On the recordFebruary 26, 2015
In the past few weeks, the Islamic State has targeted religious minorities throughout the Middle East, including the Yazidis in Iraq and the 21 Coptic Christians executed in Libya. This week, ISIS has abducted more than 200 Assyrian Christians. We pray earnestly for their release and for comfort for their families. These murderers want us to tremble at their physical brutality, but an even more sinister violence is at work, a sustained and strategic campaign against religious freedom. This is the God-given freedom to hold any belief--or none at all--without coercion or reprisal. Global attention is and should be transfixed on those killed for their faith in the Middle East; yet more than three-quarters of the world's population lives under regimes that restrict belief. Our Nation's first freedom is not and should not be bound by geography or nation. We must defend religious freedom at all times and in all places, or this violent cycle will continue. ____________________
