document. it is a common based tax. --text. there's a coalition of religious concern the drowsiness represent the historic christian doctrine of god, really, as well as the christian tradition in talking about what religious freedom means in our world today. the only other thing i would like to comment on is that there is something that runs for all of our comments on the panel today. that is that we are each speaking, i think, deeply and

with conviction that out of our own firmly held religious convictions. there is a kind of argument for religious freedom that opposes that kind of religious conviction and sees it as an impediment to religious freedom, that always digs about religion as provoking religious wars and violence. what we are trying to say is that within our own religious convictions and tradition, there is a common core of commitment that allows us to respect one another and enter into dialogue with one another and to stand for one another when religious freedom is under assault. it seems this is a far better way. that is the way forward. >> i was struck by something you said as well about the jewish experience in europe compared to the experience in the united states. especially bad bargain offer --

especially the bargain offer from europe that choose, you will get something you always wanted but never had in europe which is full citizenship and liberation but at a cost, the cost is you have to keep your religion private and in your public life, it cannot bear. a lot of people in europe on both sides of the divide believed that you had to offer one of the following things -- either the domination of a religious majority or secularization of the public square. to me, the american experience shows that those are false starts and a terrace. you can have robust -- that those are false or tent -- alternatives. >> q i canuote yogi berra - he

was told the mayor of dublin is jewish he said only an american [laughter] >> yogi berra is a great catholic theologian. >> i have no disagreement there. his location was a theology. [laughter] that is exactly right. think a t wasoqueville who said that in europe it was assumed that the foundation of political text american public life a >> written by a frenchman. >> he said something like -- in europe, it was assumed that faith and reason- he said in an

america i found them in joint reign of a land. as was mentioned before, the reason for the difference and america is that in america, america believe that reason and faith or both essential components of society and the very argument for freedom in general and religious freedom in particular. the biblical vision played a very great role not just in making the argument for freedom as documented recently by harvard's erik nelson, how the bible impacted the protestant case for liberty made in britain and the impact of the founding fathers but also because they felt the biblical

motion of covenants could unite religions despite their differences in a common project of creating a society together. john adams family recounts a letter to his own wife about how the first meeting of the continental congress in 1774, it was proposed the begin of the prayer. john jay objected to this saying they were to religiously divided. today the notion that those are the major divisions -- a couple of years ago, i took part in a meeting with a bunch of students at a protestant divinity school. i was aware of the fact that was the only orthodox jews there. waterston said i feel like i am sticking out being a presbyterian among episcopalians. the guy with the yarbrough was yarmulke was thinking i hate

when that happens. at one. these people were killing each other. they could not pray together. adams got up and said he would be willing to prevent a person of propriety and virtue was a patriot. i think they brought in an episcopal priest who asked god to protect them from their enemies. it is precisely in the founding fathers, as i understand it -- their rigid --rooted their case for religion in this and a european notion of social contract. it was the biblical concept of covenants which could make a case for unity despite genuine religious disagreement. >> with lds community, they have suffered a history of persecution in the united states or the fate was founded. nevertheless, the lds community

has flourished with its institutions and the accomplishments of its members and you have a great university, brigham young. but in recent years where the church has had committed to severe criticism and genuine abuse has been one the church has stepped out in poland -- and spoken in the public square. yet been willing to stand up for believes that are shared the l betweends an orthodox jews and catholics and eastern orthodox christians and protestants. the church has really come under fire and has been treated and abused more severely than have representatives stating the same views and the public square of the other larger fates. it might be that as a small minority, you are always more vulnerable.

to its enormous credit, the flds church is not permit itself to be intimidated by those tactics and continues to refuse to treat fate as a private matter and to speak from thelds tradition for the common good in the public sphere. >> thank you first for that observation. i think it is fair to say that the church is not a stranger to persecution. organized in new york and within a few years moved from new york to ohio to missouri to illinois and then a famous 1200-mile march from illinois to salt lake city which granted the church, in a sense, with respect to the made to be aware of what is happening around it and be aware of the fact that religious freedom comes sometimes at a very dear price.

my own ancestors on my father's side made that height. hike and some of our group died along the way. the thought of paying a price to secure freedom is not a stranger to us. with respect to the recent efforts, you're probably referring to the battle over marriage and the state of california. there was some members of the church were treated harshly and were subjected to terrible things. >> there was a video of a church being literally invaded by critics of the church's position on. >> but we will not change our position with respect to matters that are essential to our doctrine. we will stick with those and other people and other faiths will as well we avoid partisan matters. we avoid platform matters. when there is a matter of serious moral concern, will

stand there ground. we are compelled to do it. >> ch fatherad, -- a fatherchad one of the complications of a history of religious freedom and the struggle for religious freedom is that assaults on religious freedom can come from both religious sources and from secular etiologies. -- ideologies. sometimes the very same tradition of freight and people associated with it can be the persecuted and other times the persecutors. from my own tradition, catholics have been persecuting others, by letting religious freedom and catholics have been persecuted including here in the united states at certain times in our history. as timothy said, it is hard to find a tradition that has a pervert a clean record itself

but i think it is some portion to to acknowledge that the threats can come from both directions from religion itself and from secularism. do you agree? >> by would fully agree with that. i have been asked this question since i have been here let's make a part of the public record because it is responding to what you just said. i have cited reason russian orthodox history. may fromave cited it f multiple parts of the world. i have been asked this question about legislation all russianduma that prohibits religious activities from charges that orthodox. those of us who are in orthodox christians have been clear response to a russian brethren that it is always a problem when you look to caesar to protect you. that is not a good alliance ever for christians.

my personal opinion and that of many others is that orthodoxy has to stand on its own merit. if it looks for that kind of protection elsewhere, it creates the kind of scenario described. let's face it, lots of evil has been done on the name of god. the fact that you and i live in a country like this, the lesson sometimes is that a government agencies can actually pick religions against each other and it breaks headed to a fight and this particular issue from health and human services has done just that. there are religious bodies that have embraced it wholeheartedly. they have been highly critical of other religions doing what we do today. we are raising her voice and being part of how we americans do business. >> panelists, i need to give you

an opportunity to say anything else you like a special anything prompted by anything one of your fellow panelists have said. any comments and what your colleagues have said? you all agree with it or did not listen? [laughter] >> i will add one thing. i have given talks on this. democratic elements have not been absent in our catholic tradition. we don't have a democratic form of church governance. for centuries, even before this country was founded, the church had rules for economical elections -- a ca fournonical elections. cal elections. it was the experience of europe

where they never approached the principle of democracy as a form of governance. they had this position of suspicion. with the american experience, it affirmed that in a magisterial document. >> ok, we're blessed to have an audience almost as distinguished as our panelists. let's go to the audience questions. they have been handed up here and i have not had a chance to review them but i will just start reading them. with the owner of a car with license plate -- [laughter] clergy question -- would you agree - i'm not sure whether a in thelds tradition there is a

distinction between clergy and non-clergy. are you clergy? >> i don't now [laughter] . >> i was a lawyer minding my own business and i got a call next to l wasds >> would you agree that faith communities have a responsibility to celebrate pluralism and diversity of america. many believe we seek a status quo or common denominator on religious issues. it looks to me as if we are celebrating at least religious diversity here. i don't think anybody is arguing against the celebration of pluralism and diversity. i'm not exactly sure what the question is asking. do you want to have a crack

addict? >> those two words are tremendous buzz words. i'm not sure what was meant from the question. perhaps clarification is needed but the ideology of religion and diversity can be taken in ways that are dehumanizing and anti- religious. they diminish religious conviction and religious community. if that's what is meant by it, i think those are suspect ideas. the fact that we are called to live together and celebrate the fact that we have the plural society and the kind of commitments religious and nonreligious represented in our society, i think all of us want to affirm that is a good thing. >> i certainly do. >> there has to be some commonly held values that are the foundation upon which diversity can be separated. with the battle in our country now is what are those foundational values that we

should hold in common? >> i think we have been very clear that this whole conference is centered around the protection of religious liberty for all and that includes another prominent religion in our culture which is secularism. >> how do you believe church members of all faiths might double their educational efforts in particular with encouraging and protecting religious liberty? how specifically will your own church redouble its efforts in this regard? >> great question. the first thing we will do is try to teach our own members. we have various means of doing that through the printed word, through televised caucuses across the pulpit and so on. i suspect that one of the focus is that will come this experience and other similar ones is an effort with in our own denomination to do a better

job of teaching our children about things that man -- that really matter. we will encourage anyone wherever we can starting in caucuses across the country and starting with a combined effort with other religious faiths and traditions to find ways to keep in touch with and help with legislative action, to get to know legislators and to find people with common beliefs and for this.seek ithe forums as we look across the country, as we begin to focus our efforts and establish a network that will reach beyond our own fates and across the country, we will find a way maybe with a new

technological advances, to get the word to people and help them begin to get a feeling for what is going on in the country. i think this effort will require a variety of outrage and -- out reach and it will require some work. of problemshis kind will yield without substantial effort. >> let me take this one over to you as well. i would be interested in what you are finding in the orthodox jewish community. it has been heartening to see the positive reaction from orthodox jews in the united states standing in solidarity with catholics and others in support of religious freedom. can you talk more about that? do orthodox jews see down the line some threats that could come to their own community? for example, i can think of

proposed legislation that so far has not been enacted to bend circumcision without religious exemptions and san francisco. are there things like that that causes or the jews to say this is a serious issue. >> speaking for myself, what motivates me is two-fold. we certainly have our own doctrines and moral questions. orthodox jews may or may not agree with others. on the other hand, we share many traditional moral values in common with those of other faiths. when we see certain values, certain liberties being challenged or restricted, we see that as a general threat to everybody. even f. we're not affected at that moment. speaking for myself, this is not

just a self-interest aspect but it is bound with what jews have always believed is the blessing of america and what we as jews from the very beginning have experienced as the blessing of america. that is what has been a motivating a prodigious now announced that they will put the famous letter by george washington which has been sitting in a file cabinet for decades. it was terrible and now the famous letter in which he echoed the letter he received from the congregation describing america as the land which gives bigotry no sanction and a force to all liberties of conscious and concluded with the children of the stock of abraham to dwell in peace in this land.

that has always invited the blessing of america. if that has been a blessing of america for us, it is an obligation to fight for that blessing for others. >> i love that in that letter, the leaders of the jewish community must have mentioned in their letter that they hoped under the new government, the new constitution, the jews would be afforded tolerance and washington rights back and essentially says to them gently and politely but firmly that you don't get it yet. you deserve more than tolerance. this is america. this is not your for your tolerance as a minority. you are citizens. it is no longer toleration. that capture the difference between the american understanding and the european understanding and dispel the doubts possibly for a minority community. >> that's right, i don't know -- when this will be.

i figure will be featured in philadelphia in the american jewish museum but all faiths should celebrate this letter. >> for anyone who is not read washington's letter to the jewish community in rhode island, don't do it on your iphone now but when you get back to your rooms and you get on line, that is the first thing you should do is look of that magnificent letter from washington to the jewish community. it tells you a great deal about washington but also tells you a great deal about america and what our founders wanted america to be. they have their flaws and their faults, obviously, but boy it tells you that they have a vision for america truly has a land of liberty. i have another question and this one is a very serious question. if you figure to ask this one, give them the door prize. this is for all the panelists. i don't know the answer myself.

the so-called boland amendment named for the author of the amendment the -- blunt amendment failed 48-51 on march 1 of this year in a partisan vote. does the partisanship of this vote concern your faith communities? are you willing to advocate for specific legislative remedies to this problem? let me add one thing to the question before letting you approach it. think back to a few years ago, after the supreme court decision. across the political and religious spectrum, people united in order to enact their religious freedom restoration act which passed overwhelmingly in both houses of congress. this united jerry falwell and

people for the american way and the moral majority across the board. for a more robust understanding of religious freedom. that coalition seems to have completely broken down. that bipartisan unanimity has been lost and we have a situation where on something as fundamental as religious liberty of the hhs mandate, we get a partisan vote right down the middle. that cannot be healthy, it seems to me. the last thing we want is a party division between democrats and republicans over something as fundamental as religious freedom. i don't know what to make of this partisanship and it worries may. what do you make of this? are your communities willing to

advocate specific legislative remedies? >> i would say that i thought hammersmith this morning ah -- nnah smith said a perfectly how this is a political football and it has lost the importance of what we are gathered here today about which is religious liberty. as religious leaders, we have a moral obligation to speak to our people to remind our people this is an issue that is not connected to any political party. it is a basic religious right that is being infringed upon. we simply cannot be silent. we've got too many lessons to learn. >> hannah smith is magnificent, my students. [laughter] what do you make of this? this seems to be a real problem. >> first of all, that vote is a reflection of a deep divide

across the country. it takes me back to the question of education, of helping people see other sides to the same problem. it characterizes the balance. we have an educational struggle ahead of us and it will require a united effort by all of us here today to overcome the obstacles that are in the way. without responding to that particular issue, i think the entire problem is characterized by the question. it points to the need to work together in accordance coalition to find ways to punch through the problems. >> i think it will be a horrible situation if democrats think that in order to be loyal and good democrats that you have to stand with the a administration on the hhs issue and you cannot reach out and a fan that the religious liberty of those for whom this is a substantial

burden. that is a bad situation i know there are many democrats who are concerned about religious liberty. it worries me that this issue is becoming partisan. >> i am an independent and i have no loyalty to the democratic republican party. however, i think the question and the situation a bl of theunt amendment reflects a capitulation of one of the major parties on this particular issue. thank god for democrats who are willing to buck the trend and stand up. would we as religious people support specific legislation? absolutely. i thank you would have been derelict in the 1960's if we did not support civil rights legislation. if there were awakero,e v wade

could be overturned and we should support it. i think this is a moral issue, not a partisan issue. when it becomes ai partisanzed that is a very dire warning to our entire society and culture. in fact, that is exactly where we are today. >> the litigation that is pending, the 43 catholic organizations, there are some protestant entities that are joining in the litigation. that will be litigated under the religious freedom restoration act. what happens to that by partisanship and the unity that produced the religious freedom restoration act and the first place? do we have any hope of getting it back? is there anything we who believe so strongly in defending religious liberty against these

mandates can do to persuade those who were once so active and it possessed about the religious freedom restoration act to come back to the cause? is there anything we are doing wrong that is scaring people away who should be arm in arm with us in fighting for religious liberty as they were when this was enacted? >> it points to where i mentioned earlier about our struggle over what the foundational common values we will hold. one of the question is pointed out this morning and we did not delve into it too much when he mentions the two commonalities and all this legislation. the first one he mentioned is they all have to do with the question of sexual ethics.

it advocated sexual license. i think that is a common thread in these three foundational issues of life, marriage, and religious liberty. it gets down to what is the purpose of our sexual difference and the purpose of sex which gets into what is the purpose of marriage. >> the fat in the fire is the sexual revolution? >> exactly, that is a basic understanding of humans. those are deep philosophical and anthropological issues and i think we need to do a better job educating our people over what it means to be human and what is the purpose of our sexual differences. >> to all our panelists, thank you and thank all of view. [applause] c-span3 c-span2 [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2012] >> will convene again in 10 minutes and we look forward to seeing you back here. >> on cspan today, "washington journal"begins in a moment. later, the brookings institution host a forum on u.s. foreign policy. tonight, a debate between wisconsin governor scott walker and his opponent in the june 5 recall votes. on c-span 2 this morning, nasa administrator state set the international space development conference. live coverage begins at 9:00 eastern.