“Religious freedom,” declared Vice President JD Vance at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, DC, “is the freedom to practice one's own faith and act according to one's own conscience.” And it's “the bedrock of civil society in the United States of America and across the world.”
“In America, our founding fathers rightly recognized this listing freedom of religion first among the liberties enshrined in our great Constitution,” said Vice President Vance.
“Before he was elected president, John Adams, who was the first vice president ... observed that politicians, ‘may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.’”
“We remain the world's largest majority Christian country, and the right to religious freedom is protected by the people for everybody,” said Vice President Vance.
“Whether you're a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, or no faith at all. But religious liberty is not simply, as we all know, about legal safeguards. It is also about fostering a culture in which faith can thrive so that men and women can fully appreciate and respect the God given rights of their fellow citizens.”
“The first Trump administration took critical steps to protect the rights of the faithful, whether that was by rescuing pastors who are persecuted by foreign regimes or bringing relief to the Yazidis, Christians and other faith communities facing genocidal terror from ISIS,” observed Vice President Vance.
But the Trump administration “is intent on not just restoring, but on expanding the achievements of the first four years,” stressed Vice President Vance.
“And in this short period, the president has issued orders to end the weaponization of the federal government against religious Americans, pardoned pro-life protesters who were unjustly imprisoned under the last administration. And importantly, stopped the federal censorship used to prevent Americans from speaking their conscience and speaking their mind.”
“[P]art of our protecting religious freedom initiatives means recognizing in our foreign policy the difference between regimes that respect religious freedom and those that do not,” said Vice President Vance.
“The United States must be able to make that distinction. We must be able to look at the catastrophes like the plight of Iraq's Christians over the past three decades and possess the moral clarity to act when something has gone wrong.”
“Now this administration stands ready to do so.”
