Leading Experts and Activists to Participate in Town Hall Meeting on the Role of Evangelicals in Global Human Rights and Bush Administration Foreign Policy

The Oct. 6th Newsmaker Panel to be Co-Hosted by America Abroad Media’s; Marvin Kalb and WAMU 88.5 FM’s Kojo Nnamdi at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.

Leading experts and activists will gather for a special town hall meeting on Thursday, Oct. 6, to discuss the growing influence of America’s evangelical Christian movement on international affairs and American foreign policy during the Bush administration. The event, entitled Evangelicals and the New Global Mission, will address the movement’s increasing influence on global human rights issues such as religious freedom, sex trafficking and aid for Africa; the intriguing alliances between evangelical groups and traditional NGOs and human rights organizations; the influence of evangelicals on the Bush administration’s foreign policy; and the theological and political source of evangelical involvement in international issues.

The 90-minute town hall meeting is open to the public and will include questions from the audience. The event, to take place on Thursday, October 6 from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in Washington D.C, will be recorded for a special broadcast on WAMU 88.5 FM in Washington. The town hall meeting will be co-hosted by veteran journalist Marvin Kalb and WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi, and is co-produced by America Abroad Media, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and WAMU 88.5 FM.

“The important role played by America’s evangelicals in the new global human rights and development agenda is a fascinating and largely untold story,” says Aaron Lobel, President of America Abroad Media and Executive Producer of the town hall. “That this story is largely untold is surprising, because understanding the role of America’s evangelicals in the world is so important for understanding the role of America in the world.”

Town Hall panelists will include Deborah Fikes, executive director of the Midland Ministerial Alliance and Texas grassroots Christian activist; Professor Allen Hertzke, director of Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma and author of Freeing God’s Children: The Unlikely Alliance for Global Human Rights; Dr. Paul Marshall, senior fellow of the Center for Religious Freedom, a division of Freedom House; and Ambassador Robert Seiple, founder of the Institute for Global Engagement, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and former President of WorldVision.

America Abroad Media is a non-partisan, independent media organization dedicated to informing and educating the American people about international affairs and facilitating cross-cultural discussion about international issues and America’s role in the world. Founded in 2001, America Abroad Media productions include: America Abroad, an international affairs public radio program distributed in the United States by Public Radio International (PRI) and internationally by National Public Radio (NPR) Worldwide and hosted by Ray Suarez, Marvin Kalb, Garrick Utley, Margaret Warner and Steve Roberts; AAM Television, which brings together students from America and around the world with senior policymakers and experts to discuss important issues in international affairs; and AAM YouthSPAN, a global videoconferencing project that facilitates thoughtful discussion and direct interaction between U.S. students and their counterparts around the world.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life delivers timely, impartial information to national opinion leaders on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs; it also serves as a neutral venue for discussions of those matters. The Forum is a project of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.

WAMU 88.5 FM, American University Radio, is the nation’s capital’s premiere source of in-depth local, national and world news, interactive talk shows and engaging music, local arts and cultural programs. The member-supported NPR affiliate station is a community service of American University, and can be heard in HD Radio, at 88.5 FM and online at wamu.org.

To set up interviews with AAM’s Marvin Kalb and/or Aaron Lobel, please call 410-321-0137. More information about America Abroad Media and the town hall meeting can be found at www.americaabroadmedia.org. To set up interviews with Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, contact Burke Olsen at 202-419-4564.