In the News

Hill, British counterpart make appeal for renewal of religious freedom

2/7/2020
Arkansas Democrat Gazette

WASHINGTON -- Religious persecution is rising around the globe and it's important for freedom-loving nations to stand up for people of faith, lawmakers and a British member of parliament said this week.

At a roundtable discussion organized by U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., other U.S. congressmen and one of their English counterparts highlighted the threats faced by Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and other religious communities overseas.

Rehman Chishti, a Conservative Party politician, is the United Kingdom's special envoy on freedom of religion or belief.

During his visit to Washington, D.C., Chishti said he is consulting with U.S. government officials to see "how we can work together even more to ensure that individuals around the world can practice their faith openly and freely -- or have no faith at all."

Chishti, a Muslim, was appointed special envoy by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in September.

"Freedom of religion is a top priority for the [British] government, and, therefore, it's absolutely crucial that you work with like-minded partners around the world in taking appropriate action. You can't do it singly," he said.

Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right, Chishti said.

"It's in your Constitution, right?" he said. "We don't have a Constitution, but we make it part of British values."

Chishti, who has visited Little Rock and been a guest at a Bible study there, is friends with Hill, a Little Rock Catholic who has made religious freedom one of his top priorities.

On Thursday, the Englishman accompanied the Arkansan to the annual National Prayer Breakfast.

During the roundtable, which was held on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, lawmakers discussed persecution in Nigeria and other hot spots, Hill said.

"I invited members who are very active in religious tolerance and belief from the House," Hill said.

Since taking office, Hill has highlighted the plight of Egypt's Coptic Christian community, calling on Cairo to safeguard the rights of its minority Christian population.

In October, In Defense of Christians gave Hill its 2019 Congressional Champion award, noting his "extraordinary commitment to the human rights and religious freedom of Christian and other religious minority communities in the Middle East."

It's important, Hill said Wednesday, for lawmakers to champion religious liberty in Egypt and elsewhere.

"When the Congress of the United States recognizes that that's an important issue, it carries weight," he said.

In an interview, former U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said freedom of worship is increasingly under attack in foreign lands.

"More people are being persecuted around the world than any time in the world's history," he said.

"In China alone, the Catholic Church is being persecuted. The Protestant church is being persecuted. There are hundreds of protestant pastors in jail. There are Catholic bishops in prison. The Muslims are being persecuted. The Uyghurs. There are now up to 3 million Uyghur Muslims in basically, almost concentration camps," Wolf said.

In 2020, religious freedom is the exception rather than the rule, he said.

"Eighty percent of the world's population lives in a religiously repressive nation," he said.