World Religions News

(RNS) — Years ago, I was part of an interfaith clergy group in which a well-meaning Presbyterian colleague led a ritual she thought would include Christians and Jews alike: anointing us with oil. The Jewish participants politely declined, as just because something appears in Hebrew Scripture doesn’t mean it’s part of our ritual practice today.

I thought about this interfaith misstep when I read the U.S. Department of Education’s proposal for “promoting patriotic education,” published in September. Listing important influences on the “American political tradition,” the regulatory proposal notes “Judeo-Christianity” — a term it fails to define. That’s a shame because “Judeo-Christian” can mean very different things, as my well-meaning Presbyterian colleague learned.

When President Dwight D. Eisenhower invoked the “Judeo-Christian concept” in 1952, the term had been commonly used for about two decades. Its usage surged as a Cold War watchword to distinguish the West from the atheist Soviets. In the same era, “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance, another polemic against the godless communists (and a confusing prepositional choice for those who believe God is omnipresent).

Eisenhower said the nation needed a “deeply felt religious faith,” but he didn’t care what it was. Hence, “Judeo-Christianity” was valued for its utility as an American civil religion — a differentiator between a god-fearing West and a godless East. However, it ignored the spiritual force of two distinct faith traditions and their transformative power in their adherents’ lives.

Using the term as a theological construct rather than a Cold War shibboleth, as it’s often used today, does not simplify matters. Judaism and Christianity rest on mutually exclusive beliefs, most notably whether Jesus was the messiah foretold by the Hebrew prophets. Hyphenating Judaism into Christianity sometimes implies a kind of supersessionism — Judaism is relevant only for giving the world the Hebrew Bible and Jesus, thereby setting the stage for Christianity.

Then there are those who self-identify as “Judeo-Christians,” in the same way a person might identify as Catholic or Baptist. They actively embrace Jesus’ Jewish roots to be more like his early followers. Was the Department of Education referencing this group with its usage of “Judeo-Christianity”? Doubtful. 

If not theological, “Judeo-Christianity” could be used as a cultural descriptor. Historically, it was a postwar term of inclusion for Protestants, Catholics and Jews, when that trinity represented America’s religious diversity. The flip side of that inclusive usage is the exclusion of other contributors to the American experiment, including adherents of other faiths and those of no faith at all. Given this administration’s track record of prioritizing Christianity, I am not confident that ecumenical aspirations motivated the education department’s proposal.

Earlier this year, when announcing the creation of the White House Faith Office and a Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, the president vowed to “protect Christians” in all sectors of society. Just last month in Dallas, the White House Religious Liberty Commission welcomed testimony from David Barton, whose WallBuilders organization promotes the idea of America as a Christian nation. And the vice president’s recent Hanukkah reception invitation listed the event as part of the Golden Noel, celebrating 50 years of Christmas at the residence.

If this is Judeo-Christianity, it seems that what comes after the hyphen is doing most of the work.

If by using the term the department means something about the influence of Jewish and Christian texts and ideas on the founders, then it should say that. At present, though, the term stands as a Rorschach test, inviting different audiences to impose their own agendas, which may well be the point.

(Rabbi David Segal is the policy counsel for Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

(RNS) — Since the U.S. government’s Jan. 3 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, many Latino evangelical Christian communities in the United States have been celebrating what they call a spiritual victory as well as a political one.

“God is using Donald Trump to liberate Venezuela from the 27-year-old chains of oppression,” said the Rev. José Durán, a Venezuelan immigrant in Michigan, voicing a view held by some, though not all, Latino evangelicals and referring to the time that Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, have led the country.

Durán, who was interviewed in Spanish, serves as pastor of a senior team of advisers of María Corina Machado, the Venezuela opposition leader who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. He’s also the executive director of Movimiento de Ciudad, an organization that supports urban ministry throughout Latin America.

Though Machado is a Catholic, her inner circle in the Vente Venezuela Party includes several evangelicals, who have taken up her charge that opposing Maduro is a “battle between good and evil.”

“We’re in agreement that we want the liberty of Venezuela from satanic communism, socialism,” Durán said.

But with Maduro’s successors increasing repression in the country and President Donald Trump insisting that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela without calling immediate elections, the future of the country is uncertain.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, an evangelical adviser to President Trump and the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, told RNS that U.S. Latinos’ support in the 2024 elections played a key role in the administration’s decision to remove Maduro from office and that Latino evangelicals will have a voice in the country’s future.

“ You combine the evangelical vote plus the Latino vote, and you get Nicólas Maduro in New York City in prison,” Rodriguez said. ”That’s the result because we demanded that.”

Rodriguez said the NHCLC would be sending the Rev. Iván Delgado Glenn, the Colombian leader of the NHCLC’s new Latin America expansion, to Venezuela along with four other faith leaders to observe the leadership transition after Maduro’s arrest and how it “will impact the church.” Rodriguez added that “appropriate governmental authorities stateside on our side” will ensure their safety.

He applauded Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement that the U.S. does not want to govern Venezuela and said the secretary wants to help the country transition to a “legitimate form” of democracy.

“The White House and the Trump administration have given the evangelical community more than an ear,” Rodriguez said, adding that he’d met with Trump just before Christmas. Rodriguez said that, while evangelicals are not weighing in on specific tactics, such as the boat strikes near Venezuela that preceded the operation that removed Maduro, the administration is “ taking action based on what they hear from an evangelical community that really would like to advance an agenda of righteousness and justice, truth and love.” 

Even before Maduro’s capture, the U.S. government had been applying pressure to effect regime change in Venezuela, particularly through sanctions. The Washington Post reported that those sanctions contributed to an economic contraction in the country roughly three times as large as the one caused by the Great Depression in the United States.

Marcos Velazco, a director of Vente Venezuela’s grassroots organizing who fled the country in August 2024, attributed reports of political prisoners and their Maduro-government torturers accepting Jesus to the presence of God, as well as his own escape from the country and his movement’s ability to connect with allies abroad.

“If something has been a true miracle, it’s how God has drawn our cause near to influential and important people, not just in the United States, I should say, but in the whole world,” Velazco said in Spanish via video. Beyond praying with Machado’s team, Velazco said, Durán has been a key “architect” for making important connections.

“We have seen how faith has generated sufficient trust to defend the Venezuelan cause,” Velazco said, mentioning relationships with Rubio and Republican members of Congress such as U.S. Reps. Bill Huizenga of Michigan and Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez and María Elvira Salazar of Florida.

But Velazco said these victories have not come without pain. As a result of his advocacy, he said, his father, who is not involved in the movement, was accused by the Maduro government of inciting hate, criminal association and terrorism. He is being held as a political prisoner in a location unknown to his family and could face a sentence of up to 30 years, the Machado advisor said. Velazco, 26, also said he became a key leader at such a young age because his boss was imprisoned and is now being held at El Helicoide jail, where there have been reports of systematic torture.

Chávez and Maduro together have been “a regime that, from its position of power, has spiritually delivered the country to the forces of evil,” said Velazco. 

Durán and Velazco both point to public accusations that Maduro has engaged in witchcraft and Santería, which Velazco said gives the president the feeling he is “spiritually protected while they slam civil society and while they dilute the structure of the free and democratic state.”

Durán said his group continues to count on God to act. Machado allies are praying that interim President Delcy Rodríguez and other prominent figures of the regime will be removed, and while he said he did not understand Trump’s approach to Rodríguez, “God is the one that removes and places kings.”

Machado has heaped praise on Trump publicly, even offering her Nobel Peace Prize to the president. Velazco said the Trump administration “has done a fantastic job” with Maduro’s “Cartel de los Soles,” a slang term for corrupt government officials taking drug money.

Machado prays with her evangelical advisers, Durán said. “We’ve prayed, and she’s Catholic, but she cries like a person very sensitive to the Holy Spirit.”

Durán said Christians must influence society, though he said they should not be partisan. “The church must be the church, and that’s the problem. The church has been locked away in thinking just about the spiritual, or that there’s a dichotomy between the secular and the spiritual. And that’s a plan from Satan,” he said.

Venezuelan evangelicals have heard God’s intentions for the country since the 1980s, said Durán. “We have heard prophetic words that God has a plan for Venezuela and that liberty for Venezuela is coming and a new Venezuela will be born.”

Durán, who had been ordained in the Foursquare Church, said he trained hundreds of Latinos for Billy Graham’s 2000 Nashville Crusade after he came to the U.S. Durán is now affiliated with the Reformed Church in America. 

Rodriguez, the leader of the NHCLC, also said the church was “not done” in Latin America. He said the Venezuela policy is the beginning of a “domino effect” and called on the Trump administration to effect change in Nicaragua, Cuba and Brazil, explaining that he was calling for “geopolitical pressure,” not the same exact tactics because the other countries are “a different reality.”

He said a major policy goal of the NHCLC is to build “a multigenerational firewall against communism, socialism” in Latin America. “ I want Christianity to thrive, and I do believe that a political apparatus that is counterintuitive to religious liberty serves as an impediment to Christianity expanding, to people coming to Christ as Lord and Savior,” he said. 

Maduro’s capture “is not the period — it’s the comma,” Rodriguez said.

The response from pastors within Venezuela has been more muted, reflecting a significant difference in views between those still living in the country and those who’ve joined the diaspora. Almost two-thirds (64%) of Venezuelans living abroad support U.S. military intervention in the country, compared with only a third (34%) of those in Venezuela, according to an October AtlasIntel poll. 

But the same poll found that majorities of Venezuelans everywhere considered Maduro a dictator and said the country would be better off without him. About 4 in 10 (41%) Venezuelan residents and 55% of those in the diaspora said they trusted Machado to lead a transition to democracy. 

The Evangelical Council of Venezuela wrote in a statement the day of Maduro’s capture that its members were praying for their fellow citizens “that go through moments of uncertainty or fear” and for “the peace of the country and for a true and enduring transformation that honors the justice, the truth and the dignity of every citizen.” The next day, the council announced a week of fasting and prayer for the nation.

On Sunday back in Orlando, the Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, the Venezuelan evangelical council’s U.S. counterpart, told his congregation at The Gathering that in Venezuela, “the last chapter has still not been written,” referencing “powerful forces” still in place.

“We have to pray,” alongside thousands of other churches in his network, he told them, “for the freedom of the Venezuelan people and for democracy that respects the self-determination of the people.”

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on Saturday (Jan. 3) may have ended one crisis for the Holy See and opened another, testing the Vatican’s long-standing defense of national sovereignty in an increasingly volatile global order.

As cardinals from around the world gather in Rome for their first major meeting since electing Pope Leo XIV — a consistory meant to address pressing church matters — mounting geopolitical tensions are expected to feature prominently in formal and informal conversations. While the Vatican’s tensions with the Venezuelan government, which began under Pope Francis and continued in recent months under Leo, are seemingly halted after Maduro’s removal from office, now the Holy See must consider concern for Venezuelan Catholics and the U.S.’ escalating actions and impact beyond Venezuela in any response. 

“What has happened has created a precedent that scares the hell out of those cardinals who are in other countries where they might be invaded by Russia or invaded by China,” said Massimo Faggioli, a Vatican commentator and professor in ecclesiology at Trinity College in Dublin.

President Donald Trump has already threatened military action in other countries, with Cuba laid out as a target. And the U.S.’ Venezuela operation could be seen as an example of how China could capture the island of Taiwan, which the Holy See has had formal diplomatic relations with since 1942, experts have warned.

“The American pope is trying to keep the church together, including the Catholic Church in the United States,” which came out in strong numbers to vote for Trump in 2024, Faggioli said. “This is 10 times more complicated — to have an American pope when America is in the hands of someone who simply doesn’t think that he is bound by the law.”

Pope Leo has criticized Trump’s policies in the past yet has been careful in how publicly and often he speaks. As the U.S.’ role on the global stage shifts, the question remains what Leo’s vision of an “unarmed and disarming peace” looks like in practice.

Since the arrest of Maduro and his wife, Leo has reacted both publicly and through back channels. In his Sunday address, Leo voiced “deep concern” over the situation. “The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration,” he said in his address, with an appeal to end the violence and guarantee the country’s sovereignty. The next day, he met with his representative to the U.S., Cardinal Christophe Pierre. 

 Venezuela bishops urged faithful to reject all forms of violence and asked that “the decisions that are made always be taken for the well-being of our people,” in a post Saturday on Facebook.

“The two most important topics that both the pope and the bishops’ conference in Venezuela address are sovereignty and the condition of the people,” said journalist Victor Gaetan, author of “God’s Diplomats: Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy and America’s Armageddon.” He said sovereignty is a key issue for the Holy See, which has been historically dedicated to ensuring the integrity of its nonmilitary, tiny city-state. “The issue of sovereignty is a form of protection for the Vatican’s independence as well.”

In a post on X, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch addressed the pope’s comments on Venezuela, seemingly interpreting them as a statement in support of Trump’s military operation. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a phone call with Pope Leo’s No. 2 official at the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to discuss “pressing challenges,” including the humanitarian situation in Venezuela, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

The conversations between the Holy See, Venezuelan prelates and the White House highlight the delicate balance Leo may aim to maintain: raising concerns about what Vatican officials view as violations of international law while also supporting Venezuelans.

Some Vatican leaders also have storied histories with Venezuela. Parolin was papal envoy in Caracas between 2009 and 2013, when then-President Hugo Chávez’s administration was reportedly hostile toward the church and its representative. The No. 3 official at the Vatican, Cardinal Edgar Robinson Peña Parra, is Venezuelan, as is the superior general of the Jesuit order, the Rev. Arturo Sosa.

Soon after being elected president, Maduro traveled to the Vatican to meet with the newly elected Pope Francis, signaling his intention to ask for the Holy See’s mediation amid growing unrest in the country and tensions with the U.S. Francis, an Argentine, made numerous appeals for the respect of the rule of law and justice in Venezuela but was hesitant to side with Maduro’s opponents either, Faggioli said.

“Pope Francis was reluctant to make a case against a left-wing strongman in Latin America — like Cuba, like Venezuela — because of his anti-American instincts,” Faggioli said.

In 2016, the Holy See started to officially mediate dialogue between Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition coalition, after a surprise visit by the Venezuelan leader to the Vatican. But that dialogue quickly unraveled as Parolin penned a letter laying out requirements for dialogue that included respect for the constitution, the release of prisoners and setting a schedule for elections.

While returning from a trip to Egypt in 2017, Francis criticized Maduro for not complying with the conditions for dialogue and voiced concern for the situation repeatedly. Parolin was reported saying “the only solution for Venezuela is elections.”

But despite the Holy See’s challenges with Maduro, it stayed out of involving itself directly with the country’s leadership struggle. When opposition leader Juan Guaidó came to Rome to meet with Italian leaders in early 2018, Parolin refused to meet with the delegations, which reportedly only had a private meeting with Peña Parra. Returning from Panama in January 2019, Francis underscored that a pastor does not take sides.

“The Vatican appears to be hyper-discreet during such moments of crisis,” Gaetan said. 

Around the same time, a situation was unfolding in Nicaragua, where the Holy See was also trying to mediate amid massive anti-government protests. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega cracked down on local clergy who took an active role in calling out injustice. The country eventually broke diplomatic ties with the Holy See, expelled its nuncio, arrested prelates and closed seminaries.

Nicaragua served as a cautionary tale for the Vatican of the steep cost of stopping all dialogue with hostile leaders, Gaetan said. “This didn’t happen in Venezuela, this type of antagonism.” 

In Venezuela, Francis continued on the path of dialogue, albeit in his own direct and candid papal style. The Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera leaked a February 2019 letter sent by Francis to Maduro, in which the pope said that despite his request for Vatican mediation, Maduro had failed to comply with basic demands for justice. Francis wrote that the Holy See didn’t support dialogue for dialogue’s sake, but only “the dialogue that takes place when all conflicting parties put the common good above any other interest and work for unity and peace.”

Maduro was reelected that same year in elections that the international community deemed unfair and not free, launching Venezuela into another political crisis; Maduro’s opposition was backed by the U.S. Under Francis, the Holy See didn’t back Maduro and his allies in China, Turkey and Iran, but kept its distance from the U.S. and Europe, which supported Guaidó to serve as interim president.

But the Holy See and the Venezuelan bishop continued to oppose Maduro’s leadership. In a letter sent to the Venezuelan Federation of the Chambers of Commerce, Parolin made an appeal for a “more just, democratic, productive Venezuela, committed to enterprise, in which genuine social justice prevails.” Maduro described Parolin’s words as a “compendium of hate, poison, quarrels and cynicism.”

By the time Maduro was reelected in 2024, the Holy See had shifted its approach, appointing a new papal representative and making other important bishop appointments in the country. But when Francis died in April 2025, the Venezuela situation was put on hold as its political struggle was reaching its climax.

In October, Leo inherited from Francis an event tied to the Holy See’s operations in Venezuela: the canonizations of José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Rendiles, who would become the first Venezuelan saints. But instead of the canonizations’ fostering better relations, tensions continued between the church and the Venezuelan state.

Leo was asked about the worsening situation in Venezuela in early December as he returned from his apostolic visit to Turkey and Lebanon. “It seems that there is a possibility of some activity, even an operation to invade Venezuelan territory,” the pope said, responding to Trump’s increasing threats of military intervention. Leo suggested “another way” to address the conflict, suggesting U.S. “economic pressure.” 

After the pope’s remarks, the Venezuelan government confiscated the passport of Cardinal Baltazar Porras, the emeritus archbishop of Caracas and a pivotal figure in denouncing the Maduro government. Porras had written a letter the previous year calling for “civic disobedience and resistance” against the regime, and during the canonizations of the Venezuelan saints in Rome, he described the situation as “morally unacceptable.”

With his passport taken, Baltazar will likely not be able to attend the consistory at the Vatican. But as cardinals prepare to gather behind closed doors, Venezuela could be a test case for Vatican diplomacy. 

Credit: Digital Storm/Shutterstock

Jan 7, 2026 / 15:04 pm (CNA).

A federal appeals court this week upheld a years-old principle of U.S. law that allows religious organizations to hire only like-minded believers as staff members.

Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Washington, will be permitted to hire only those employees who share the group’s religious beliefs about marriage and sexuality, according to a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The court’s Jan. 6 ruling said the state of Washington would be forbidden from enforcing the Washington Law Against Discrimination against the Christian group.

The mission group originally brought suit against the state in 2023, arguing that the nondiscrimination law hindered its ability to hire solely workers who agree with the group’s Christian worldview.

The “ministerial exception” generally allows religious groups to be exempt from U.S. discrimination laws when hiring for ministry roles. But in its lawsuit Union Gospel Mission sought broader relief from the state discrimination law, arguing that it wanted to ensure even “non-ministerial” employees were adhering to the Christian faith.

In its ruling, the 9th Circuit said that the principle of church autonomy, as recognized by U.S. courts, “forbids interference” with “an internal church decision that affects the faith and mission of the church itself.”

“[I]n cases involving the hiring of non-ministerial employees, a religious institution may enjoy [church autonomy] when a challenged hiring decision is rooted in a sincerely held religious belief,” the court said.

Union Gospel’s hiring policy qualifies as an “internal management decision” protected by U.S. law, the court held. Allowing the state to enforce the discrimination policy “could interfere with a religious mission and drive it from the public sphere.”

The decision was hailed by the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented the Christian group for nearly three years. Attorney Jeremiah Galus said the court “correctly ruled that the First Amendment protects the mission’s freedom to hire fellow believers who share that calling.”

“Religious organizations shouldn’t be punished for exercising their constitutionally protected freedom to hire employees who are aligned with and live out their shared religious beliefs,” Galus said.

In a phone interview with CNA on Jan. 7, Galus said the decision represents a “pretty significant victory.”

The ministerial exception is a “somewhat unremarkable principle,” he pointed out. Yet the Washington Supreme Court had earlier ruled for a narrower interpretation of that exception, creating uncertainty around the scope of the principle there.

The 9th Circuit ruling is the “first appeals decision of its kind that holds the First Amendment allows religious orgs to operate in this way,” Galus said.

The appeals court ruling upheld a lower court’s block of the state law.

It is unclear if Washington state will appeal the decision. The Supreme Court has previously ruled broadly in favor of ministerial exceptions, including in the 2012 decision of Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, in which the high court unanimously ruled that the First Amendment “prevents the government from appointing ministers” and “prevents it from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own.”

The court expanded that principle in the 2020 decision Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru when it held that religious schools are permitted to hire and fire teachers as they please under the ministerial exception.

Galus, meanwhile, pointed out that the appeals ruling extends beyond Washington state to encompass the entirety of the 9th Circuit.

The decision “affirms what we have been saying all along, which is that the First Amendment protects this right regardless of a statutory exemption,” he said.

We can get lost in community just as we can get lost in individuality. That’s why we must honor both.

The post At The Jewish Educator Awards, Individuals Shine Through the Community appeared first on Jewish Journal.

(RNS) — This week’s photo selection includes Orthodox Christmas, feast of the Epiphany and more.

The post Photos of the Week: Orthodox Christmas, Epiphany appeared first on RNS.

The Times That Tried Men’s Souls: Thomas Paine’s Service During The Revolutionary War

January 29, 2026 — Online Event | 4:00 PM PST / 7:00 PM EST
Registration Required:  us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register

The Thomas Paine Memorial Association (TPMA) and a coalition of leading secular, historical, and humanist organizations invite the public to the annual celebration of the birth of one of America’s most influential Founders — Thomas Paine. This year’s online commemorative program, “The Times That Tried Men’s Souls: Thomas Paine’s Service During The Revolutionary War,” will take place on Thursday, January 29, 2026.

TPMA, which educates about Paine’s legacy, has been authorized by Congress to erect a memorial to Paine in Washington, D.C. The group has since received preliminary approval to pursue a memorial in Area 1 (close to the United States Capitol Building). The approval bill is awaiting congressional action.

Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense and The American Crisis, played an indispensable role in igniting the call for independence and sustaining morale through the darkest moments of the Revolution. His writing, service, and vision for a democratic society continue to inspire generations. Paine’s contributions recently have been highlighted in Ken Burns’ documentary “The American Revolution.”

Event Highlights

Distinguished Opening Remarks
The program will commence with words from Members of Congress Jamie Raskin and Victoria Spartz, with a special appearance from Benjamin Franklin (portrayed by actor Brian Patrick Mulligan).

Keynote Presentation
Acclaimed historian and author Jack Kelly — whose book Tom Paine’s War explores Paine’s firsthand experiences during the Revolution — will deliver a keynote address examining Paine’s military service and enduring relevance. Kelly will cover:

• Paine’s background and rise to prominence
• His Common Sense pamphlet and his influence on the Declaration of Independence
• His service with the Pennsylvania militia and involvement with the Continental Army
• The fall of Fort Washington and Fort Lee
• The march across New Jersey
• The writing of The American Crisisand its impact on the battles of Trenton and Princeton
• Paine’s legacy in modern times

Readings from Paine’s Writings
Award-winning actor Ian Ruskin, known for his one-man show portraying Paine, will perform a dramatic reading from The American Crisis synchronized with a photo slide show of various images of the Paine memorial sculpted by Georg Lober, dedicated in 1950 in Morristown, New Jersey. The statue portrays Paine in the midst of writing The American Crisis during the Revolutionary War — capturing both his intellectual and patriotic courage.

A Veteran’s Perspective
Gene Jones of Florida Veterans for Common Sense will speak about Paine’s heroism, the challenges he faced after the war, and why Paine remains a powerful symbol of principled military service today.

Showcase: The Thomas Paine Cottage
A video created by Suzanne Tanswell and Gary Bush, trustees of the Huguenot New Rochelle Historical Association which owns the Thomas Paine Cottage in New Rochelle, New York, will highlight one of the most important historical sites connected to Paine’s life.

Additional Program Features

• Musical selection from the celebrated play ‘The Crossing’
• Live Q&A with Jack Kelly, Gary Berton, Christopher Cameron, Ian Ruskin, Margaret Downey, Gene Jones, Frances Chiu, Joy Masoff, Suzanne Tanswell, and Gary Bush
• Cosponsor messages from national organizations
• Credits slideshow
• A post-event Social Hour and Toasts, including a special opening toast by renowned sculptor Zenos Frudakis, who will show his progress in creating a statue of Thomas Paine that will be placed in a prestigious pre-approved location in Washington, D.C.

Event Hosts and Sponsors

The event will be co-hosted by TPMA President Margaret Downey and TPMA Board Member Christopher Cameron.

Sponsors include:

• Thomas Paine Memorial Association
• Black Nonbelievers
• Thomas Paine Historical Association
• Freethought Society
• Freedom From Religion Foundation
• Thomas Paine Society
• Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers
• American Atheists
• Secular Coalition for America
• American Humanist Association
• Center for Inquiry/Richard Dawkins Foundation

Join Us

This event offers an extraordinary opportunity to rediscover Thomas Paine’s contributions through scholarship, performance, and reflection.

Attendance is free, but pre-registration is required.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ga-dvEPuR0iLzT5LA45BOw

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Contact:
Margaret Downey, President
Thomas Paine Memorial Association
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RNS or Religion News Foundation.