Go Fund Gilliam's Kindness Speech at Oxford Univ.

Campaign To Get Scott Gilliam to Oxford To Speak on the the Power of Kindness

(Travel Fundraiser for Scott Gilliam)

I have been invited to speak at the University of Oxford on the power of kindness. My remarks will be presented at an international colloquium to address one of the greatest threats to the integrity of Christianity, to the continued existence of democratic forms of government, and to the very fabric of human society: the rise of racialized "Christian" nationalism—in the U.S., and around the world.

The colloquium will be held at Harris Manchester College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, on March 20-23, 2023. The organizers of the colloquium include The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute (Washington, DC), The Urban Renewal Center (Norfolk, VA), and The Common Good Coalition (Minneapolis, MN). Attendees will include church leaders, interfaith leaders, social justice leaders, clergy, laity, and other religious and faith-based professionals.

I have been invited to address the attendees on my life-changing odyssey with the power of kindness, which inspired me to retire from my 30-year career in law and lobbying to pursue an encore career focused on serving people in need of kindness.

My presentation, “Where Is Kindness In Racialized Christian Nationalism?” will give voice to the power of kindness to unite people for the common good of our humanity, to spread the power of kindness in a world marred by hatred and division, and to help eradicate the pernicious evil of unkindness.

The 40-plus delegates to the colloquium will gather at the University of Oxford, one of the oldest religious-based institutions in the world and one that has produced some of the greatest religious figures, world leaders, and social entrepreneurs in global history—all at their own expense! This critical undertaking is not being funded by a big donor or a foundation grant; every person is paying his or her way for all colloquium-related expenses, including tuition and registration fees, session materials, lodging, meals, air travel, and related expenses.

I humbly seek $5,400 from sponsors to cover my travel and conference-related expenses to give my lecture on the power of kindness at the colloquium (travel costs, registration fees, conference materials, lodging, and meals). Your gift in any amount will go a long way to offset my personal expenses to attend the colloquium and speak from my own experience on the power of kindness to change lives.

Thank you for considering my request. Whether you can give or not, never forget this wisdom from Nelson Mandela: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

In kindness and peace,

Scott Gilliam

Senior Fellow - The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute

Cincinnati, Ohio (USA)

PLEASE NOTE: No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to my GoFundMe.

SCOTT GILLIAM is a semi-retired lawyer with previous careers in civil trial litigation and as a Capitol Hill lobbyist. He took early retirement in 2019 to pursue an encore career focused on kindness advocacy. He has a deep and abiding faith in the God of all religions, and is a student of Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and theologian who lived a life of monastic paradox. He is a Senior Fellow at the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute, where his portfolio includes human kindness and immigration issues.

THE DIETRICH BONHOEFFER INSTITUTE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., whose mission is to nurture, form and help deploy ethically courageous leaders to meet the moral, social, and spiritual challenges of their time. The Institute’s work is grounded in the ethics, theology, and insights of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German ethicist and theologian who opposed the persecution of Jews in World War II. Bonhoeffer believed that the Church had a responsibility to act against this kind of policy and reject Nazi ideology. More detailed information about the Institute is available online at tdbi.org.