Religious persecution

Richard A. Sokerka

The level of Christian persecution has reached a record high globally, according to watchdog organization Open Doors. The organization announced the disturbing news in its 2021 World Watch List that ranks the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous to be Christian — and exposes startling shifts in the landscape of global religious persecution.

This year’s report reveals that more than 340 million Christians now suffer high levels of persecution for their faith, representing 1-in-8 Christians worldwide.

The report’s statistical findings are shocking. In almost one out of every three countries around the world, religious freedom is not respected. The story is even grimmer when seen from the perspective of the world’s population. Countries where the report found religious freedom is not respected are where two-thirds of the world’s population, about 5.2 billion people, live.

Due to increasing surveillance and censorship of religious minorities, China is again one of the worst offenders. New data shows China’s surveillance state is used to persecute Christians and other religious minorities, such as Uighur Muslims. The Chinese Communist Party is not only normalizing these technologies within their borders, but is exporting them to authoritarian regimes around the world.

In 2020, extremist attacks spread further throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, from Nigeria and Cameroon to Burkina Faso, Mali, and beyond.

In Nigeria alone, 10 Christians a day are martyred for their faith on average. As the total number of Christians killed for their faith rose 60 percent in the last year — from 2,983 to 4,761 — 91 percent of the violent killings for religious reasons occurred in Africa. The report reveals that 1-in-6 Christians in Africa endure faith-based discrimination and violence.

Sadly, more deaths will occur because the Biden administration is rolling back Trump-era policies promoting religious freedom abroad that will undermine America’s ability to protect religious minorities in China, the Middle East, and Africa.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reversed a 2020 Trump Administration executive order that directed federal agencies to “prioritize international religious freedom in the planning and implementation of United States foreign policy.” He vowed to “repudiate” the Trump Administration’s focus on religious freedom in foreign policy, which he said came at the cost of what he called other “human rights issues” such as “gay rights and abortion.”

President Biden is backing away from advocacy for religious freedom abroad at a time when unscrupulous regimes are cracking down on religious minorities in China, Ethiopia, and across the Middle East. There is no doubt that Biden’s weakening of religious liberty will in turn weaken America’s ability to hold these countries accountable for their crimes against people of faith.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) addressed the issue of religious persecution in a recent speech saying, “The world of faith is under siege. We are at a tipping point — threats are multiplying by the day. People of faith and governments cannot stand silent while so many are being persecuted for their religious beliefs. The terrible, largely unacknowledged reality, is this: We are witnessing in the 21st century an international mega-crisis in religious freedom. Religious persecution is festering and exploding around the world.”

People of faith all across America know that religious freedom is the first human right for Americans and is inseparable from core American values.

It is our nation’s sacred duty in our foreign policy to see that other countries put an end to religious persecutions. If the Biden Administration continues to shirk this duty, the sin is that more people of faith will lose their lives than ever before and that should be unacceptable to every American who values their religious freedom.