Religious Oppression Wears Camouflage

Beware! Religious oppression wears camouflage. It always seems to be about something else. No one can dictate what others believe in their heart of hearts – but oppressors can still cut off the arms and legs of people's expressions of their faith commitments. Religious oppressors seek to break the basic link between belief and behavior – for people's "own good," for "peace" in society, for "social justice," or for whatever.

Some years ago I did illegal missionary work in Eastern Europe, behind the totalitarian communist "Iron Curtain," in East Berlin and in Rumania. Officially, the atheist, communist governments of Eastern Europe (generally from 1945-1990) all supported religious liberty. Yet they created religiously hostile environments in dozens of ways. For example, churches were free to meet, if they registered properly and met at agreed-upon times. However, there were issues if churches needed to make repairs on their buildings. There was a constant "shortage" of electrical, plumbing and other building supplies – and so none was available for churches. If a toilet or an electrical switch broke, no replacement was available. And by the way, the water main for the church's neighborhood very often "needed to be turned off" for "repairs," but only on Sundays. In one church where I visited, thousands met often for 3-4 hours, without working toilets. To survive, churches had to maneuver their way around or through these and other absurd restrictions and restraints.

As public philosopher, I have been privileged to engage in dialogue with international Islamic leaders. They all believe in religious liberty, they say, but they cannot allow people to change their religion. As a measurable result, Islamic countries reject the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights – especially because it's Article 18 supports the right of every person to change his religion. Many Islamic countries – like Afghanistan – do not allow churches to organize or to build structures. In other countries – like Iraq and Egypt – church buildings are not protected from being burned or bombed. You are free to believe, but not to behave your faith. Religious oppression wears camouflage. Read more