The Crises Awaiting the New Ambassador for International Religious Freedom

X
Story Stream
recent articles

There was a time when religious freedom was a unifying issue in America. In 1993, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, with the support of virtually all Americans of both parties. Five years later, Congress unanimously passed the International Religious Freedom Act, again with broad public support. Both laws were signed by President Bill Clinton.

Since then, religious freedom has become contested ground in the culture wars and fallen victim to the growing polarization that threatens America's vitality. We seem to have lost our agreement on the centrality of religion – and of religious freedom – to the American understanding of liberty and human flourishing at home and abroad.

And yet, there are signs that the American moral consensus still lives. One such sign is the Senate's overwhelmingly bipartisan confirmation last month of Rashad Hussain as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, who was sworn in earlier this month. Hussain's nomination was supported by leaders and organizations representing virtually every religion in America. That President Biden nominated a man with such broad experience and deep faith, and that the Senate – including 37 Republicans – confirmed him so swiftly, is a signal that America will lead in advancing religious freedom, both as an end in itself and as a means of addressing global instability and terrorism.

Hussain's portfolio will consist of championing religious freedom abroad. He will focus both U.S. and foreign officials on the link between religious freedom and peaceful, flourishing societies. He is the right man for the job.

As a practicing, believing Muslim – the first to fill the office – Hussain understands intuitively why religion is important. His faith strengthens his credibility in standing for the rights of Christians and other religious minorities in Muslim-majority regions where those rights are threatened. Indeed, he has done this his whole career. As President Obama's envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), he condemned the persecution of Christians and demanded their protection. He called for Muslims to reject antisemitism and challenged OIC states on blasphemy and apostasy laws. Hussain's confirmation is also critical to defending the religious freedom of Muslims in China, Burma, and other nations where they, too, are persecuted.

Hussain is to be congratulated for his confirmation, and the Senate for setting aside partisanship for the greater good. But with religious freedom under threat across the globe, the real work begins now. We urge him and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to prioritize the following issues: 

China's savage religious persecution

During his confirmation hearing, Hussain resolved to "hold China accountable for its horrific crimes against the Uyghurs and its repression of other ethnic and religious minorities." He will be key to implementing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, passed by Congress and awaiting the president's signature. This act, another bipartisan victory for religious freedom, will ensure that goods made by Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minorities enslaved by the Chinese government do not enter the U.S. market.

The war on Christians in Nigeria by Islamists and Fulani bandits

The Biden administration has exhibited a troubling indifference toward the violence directed at Nigerian Christians and many of their innocent Muslim neighbors. Last month, the State Department removed Nigeria from its "Countries of Particular Concern" list. Unless the United States reverses its policy, Nigeria could descend into violence and chaos, destabilizing the region and leading to more death and destruction. We urge Hussain to advocate for employing U.S. influence, including the CPC designation, to demand an end to the violent religious persecution of Christians and others, and the dangerous instability it is sowing in West Africa.

The growing threat of ethnic and religious conflict in Bosnia

In the 1990s, extremist Serbs of the government of Yugoslavia and their Bosnian Serb allies waged a genocidal war against Muslims and Catholics in Bosnia, culminating in the 1995 slaughter of over 8 thousand innocent Muslims in Srebrenica. The Dayton Accords ended the war, but today, Milorad Dodik, the leader of Republika Srpska, an entity within the Bosnian state created by Dayton, is moving the region towards conflict again. Dodik is recreating a Serbian nationalist army and threatening to secede from Bosnia. If history is a guide, this may trigger a cascade of violent consequences. Hussain can help bring American leadership to bear to ensure that the region does not once again go down the road to war and genocide.

Like religious freedom itself, none of these should be partisan issues. Nor are they peripheral. They illustrate that the violation of religious freedom is not only an affront to human dignity, but a threat to civilization itself.

Confronting religious persecution and championing the promotion of religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy – the charge now led by Ambassador Rashad Hussain – is vital to American national interests and to the good of all people around the world.

Thomas F. Farr is President of the Religious Freedom Institute. An American diplomat, he was the first Director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom.



Comment
Show comments Hide Comments