Backus lectures return with bioethicist’s talk on religious liberty, medical ethics

This year's talk by bioethicist and investigative researcher Dr. Whitny Braun de Lobatón focuses on tensions between religious practice, law, and medical ethics, when the dictates of one conflict with the requirements of the others. This includes de Lobatón’s research on a Supreme Court case pertaining to the Jain practice of sallekhanā, a ritual involving fasting to death. The Backus lecture will be held at 6 p.m. at Troesh Conference Center, Zapara School of Business and is free admission.

Braun de Lobatón is associate professor of medical ethics at Loma Linda University, as well as the director of the university’s graduate bioethics program in its School of Religion. Following a B.A. in history and political science at La Sierra University in 2004, she earned master's degrees in both public health and bioethics from Loma Linda University, followed by a Ph.D. in theology, ethics, and culture from Claremont Graduate University. Her work has been featured on National Public Radio and the Discovery Channel, as well as in the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, and Natural Transitions Magazine. She is also a regular contributor for the Huffington Post. In her personal time, Braun de Lobatón divides the year between Southern California, Peru, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

This year’s Backus lecture is sponsored by the La Sierra University Department of History, Politics and Sociology, and by the university library. The last Backus lecture took place in 2019. The lectures are dedicated to Isaac Backus, a colonial pastor, historian, and theologian who was instrumental in securing the separation of church and state in America. His faith in Christ was discovered at the age of 17 during the period of the Great Awakening. He went on to serve as a pastor of the First Baptist Church of Middleboro, Mass. until 1756. There he fought to repeal the taxes that every church was forced to pay to support the Congregationalist clergy. Along with his fight for religious freedom and his love for God, Backus was also a part of the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention where he voted to ratify the United States Constitution.

Established in 1986, the Isaac Backus American Freedoms Endowment at La Sierra University was founded with a gift from the estate of sisters Florence and Eleanor Backus, longtime residents of Riverside and descendants of Isaac Backus (1724-1806).

For information about this year’s Backus lecture, email library@lasierra.edu or call 951-785-2396.