distinguished religious leaders, governor levity, brian walsh, and old dear friends, it's now been just over a week since i became archbishop of baltimore and i find myself surrounded by history there. i live near the basilica of the assumption which is the oldest cathedral of the united states, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1808. the nation's first bishop, john carroll, is buried beneath the basilica, as are many of my predecessors. john carroll was the cousin of charles carol rol, a signer of the declaration of independence. charles carroll's story, inneed maryland's early -- indeed maryland's early history, teaches us of the fra gillity of religious liberty and the

for that, go to brian walsh for details. >> fantastic. >> i am a state senator from colorado. i want to thank you all for your efforts and being here and your comments. it was a delight to hear your thoughts on this topic. my question is when all of you all tended to speak about the case with the solicitor general can before the courts and made the argument that religious institutions did not have the protections to be able to pick their own leadership. you said it was unprecedented. 9-0.lost 9-1 or i'm sorry why is it that you think they took that case all the way to the supreme court? was it a political agenda? or was it a legal agenda?

my name is brian walsh. our second panel is titled unprecedented threats to american religious freedom and rights of conscious. we' gone back and forth about whether there's a question mark there and we actually want to discuss that question. are these unprecedented threats? to moderate today's fanl, we are fortunate enough to have professor jerry bradley. i'm introduce profess nar bradley and turn it over to him. he's the professor of law where he directs the national law institute and coed dits the american journal of jurisprudence. an international forum for legal philosophy. jerry is a visiting fellow at stanford university and a senior fellow of the witherspoon institute in princeton, new jersey. please join me in welcoming jerry bradley. >> thank you, brian, for the introduction and the opportunity to participate in this very important event. and i wish to add my note of appreciation to that expressed earlier by robby george and tom farr to all of the organizers and people responsible for this event, e

whalen, brian walsh and all dear friends, it is now been just over a week since i became archbishop of baltimore, and i find myself surrounded by history there. i live near the basilica of the assumption which is the oldest cathedral in the united states, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1808, the nation's first bishop, john carol, is buried beneath the basilica as are many of my predecessors. john carol was a cousin of charles carol a signer of the declaration of independence. charles carol's story, indeed maryland's early history, teaches us about the fragility of religious liberty and the importance of exercising vigilance in protecting it. maryland was founded in the mid-17th century by the english, by the catholic lord baltimore and founded to be a society where people of different faiths could live together peacefully. this vision was soon codified in maryland's 1649 act concerning religion, also called the toleration act which was the first law in our nation's history to protect an individual's right to freedom of conscience. maryland's experiment in religious toleration, ho

for that, see brian walsh for details. >> fantastic. >> yes, sir? >> i'm ted harvey, a state senator from colorado. first off, thank all of you for you efforts in being here and your comments. it was truly a delight to be able to hear your thoughts on this important topic. my question is, when you -- all of you all tended to speak about the case where the solicitor general came before the courts and made the argument that the religious institutions did not have the protections to be able to pick their own leadership. and you said that they -- it was unprecedented. and that they lost 9-1. or -- i'm sorry, 9-0. why is it, do you think, that they took that case all the way to the supreme court? was it a political agenda? or was it a legal agenda? because oftentimes we see legal activists take cases before the courts to push decades or more down the road their agenda. >> okay. >> so what's your answer to that? >> you know, it's hard to know what their calculation was, but it was, obviously, deeply misguided. i think that their miscalculation in taking s

i also want to express my gratitude to brian walsh for the leadership he has provided. a special word of thanks to the matthew -- to matthew frank. he is that a great leader in this movement. and, above all, i want to thank my dear friend and colleague, governor mike leavitt with whom i have been working now for many months. especially on building the american religious freedom project. i know you are out there. i salute you. i want you to know what a pleasure and honor it is to work with you. [applause] most of this conference will be devoted to a timely and practical and urgent matter. i want to watch our deliberation by stepping back a little bit and providing the kind of theoretical anchor for the discussions that will go on later that day with our distinguished speakers and panelists. to do that, i want to take us back to the 19th century. and johnrt mill's henry newman were the greatest english intellectuals of their time. both for a man of deep and wide the learning and profound intelligence. both wrote powerful defenses of freedom. mills defense was in the form

and thank you, as others have said, to brian walsh and ed whelan, it bep pc.and i would also like to thank the becket fund. for all they are doing and the burden that they bear. we are grateful for their successes and wish them well in their ongoing efforts. [applause] [applause] >> i am also grateful that we are for not long in the program that i've been able to excise most of what i was going to say it. [applause] [applause] >> so many wonderful thoughts and observations have been offered earlier, i am grateful that the stage has been set for us in a diminished need to prove some of the points that diverted and proved so ably. as a member of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, we are an institution honored to be included in this broadly based effort, organizations, and individuals, who deem religious freedom to be precious. there is great strength in our numbers as we meet together here today. we are united by our shared concern about and in reverence for religious freedom. freedom of religion has been observed already today is the first freedom

thank you as others have said to brian walsh and ed weylandt, and also i'd like to add another word of thanks to the beckett fund. we are grateful for their successes and i wish them well in their ongoing efforts. [applause] >> i'm also grateful that we're far enough along in the program that i've been able to excise most of what i was going to say. so many wonderful thoughts and observations have been offered earlier. i'm grateful for the stage that's been set for us and feel a diminished need to prove some of the points that have been proved so ably. as a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints, i'll say we are an institution honored to be included in the broadly-based effort concerns with churches, organizations, and individuals who deem religious freedom to be precious. there's great strength in our numbers as we meet together on the dias. freedom is the first right in the bill of rights. one is because it undergirds and sustained all other freedoms. all other freedoms fair well or early depending upon how the first freedom progresses. the church of jesus christ o

distinguished religious leaders, governor levity, brian walsh, and old dear friends, it's now been just over a week since i became archbishop of baltimore and i find myself surrounded by history there. i live near the basilica of the assumption which is the oldest cathedral of the united states, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1808. the nation's first bishop, john carroll, is buried beneath the basilica, as are many of my predecessors. john carroll was the cousin of charles carol rol, a signer of the declaration of independence. charles carroll's story, inneed maryland's early -- indeed maryland's early history, teaches us of the fra gillity of religious liberty and the importance of exercising vigilance and protecting it. maryland was founded in the mid 17th century by the english, by the catholic lord baltimore. and it was founded to be a society where people of different faiths could live together peacefully. this was soon codified in maryland's 1649 act concerning religion, also called the toleration act, which was the first flaw in our -- first law in our nice's history to pro