Actor Rainn Wilson, known for his role as Dwight Schrute on “The Office,” during an event on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at the Capitol to mark the 250th anniversary of religious freedom in the United States. (Photo: Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — As various officials and groups look to capitalize on the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, with the assist of a famed sitcom actor, turned attention Tuesday to a central tenet of American democracy: religious freedom.
Actor Rainn Wilson, widely known for his role as Dwight Schrute on NBC’s “The Office,” joined a news conference that U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania and Gus Bilirakis of Florida held with religious leaders to advocate for the American tradition of religious freedom.
Reading from the Declaration of Independence, Wilson, an avowed follower of the Baha’i faith that originated in 19th-century Persia, now Iran, said the nation’s 250th anniversary “is an opportunity to ask profound questions.”
“How can we give new expression to the ideals contained in the declaration?” he asked. “How can we leave behind the tendencies that divide us and replace them with an expanding circle of interests? We must be able to speak and think in terms of the spiritual and moral dimensions of individual and collective life.
“We need to do this in a way that is meaningful from a variety of perspectives, both religious and secular,” he continued.
Wilson’s appearance marked the public disclosure of the five parts of the Bahá’í Faith letter “A Common Endeavor,” which advocates for the realization of “ideals such as freedom, equality and justice” as many Americans have become “exhausted and disillusioned by polarization.”
The press conference was attended by members of several denominations and is one of numerous independent events preceding the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
“Universal human right”
Boyle cited the Bahá’í writings, which “beautifully” emphasize unity.
“My Catholic faith teaches a similar truth. Pope Francis reminded us that we are called to unite as brothers and sisters, and I quote: ‘as children of the same earth,'” Boyle said.
“I hope that as we mark America’s 250th anniversary, there will be more of a focus on what our next 250 years will look like, rather than just a great commemoration of the last quarter century.”
Bilirakis, an Orthodox Christian who co-chairs the Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus, said: “Religious freedom is not just an American value, it is a universal human right, and I truly believe that.”
“Whether we speak on behalf of persecuted Christians, Muslims, Jews, Baha’is, Hindus, Buddhists, Uyghurs or members of other faith communities, our message must remain clear,” he said. “Every person is endowed with inherent dignity and deserves the freedom to live according to his or her conscience.”
Bilirakis is an original co-sponsor of the House resolution condemning the persecution of Baha’is by the Government of Iran. The resolution was introduced in December 2025, just a few months before the US escalated the war in Iran.
Pentagon List
The Capitol Hill event, while unrelated, occurred just a day after the Pentagon modified his list recognized religions following criticism from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church.
Utah’s two Republican senators, Mike Lee and John Curtis, directly appealed to the administration to change the Department of Defense list that did not classify Latter-day Saints as Christians.
On Friday, the Pentagon revised its list of recognized religions for service members to 31 from about 200.
The Pentagon’s shortlist includes the Bahá’í Faith.
