The defence of freedom is a generational cause, so training the next generation to take it up is crucial for any long-term success.

That’s why it was great to see the Alliance Defending Freedom’s Areté Academy take place in London recently.

The Areté Academy is designed to equip and engage the next generation of leaders in law, government, public policy, media, academia, and other culture-shaping institutions.

For five days, delegates learnt from and engaged with world-class faculty, and explored real solutions to the pressing legal, political, and cultural issues of our time.

HRLA’s own John Steenhof was part of the faculty and a strong Australian contingent took part in the training.

The Academy mirrors HRLA’s own Legal Academy, which is modelled on Areté and is targeted specifically at training the next generation of Christian leaders in law.

If we want to maintain and defend Christian virtues, we need young people to be trained to defend them.

We also need them to live Christian virtues.

And that’s what makes the Areté Academy and HRLA’s Legal Academy so important. They teach the foundational principles of a free and just society built on fundamental Christian virtues, not just the black and white letter of the law. And they help build networks of people who hold similar virtues.

HRLA and ADF are both working across the globe to push back against the threats to freedom of religion and simple Christian virtues.

Ensuring that pushback can continue for generations so they too can live the virtues of their faith is a core part of that work.

^{Image source: Areté Academy}