The Religious Freedom Center and Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) will host a celebration of the publication of Asma Uddin’s “When Islam Is Not a Religion: Inside America’s Fight for Religious Freedom.” The event will kick-off with Uddin in conversation with Tom Gjelten of National Public Radio, followed by a panel discussion among leaders from diverse faith communities

About the Book: Religious liberty lawyer Asma Uddin has long considered her work defending people of all faiths to be a calling more than a job. Yet even as she seeks equal protection for Evangelicals, Sikhs, Muslims, Native Americans, Jews and Catholics alike, she has seen an ominous increase in attempts to criminalize Islam and exclude American Muslims from their inalienable rights. Somehow, the view that Muslims aren’t human enough for human rights or constitutional protections is moving from the fringe to the mainstream along with the claim, “Islam is not a religion.” This conceit affects all Americans because the loss of liberty for one means the loss of liberties for everyone. “When Islam Is Not a Religion” also looks at how faith in America is being secularized and politicized and the repercussions this has on debates about religious freedom and diversity. Woven throughout this national saga is Uddin’s own story. She combines her experience as a person of Muslim faith and her legal and philosophical appreciation that all individuals have a right to religious liberty. Uddin examines the shifting tides of American culture and outlines a way forward for individuals and communities navigating today’s culture wars.

Panelists:

Asma Uddin is the author of “When Islam Is Not a Religion,” senior scholar at the Freedom Forum Institute, visiting scholar at Brigham Young University Law School and a nonresident fellow at Georgetown and UCLA. She previously served as counsel at Becket and is currently an expert adviser on freedom of religion or belief for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Tom Gjelten is the religion and belief correspondent for National Public Radio news. Gjelten has worked for NPR since 1982, when he joined the organization as a labor and education reporter. More recently he has covered diplomatic and national security issues. He is based at NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Dalia Mogahed is the director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, where she leads the organization’s pioneering research and thought leadership programs on American Muslims. Mogahed is former executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, where she led the analysis of surveys of Muslim communities worldwide. With John L. Esposito, she co-authored the book, “Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think.”

Kevin Singer is Co-Founder of Neighborly Faith, an organization helping evangelical Christians to be good neighbors to people of other faiths. Neighborly Faith runs a popular weekly podcast and a fellows program with evangelical college students across America, and will host conferences at Gordon College and Wheaton College in 2019. Kevin is a PhD student in higher education at North Carolina State University, where he serves as Research Associate for IDEALS, a national study of how religious diversity on college campuses is affecting students.

Steven Waldman is the author of “Sacred Liberty: America's Long, Bloody and Ongoing Struggle for Religious Freedom” and president and co-founder of Report for America, a national service program that places emerging journalists into local newsrooms. Previously he was senior adviser to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, serving in the Office of Strategic Planning.