8 March 2011 Congress, Check your bibles at the door.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/02/AR2011030206514.html

Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's sole Christian minister, is assassinated in Islamabad

By Karin Brulliard and Shaiq Hussain

Washington Post Foreign Service

Thursday, March 3, 2011 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - Pakistan's federal minorities minister, a Christian, was gunned down by suspected Islamist militants in this capital city Wednesday in the second killing this year of a senior government official who had spoken out against the country's stringent anti-blasphemy laws.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/07/AR2011030703198.html

A blow to religious freedom in Pakistan



By Michael Gerson

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Events such as the murder of Bhatti elicit a difficult balance of attitudes. Some view every such killing as a confirmation of violence as the essence of Islam, thereby feeding the apocalyptic civilizational struggle that extremists fondly seek. Others, particularly in diplomatic circles, play down or ignore the role of religion in international affairs - an awkward topic on which they know little.

“American leverage in these matters is limited, but it is worth applying what we have - something the Obama administration, to this point, has not done. Its National Security Strategy avoids the topic. It did not appoint an ambassador at large for international religious freedom - a congressionally mandated position - until a year and a half after it took office. (The confirmation of that ambassador, by the way, is now held up by Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.)

Cassi Creek:

International Religious Freedom Report 2008

The Annual Report:

“The purpose of this report is to record the status of respect for religious freedom in every country around the world during the most recent reporting period--July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. Our primary focus is to document the actions of governments--those that repress religious expression, persecute believers, and tolerate violence against religious minorities, as well as those that protect and promote religious freedom. We also address societal attitudes on religion and religious minorities and record positive and negative actions taken by nongovernmental actors. We strive to report fairly and accurately, with sensitivity to the complexity of religious freedom issues…”

“The Department of State monitors religious persecution and discrimination worldwide, implements policies, develops initiatives, funds programs, and actively works bilaterally and multilaterally to foster greater respect for religious freedom…”

“Limits on proselyltization and the ability to choose one's faith remained a concern. Governments, often seeking to protect the beliefs, traditions, and ideology of the majority or dominant religion, took steps to restrict the rights of individuals to proselytize and to change their religion. Some countries, such as Malaysia, Greece, and Israel, continued to enforce laws that curb peaceful proselytizing activities…””



The Office of International Religious Freedom was established by Congress in 1998 under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (H.R. 2431) and its amendment of 1999 (Public Law 106-55).

The Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism (SEAS) was established by the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004.

According to the website/mission statement, the United States seeks to:

• Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries;

• Assist newly formed democracies in implementing freedom of religion and conscience;

• Assist religious and human rights NGOs in promoting religious freedom;

• Identify and denounce regimes that are severe persecutors of their citizens or others on the basis of religious belief.

This all sounds very noble. We take a stance proclaiming religious freedom for all citizens of all nations. However, the mildly masked purpose appears to be little different from a nationally funded missionary program.

Note the focus on allowing/not allowing proselyltization above. That paragraph defines the office as accurately as anything can. While one should be able to choose or ignore a religion without government interference, there is no reason to insist that missionaries be allowed to roam about knocking on doors or otherwise trolling for converts.

The general mood of far too many Americans includes Islamophobia these days. Islam welcomes converts but has no door-to-door campaign strategy. Judaism does not seek converts, in fact makes it difficult to convert. Buddhism and Hinduism don’t demand access to the public square. The office was not established for any of those faiths.

We hear volumes of commentary describing the Muslim desire to take over the world. We are treated to tirades telling us how a specific mosque is being built to commemorate a battle or other conquest. We as a nation are terrified of Islam, its precepts, and its practitioners. The “victory mosque” is descended from the “victory temples of the Greco-Roman ages and from the spin-off “victory church/cathedral. There’s a reason we “can’t go back to Constantinopolis. Islam is a spin-off of Christianity in many ways.

While the overall goal of the Office of International Religious Freedom is noble, it is not something we should have enacted. Just as our Christian majority objects to Muslims living among them and building a life and culture that ignores Christianity, so do Muslims object to Christians moving into Muslim majority nations. In the face of militant proselyltization by Christian evangelists, they pass restrictive laws limiting the scope of activities that non-Muslims may engage in.

Limiting the ability to choose a faith is wrong for any nation to implement. Limiting proselyltization may be regarded as unwelcome by missionaries and their backers. However, it should be recalled that the Christian churches have a longer history of demanding exclusivity in religion than does Islam.

I agree that the murder of a Christian politician in Pakistan is an atrocity and speaks very poorly of the nation and culture. I would say the same thing if we began to find murdered Islamic politicians in this nation. I’m not certain that we won’t see such heinous assassinations take place here, too.

As a nation, the U.S needs to get out of the missionary trade. It is one thing to suggest democracy, quite another to push it on a new regime. It is entirely wrong to push Christianity disguised as democracy. Our skirts are far from clean and we have no right to meddle in any person’s or nations, religious practices. We need to put our own house and culture in order before we try to re-order the emerging states in the Islamic world.

I didn’t know the Office of International Religious Freedom existed until today. After some research, I know that Congress has been dragged into exporting Christianity. Something else to write my Congressman about.

Congress, you were elected to legislate, not to evangelize. Check your religion at the door and work for the nation, nor for missionary societies.