Such actions give countries some sort of “moral right” to imprison Christians and to send the pastors to prison or labor camps. Neither can the expression “disturbing social harmony” be used as
a reason to deny someone’s human rights if the country has signed the United Nations declaration,” says the Geneva Report. The Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) states, “The most challenged and attacked point concerning the changing of one’s religion as a basic right arises from the question of freedom of thought.
Even at the time of the drafting of article 18 of the U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the right to change one’s religion was particularly disputed.” Opponents of this right are primarily the Islamic states, led by Saudi Arabia.
The RLC connected the suppression of religious practice with the rash of terrorist attacks that have occurred on and since Sept. 11, 2001. “When the Taliban destroyed the Buddhist statues last year, they sent a powerful message to the world that religious totalitarianism is a denial of pluralism of faiths. Bin Laden may be an extremist, but the problem is not a handful of terrorists.
We are fooling ourselves if we do not see that without the acceptance of religious tolerance by all states on the planet, future Sept. 11 attacks can be repeated. That is why we want the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations to speak forcefully on this matter and to hold responsible those who violate religious freedom,” the RLC concludes.
“It seems illogical that people who stand for sincerity, honesty, truth, honor, friendship, hard work and compassion for the weak should be considered to pose a threat to society, or should give rise to feelings of outright hatred. Yet this is often the reason Christians are persecuted.
The full text of the Geneva Report is available upon request from World Evangelical Alliance or from www.worldevangelical.org. In a related story, the WEA has established a new, multinational forum to monitor religious liberty issues and human rights abuses worldwide.
The First Step Forum, a project of the RLC, brings together parliamentarians from Finland, Sweden, Germany, Holland and Switzerland, legal representation by Samuel E. Ericsson, president of Advocates International, and the media expertise of David Aikman, former bureau chief for Time magazine in Beijing and Jerusalem.
Johan Candelin, director of the RLC and founding member of the forum said, “This is a great day for people suffering from religious liberty abuses. For the first time high level members of Parliament, lawyers and mass media experts have come together to coordinate a united effort on behalf of human and religious rights.”
The goal of the forum is to address potential problems regarding religious liberty before they become major events.
(EP)
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