[applause] >> thank you for that introduction, gerard bradley. i also want to add my congratulations to brian and ed on this conference and project. king solomon famously wrote "there is nothing new under the sun." i suppose i am here to counter the thesis of our title, unprecedented threats to religious liberty that we face. i am here to tell you that they are not unprecedented. i am not saying that to comfort you. they are not unprecedented but they have -- recent controversies have given them more visibility. what do i mean? i am an attorney by training. the other confession i will make is i have a day job as a lobbyist. it is what i do on behalf of the community. that gives me a perspective of what has been going on in the trenches and the legislative arena which i think is instructive in setting the context for the threats that we face today in religious liberty. i want to take us back to 1990 when the supreme court handed down a decision. in the opinion, the court threw out the notion of free exercise and religion, that free religion advoca

please welcome gerard bradley. [applause] [applause] >> i think it would introduction an opportunity to participate in this very important event. i wish to have my note of appreciation attitude that. to all of the organizers and people responsible for this event, as many of you realize, i'm sure you know from experience, it is difficult to be the person who immediately follows someone else to the podium who is really good. [laughter] that is my lot today. i should say have a standard clause in my speaking contract, which says i won't follow top shelf panelists. i have a standard thing where i don't follow pope benedict 16, barbra streisand, or robbie george. [laughter] but i did wait up for this occasion, and i am already regretting it. as brian said, there is a topic which we proposed to discuss here for the next hour and 50 minutes or so. the key word is unprecedented. it is no secret. it is obvious, perhaps, that this conference arises from the confluence and convergence of feelings and senses come up more or le

[applause] >> thank you for that introduction, gerard bradley. i also want to add my congratulations to brian and ed on this conference and project. king solomon famously wrote "there is nothing new under the sun." i suppose i am here to counter the thesis of our title, unprecedented threats to religious liberty that we face. i am here to tell you that they are not unprecedented. i am not saying that to comfort u. they are not unprecedented but they have -- recent controversies have given them more visibility. what do i mean? i am an attorney by training. the other confession i will make is i have a day job as a lobbyist. it is what i do on behalf of the community. that gives me a perspective of what has been going on in the trenches and the legislative arena which i think is instructive in setting the context for the threats that we face today in religious liberty. i want to take us back to 1990 when the supreme court handed down a decision. in the opinion, the court threw out the notion of free exercise and religion, that free religion advocate