Secretary of State Pompeo is convening the first ever Ministerial to advance religious freedom in Washington, D.C., from July 24-26. The Religious Freedom Center at the Freedom Forum Institute/Newseum is holding a side event at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, July 27 — Security and Religious Freedom: How Do We Protect Both?

One of the most pressing questions in the world today is how best to protect both security and robust rights to religious freedom. Too often, governments across the world use security as a rationale to impose overly broad limits on religious exercise — from regulating religious garb and religious speech to limiting cultural productions and even cutting off access to houses of worship. This panel will examine how such limitations are worsening rather than bettering security and discuss the benefits of religious freedom for security, social stability and economic health.

Program panelists include Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation, Neil Hicks, senior director for advocacy at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and Haroon Azar, program director for the Initiative on Security and Religious Freedom.

Asma Uddin, senior scholar of religious freedom at the Religious Freedom Center, will moderate the conversation.