Religious Freedom in Asia
The People's Republic of China has a history of brutal repression of religion. In true Marxist-Communist style, users of "the opiate of the people" were crushed not only during the original revolution of 1949, but continually since then, murderously peaking in the Cultural Revolution. In recent years, China has been relaxing its rules on religion, allowing, for example, the Roman Catholic Church to operate in China as long as its churches are "registered" with the state. Other churches that refuse to register, the so-called "house churches," are sometimes allowed to operate, but just as often are shut down by the state police. China has long opposed the Buddhism practiced in Tibet, most recently complaining vigorously when Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama met with President Clinton in the United States.
China is far from alone in its religious persecution. Indonesia turns a blind eye to the destruction of ethnic Chinese-owned businesses. Vietnam, waking up from its thirty-year socialist sleep, still officially represses religious activity. Myanmar just hates everybody who has an opinion, so religious opinions are persecuted as a matter of course.
Religious figures and classic liberals in the United States have been rallying against such religious persecution for decades. But this year, those rallies may gain some bite. The Freedom From Religious Persecution Act (FFRPA) of 1998 provides punishment for nations (in Asia and the rest of the world) who engage in or tolerate religious persecution through economic sanctions.
The passage of this law raises a series of important questions. What right does America have to impose its standards of religious freedom on the rest of the world? Will the human rights commission be able to assess accurately and fairly violations of religious freedom? What standards will they use? Will sanctions, or the threat of sanctions, work? What impact will the law have on those actually being persecuted? And in the end, will the law help ease religious persecution around the world?
Let's start with what the FFRPA itself says. Essentially, the law will create a tribunal of observers who will collect information on nations suspected of engaging in or tolerating religious persecution. The tribunal, comprising three members appointed by the Senate, three by the House of Representatives, and three by the President, will issue a yearly report detailing the level of persecution. If the persecution reaches a certain threshold ("gross violations"), the tribunal will recommend a set of economic sanctions. These sanctions will take effect automatically, unless the President specifically overrules their use. The burden, then, falls to the President to explain why the nation should continue to receive the benefits of economic relations with the United States. The sponsors of the bill hope that such a reversal of burdens will force this issue to more prominence.
Latest Articles