On Wednesday, December 6, 2017, the third session was held during the 3rd Archon International Conference on Religious Freedom on the topic "Freedoms of Religion and the Press” held at the Newseum. Government and private sector experts discussed the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in comparison with global issues of freedom of religion, speech, and the press. The panel explored how these fundamental rights are impacted by the persecution of Christians through threats and acts of violence and the failure to punish those responsible, defamation, economic suppression, and State sponsored blasphemy laws and other regulations which promote majority State religions in education and government institutions. The panel concluded with a discussion of the response by Christians and other Faiths to these acts of discrimination and offering potential solutions, including methods for survival, association and confrontation. The moderator was Lauren Green, Fox News Chief Religion Correspondent. Panelists included: Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz, US Commission on International Religious Freedom Vice Chair; Nathaniel Hurd, Helsinki Commission Policy Advisor; Gene Policinski, Newseum Institute Religious Freedom Center COO; and Timothy Samuel Shah
Religious Freedom Institute Senior Director, South and Southeast Asia. (Photos by J. Mindala)