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US leads global crusade to stop persecutions against all religions
Bringing religion into diplomacy is not a novelty. Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, has been doing just that for the last 15 years, promoting interfaith dialogues worldwide. Now the United States is joining in, taking the lead in the global campaign for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief.
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United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during the opening of the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom held in Washington, D.C, on July 16. (Courtesy of/US Department of State)
Bringing religion into diplomacy is not a novelty. Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, has been doing just that for the last 15 years, promoting interfaith dialogues worldwide. Now the United States is joining in, taking the lead in the global campaign for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief.
Last week, the US State Department brought together more than 1,000 government representatives, religious leaders and civil society organizations from more than 130 countries to join in its campaign to stop the persecution of people for their beliefs — all beliefs, not just one or two.
Promoting religious freedom is now a central part of US foreign policy, backed by Republican President Donald Trump, who invited some survivors of religious persecution to the White House last week, and by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who spoke at the conference.
“Religious freedom is an unalienable right, not an option. Every person around the world should be free to believe as they see fit,” State Secretary Mike Pompeo told the three-day gathering. “The Trump administration is committed to making this ideal a reality worldwide.”
With intense pressure from the Christian right, one of Trump’s chief constituent groups, idealism replaces the realism that colored the foreign policy of his predecessor Barrack Obama.
How far Washington is going to push this agenda, and whether it is prepared to go to war, remains to be seen. The last country the US tried to bring democracy to by means of war was Iraq, which ended disastrously.
