Sam Brownback on Current Challenges to Religious Freedom
Religious freedom — the ability to live and act according to one’s faith — is one of our most fundamental human rights. But as Western society has secularized, religious freedom seems to have been eclipsed by other concerns. Indeed, freedom of religion is too often devalued in the public square, and in some places in the world, is under direct — and even violent — assault.
No one has put more thought into this urgent concern and what to do about it than Sam Brownback, returning for his sixth interview on Humanize.
Sam Brownback served as Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom from February 2018 to January 2021. He served as Governor of Kansas from 2011 to 2018. Prior to that he represented his home state in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. While a member of the Senate, he worked actively on the issue of religious freedom in multiple countries and was a key sponsor of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. He is the first American since the 19th century to serve as a congressman, senator, governor, and ambassador.
Prior to his public service, Ambassador Brownback practiced law and taught agricultural law at Kansas State University. He earned a B.S. from Kansas State University and a J.D. from the University of Kansas.
Ambassador Brownback currently serves as co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit and chairman of the National Committee for Religious Freedom. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Endowment for Democracy.
He is the author of China’s War on Faith. He and his wife Mary have five children and 11 grandchildren.