Religious Freedom this week, March 1, 2022
Presentation by Mike Ghouse at the IRF Round Table meeting
https://theghousediary.com/religious-freedom-this-week-march-1-2022/
I am pleased to share some of the happenings this week.
The United States has a significant role in ensuring religious freedom worldwide. We will be taken seriously and respected by people of faith, particularly the minorities. Unfortunately, we pass up on a few nations and beat up others. When the world sees our duplicity, they will not take us seriously.
We urge Secretary Blinken and President Biden to take bold steps in listening to the recommendations of USCIRF and follow it through and not be selective in applications of their recommendations.
We feel for the People of Gaza and Palestine; when Israel bombed and destroyed hospitals and killed children, we remained silent. Now we are rightfully condemning Russia for doing the same to the Ukrainians – How should the Palestinians feel?
When we announce a nation to be a “Country of a Particular Concern,” it is not a punishment, but asking the leaders of those nations to follow the human rights and religious freedoms and be on par with the community of civilized nations, what is wrong with that?
Here are a few issues for the week:
President Sisi of Egypt has banned journalists from discussing religion after a talk show host cast doubt on Quran. For thousands of years, Mr. Sisi should know that people have cast their doubts and questioned the Bible, Torah, Quran, Gita, and other holy books. It should lend to a discussion and not ban it. The Center for Pluralism will be writing a letter addressed to Presidents Biden and Sisi and seeking support from fellow NGOs with their signatures. https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/egypt-looks-ban-journalists-discussing-religion
Russia keeps punishing Evangelicals in Crimea. Since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014—one of the central points of conflict in the current clash between the two countries—Protestant Christians in the territory have faced more significant government penalties for practicing their faith. Evangelical Protestants in Crimea received the most sentences. At least nine people from Pentecostal, Baptist, and other Protestant churches were fined for “missionary activity.”
On all counts, India continues to fall in the pit – from severe violations of religious freedoms to breaking democratic institutions, harassing the journalists, and taking away freedoms guaranteed under the constitution. We are disappointed President Biden has not spoken to Prime Minister Modi on India’s violations. It makes people disrespect us for the selective abuses and preferred status.
Ohio State passed bipartisan legislation requiring high schools to accommodate religious needs, specifically clothing and head coverings during sports competitions. The Jewish, Christian, Muslim groups and the American Civil Liberties Union fully supported the senate bill, and it passed unanimously in the state legislature, passing the House 89-0 and the Senate 33-0.
We hope other states follow Ohio and other nations can also learn, particularly the State of Karnataka in India, which has banned students from wearing Hijab in colleges.
Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism
www.CenterforPluralism.com