When President Barack
Obama talked with faith leaders Thursday morning at the National PrayerBreakfast, he spent most of his time discussing not the religious freedom we
enjoy in this country, but the lack of freedom in other parts of the world. He quoted
from Psalms and Isaiah and pointed to instance after instance where religious
rights are being trampled. He suggested that as people of faith, we are
commissioned to stand up for the inalienable rights of others—including their
right to worship how they want. He said:
"We believe that
each of us is 'wonderfully made' in the image of God. We, therefore, believe in the inherent
dignity of every human being—dignity that no earthly power can take away. And central to that dignity is freedom of
religion—the right of every person to practice their faith how they choose, to
change their faith if they choose, or to practice no faith at all, and to do
this free from persecution and fear."
Obama's speech came on
the heels of a new study by the Pew Research Center, which found that religious
restrictions had hit a six-year high in 2012. A full third of the world's 198
countries were described as having "high religious hostilities," and
researchers noted that "religious hostilities increased in every major
region of the world except the Americas." Egypt is the harshest country on
the planet when it comes to governmental restrictions of religion, while
Pakistan was considered by Pew to have the highest social hostility—that is,
where religious minorities are actively intimidated, ostracized or attacked.
Some instances have
gotten lots of press. In his address, Obama mentioned Kenneth Bae, the
Christian missionary sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea, and
Saeed Abedini, a pastor in Iran who's been imprisoned for 18 months because
he's Christian. Some, not so much. The Pew report noted the case of the 2012
Nigerian riots, where Muslim youth burned Christian businesses and churches and
eventually killed four Christians. Two more Christians were killed by a Muslim
mob in Kenya. In Somalia, the Islamic militant group al-Shabab beheaded a man
in November of 2012, believing he had converted to Christianity.
Naturally, people of
other faiths were targeted, as well. Muslim women were assaulted for wearing veils
or headscarves and called "terrorists"—sometimes, presumably, by
Christians. A rabbi and three Jewish children were killed in France by an
Islamic extremist. And, of course, six Sikhs were killed in the United
States—shot to death by a white supremacist.
While most Christians
believe that their faith is the "right" faith and are encouraged to
bring others into its holy fold, I believe that what Obama says in this matter
is true. God did not use divine coercion to force us to love and worship him.
It is our choice: It must be if it is to be real love and worship at all. And
as such, we must preserve that choice for others wherever and whenever we can.
