Submitted by Brian O'Connell | 05 January 2012

Thepersecution of Christians in the world was the focus of a cover story in the 31 December issue of the Economist magazine.  Click here for a link to the article. 

 

Submitted by Brian O'Connell | 01 September 2011

Rising Restrictions on Religion, a recent report by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, finds that restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose between mid-2006 and mid-2009 in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%).

Because several countries with increasing restrictions on religion are very populous, however, the increases affect a much larger share of people than of states. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third (32%) of the world’s total population of 6.9 billion – live in countries where either government restrictions on religion or social hostilities involving religion rose substantially over the three-year period studied.

Click here for details from the Pew Study.

Submitted by Brian O'Connell | 06 June 2011

Religious freedom organizations united under the Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) have released a statement on the Middle East and North Africa, in light of the recent democracy protests. The statement calls on governments in the region to “Ensure that all citizens are granted the foundational human right to adopt a religion or belief of their choice,” and makes recommendations for integrating freedom of religion into newly formed governments.

“As members of the Religious Liberty Partnership, we have closely observed the protests held in many Middle Eastern and North African countries,” reads the statement, “We welcome the widespread calls for greater freedom and strongly endorse these aspirations. We believe that freedom, equality and justice for all are essential for the development and cohesion of societies.

The RLP Statement, however, “notes with concern the violence against peaceful protesters at different times and places.”  The partnership expresses that, “There can be no true freedom without freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” adding that “the essence of humanity requires the ability to investigate the origin and meaning of human existence, and to adopt a belief of one’s choosing.”

Stephen Carter, CEO of Middle East Concern, says that, “The contagious optimism which spread from Tunisia and Egypt is increasingly giving way to disenchantment and fear as legitimate aspirations for reform and freedom are repressed or under threat from other agendas.”  Carter states that it is “vital that the international community redouble efforts to work with the peoples and governments of the Middle East and North Africa towards building free societies in which the fundamental rights of all are respected, including the foundational right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”

The partnership calls on Middle Eastern governments to include the challenge to “Recognize the right to teach, manifest, and disseminate one’s religion or belief,” as well as to “Ensure that all citizens have the right to take their religious faith into the public sphere to inform public policy debate, recognizing that it is a common feature of many faiths that ethical aspects of the faith should impact all aspects of life.”

‘In observing the current events unfolding in many Middle Eastern countries I am excited at the possibilities for real progress to come from these events, said Mervyn Thomas, Chairman of the RLP and CEO of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, UK.  “Now is a great opportunity for Christians across the region to show that, as national citizens, they have a role to play in bringing about justice for all peoples and recognition that this cannot be achieved without full religious freedom.”

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Submitted by Brian O'Connell | 18 April 2011

Religious freedom organizations united under the Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) have released a statement condemning the recent death of Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, and calling for immediate action from Pakistan's government and the international community.

“This statement is the very least we can do to pick up the mantle and uphold the memory of our friend Shahbaz Bhatti , who was to have been a keynote speaker at this year’s Religious Liberty Partnership Conference in Virginia,” says Mervyn Thomas, CEO of Christian Solidarity Worldwide in the UK, and Chairman of the Religious Liberty Partnership.

In what is referred to as, “The Virginia Statement on the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the RLP calls on Pakistan's government “to establish a judicial inquiry into the murders of Shahbaz Bhatti and Salman Taseer,” as well as to “release and publicize the resulting report.”  Additional recommendations include implementing measures to prevent misuse of the Blasphemy Laws, and to work toward the abolition of the controversial law.

“During his life, [Bhatti] achieved much for all religious minorities in Pakistan, and his campaign to outlaw the notorious blasphemy laws were certainly in tune with the pluralistic ideals of the country’s founding father Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah,” Thomas says, “We hope and pray the Pakistani authorities, the international community, and the worldwide Church will take the necessary action to ensure Shahbaz Bhatti’s death will not have been in vain.”

 The Religious Liberty Partnership, with member organizations in 20 countries, is calling on the international community to recognize the plight of Pakistani Christians, and other minority believers in what the statement deems an “epicenter of religious intolerance.”

Godfrey Yogarajah, Executive Director of the Religious Liberty Commission for the World Evangelical Alliance, and member of the Religious Liberty Partnership Leadership Team, says that “Shahbaz Bhatti paid the supreme price with his life for standing up and speaking up for the poor, marginalized and the persecuted.”  He adding that, “if the spiraling trend of violence are not dealt with immediately it will result in a breakdown of law and order and the very fabric of Pakistani society could crumble causing instability and anarchy.”