Rivals Unite: Religious Freedom Summit Bridges Divides

In a world that feels more divided every day, two Americans with opposite politics are building something beautiful together.

Sam Brownback, a conservative Republican and former Kansas governor, stands shoulder to shoulder with Katrina Lantos Swett, a lifelong Democrat and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Their shared mission? Defending religious freedom for every human being on Earth.

The duo leads the annual International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C., where an unlikely family gathers each February. Persecuted Christians sit beside Muslim Rohingya refugees. Tibetan Buddhists share stories with Uyghur genocide survivors. Jewish leaders connect with Baha'is, Yazidis, and Falun Gong practitioners facing violence for their beliefs.

This year's summit delivered a moment that captured everything the gathering stands for. Nigerian Catholic Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza took the stage to share how his community responded after Islamist extremists attacked them.

"I decided to raise funds from my own diocese in order to build a mosque for the Muslims," Bishop Mamza told the audience. "The mosque and the church exist side by side, and both communities, Christians and Muslims, are really very happy to live together."

The summit heard from Uyghur activist Rushan Abbas, whose sister has been imprisoned in China for eight years simply for her faith. Grace Jin Drexel spoke about her father, Pastor Ezra Jin, arrested last October for founding a church. Penpa Tsering, the prime minister of Tibet's government in exile, shared his community's ongoing struggle.

Why This Inspires

What makes this gathering extraordinary isn't just the stories it elevates. It's the people it brings together to listen.

When Brownback invited former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi onto the stage alongside Trump administration officials, some conservatives weren't happy. But that gesture sent exactly the message our fractured world needs: some principles matter more than party lines.

The summit operates on a simple philosophy often attributed to Voltaire: "I may not agree with what you believe, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." In practice, that means a former Republican presidential candidate and a Democratic congressional candidate's daughter have become the closest of friends.

Their partnership proves that even in toxic political times, people can find common ground on fundamental human dignity. Brownback calls it religious freedom "for everyone, everywhere, all the time."

The day after this year's summit, attendees visited a Chinese dissident bookstore in Washington's Dupont Circle—a shop that once operated in Shanghai, was shut down by authorities, and courageously reopened thousands of miles away to keep the flame of freedom alive.

That bookstore, like the summit itself, stands as proof that hope travels and unity is still possible when we focus on what truly matters.