Recommitting to a global religious freedom strategy

America stands for religious freedom. Today, Oct. 28, commemorates the International Religious Freedom Act (IRF Act) of 1998. Passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, the IRF Act commits the United States to a strategic approach for advancing religious freedom for everyone, everywhere. Christians should be unwavering advocates for this law as an essential pillar in American foreign policy.

But today’s headlines reveal that religious freedom is under assault around the world. In 2020, more than 4,000 Nigerian Christians were killed because of their religious identity. A million of China’s Muslim Uighurs still languish in concentration camps. Many of China’s other minorities—Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, and members of Falun Gong—are under siege. Burma, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan—the list goes on and on.

Pew Forum research further indicates that government restrictions on religion have grown to the highest level since reporting began in 2007: Eighty percent of the world’s population now lives in countries with high levels of persecution.

Governments cited the COVID-19 pandemic and enforced restrictions on religious freedom, and even democratic governments shut down houses of worship, refused last rites to the dying, and imprisoned faith leaders.

Nevertheless, the IRF Act remains an important foundation for action. The Act begins eloquently: “The right to freedom of religion undergirds the very origin and existence of the United States … as a fundamental right and as a pillar of our Nation … Freedom of religious belief and practice is a universal human right and fundamental freedom….”

In practical terms, the International Religious Freedom Act:

1) Created an independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to make recommendations to the president and Congress.

2) Designated an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom at the U.S. Department of State to lead an Office of International Religious Freedom.

3) Mandated an Annual Report on International Religious Freedom to include every country in the world.

4) Provided a menu of options for U.S. government action to name, shame, and sanction violators of religious freedom, with a special focus on “Countries of Particular Concern’ such as Iran and North Korea.

5) Called for institutionalized training, programming, and recognition for U.S. diplomats engaged in this work

American leadership motivated other countries to follow suit: the UK, Canada, and EU all created special envoys for international religious liberty. Subsequent U.S. administrations have seen successes, usually when presidential authority pushes for the release of specific prisoners of conscience, as President Obama did for the release of Pastor Saeed Abedini (Iran) and President Trump did for the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson (Turkey).

However, in 2016 as the U.S. approached the 20th anniversary of the IRF Act, it was clear that religious freedom issues were often relegated to the margins of U.S. foreign policy despite outstanding work by Ambassadors Bob Seiple, Rabbi David Saperstein, and others. This changed a bit under Secretary of State Pompeo and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. Brownback’s stature as a past governor and U.S. senator gave him strong domestic support. Pompeo’s emphasis on fundamental human rights, through forming the Commission on Unalienable Rights, drew from President Trump’s robust National Security Strategy of the United States of America of December 2017, which declared that religious freedom is not created by government, but is “the gift of God to every person.”

Under Ambassador Brownback, the United States institutionalized religious freedom diplomacy in a number of ways. One was the creation of an annual meeting of senior diplomats, such as the British foreign minister, to discuss and strategize efforts to advance international religious freedom. The second such meeting, held in the summer of 2019, brought more than 1,000 attendees to the U.S. State Department.

Where are we today? President Biden’s Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, derided Pompeo’s Unalienable Rights Commission and discarded its report. Religious minorities around the world look at the Afghanistan debacle and wonder if the Biden Government will champion their fundamental rights. Those on the progressive left argue that religious freedom diplomacy is a form of cultural imperialism.

On the bright side, the Biden Administration nominated a well-known public servant, Rashad Hussain, to serve as the next ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. Hussain also served both in the Obama Administration and on President Trump’s National Security Council.

The week of Oct. 28 is a good time for the United States to recommit to protecting religious freedom abroad and at home. We face increasing challenges to our churches, faith-based non-profits, charities, and schools here in America. We will not be able to protect religious freedom abroad if we forfeit religious liberty here at home.