Institute on Religion and Democracy
Media Advisory
July 10, 2017
Contact: Jeff Walton office: 202-682-4131, cell: 202-413-5639, e-mail: [email protected]
“Saint Benedict founded a vibrant monastic movement in the ashes of the imploding Roman Empire, an aspiration for those who despair of redeeming postmodern Western Civilization and counsel a Christian retreat into separatist communities to rebuild Christian culture through faithful discipleship. But throughout the church’s history, most believers have had a vocation to live and work within the world, with all of its temptations and snares.”
-IRD President Mark Tooley
Who: 
Bruce Ashford: Professor of Theology and Culture, Provost and Dean of Faculty, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; author One Nation under God: A Christian Hope for American Politics (2015)
Joseph Capizzi: Executive Director, The Institute for Human Ecology; Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Ordinary Professor of Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America
Cherie Harder: President of The Trinity Forum, served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Policy and Projects for First Lady Laura Bush
Joseph Hartman: Attorney, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Georgetown University Department of Government, doctoral dissertation titled “In His Image: God and Man in the Political Philosophy of Reinhold Niebuhr.”
What: Distinguished speakers will reflect on calls for Christians to step back from political engagement and offer their own thoughts for a constructive Christian social and political witness.
Where: National Press Club
529 14th Street NW
Washington, DC
When: July 12, 2017
6 p.m. (EST)
Washington, DC—The Institute on Religion & Democracy will host a robust conversation at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on responding to the “Benedict Option”. Following the decline of nominal Christian culture in the United States, how ought American Christians engage in the public square with a culture that is ambivalent or hostile to their historic beliefs?
Speakers scheduled to appear at the event include Bruce Ashford, Professor of Theology and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Joseph Capizzi of The Institute for Human Ecology and Professor of Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America, Cherie Harder, President of The Trinity Forum, and Joseph Hartman, Attorney and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Georgetown University Department of Government.
The event will begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12 at 529 14th Street NW in Washington, D.C. A brief reception will precede the conversation, the panel will run from 7-8:30 p.m. Advance RSVP is required: contact Joseph Rossell at 202-682-4131 or [email protected].
A recording of the live stream of the event can be viewed here:
Comment by Peter Miller on July 11, 2017 at 6:49 pm
Looks interesting!