{"id":477435,"date":"2021-05-06T09:40:33","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T13:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=477435"},"modified":"2021-05-06T09:44:06","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T13:44:06","slug":"rubio-leads-bipartisan-thrust-urging-biden-to-fight-for-religious-freedom-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rubio-leads-bipartisan-thrust-urging-biden-to-fight-for-religious-freedom-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio Leads Bipartisan Thrust Urging Biden to Fight for Religious Freedom Worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frubio-leads-bipartisan-thrust-urging-biden-to-fight-for-religious-freedom-worldwide%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=477435&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Wednesday led a bipartisan group of legislators calling on President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-joe-biden\">Joe Biden<\/a> to take a more decisive role in protecting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-religious-freedom\">religious freedom<\/a> across the world and fill the position of\u00a0Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, something the president has not yet done after over 100 days in office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, @SenatorLankford and I led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to President Biden on the pressing need to fill the position of Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom,\u201d Rubio <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenRubioPress\/status\/1390050018577485824\">wrote in a tweet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Biden is urged in the letter (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rubio.senate.gov\/public\/_cache\/files\/70815e18-8081-4f3f-a1e3-4aab3d4b3fe7\/CD50BBF19AF1B62C4F291D498DF3E88D.lankford-hill-irf-letter-.pdf\">pdf<\/a>) to fill the vacant position, prior to Jan. 20 occupied by former Kansas Gov.\u00a0Sam Brownback, a Republican, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump. The lawmakers also called for the appointment of a\u00a0Director of International Religious Freedom within the National Security Council, a role previously held by Sarah Makin-Acciani, who earlier served as an aide to former Vice President Mike Pence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReligious freedom, one of the most basic human rights for all people, has historically been an area of sincere bipartisan support and agreement in American foreign policy,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. While acknowledging the federal government\u2019s \u201csignificant strides\u201d in promoting the rights of people of faith across the world and condemning the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-persecution\">persecution<\/a> of religious minorities, the legislators wrote that \u201cthe current state of international religious freedom is one of deepening crisis with government restrictions on religion rising to a record high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They cited Pew Research Center\u2019s 11th <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewforum.org\/2020\/11\/10\/in-2018-government-restrictions-on-religion-reach-highest-level-globally-in-more-than-a-decade\/\">annual study<\/a> of restrictions on religion, released in November 2020, which shows that government restrictions on religion have reached the highest level globally in more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome countries in the Asia-Pacific region saw all-time highs in their overall government restrictions scores,\u201d Pew Research Center wrote in a note accompanying the study. \u201cThis includes China, which continued to have the highest score on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) out of all 198 countries and territories in the study.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pew noted that the Chinese regime \u201crestricts religion in a variety of ways, including banning entire religious groups (such as the Falun Gong movement and several Christian groups), prohibiting certain religious practices, raiding places of worship and detaining and torturing individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3731017\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-425624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1988.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"404\"  style=\"display:none\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1988.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1988-300x202.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1988-480x323.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3731017 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Oct-1-2000-Chien-min-Chung-AP-1200x863-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"460\" \/><\/noscript>Police detain a Falun Gong protester in Tiananmen Square as a crowd watches in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2000. (Chien-min Chung\/AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A 2020 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices\/china\/\">State Department report<\/a> on human rights practices in China found that using a \u201cbroad definition of extremism,\u201d Chinese authorities have detained, since 2017, \u201cmore than one million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslims in \u2018transformation through education\u2019 centers, or detention centers, designed to instill patriotism and erase their religious and ethnic identities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In their letter, the lawmakers noted \u201cthe ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims and other members of ethnic and religious groups in Xinjiang,\u201d adding that, \u201cChina\u2019s hostility toward religion and people of faith extends to Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and Christians, some of whom are unjustly imprisoned for their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also, people of faith suffered in the past year as governments around the world used the COVID-19 pandemic to justify religious persecution, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom\u2019s 2021 annual report (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscirf.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2021-04\/2021%20Annual%20Report.pdf\">pdf<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2020, religious freedom conditions in China deteriorated,\u201d the commission wrote in the report, adding that the regime \u201cintensified its \u2018sinicization of religion\u2019 policy,\u201d which is a push to aggressively consolidate Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dominance over faith groups and meld them into the CCP.<\/p>\n<p>Besides calling for the vacant posts to be filled,\u00a0the lawmakers urged Biden to engage in various religious freedom initiatives with international partners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is crucial that international religious liberty remain a top priority of United States foreign policy,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The letter came on the same day as the European Union\u2019s appointment of a new Special Envoy for Freedom of Conscience and Belief. The nomination of Christos Stylianides, formerly the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, was announced on May 5 by the Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MargSchinas\/status\/1389882748274364422\">who tweeted<\/a>: \u201cFreedom of religion or belief is under attack in many parts of the world. The appointment of Stylianides \u2026 shows we are determined to protect the rights of all faiths and beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration has been criticized for backing away from promoting religious freedom abroad, after progress made in the area under Trump.\u00a0In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken overturned an executive order signed under the Trump administration that required federal agencies to \u201cprioritize international religious freedom in the planning and implementation of United States foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3748736\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy wp-image-3748736 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" alt=\"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the end of a NATO Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (Olivier Hoslet,\/Pool Photo via AP)\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-24-at-10.14.27-PM-1200x803-1.jpg\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3748736 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-24-at-10.14.27-PM-1200x803-1.jpg\" alt=\"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the end of a NATO Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (Olivier Hoslet,\/Pool Photo via AP)\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" \/><\/noscript>U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the end of a NATO Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (Olivier Hoslet\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Blinken announced the Biden administration would be taking a broader approach, which includes a focus on the rights of immigrants and refugees, victims of human trafficking, LGBTQ individuals, and women\u2019s access to abortion and birth control. Blinken criticized the Trump administration for what he characterized as an \u201cunbalanced\u201d emphasis on religious freedom over other concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Olivia Enos, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.org\/2021\/04\/28\/biden-administration-shifts-focus-away-international-religious-freedom\/\">told the International Christian Concern<\/a> that\u00a0focusing on the broader human rights issue would just \u201champer its broader foreign policy interests and human rights commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it would be a huge mistake for the Biden administration not to build momentum from the work done by the Trump administration to promote religious freedom,\u201d Enos said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Wednesday led a bipartisan group of legislators calling on President Joe Biden to take a more decisive role in protecting religious freedom across the world &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1988.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Rubio Leads Bipartisan Thrust Urging Biden to Fight for Religious Freedom Worldwide","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-477435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1988.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Rubio Leads Bipartisan Thrust Urging Biden to Fight for Religious Freedom Worldwide","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}