Post by: Rebecca Dattilo
Hi there! My name is Rebecca Dattilo and I am a 2L law student at Regent University. I am originally from Colorado Springs, but made the move out to Virginia to attend Regent. I felt called by the Lord to attend law school and specifically felt drawn Regent Law, as the school’s heart for seeking justice for the oppressed and pursing mercy matched my own heart’s passions. One of the “pulls” that brought me to Regent Law was in fact, the incredible work conducted by the Center for Global Justice. This is now my second year working with the Center for Global Justice as a student staff member and my second year to be working on a legal project based out of India.
This semester, I have been assigned to a team to work on a project for Alliance Defending Freedom- India. Our assignment is to gather legal provisions regarding hate speech and blasphemy law in Asian countries, which will then be presented as a memo to ADF. This particular project is near and dear to my heart as this past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to intern with Alliance Defending Freedom at the India branch in New Delhi. I greatly valued the time I was able to spend with the litigators of ADF Delhi as they advocated for the rights of the religious minorities in India. As I conduct legal research on hate speech and blasphemy laws in India and the rest of Asia, I keep referring to moments, clients, and conversations with the litigation team that occurred during my internship. I find myself asking, would this statute, penal code, or past Supreme Court of India decision be useful to cases involving persecuted Christian pastors or church members? As I think of the persecuted religious minorities of India, and worldwide, I look to this passage for encouragement and hope: Isaiah 30:18-19 “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.”
The Lord, the God of Justice, is utilizing ADF-India to protect those who are crying out for help and to show them compassion. I am humbled to be working on a research project for ADF that can be used to further advocate for the marginalized and that can help to build legal arguments to serve as a means of giving a voice to the voiceless.
This post was written by a Center for Global Justice student staff member. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.