About Us

The Center for Liberty of Conscience was incorporated to fill a need expressed by educators and others for a series of documentaries dealing with the history of how liberty of conscience became a recognized fundamental freedom in the United States. The Liberty of Conscience: America Adopts a Fundamental Freedom documentary series will explore both the origins of the term "church-state separation" and its development as an instrument of public policy in the United States. The first three documentaries of the series will cover roughly a two hundred year period: 1630, with the arrival of the Puritans, to the early 1830s, when a dispute over movement of the mails on Sunday resulted in the development of most of the church-state arguments that are used today. The first three parts of the series deal with the following topics:

  1. Roger Williams’, described as a “God-intoxicated man,” founding of the colony of Rhode Island on church-state separation
  2. Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty
  3. The development and passing of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.

Each documentary in the series will have an accompanying study guide.

Officers and Producers

Karen R. Scott, LLB; Trustee

Karen is a member of both the State Bar of California and the Provincial Bar of British Columbia. She was born in California but grew up in Canada where she practiced law for several years before coming back to California. She earned a law degree from the University of British Columbia and successfully argued a free exercise of religion case before the Supreme Court of Canada. This decision continues as a Canadian landmark defining religious and disability discrimination in the workplace and requiring reasonable accommodation for such individuals. Prior to co-producing Roger Williams: Freedom’s Forgotten Hero, Karen worked at the California legislature in church-state and private education issues.

Karen is available for speaking appointments. She has presented seminars and lectures to the California Counsel for the Social Studies, community colleges, high schools, church and community groups and attorney seminars and teachers’ conferences where attendees have received continuing legal education credit.

George B. Fearing; Trustee

George Fearing – Associate Producer, Researcher, Scriptwriter

George is a practicing attorney in Washington State, with a focus on civil liberties cases. He has authored books on Watergate, political campaigning, and the George W. Bush presidency. He has also prepared a timeline on the history of religious liberty in America, which timeline is available on this website. George has assisted in developing the script and series outline for our documentary productions. He is currently a candidate for Congress, in the 4th Congressional District of Washington State.

Walter B. Pontynen, MA; President Emeritus (Deceased)

Prior to producing Roger Williams: Freedom's Forgotten Hero, Walt taught high school history and government for twenty-six years. After leaving teaching he co-founded Legislative Research Inc., a firm that specializes in researching the history of specific pieces of legislation for attorneys and judges who are involved in litigation over the interpretation of a statute. He earned Masters degrees in history and government and has read extensively in the area of religious freedom. Additionally, he has been published in numerous periodicals.