wfn.org | Religious Leaders Push Anti-Persecution Legislation

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

18-February-1998 
98050 
 
    Religious Leaders Push Anti-Persecution Legislation 
 
    by Ira Rifkin 
    Religion News Service 
 
WASHINGTON-Christian and other religious activists joined congressional 
allies Feb. 4 to boost revamped legislation they hope will make opposition 
to religious persecution abroad a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy. 
 
    Supporters likened the effort to get the Freedom from Religious 
Persecution Act passed by Congress and signed by the White House to a moral 
crusade. 
 
    Charles Colson, the former Nixon aide who now heads the Prison 
Fellowship International ministry, called the developing debate over the 
bill "a defining moment for America" that will determine whether Americans 
"still believe in the laws of nature and nature's God and in inalienable 
rights." 
 
    Colson was among the more than 60 religious activists - Christians, 
Jews and others - who gathered in a Washington hotel ballroom for what 
amounted to a rally for the proposed bill, which is likely to be voted on 
during the current session of Congress. 
 
    The legislation - which enjoys the broad support of the National 
Conference of Catholic Bishops, many evangelical Protestant groups and 
influential Republican members of Congress - would trigger U.S. sanctions 
against nations found to be persecuting its citizens on the basis of their 
religious beliefs. 
 
    Sanctions would include a cutoff of all U.S. military aid and sales. 
The bill would also expedite proceedings for those claiming asylum from 
religious persecution, and would require the U.S. to oppose international 
development loans and trade organization membership for offending nations. 
 
    Supporters of the bill say Christians in communist and some Islamic 
nations routinely face persecution.  They also point to the problems of 
Tibetan Buddhists and Muslims in China and Baha'is in Iran, among others. 
 
    The proposed legislation was introduced nearly a year ago, but made 
little headway during the 1997 congressional session because of opposition 
from the White House, some mainline Christian organizations, and some 
business leaders and congressional free-trade advocates. 
 
    Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, speaking for the White House, 
said last year the proposed bill could hobble aspects of U.S. foreign 
policy.  Albright said the bill would establish "a new and unneeded 
bureaucracy and deprive U.S. officials of the flexibility required to 
protect the overall foreign policy interests of the United States." 
 
    Other critics said the bill improperly elevated religious persecution 
above political, ethnic or other forms of persecution; gave undue emphasis 
to the problems of Christians; unfairly singled out Muslim nations and 
would make it more difficult for U.S. businesses to operate in nations 
found to be in violation of the act. 
 
    The bill has been rewritten to meet some of the objections.  One change 
was to to give the president greater leeway in invoking the act.  The White 
House would now have the option of not invoking the the bill's provisions 
on national security grounds or if it could show that doing so would do 
more harm than good for those being persecuted. 
 
    Instead of establishing an office in the White House to monitor 
religious persecution abroad as required by the bill's original language, 
the revamped legislation shifts the office to the State Department.  Other 
changes include language making it clearer that the bill would apply to 
members of all religious faiths and not impact private commerce. 
 
    Supporters say the rewritten bill, while somewhat watered down by the 
changes, remains strong. 
 
    "Would we have liked a stronger bill?  Of course, " said Gary Bauer, 
president of the Family Research Council and a leading supporter of U.S. 
actions to counter religious persecutions abroad.  "But this is still a 
great first step we can build on." 
 
    Several congressional supporters of the bill were on hand for what was 
billed as a summit on the issue, including Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and 
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), a Presbyterian, the bill's main sponsors. 
 
    Specter said he expected the Senate to take up the measure by Easter. 
House majority leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) said the House would vote on the 
bill by mid-summer.  Both men predicted passage. 
 
    General Assembly statement on religious persecution 
 
    The 209th General Assembly (1997) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 
adopted a resolution on religious persecution last summer in Syracuse, N.Y. 
The Assembly: 
 
   *   supported "current efforts to highlight the persecution of 
       Christians around the world in the framework of a full concern for 
       all forms of religious persecution. ..." 
   *   asked Presbyterians "to continue to lift up the needs of those who 
       are persecuted ... and to designate the Sunday before Epiphany each 
       year as a Day of Prayer for Those Persecuted and Martyred for Their 
       Faith." 
   *   reaffirmed that "human rights must be universal in their 
       application" and urged "cooperation between religious communities in 
       resolving points of conflict and in developing solidarity. ..." 
   *   reaffirmed the PC(USA)'s commitment to partner churches in Muslim 
       countries to support their religious freedom 
   *   urged the U.S. State Department to provide relief in cases of 
       religious persecution 
   *   urged caution in the use of economic sanctions 
   *   commended the State Department for establishing an advisory panel on 
       religious freedom abroad 
   *   requested the Worldwide Ministries Division (WMD) and the 
       Presbyterian Washington Office to monitor the work of the advisory 
       panel 
   *   requested WMD "to engage in conversations with people of other 
       faiths toward developing religiously based common ethical approaches 
       to human rights. ..." 

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