Messages

August 2010

Dear IRLA Board Members and Friends:

It is time for me to share with you some information about the IRLA activities since January 2010, and I want to thank you for your support and encouragement.

1. January 27-February 4: Visit to Amman, Jordan. This was my first trip to Jordan. I traveled with Dr William Johnsson. Our purpose was to establish contact with Jordanian human rights associations and religious leaders. It was an excellent trip. We met the Minister of Information and several other officials, and we spent more than one hour in a meeting with Princess Basma. As a result of our visit, we decided to hold our 12th IRLA Meeting of Experts in Amman. It will be the first such meeting in the Middle East. We will associate with the leaders of the Arab Bridge for Development and Human Rights. I hope it will be the first step in a fruitful cooperation. On our way back from Amman, we were stuck in Chicago for three days because of the snow storm in the Washington DC area.
2. February 11-21: From Sao Paulo to Las Vegas. I took advantage of a day between two snow storms to fly to Sao Paulo, Brazil to visit an exhibition of paintings about Brazil done by my great uncle. Then I flew to Las Vegas, Nevada to promote religious freedom in a church.
3. February 24-March 3: Visit to East Timor. I traveled with Lincoln Steed, editor of Liberty magazine, and Jonathan Catolico, IRLA regional Secretary General, to Singapore, Indonesia, and East Timor. In East Timor we met religious leaders, members of the government, parliamentarians, and opposition leaders; and we spent one hour with President Jose Ramos Horta, who is a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
4. March 3-6: Meeting with Muslim leaders in Indonesia. In Jakarta we had meetings with senior Indonesian religious leaders. We first met Catholic leaders, then Protestants and Evangelicals. We also had a good conversation with the Indonesia Director of Religious Affairs. The most interesting meeting for our delegation was probably with the leaders of the two largest Muslim organizations in Indonesia—Professor Dr Syamsuddin, President of the Central Board of the Muhammadiyah, and Professor Dr H M Ridwan Lubis of Nahdlatul Ulama. They gave us a warm welcome and were open to the idea of more discussion. We may one day have a symposium or congress in Jakarta.
5. March 23-28: First IRLA Congress in Guatemala. The congress was held in Guatemala City, March 24-25. It was organized by the Association of Lawyers and Notaries. Roberto Herrera, the IRLA Regional Secretary General, and James Standish were with me. The congress was excellent and we heard the President of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala the first day. On Saturday, March 27, we attended the first Festival of Religious Freedom to be held in Guatemala City.
6. April 9-14: Liberty Award Dinner in Washington DC. The 7th annual Liberty Dinner was a success. I had the privilege of giving the IRLA National Award to Samuel Erickson, the founder of Advocates International. The dinner was a climax of the Liberty Summit. The events were organized by NARLA Executive Director, Barry Bussey and his team, in cooperation with the Liberty magazine team.
7. April 16-21: Visit to Santo Domingo, site of the next IRLA World Congress. IRLA Treasurer, Daisy Orion, our regional Secretary General, Roberto Herrera, the Dominican Republic Religious Liberty Association President, and I visited several hotels and auditoriums in Santo Domingo. The purpose was to search for a place to hold the 7th IRLA World Congress in 2012. We will have another visit in September before making a proposal to the IRLA Board on October 7.
8. April 30-May 5: Sacramento and Los Angeles. I was invited by the Executive Director of the Church-State Council, Attorney Alan Reinach, to give lectures at Pacific Union College, at the Carmichael Church in Sacramento, and to religious leaders. On Tuesday, May 4, Alan Reinach introduced me at a meeting of the Interreligious Council of Southern California where I lectured about the Festival of Religious Freedom. This group was composed of religious leaders representing Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians from various denominations. They were very interested in having a festival in Los Angeles.
9. May 14-19: Geneva meeting with the Secretaries of the Christian World Communions.
10. May 24-28: Silver Spring, Maryland, recorded the TV show Global Faith & Freedom. Barry Bussey is in charge of the TV show, Global Faith & Freedom. Over two weeks, he worked closely with James Standish in recording 53 programs of 30 minutes each. Many experts were invited and I took part in the recording during the second week. The shows will be broadcast on Hope Channel around the world.
11. June 17-20: Assembly of the World Reformed Communion of Churches in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
12. June 22-July 4: 59th Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. There was a peak attendance of 71,000 people on Saturday, July 3. We operated an IRLA booth and hosted a special dinner for religious freedom leaders at which we gave plaques to the organizers of Congresses and Festivals. This was also a great opportunity to meet religious leaders of other churches who attended the meetings as observers.
13. July 20-23: Lutheran World Federation Assembly in Stuttgart. Religious freedom was underlined in the statement about Lutheran persecution of Anabaptists:
14. “We commit ourselves: . . . to affirm the present consensus, . . . in repudiating the use of the state’s power to exclude or enforce particular religious beliefs” and “upholding and maintaining freedom of religion and conscience in political orders and societies . . .” (Action on the Legacy of Lutheran Persecution of “Anabaptists”)
15. July 27: Meeting with Professor Jacques Robert in Washington DC. What a great pleasure it was to share a dinner with Professor Jacques Robert and his wife in Washington DC. Bert and Eliane Beach were with us. We listened to Professor Robert with as much pleasure as when we read his books.
16. July 28-August 1: 20th Congress of the Baptist World Alliance in Honolulu. On July 30, religious freedom was highlighted when Dr Denton Lotz, former Secretary General of the BWA and current President of the IRLA, was honored with the Baptist World Alliance’s Human Rights Award. In his acceptance speech, Denton vigorously pleaded for defense of religious freedom to be part of the Baptist identity. He noted, “The battle continues.” He also pointed out that the United States government denied travel visas to hundreds (nearly 1,000) of Baptists from around the world who wished to attend the 20th BWA Assembly. “With Moses,” added Denton, “we must say: ‘Let my people go.’” Denton deserves a great thank you for taking every opportunity to promote religious freedom. I had the pleasure of spending some time with Denton and Janice.

This is just a little information about our activities, since the report does not include the great work of James Standish and Barry Bussey. You can follow their activities by reading their web sites. James is managing the IRLA web site, and he has represented the IRLA at the United Nations in New York and at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. He also went to India and met persecuted Christians in the state of Orissa. Barry did a great work with Fides et Libertas, the Liberty Dinner, and the TV show Global Faith & Freedom.

We are now working on the 12th Meeting of Experts which will be held in Amman, Jordan on September 6-8, in partnership with the Arab Bridge for Human Rights and Development. James is in charge of logistics, Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes is preparing the academic program, and I am the coordinator.

Thank you for your support and your friendship.

Sincerely,

John Graz, Secretary General

International Religious Liberty Association

FROM THE ARCHIVES