







Reflections of a Dissident from the Former Communist Czechoslovakia: The Dangers of Atheism for Citizenship and Liberty DATE: Sunday, October 26, 2003



Time: 7:00 p.m. followed by a reception



Speaker: Mrs. Michaela Freiova, Fellow of the Civic Institute, Prague



Topic: Reflections of a Dissident from the Former Communist Czechoslovakia: The Dangers of Atheism for Citizenship and Liberty



Cost:: $15/person, $5/students with ID



During Pope John Paul II´s visit to Slovakia, Mrs. Michaela Freiova spoke to young conservatives in Bratislava. "While the significance of religion for free society is now challenged", she said, "we must be clear on the effects of atheism on our public life: atheism as an imposed philosophy changes the relationship of society to the human person, to its own history, to laws and rights. Refusing their autonomy and proper meaning, atheism is a main source of totalitarian ideology." In this lecture Mrs. Freiova will elucidate this theme.



Mrs. Michaela Freiova was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1942. In 1952 her family faced persecution from the Communist regime including her father's imprisonment in several labor camps over an eight year period. Under communism Michaela married and raised three sons, worked for health-care institutions, and as an underground author, translator and editor. She was active in the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and since the collapse of the communist regime has been a Member of Federal Parliament (1992), the Federal Government Commissioner for Refugees (1990-1992), and a Director of the Family and Society program at the Civic Institute (1994-present), a think tank dedicated to the dissemination and development of the ideas and norms necessary for the existence of a free and ordered society.



In 1997, Michaela completed a degree at the Charles University in the field of Science and Religion. She remains a staunch defender of the Church, the family and the unborn in a predominantly secular culture through her work in the media. Her latest accomplishment is being the founder and chief-editor of a new Czech information website www.res.catholica.cz



