Craig Hunter

What is the status of religious freedom in the world, and how does this affect American foreign policy? This was one of the questions addressed at a seminar I recently attended at Boston University.

Twenty people from around the world were brought to Boston for two weeks in June to hear presenters discuss “Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy.”

One of the presenters was Paul Marshall, perhaps the world’s leading expert on religious freedom. He is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, and before that worked at Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom.

Our group enjoyed a unique opportunity to learn from him the various dimensions of his work.

Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

As Marshall pointed out, however, all too often this right was breached rather than honored.

He went on to note that religious persecution affects all religious groups: Christians and Shiites in Saudi Arabia, Falun Gong in China, Baha’is in Iran, Ahmadis, a Muslim sect in Pakistan, Buddhists in Burma and so on.

Atheist and agnostics can also suffer from religious persecution. For example, in principle it is illegal to be an atheist in Indonesia, though this is rarely enforced.

Just as Freedom House surveys countries to rate them according to their level of freedom, a similar survey rates religious freedom in countries around the world.

The United States, Ireland and Estonia rate at the top, while countries such as Burma, Saudi Arabia and Eritrea rate at the bottom.

Interestingly, religious freedom is not the prerogative of one part of the world — there are relatively free countries on every continent, and countries such as Japan, Bostwana and Ukraine score better than France and Israel.

 Furthermore, a secular constitution doesn’t guarantee religious freedom, with China being a case in point.

This information has affected American foreign policy in many ways. The foreign policy establishment has increasingly recognized the role of religion in shaping culture, and of high correlations between religious freedom and economic freedom.

The countries with the worst religious freedom records (Sudan, Turkmenistan and Burma), unless they have oil, also have terrible economic records.

Conversely, the highest 30 countries in terms of economic freedom all score highly on religious freedom.

Correlation doesn’t prove causation, but these correlations suggest the possibility that religious freedom pays socioeconomic dividends.

Finally, the most obvious way religious freedom shapes foreign policy is through the passage in 1998 of the International Religious Freedom Act.

This act requires American embassies to produce an annual report on the state of religious freedom in different countries, and mandates the promotion of religious freedom as a central element in American foreign policy. You can access their reports online at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/

These comments are only a fraction of what we discussed. Although I have lived and worshipped in many countries, I confess that Marshall’s presentation put the issue on the map for me in a way it hadn’t been before.

I look forward to the day when people around the world will enjoy the same religious freedoms we enjoy in the United States.

THE REV. CRAIG HUNTER is the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Denton.