This Cornerstone Forum series invites experts to reflect on their experiences in efforts to advance religious freedom globally, engage key stakeholders in the process, and safeguard against mere symbolic support for religious freedom to ensure this right is secure for everyone, everywhere.
Securing Peace For Egypt’s Christians At Coptic Eastertide
Miles Windsor, Senior Manager for Strategy and Campaigns for RFI’s Middle East Action Team, recently authored an article for Religion Unplugged titled, “Securing Peace For Egypt’s Christians At Coptic Eastertide.”
U.S. support of global religious freedom must go beyond rhetoric
In an article published recently in The Hill, Lena Abboud, Senior Manager for Research and Policy with RFI’s Middle East Action Team, argues:
“Religious freedom is regressing globally, and the United States has an opportunity to be in solidarity with the people most egregiously affected. But whether this solidarity goes beyond rhetoric depends on actions the United States takes against perpetrators and its engagement with governments and communities in countries where this freedom is most at risk.”
Toward a Stable and Inclusive Iraq? Individual and Institutional Religious Freedom Can Help
In the Spring 2022 edition of the Journal of Middle Eastern Politics & Policy beginning at page 17, Jeremy Barker, Director of RFI’s Middle East Action Team, authored an article titled, “Toward a Stable and Inclusive Iraq? Individual and Institutional Religious Freedom Can Help.” In it Barker “seeks to provide some context to Iraq’s political and social dynamics since 2003…” and to “consider how religious freedom, in both its individual and institutional dimensions, may have something to contribute toward supporting a more stable and inclusive Iraq.”
RFI’s Miles Windsor Speaks with Archbishop Angaelos on the Enduring Coptic Experience of Persecution
RFI Senior Fellow Charles Ramsey Interviewed on Taliban Control in Afghanistan
Charles Ramsey, RFI Senior Fellow and Resident Scholar at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, was interviewed on EWTN News Nightly to discuss the ban on harvesting poppy plants implemented by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Recognizing Warning Signs on the Path to Genocide
Jeremy Barker, Director of RFI’s Middle East Action Team, this week authored a piece for Providence Magazine titled, “Recognizing Warning Signs on the Path to Genocide.” In it, he addresses Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent determination that “members of the Burmese military committed acts of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya community in Burma.”
Senior Christian Leaders in Algeria Face Prison as Rights Decline Continues
In an article published recently in Newsweek, Miles Windsor, Senior Manager for Strategy and Campaigns with RFI’s Middle East Action Team, observes:
The Protestant Christian community in Algeria is under siege from its own government. The persecution of Christians by the Algerian state has been a sustained campaign for many years with the latest wave of repression beginning in November 2017.
United Voices in U.S. Senate Introduce Legislation for USCIRF Reauthorization
On Tuesday, March 22, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators introduced a short and simple piece of legislation “to reauthorize the independent, bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) through fiscal year 2024.”
Grounds for passing the bill are clear and compelling.
RFI Signs Memorandum of Understanding with the Catholic University of Erbil
RFI's Middle East Director and Vice President for Public Policy Lead Religious Freedom Trainings in Iraq
The Remarkable Baroness: A Review of Lela Gilbert’s "Baroness Cox: Eyewitness to a Broken World"
Paul Marshall, Director of RFI’s South and Southeast Action Team, recently authored an article for Providence reviewing the latest biography by Lela Gilbert titled, Baroness Cox: Eyewitness to a Broken World. He outlines his personal interactions with Caroline Cox, Baroness of Queensbury, and explains why she is such an important figure in the fight to protect the rights of religious minorities in societies around the world.
RFI’s Paul Marshall: "Pew Survey On Blasphemy Laws Must Be Supplemented With Grounded Realities"
Paul Marshall, Director of RFI’s South and Southeast Asia Action Team, authored an article published recently in Religion Unplugged titled, “Pew Survey On Blasphemy Laws Must Be Supplemented With Grounded Realities.”
RFI's Jeremy Barker Joins Drew Mariani Show to Discuss Contemporary Christian Persecution
Jeremy Barker, Director of RFI's Middle East Action Team, joined the Drew Mariani Show earlier this week to discuss the ongoing persecution of Christians around the world in the context of the release of Open Door's 2022 World Watch List report.
A Revolution of Consciousness: Understanding Sudan
On 3 November 2021, Jeremy Barker, Director of the Middle East Acton Team at the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI), led an online event focused on the recent political events in Sudan. sma’il Kushkush, Independent Journalist, Mohyeldin Omer, Policy Analyst for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Dr. A.J. Nolte, Assistant Professor of Politics at Regent University’s Robertson School of Government, and Mariam Ibraheem, Director of Global Mobilization & Co-Founder of the Tahrir Alnisa Foundation, contributed to the discussion.
The event took place while Sudan was still witnessing ongoing protests in rejection of a military coup and following the release of an extensive RFI report, Documenting Changes in Religious Freedom Conditions in Sudan. Despite the recent setbacks, an optimistic tone was present the dialogue, as it was unanimously concluded that the Sudanese will and desire for democracy remains strong.
International Religious Freedom Day: Not to Be Overlooked
October 27th is celebrated each year as International Religious Freedom Day, recalling the signing of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). This landmark piece of legislation, signed by President Bill Clinton, committed the United States of America in its foreign policy “to condemn violations of religious freedom, and to promote, and to assist other governments in the promotion of, the fundamental right to freedom of religion.”
The cause of religious freedom is too important to neglect and International Religious Freedom Day is not to be overlooked.
RFI Executive Vice President Discusses Global Christian Persecution on Relevant Radio
RFI Executive Vice President Eric Patterson joined the Drew Mariani Show earlier this week to discuss the ongoing, violent persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and elsewhere.
The Taliban’s Reign of Terror: Dissecting the Past While Cautiously Awaiting the Future
On September 11th, RFI Senior Fellow, Farahnaz Ispahani joined with Robert Reilly, the director of the Westminster Institute, to discuss the relationship between the Taliban and Afghanistan’s citizens and particularly the situation for women and religious minorities.
The Taliban and “Sovereignty”: Popular vs. Divine
The political philosophy associated with Western classical liberalism, desired by billions of people suffering under authoritarian regimes the world over, seems to be in direct conflict with Islamist voices like the Taliban, who demand not only Allah’s spiritual and moral sovereignty over the affairs of humanity, but Allah’s narrowly expressed guidance on socio-political systems, which contravenes any form of political popular sovereignty.
Missing the Signs: The Religious Motivations of the 9/11 Attackers
America is reeling from President Biden’s chaotic abandonment of American citizens, our Afghan allies, and religious minorities in Afghanistan. Twenty years ago this very week, America was also reeling when two jetliners smashed into the World Trade Center, a third slammed into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania as its valiant passengers overpowered their Islamist captors.