Religious Freedom Resolution Introduced due to Recent Religious Intolerance Abroad
http://blog.providenceforum.org/featured/religious-intolerance-abroad/
In the latest push to promote international religious freedom, U.S. Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Congressman Heath Shuler (D-NC) recently introduced House Resolution 141. The resolution would proposition the UN Human Rights Council to pass its own resolution on protecting international religious freedom as well as condemning intolerance. Congressmen Franks and Shuler, whom co-chair the Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus, encouraged this resolution based on recent acts of religious intolerance that have gained publicity around the globe.
A recent major setback against the fight for religious freedom occurred on March 2nd when Pakistan Minister of Minority Affairs, Shabaz Bhatti, was assassinated. According to The Christian Post, “He was the only Christian member of the Pakistani President’s Cabinet. Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, courageously spoke out against the misuse of the country’s blasphemy laws by Islamic extremists and spoke up for religious minorities, including Christians.”
Regarded as one of Pakistan’s main proponents for religious freedom, Bhatti became a prime target of the Taliban and frequently received death threats. For his courageous efforts, he was awarded the first religious freedom medallion in September 2009 by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. At the presentation, Bhatti stated, “I personally stand for religious freedom, even if I will pay the price of my life. I live for this principle and I want to die for this principle.”
