As a keynote speaker at the inaugural South Carolina Religious Liberty Conference, Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt emphasized the importance of upholding the United States Constitution, being optimistic about the nation’s future and the need for all to “be peacemakers.”
“Focus on our commonalities as people of faith, and unite around the Constitution,” Elder Corbitt said. “In this spirit, we increasingly see the U.S. Constitution as encouraging, even requiring, communication and compromise.”
Elder Corbitt, a General Authority Seventy and a member of the Church’s North America Southeast Area presidency, joined with others in speaking to religious and civic leaders, organizations and community members from across South Carolina and beyond on Wednesday, Jan. 15, the day before National Religious Freedom Day in the United States.
Information about the one-day event held at the University of South Carolina Rice School of Law in Columbia, South Carolina, was published Jan. 17 on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Religious Liberty Conference
The conference was organized by the Connell Law Firm, Goings Law Firm, the South Carolina Columbia Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, the International Center for Law and Religious Studies, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“This conference was an opportunity to unite diverse voices in support of this fundamental freedom and to reaffirm our collective commitment to protecting it for future generations,” said Elder John D. Amos, an Area Seventy who participated in the conference.
Each speaker shared insights from their faith perspectives. Among those who spoke or participated were the following: Dean William Hubbard of the University of South Carolina Rice School of Law and former president of the American Bar Association; Elizabeth Chew, chief executive officer of the South Carolina Historical Society; Bishop David Rwhynica Daniels Jr. of the Ecumenical Office of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; George Clare, president of the Aiken Muslim Association; Father Jay Scott Newman, chancellor and canonical counsel of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston; Rabbi Yossi Refson, director of the Center for Jewish Life–Chabad of Charleston and the Lowcountry; and Holli Emore, chair of the Interfaith Partners of South Carolina.
Elder Corbitt
In his closing remarks, Elder Corbitt asked attendees, “What are you going to do now?”
“Be more vocal in the public square,” “show up,” “build bridges” and “love our neighbor” were among the replies from the audience.
In addition to being a keynote speaker, Elder Corbitt also participated in a panel discussion on “South Carolina Religious Liberty in the 21st Century.”
What attendees said
Barbara Samuells, co-founder of Catholics for Freedom of Religion, described the event as “wonderful.”
“I’ve been studying religious freedom for 13 years, and yet today, I’ve learned things I didn’t know, and I’ve heard some reiteration of standards that everyone needs to know about religious freedom,” she said. “There’s a really good cross section of speakers here addressing the stages that someone can be in when they’re learning about religious liberty.”
George Clare, president of the Aiken South Carolina Muslim Association, said of the event, “The conference was a great opportunity to not only refresh our commitment to religious liberty broadly but also to explore with others some of the finer points of the hows and whys of religious liberty.”
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and other First Amendment experts spoke on the future of religious liberty protections.
Gaurav Harshe, a graduate student, said: “This is the first time this event has happened, and I’m looking forward to more to come. As a Hindu-identifying person, it’s nice to see these events happening on campus.”
Resolution
The conference concluded with former South Carolina legislator and current South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Alan Clemmons leading the ratification of the “Honoring South Carolina Religious Freedom Resolution,” which received full support from attendees and is set to be presented to the South Carolina Legislature in March.
Learn more about the conference at screligiousliberty.org.
