McCain and Obama Urged to Make International Religious Freedom a Priority

From CyberCast News Service, we find this report [1] that tells us about the ongoing work to ensure the next president of the United States maintains a focus on broadening religious freedoms for Christians throughout the world.

Angela C. Wu, International Law Director for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, states that,

“Freedom of religion and the freedom to speak openly about ideas and beliefs here and abroad should be a high priority for the next president of the United States."

A poll that was cited should be quite telling to either of the two main presidential candidates as to the importance of this issue to the voting public.

In a recent poll of American Christians commissioned by Open Doors USA and released this week, 54 percent of respondents said religious freedom should be a high priority in making U.S. foreign policy.

The organization, which estimates that 100 million Christians around the world are facing repression for their faith, said the poll result presented a challenge for presidential aspirants Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama.

“Open Doors commissioned this study to try to understand what Christians in America feel about religious freedom. Clearly, it is a priority,” said president and chief executive officer Carl Moeller.

“The findings of this study demonstrate that senators McCain and Obama must address the issue of religious freedom in their foreign policy positions if they are intent on winning the vote of faithful Christians.”

Ninety-six percent of respondents in the poll believed strongly that religious freedom was a basic human right, and more than eight in 10 believed it was a very important basic right.

Support for a foreign policy focused on religious freedom was highest among Christians between the ages of 45 and 64, especially churchgoing women. Baptists, Lutherans and those identifying with non-denominational or independent churches felt most strongly about the issue.

Respondents favored the U.S. using “indirect” methods, such as economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure, to apply pressure on regimes that abuse religious freedom.

The story goes on to detail methods that the United States can use to urge countries in violation of denying religious rights to apply pressure to them to make change.

In a recent poll of American Christians commissioned by Open Doors USA and released this week, 54 percent of respondents said religious freedom should be a high priority in making U.S. foreign policy.

The organization, which estimates that 100 million Christians around the world are facing repression for their faith, said the poll result presented a challenge for presidential aspirants Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama.

“Open Doors commissioned this study to try to understand what Christians in America feel about religious freedom. Clearly, it is a priority,” said president and chief executive officer Carl Moeller.

“The findings of this study demonstrate that senators McCain and Obama must address the issue of religious freedom in their foreign policy positions if they are intent on winning the vote of faithful Christians.”

Ninety-six percent of respondents in the poll believed strongly that religious freedom was a basic human right, and more than eight in 10 believed it was a very important basic right.

Support for a foreign policy focused on religious freedom was highest among Christians between the ages of 45 and 64, especially churchgoing women. Baptists, Lutherans and those identifying with non-denominational or independent churches felt most strongly about the issue.

Respondents favored the U.S. using “indirect” methods, such as economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure, to apply pressure on regimes that abuse religious freedom.

To read more of this in-depth article, click here [1].