Should Religious Values Influence Policy? July 28, 2011

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/conference/chq_2011_video_sampler

"God has not ordained capitalism or socialism. God has not ordained food stamp programs or supply side economics. These are human inventions," argues Rabbi David Saperstein, who believes that religious values must compete in the free marketplace of ideas and provide moral influence on policymaking.

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Rabbi Saperstein: Engaging Citizens for the Common Good

Focusing on the areas of religion, media, government, education, and academia, the 2 p.m. Interfaith Lectures will present the ethical and moral imperatives that come to bear in the obligations of religion to motivate and to assist these sectors in engaging citizens to pursue the common good for all. - Chautauqua Institution

David Saperstein is a rabbi, lawyer, and Jewish community leader. He has served as the director and chief legal counsel at the Union for Reform Judaism's Religious Action Center for more than 30 years. Saperstein succeeded Rabbi Richard G. Hirsch as leader of the Washington D.C.-based political lobbying arm of the North American Reform movement. There, he advocates on a broad range of social justice issues. He directs a staff who provide extensive legislative and programmatic materials to synagogues, federations and Jewish Community Relations Councils nationwide, coordinating social action education programs that train nearly 3,000 Jewish adults, youth, rabbinic and lay leaders each year.

Also an attorney, Rabbi Saperstein teaches advanced seminars in both First Amendment church-state law and in Jewish Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He currently co-chairs the Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty, and serves on the boards of the NAACP, LCCHR and People For the American Way. In 1999, Saperstein was elected as the first Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.