Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation to host a debate entitled "One Nation Under God? - Where to Separate Church from State"

The Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation will be hosting a debate on where to separate Church & State on Tuesday, December 9th at 6:30pm at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue on the corner of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. The panelists for the debate will Barry Lynn - Executive Director of Americans for the Separation of Church & State and Kevin Hasson - President of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Following the panelists debate there will be a question and answer session open to the audience.

The Founding Fathers indicated the importance of establishing the appropriate role of religion in the public sector by addressing it in the first sentence of the First Amendment. Despite this many questions remain unresolved:

Should local communities be allowed to engage in religious expression on public property? Should government money be allocated to schools and organizations that have a religious affiliation? Should activities such as a moment of silence or The Pledge of Allegiance - with its reference to God - be allowed in public schools?

In a holiday season where The Supreme Court is facing these questions in several pending cases, the Foundation hopes to spark a dialogue in New York on these issues.

For further information, please contact Nia Elizabeth Shepherd, Publicity Coordinator, 212-503-5433.

About The Donald and Paula Smith Family Foundation

Until 2001, New York City did not have a high-profile forum devoted primarily to public policy debates. Now, The Smith Family Foundation brings together some of the most interesting and influential policy makers and authors in the world, help to present their ideas to an audience of professionals, students, media, and other interested members of the public, the likes of which only New York City can gather.

The Foundation does not take sides, functioning only as a host and moderator. Yet, its impact on policy arguments will, we hope, be profound. With debaters and audiences of the caliber we invite, simply changing the thinking of our participants affects the broader intellectual climate. (When future historians of ideas discuss trends in twenty-first century thought, they may well record that time and again the seeds of change could be found in talks held at the Smith Foundation.)

The Foundation defends free speech and a free society through the critical examination of ideas, sponsoring debates and related activities in the New York area. The Foundation aims to foster informed debates that are both vigorous and civil, on topics ranging from economics to ethics, from politics to art, and beyond. Some debates will yield clear answers and some debates can never be settled, but the argumentative process itself can serve as a model of rational discourse in an often divided society.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Nia Elizabeth Shepherd

The Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation

212-503-5433

NiaEShepherd@aol.com

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