Religious persecution is engulfing the world

Religious freedom conditions in Nigeria, Pakistan, Iraq and many other countries fail to meet basic international human rights standards. This led U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to decry the “great darkness over parts of the world where people of faith are persecuted or denied the right to worship.” This frightful report comes on the heels of a historic directive issued by the Trump administration to advance religious freedom’s standing in U.S. foreign policy.
The State Department’s report recognised mounting inter-religious violence in Africa. The last year saw Muslim Fulani militants commit many violent attacks on Christians. The terrorist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) brutally attacked both Christians and Muslims in large numbers. A surge in violent attacks has occurred in recent months.
Pakistan continues to be a dangerous place for religious minorities. The report noted complaints against the Pakistani judicial system, which regularly fails to bring perpetrators of violence against religious minorities to justice “due to a lack of follow-through by law enforcement, bribes offered by the accused, and pressure on victims to drop cases.”
Reports continue about young Christian and Hindu girls who were kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam, and compelled to marry their captors. Societal discrimination against Christians and the enforcement of blasphemy laws continue to make life difficult for Pakistan’s Christian communities.
The U.S. has benefited immensely from the “first freedom” enshrined in its First Amendment and cherished by its Founding Fathers. But religious freedom is not only for Americans — it is a human right owed to all people, and it benefits all when religious freedom is genuinely respected. Countries that embrace religious freedom are more secure and make stable trading partners, which promotes regional economic growth.
Source and image: christianpost.com