Date 6/12/03 Contact: FOIFT office, (214) 977-6658 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE First Amendment Institute to Study Freedom of Religion in Houston The First Amendment Institute, an annual program of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, is holding the third session in the 2003 series June 20-21, in Houston. The June class will focus on freedom of religion and will explore the age-old discussion of church-state separation. After a
historical understanding is established, the issues will be studied in context of the current climate of our renewed patriotism and the passionate debates it produces among the citizenship. This session's instructors are Dr. Ronald B. Flowers, John F. Weatherly Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, Texas Christian University, and Dr. Dr. Derek H. Davis, Director, J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, Baylor University. The Houston Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League has scheduled a guided tour of the Houston Holocaust Museum for the group Friday afternoon, and the museum has arranged for a holocaust survivor to share their story in conjunction with the tour. Both promise to be powerful testimony to the ultimate value of our religious freedom. Dinner speaker for the group will be Susan Paynter, Director for Citizenship Education and Public Policy, Christian Life Commission, Baptist General Convention of Texas. She manages activities for Texas legislative and policy issues and chairs the Religious Liberty Council, Washington D.C. Ms. Paynter will address the group on timely church-state issues presently or potentially impacting the Nation. The law offices of Locke Liddell & Sapp L.L.P. are generously supplying the space for the class to meet, and The Houston Chronicle is sponsoring dinner Friday evening for the group. First in the 2003 FAI series, was a study of the freedom of speech, and opened during April in San Antonio. The second session studied freedom of the press and took place in Dallas. The final course is scheduled for September in Austin and will study the remaining freedoms of assembly and petition. The goal of the FAI is to provide a select group of individuals a year of in-depth, graduate-level study of the importance and applications of our First Amendment, its relationship to freedom of information and its implications for our democracy. The opportunity to participate in this yearlong study of the First Amendment is open to all. If you are interested in applying for the 2004 class, or sponsoring a member of your staff or organization, please contact the FOIFT offices at (214) 977-6658, via e-mail at foift@airmail.net or visit our Web site at www.foift.org. The FOIFT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization supported through grants and tax-deductible donations from private citizens, corporations and foundations. ### |