Religious freedom under assault

The next time you walk into church, or your synagogue or mosque, say a little thanks to God for our founding principles. There's a lot for which to be grateful, after all, and the freedom to worship is among our greatest blessings.

But a new report by Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life has revealed a disturbing pattern: Nearly a third of the globe's population — 2.2 billion people — live in countries where religious persecution increased between 2006 and 2009.

Observers have often assumed that over time, the world would progress toward what political scientist Francis Fukuyama famously called "the end of history," when Western liberal democracy would triumph over all ideological competitors. But instead, we are seeing a marked erosion of what America's Founding Fathers considered the "first freedom": the liberty of religious conscience. Even in America, there are signs that our historic commitment to this freedom is wavering. To read more, click here.