Joseph Loconte is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he examines the role of religious belief in strengthening democracy, advancing human rights, and reforming civil society. He helps direct EPPC's program on Evangelicals in Civic Life. Mr. Loconte previously served as the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and a Free Society at the Heritage Foundation, and as deputy editor of Policy Review, where he wrote widely about religion and politics. His areas of expertise include the importance of religion to American democracy, efforts to promote religious liberty, international human rights, and the relationship of Islam to democratic freedoms. In 2005, Mr. Loconte served as an expert on human rights for the congressionally mandated Task Force on U.N. Reform, and contributed to its final report, "American Interests and U.N. Reform." He testified before the House Committee on International Relations on "The United Nations Commission on Human Rights: Protector or Accomplice?"
Since 1996, Mr. Loconte has served as a regular commentator on religion and culture for National Public Radio's All Things Considered. He also has appeared on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, CBS Morning News, Fox News, and PBS's Flashpoints. His articles have appeared in the nation's leading magazines and newspapers, including The Weekly Standard, National Review, The Public Interest, The American Enterprise, Christianity Today, First Things, Books and Culture, The Journal of Church and State, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The International Herald Tribune, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Boston Globe.
Mr. Loconte is the editor of the book The End of Illusions: Religious Leaders Confront Hitler’s Gathering Storm (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004). He also wrote Seducing the Samaritan: How Government Contracts Are Reshaping Social Services (Boston: Pioneer Institute, 1997), which documents the destructive impact of government funding on private charities.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Loconte earned his bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana and has a master's degree in Christian History and Theology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. He lives in Washington, D.C.
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