Grand Slam Diplomacy at the State Department
For the second year in a row, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback have hosted A Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom at the State Department in Washington, D.C.
It was a diplomatic grand slam of the first order, and I was honored to represent Focus on the Family.
A Ministerial is a fancy term for a diplomatic priority, and in this instance, Pompeo and Brownback have made religious liberty and conscience rights a centerpiece priority in the Trump/Pence Administration. By inviting foreign ministers and senior diplomats to Washington specifically to focus like a laser beam on these issues, it sends a global message of what matters to this Administration.
They have done so by inviting to Washington delegations from over 100 countries to come together for three dawn-to-dusk days of forums, panels, speeches, information-sharing sessions, and networking to advance the fundamental human right of freely practicing one’s faith around the globe.
Only 20 percent of the world’s population is able to do so, and shining light in dark corners of persecution and repression is one of the major achievements of such an annual gathering. In my own three decades in Washington, this kind of major forum is genuinely unprecedented.
The general sessions were grouped together by themes such as “Working Together to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief”; “Religious Freedom Challenges in China”; “Documenting Atrocities and Countering Violent Extremism”; and “The Economic and Security Benefits of Advancing Religious Freedom.”
The most powerful and heart-rending part of the Ministerial gathering was the singular focus on the actual victims of religious persecution around the world. Their stories and personal experiences were revelatory, searing, and shocking. Featuring real people with real stories to share was the catalyst of this gathering.
Speeches and presentations by long-time advocates of religious freedom like Rep. Chris Smith (NJ), Ambassador Kellie Currie of the Office of Global Criminal Justice, former Rep. Frank Wolf (VA), and Carl Anderson of the Knights of Columbus were particularly well-done and affecting.
Vice-President Mike Pence also addressed the gathering, issuing a rally cry on behalf of the represented countries: “Together, we will champion the cause of liberty as never before, and I believe that our combined leadership will make a difference for religious liberty for generations to come.”
This annual gathering proves that when religious liberty and conscience rights are protected and codified into law, all other rights and freedoms of a nation are protected too. Alas, the opposite is true as well, and there is major work to be done in numerous nations around the world.
“It is past time to bring down these religious restrictions so that the Iron Curtain of religious persecution can come down for one and all, and it comes down now,” said Brownback.
The Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom is a fountainhead of great ideas on one of the most important and fundamental issue-areas of the 21st century, both at home and abroad. One hopes this might become an annual gathering in a quest to make conscience what James Madison, the principal architect of our own United States Constitution, called “the most sacred of all property.”
Timothy Goeglein’s newest book, American Restoration, is published by Regnery Books and is available on Amazon.
Photo from the United States Department of State
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Goeglein champions God’s welcomed role in the public square. His years of public service and private initiative have been devoted to faith, freedom, and family. Tim is the Vice President for External and Government Relations at Focus on the Family in Washington DC. He served in high-level government posts for two decades. He worked as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, where he was the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison from 2001 to 2008. He was the President’s principal outreach contact for conservatives, think tanks, veteran’s groups, faith-based groups, and some of America’s leading cultural organizations. He was a member of the President’s original 2000 campaign and White House staff, serving for nearly 8 years. Also, he has served as a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a professor of government at Liberty University. Goeglein is the author of the political memoir THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE: FAITH AND POLITICS IN THE GEORGE W. BUSH ERA (B and H Books) which was published in September, 2011. His second book is AMERICAN RESTORATION: HOW FAITH, FAMILY, AND PERSONAL SACRIFICE CAN HEAL OUR NATION (Regnery, 2019), in which he offers a roadmap to national and spiritual renewal by examining American culture. His new book is TOWARD A MORE PERFECT UNION: THE MORAL AND CULTURAL CASE FOR TEACHING THE GREAT AMERICAN STORY (Fidelis Books, 2023). From 1988 through 1998, Tim was the Deputy Press Secretary, and then Press Secretary and Communications Director, for U.S. Senator Dan Coats of Indiana (who was in the Senate for a decade). Between his time with the Senate and Bush campaign, Tim served as Communications Director for Gary Bauer in his presidential bid. Tim was an intern for then-U.S. Senator Dan Quayle in 1985, and for then-Representative Dan Coats and for NBC News in 1986, during his college years at Indiana University’s Ernie Pyle School of Journalism. When he graduated in 1986, he was the Richard Gray Fellow in his senior year. Tim’s first job upon graduation was as a television news producer for the NBC affiliate in his hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. During high school and college, he produced a show for WOWO Radio, then owned by the Westinghouse Broadcasting Corporation. The program was heard in 28 states. Tim holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from Concordia University, New York City; and from Faith Evangelical College and Seminary, Tacoma, Washington. Tim is the secretary of the Coalitions for America board, a member of the board for the National Civic Art Society, a member of the board of Family Policy Alliance, and a member of the board of governors of the Young America’s Foundation which owns and operates the Ronald Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. Tim also serves on the Institute for American Universities Advisory Board. Goeglein served as Board Secretary of the American Conservative Union Foundation. Also, he is a member of the Council for National Policy, the Philadelphia Society, and the Capitol Hill Club. Tim serves on the Sanctity of Life Commission for his church body, the 2.5 million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; is a board member of The Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty; and has served as a deacon in his church in northern Virginia for 30 years. His hobbies include reading, tennis, swimming, biking, and the fine arts. The most important thing to know about Tim is that he is married to the love of his life, Jenny, of 31 years, and they have two sons Tim and Paul -- one in public policy and one in the fine arts and music.
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