Why should you and I, regardless of our religious or political beliefs, support religious freedom for everyone, everywhere? Because human beings must have the freedom to be religious.

We are by our nature religious beings. The search for God is natural to each of us. Religious freedom is not a privilege granted by governments. It is a natural, inalienable right, given to every human being by God. It is the duty and the right of conscience to discern the truth about religion and to exercise religion in private and in public.

The 2022 International Religious Freedom Summit, hosted in Washington, D.C., and the 2022 Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief, hosted by the United Kingdom presented an important opportunity for governments, religious leaders, survivors of persecution, advocates, and civil society organizations from around the world to grapple with religious freedom challenges and opportunities globally

But more critical than the act of convening is the impact this engagement has on the practical experience of the people for whom this right is at risk.

Nigeria is in the eye of the storm for insecurity and persecution, where the rights of minorities — including Christians — are violated with reckless abandon. Nigeria is now a country where being a Christian is synonymous with martyrdom. Beyond the few figures reported in Western media, issues of religious freedom in the country are real and grave. The issues are complicated because of palpable fear, political correctness, lack of an agreeable response from leading Church figures and at times, fear of elimination. Beyond the physical violence, there are all kinds of discriminatory and marginalizing legal and non-legal instruments used to exclude Christians from access to power, including infringements on the right to freedom of worship. Although freedom of religion is enshrined in Section 38 subsection 1 of the 1999 Constitution, the precarious nature of being a Christian in Nigeria leaves no one in doubt that such constitutional provisions are merely on paper.

Joseph Kennedy, a high school football coach, merely wanted to kneel on the field and quietly express his gratitude to God for a few seconds after each game. Little did he know that his simple act of devotion—and his school's overreaction in punishing him—would lead to a profound change in American law. The Supreme Court's decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District provided two vitally important wins for religious Americans.

Religious freedom and gender equality are principles that are not only equally vital, but intimately linked. The world needs both, if it is to respond effectively to the numerous challenges facing humanity. It needs the hope and strength of spirit that faith can impart. And it needs in much fuller measure the phenomenal reservoirs of insight, innovation, and capacity found in the women of the world. Critical, then, is learning, with ever greater precision, how these foundational ideals are translated into practical, lived realities in countless local contexts.

The Center is a facilitation organization for conflict transformation. We are not a religious organization. We are made up of people of all faiths and none. But we enter conflict transformation at the point of religious identity. Religion can function to inspire people to very grotesque dehumanization and violence, or unexpected transcendence of histories of pain and hatred. We have four objectives: to remove religion as a driver of violence, to empower religious peacebuilders, to increase the capacity of peacebuilders, and to integrate these peacebuilding efforts into formal diplomatic and government efforts.