WASHINGTON — As various officials and groups aim to use the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, with the help of a famed sitcom actor, turned the spotlight Tuesday to a central tenet of U.S. democracy: religious freedom.
Actor Rainn Wilson, widely known for playing Dwight Schrute on NBC’s “The Office,” joined a press conference that U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., hosted along with religious leaders to advocate for the American tradition of religious freedom.
Reading from the Declaration of Independence, Wilson, an outspoken member of the Baha’i faith that originated in 19th-century Persia, now Iran, said the nation’s 250th anniversary “is an opportunity to ask profound questions.”
“How can we give fresh expression to the ideals in the declaration?” he asked. “How can we leave behind tendencies that divide us and replace them with a widening circle of concern? We need to be able to speak and think in terms of spiritual and moral dimensions of individual and collective life.
“We need to do that in ways that are meaningful across different perspectives, both religious and secular,” he continued.
Wilson’s appearance marked the public release of the Baha’i faith’s five-part letter “A Common Endeavor,” which argues for the realization of “ideals, like freedom, equality, and justice” as many Americans have become “exhausted and disillusioned by polarization.”
The press conference was attended by members of several denominations, and is among numerous independent events ahead of the 250th anniversary of the United States.
‘A universal human right’
Boyle cited Baha’i writings that “beautifully” emphasize unity.
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., co-led at an event Tuesday, June 9, 2026, on Capitol Hill, marking 250 years of religious freedom in United States. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
“My own Catholic faith teaches a similar truth. Pope Francis reminded us that we are called to come together as brothers and sisters, quote, ‘as children from the same earth,’” Boyle said.
“My hope is that for America’s 250th anniversary, this will be more of a focus on what our next 250 years look like, rather than just a wonderful commemoration of the past quarter of a millennium.”
Bilirakis, an Orthodox Christian who co-chairs the Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus, said, “Religious freedom is not simply an American value, it is a universal human right, and I truly believe that.”
“Whether we are speaking out on behalf of the persecuted Christians, Muslims, Jews, Baha’is, Hindus, Buddhists, Uyghurs, or members of other faith communities, our message must remain clear,” he said. “Every person is endowed with inherent dignity and deserves the freedom to live according to their conscience.”
U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., co-led at an event Tuesday, June 9, 2026, on Capitol Hill, marking 250 years of religious freedom in United States. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
Bilirakis is an original cosponsor of a House resolution condemning the Iran government’s persecution of Baha’is. The resolution was introduced in December 2025, just months before the U.S. escalated war in Iran.
Pentagon list
The event on Capitol Hill, though unrelated, happened just one day after the Pentagon modified its list of recognized religions following criticism from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.
Utah’s two Republican Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis directly appealed to the administration to change the Department of Defense list, which did not categorize the Latter-day Saints as Christian.
On Friday, the Pentagon revised its list of recognized religions for service members to 31, down from roughly 200.
The Pentagon’s shortened list includes the Baha’i faith.
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