In introducing the latest U.S. report on the status of international religious freedom, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said its purpose is to advance the U.S. vision of a future “where everyone is able to choose and practice their beliefs:”
“Respecting religious freedom reinforces other rights, like the right to speak freely, to assemble peacefully, the ability to participate in politics. Protecting this universal right empowers people to express themselves, to live up to their full potential, to contribute fully to their communities.”
Yet today, religious freedom remains under threat for millions, said Secretary Blinken:
“The Pew Research Center recently found that government restrictions on religion had reached their highest global level since tracking began back in 2007. Today governments around the world continue to target individuals, shutter places of worship, forcibly displace communities, and imprison people because of their religious beliefs.”
Some countries, he noted, restrict certain types of religious dress; others make it mandatory. Some governments are reaching beyond their borders to target individuals because of their faith and their advocacy for religious freedom:
“In every region, people continue to face religious-based violence, religious-based discrimination, both from governments and their fellow citizens. They may be shut out of schools, denied jobs, harassed, beaten, or worse.”
Violent extremist groups also target people based on their religion. Secretary Blinken pointed to the June attack on churches and a synagogue in Russia’s Dagestan region in which police, civilians and a priest were killed. He noted that since “Hamas’s horrific terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent conflict in Gaza, both antisemitism and Islamophobia have increased significantly across the globe.”
Documenting such abuses, standing up against hatred and brutality, defending the right to religious freedom for every person, are central to U.S. foreign policy. “Ultimately,” said Secretary Blinken, “this work is about protecting an essential part of what it means to be human: the ability to explore something bigger than ourselves. … The right to choose what we believe also allows us to learn from those who are different than us and celebrate all that we have in common.”
Quoting the religious scholar Houston Smith, Secretary Blinken declared, “‘If we take the world’s enduring religions at their best, we discover the distilled wisdom of the human race.’”
