Religious Freedom & Public Morality

Michiana Adventist Forum April 22

Michiana Adventist Forum presents "Religious Freedom & Public Morality:
Church-State Issues in America Today," led by Nicholas Miller, JD, PhD,
Director of the International Religious Liberty Institute and a
professor of Church History, Andrews University. Joining him will be
Emmanuel Abar, PhD student at Andrews University studying
Muslim/Christian interactions in Nigeria; Vernon Alger, Esq.,
retired director of public affairs and religious liberty for the Lake
Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists; Moustafa Elsayed, Imam at
the Medina Islamic Center in Benton Harbor, MI; and John R. Nay, retired
US diplomat.

The presentation will be Saturday at 3:30 pm, April 22, 2017, at Chan
Shun Hall on the campus of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, MI.

About the Program:  Topics for discussion include “Immigration Reform
and the ‘Muslim ban’:  Religious Discrimination or National Security
Protection;”
“Repealing the Johnson Amendment: Pros and Cons to Pulpits and
Politics,” (Does the Johnson amendment infringe religious speech, or is
it a fair application of church/state separation?); “Adventists and
Political Power: A New Era?” (Adventists Ben Carson, Barry Black and
others serve in the Cabinet, as Senate Chaplain, and as US
Representatives. Have Adventists changed their attitudes regarding
involvement in political affairs?); and “Politics and Prophecy: How
Flexible is the Adventist End Time Outlook?” (How might Adventists
relate to the religious right and the secular left?  What about Sunday
laws?).

About the Participants

Nicholas Miller received his B.A. in theology from Pacific Union
College, a J.D. from Columbia University Law School, and a Ph.D. in
American Religious and Legal History from the University of Notre Dame. 
Dr. Miller has argued many church/state cases in state and federal
courts, has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of
Mitchell v. Helms, and is the author of more than thirty scholarly and
professional journal articles and book chapters dealing with issues of
church, state, and society.  His book on the development of religious
freedom in America, The Religious Roots of the First Amendment, was
published by Oxford University Press in the summer of 2012, and he
edited the Andrews University Press book on Homosexuality, Marriage, and
the Church (2012).

Emmanuel Abar is a PhD student at Andrews University who is from
Nigeria.  He has studied church history and religious liberty and is
doing a dissertation on the history of church and state in Nigeria,
looking especially at Muslim/Christian interaction.

Vernon L. Alger, Esq., served for many years as director of public
affairs and religious liberty for the Lake Union Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists in Berrien Springs, Michigan. He has also served
as chair of Americans United’s National Leadership Council Meetings
Committee. He is currently retired in Grand Rapids, MI. He has been
licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1970.

Moustafa Elsayed has been Imam at the Medina Islamic Center in Benton
Harbor, MI, since July 2014. He has also served as Imam at the Egyptian
Religious Endowment Ministry.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in Islamic
studies from Al-Azhar University in Cairo and a master’s degree in
comparative religion from Western Michigan University. He dialogs
regularly with local Christians.

Ambassador John R. Nay served as the 13th U.S. Ambassador to the
Republic of Suriname. During his tenure as Ambassador to Suriname, he 
emphasized the importance of human rights, freedom of the press, respect
for law, and the value of protecting Suriname’s rich environmental
diversity in both its rain forests and its marine areas. Ambassador Nay
was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, holding the rank of
Minister Counselor. Before arriving in Suriname, Ambassador Nay was the
Consul General at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, Canada.  Prior to
serving in Toronto, he was the Office Director for African Regional &
Security Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs.  A
native of Michigan, he and his wife, Judith Ashdon Nay, have three adult
children and two grandchildren.

Adventist Forum is open to the public.  All are welcome.  For
information, contact Art Robertson at robertsa2@earthlink.net or call
471-7150.