Remarks by the Consul General
Mr. David Hopper, Consul General of the United States in
Chennai
President of the Centre for Security Analysis and other
members of the Centre, distinguished speakers on the dais,
ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I am very pleased
to be invited for the second time in recent weeks for a
program organized by the Centre for Security Analysis. The
Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate General here
in Chennai is very pleased to contribute through our sponsorship
of one of today's speakers, Mr. Akram Elias.
You
have come today to listen to the experts, not to listen
to me, so I am going to be brief. I would like to make a
couple of quick points. The first is that it is notable
and praiseworthy that the Centre for Security Analysis obviously
defines security in a broad sense rather than a narrow one.
I don't think anyone can look at recent world events including
the ongoing situations in Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere and
deny that today's topic of Religion, Civil Society and Governance
has an inherent relevance to security.
My
second point is about the role of religion in my own country,
the United States of America. The first amendment to the
US Constitution, the very first of the famous Bill of Rights,
begins with these words, "Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof." By putting freedom of religion first, the framers
of the constitution perhaps were signalling the importance
of this particular freedom for Americans and indeed perhaps
for all people. Of course it was religious persecution in
the old world and the prospect of practicing their religious
beliefs unimpaired in the so-called new world that motivated
many of the early settlers and the eventual founders of
the United States.
America's
founding fathers lived in an era when Church and State were
inseparable. Indeed many of the colonists had come to the
new world not merely to practice their own religion but
to establish communities and societies based upon their
religion. The idea of separating Church and State was indeed
a revolutionary one. But the United States became the first
modern state to reflect the commitment to the separation
of Church and State in its own constitution. To avoid discord
in an increasingly pluralistic and contentious society,
the founding fathers left the religious arena free from
government intervention save for the guarantee of free exercise
for everyone. But the combination of religious diversity
and religious freedom established by the constitution is
a complex matter and the passage towards this society has
not always been nor is it free from conflict today.
The
United States is said to be the most religiously diverse
country in the world. The religious landscape has changed
radically in the past forty years as changes to American
immigration policy have made it easier for people from all
over the world to come and settle in United States. Indeed
the degree to which the constitutional ideas of freedom
of religion and separation of Church and State remain as
issues in modern America was brought home to me only yesterday,
when I was browsing on the Internet and I went to the homepage
of the New York Times and found that the number one most
read article for that day was one with the following title,
Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles
Flock. The article was headlined Maplewood, Minnesota in
America's heartland and it begins with this sentence, "Like
most pastors who lead thriving evangelical mega churches,
the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his
blessing - and the Church's - to conservative political
candidates and causes." And on the same list, the number
five most read article of the day in the New York Times
was an article titled, Families Challenging Religious Influence
in Delaware Schools. That article included this statement,
"More religion probably exists in schools now than in decades
because of the role religious conservatives play in politics
and the passage of certain education laws over the last
25 years." So clearly there is much to discuss and I very
much look forward to today's presentations and to hearing
the distinguished speakers talk about Religion, Civil Society
and Governance - from both the American and the Indian perspectives.
The
program is sure to be illuminating and useful. I again thank
the Centre for Security Analysis for organizing it and I
am very pleased to be allowed to open it.
