On Wednesday January 25, Ambassador Edwin Nolan welcomed representatives of various faith traditions in Suriname to a roundtable on religious freedom. Participants discussed Suriname’s tradition of religious tolerance and the importance of that tradition throughout Surinamese society. The United States observes Religious Freedom Day on January 16, the anniversary of the Virginia General Assembly’s adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786. January 16, 2017 was also the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a federal holiday in the United States.