Month: July 2018

A “ministerial” — not easy to describe, but something like a combination of a foreign minister’s meeting and a giant conference — on religious freedom took place last week (July 24-26) in Washington, D.C. Convened by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo with the full support of President Trump, the ministerial involved representatives of some 80 countries and some 400 representatives of faith communities and civil society organizations. Lots of panels and side meetings took place; conversations happened; connections were made.

Most significantly, this event lends support for the cause of religious freedom from the highest levels of government(s). Those of us who have been promoting religious freedom as a foreign policy aim since the U.S. Congress passed the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998 have often lamented that this cause, beyond carrying out what the law mandates, has been relegated to a side issue, buried in the State Department by most administrations. The ministerial is a major moment for elevating religious freedom towards being a more central foreign policy priority, pursued not only for its own sake but also as an integral part of counter-terrorism, democracy, and security policy. The Potomac Declaration and this plan of action are two important results.

I write this as a principled skeptic of President Trump and his derogations of the dignity of Muslims, women, immigrants, and many others; his praise of and support for dictators; and his many efforts to dismantle the post-World War II liberal international order. But I will still applaud when he takes actions that uphold human dignity and essential freedoms like appoint Supreme Court justices committed to the rights of the unborn, nullify the HHS mandate’s infringement upon conscience, and promote international religious freedom. Reasons of coalition politics may well motivate him (see here), but the policies promote justice. My daily prayers include a petition for the Trump Administration, that the good may increase and the bad may decrease. The ministerial increases the good.

 

I’m pleased to announce the publication of Under Caesar’s Sword: How Christians Respond to Persecution, just published by Cambridge University Press, edited by Timothy Samuel Shah and myself.. It presents the findings from the Under Caesar’s Sword research project on how Christians respond to persecution around the world.

The bad news is that the book costs $140. The good news is that early next year it will come out in paperback at an affordable price.

This description from the book’s webpage tells it best:

The global persecution of Christians is an urgent human rights issue that remains underreported. This volume presents the results of the first systematic global investigation into how Christians respond to persecution. World-class scholars of global Christianity present first-hand research from most of the sites of the harshest persecution as well as the West and Latin America. Their findings make clear the nature of persecution, the reasons for it, Christian responses to it – both non-violent and confrontational – and the effects of these responses. Motivating the volume is the hope that this knowledge will empower all who would exercise solidarity with the world’s persecuted Christians and will offer the victims strategies for a more effective response. This book is written for anyone concerned about the persecution of Christians or more generally about the human right of religious freedom, including scholars, activists, political and religious leaders, and those who work for international organizations.

‘As editors Daniel Philpott and Timothy Shah show in this immensely valuable volume, nearly three-quarters of the world’s people live in nations burdened with religious discrimination or worse, and eighty percent of the violence and persecution is directed against Christians. Followers of Jesus Christ are the most commonly repressed, attacked and violated religious group not just in history, but right now in countries across the globe. The editors have done a superb job of gathering together comprehensive proof of anti-Christian persecution from a wide range of regions and political circumstances, and the overall effect is stunning – but also unimpeachable. Anyone sincerely interested in human rights and dignity needs to read and share this book.’ Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia