A conference being held at Samford University next week will look at race relations not just in a political light, but also by considering “the religious roots of the United States and its sins,” according to a statement from the university.
“Racial Reconciliation and the National Covenant” is being hosted by the Beeson Divinity School and its Institute of Anglican Studies in conjunction with the Institute on Religion and Democracy, based in Washington, D.C.
“This country suffers from continuing racial tension. We are convinced that the tension cannot be resolved by politics alone because our racial divides have vital spiritual, moral and cultural dimensions,” said Gerald McDermott, director of the Institute of Anglican Studies and organizer of the event. “This conference will take a fresh approach by exploring the implications of the biblical tradition of national covenant. We think it will open fresh possibilities for our fragmented society.”
The event will feature 12 noted speakers, headlined by Alveda King, pastoral associate of Priests for Life, director of Civil Rights for the Unborn and director of African American Outreach for Gospel of Life. She will present a lecture titled “Little Black Lives Matter.”
King is the daughter of the late civil rights activist the Rev. A.D. King and niece of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She is a former college professor and member of the Georgia State House of Representatives. She is a recipient of the Life Prize Award, the Cardinal John O’Connor Pro-Life Hall of Fame Award, and the Civil Rights Award from the Congress of Racial Equality. Her books include “King Rules: Ten Truths for You, Your Family, and Our Nation to Prosper” and “How Can the Dream Survive if we Murder the Children?”
Other speakers include Rabbi Joshua Berman of Bar-Ilan University, Rabbi Mitchell Rocklin of the Tikvah Fund, Joshua Mitchell of Georgetown University, Glenn Loury of Brown University, the Rev. Eugene Rivers of the National Ten Point Leadership Foundation, Jacqueline C. Rivers of the Seymour Institute on Black Church and Policy Studies, Derryck Green of Project 21, Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, and Carol Swain of the James Madison Society at Princeton University. Beeson Divinity School Dean Timothy George and faculty members Osvaldo Padilla, Robert Smith Jr. and McDermott will also serve as presenters.
Tooley said his institute was honored to collaborate with Beeson on a program that “rediscovers a venerable tradition of understanding the nation under both divine judgment and mercy.”
“This message is unfashionable in much of American Christianity that now rejects or minimizes the providential role of nations,” he said. “But Christians cannot help our nation heal unless they also understand the nation’s purpose under God.”
The conference will be Feb. 12-13 at Samford. General admission tickets are $75, with discounted rates for students, clergy and veterans.
More information on the conference and registration information can be found at theird.org/racial-reconciliation.
—Virginia Martin