American novelist James Lane Allen wrote, "Adversity does
not build character; it reveals it." The response by the governments of
countries around the world to the Covid-19 Coronavirus is revealing the
fundamental character of those governments.
As the U.S., state and local governments and healthcare
professionals labor tirelessly in compassionate and effective efforts to
protect American citizens from the spreading Covid-19 Coronavirus, governments in
certain countries instead are reportedly exposing persecuted religious groups
to the threat.
So charges the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in a
just-released report,
"The Global Response to the Coronavirus: Impact on Religious Practice and Religious
Freedom."
China demonstrates contempt for religious minorities
 |
| China withheld a potentially lifesaving Coronavirus alert. |
Chinese Communist officials clearly view religion as a threat to
the power of the state. Besides rampant and systematic persecution of
individual pastors and believers, the Chinese government literally has dynamited
Christian churches. The persecution extends to adherents to virtually any
religion besides the state's de facto religion, Communism.
The USCIRF report now notes, "Human rights advocates are
concerned that COVID-19 — and the [Chinese] government’s response—risk
exacerbating ongoing religious freedom violations. As noted in USCIRF’s 2019
Annual Report, the Chinese government has detained more than 1 million
Uighur and other Muslims in concentration camps in Xinjiang since April 2017.
The combination of limited access to medical resources and large concentrations
of elderly detainees could lead to a humanitarian disaster if the virus reaches
any of those camps.
"In addition, there are reports
that authorities have forced Uighurs to work in factories throughout the
country to compensate for decreased output during the quarantine. In January,
authorities quarantined millions of people across Xinjiang without advance
warning. There are reports
that some Uighur residents in the city of Ghulja have limited access to food
and local officials have demanded payments in order to bring supplies."
Iran charged with ignoring risks to religious prisoners
Government officials in Iran, another religion-repressive regime,
now are charged with intentionally putting religious minorities at risk.
USCIRF reports, "Iran has long imprisoned hundreds of people
who are members of religious minority groups. Activists have expressed concern
that prison authorities are not taking sufficient precautions to mitigate the
spread of COVID-19, which has already appeared in Evin, Urmia, and Ghazalhesar
prisons.
"On March 3, Iran announced it would release 54,000
prisoners on furlough, and it later released a total of 70,000. However, 16
Sufi prisoners at Great Tehran Penitentiary (GTP) reportedly were moved to a
ward with known cases of COVID-19, and 8 Sufis from Evin prison were moved to
the same ward within GTP. Additionally, eight Sufis in Ghazalhasar Prison were
moved to an overcrowded ward at that prison where they are at an increased risk
of contracting the virus."
Why American Christians care
Why do Christians in the United States care about the persecution
of non-Christians in countries well beyond our borders?
1.
Because religious freedom is a God-given right,
we must protect this freedom for all persons.
My friend and colleague Luke Goodrich, an attorney with Becket
who has represented the Christian Medical Association in court, explains this right
in his book, Free
to Believe:
"This understanding is also consistent with how God created
us and interacts with us. God never forces anyone to love Him, because forced
love is not love at all. And if God doesn’t force anyone to love Him, how much
less should the government try to do so?"[i]
"So when the government needlessly interferes in our relationship
with God, it is committing an injustice in two respects. First, it’s exceeding
its God-given realm of authority and attempting to exercise authority that
belongs to God alone. Second, it’s taking away something every human being
deserves—an opportunity to respond freely (even if erroneously) to God."[ii]
2.
Because the United States also can lose
religious freedom.
The record of other countries and history provide us with a
roadmap of how religious freedom can be advanced or restricted.
Consider two revolutions, for example: The French Revolution and
the American Revolution. In France, radical secularists guillotined clergy
during a merciless purge of religion. China and Iran demonstrate a similar anti-religious,
totalitarian character today.
By contrast, after the revolution in America--a country settled
by persecuted religious groups--our founders enshrined religious freedom in our
Constitution. Though imperfectly implemented through the years, this protection
has produced a freedom and prosperity previously unknown in history.
Yet today we face increasing onslaughts in the United States against
our historic religious freedom—typically under the guise of eradicating
discrimination. For example, the U.S. House Oversight Committee recently held a
hearing entitled, "The Administration’s Religious Liberty Assault on LGBT Rights."
But the strong arm of the U.S. government is hardly aimed at
oppressing the LGBT community, which arguably has become one of the most
culturally celebrated groups in the country. No, government assaults and coercion
have been overwhelmingly against persons of faith, who simply decline to
comply with demands that compromise their most deeply held convictions. A few
examples:
·
Under the vast governmental powers granted by
Obamacare, the previous administration attempted to force the Little Sisters of the Poor
Catholic nuns to participate in its contraceptives mandate.
·
The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission
during that administration attempted to dictate the hiring practices of Hosanna-Tabor
Evangelical Lutheran Church and School.
·
In Colorado, the government prosecuted cake artist Jack Phillips for sexual orientation
discrimination simply because he had declined to create a same-sex wedding
cake, despite serving LGBT customers otherwise.
·
The Obama Dept. of Health and Human Services
gutted the conscience freedom rule
that helped protect health professionals from coercion to participate in
abortion and other morally controversial procedures.
·
The state of Washington prosecuted flower shop
owner Barronelle
Stutzman for acting consistent with her faith when she declined to use her
creative skills to celebrate the same-sex ceremony of a longtime customer.
The list of government coercion of religious conscientious
objectors goes on, with each instance holding a corrosive potential to erode
our fundamental religious freedoms. Full-blown government persecution can begin
with just such a gradual erosion of religious freedoms. Government incursion
into our fundamental freedoms will never advertise itself as a path to
persecution. These incursions will always be perpetrated under the guise of
something that sounds good--like preventing discrimination, ensuring
"reproductive freedom" or protecting health.
So as we ponder this new, invisible enemy, let us pray and work
to prevent the literal virus we now face from serving as an international
transmitter of government coercion.
Thankfully, a number of outstanding U.S. government officials who
are persons of faith are leading the charge for international religious
freedom. I have had the privilege of meeting with each of them, even on a
regular basis, to discuss programs, developments and strategies.
Please pray for these individuals in our government and
the many more in the U.S. and around the globe who are working tirelessly to
preserve our God-given freedom to believe:
[i]
Goodrich, Luke. Free to Believe (p. 153). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle
Edition.
[ii]
Ibid., p. 154.
