The New Testament warns again and again that there are high costs to discipleship.
“In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage, for I have overcome the world,” Jesus says to the Apostles. St. Paul tells Timothy that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
Christians are persecuted all over the world — India, Pakistan, Indonesia, North Korea, China, Nigeria and, unfortunately, many more places. Big, authoritarian governments and terrorist groups alike have used their power and popularity to oppress Christian minority groups.
It is the same, if not worse, as what happened during the religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe, when whoever was most popular or most powerful in a given place and time tried to force minorities to violate their beliefs. That was why so many different groups of people came to America, and particularly to Pennsylvania — religious minorities, such as the Quakers, the Amish, the Mennonites, the Moravians and others. Pennsylvanians today continue the tradition of respecting each other, even when they disagree, but many around the world do not.
In Libya, the Islamic State has executed dozens of Coptic Christians for refusing to deny Christ. In Mosul, Iraq, for the first time in 15 centuries, there is no Catholic mass offered, because the city’s Christian population has fled for safety. In northern Nigeria, Boko Haram bombs churches. In China, churches must be approved by the communist government to be allowed to function, making the communist party effectively the definer of doctrine in that country. The list of outrages committed against Christians goes on and on.
But perhaps nowhere on Earth are Christians as threatened as in lands trod by the sandals of the Apostles. In the Middle East, brutal Islamic terrorist groups are trying to sift Christian communities like wheat.
And in the West, we too are being sifted between those who are willing to stand up for their principles, and those who remain indifferent. Those of us who have been entrusted with authority especially have a grave responsibility to serve the common good, and to labor for the least of God’s people.
That is why I joined with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee to introduce a resolution calling for an end to anti-blasphemy laws. In places like Iran and Saudi Arabia, these laws are being used as a pretext for brutality against religious minorities.
Perhaps the most famous case is that of Asia Bibi, a woman in Pakistan who witnessed to her Christian faith in conversation with her friends. For that, she is now in jail.
If we believe in religious liberty, then we must oppose these laws, which effectively set up a state religion. It is the theology of force, not truth, of might, not right.
In March, I also introduced the Shahbaz Bhati International Religious Freedom Act, named for a Pakistani Christian statesman who was assassinated by terrorists for his faith. This legislation would equip the State Department with the authority to sanction non-state actors. Just as often as states try to coerce religious minorities, non-state actors like the Muslim Brotherhood or Boko Haram commit direct violations of human rights. That is why it is critical that we pass this bill.
I have the honor to serve as Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. This year, the Commission has conducted hearings on the Islamic State, and a hearing on human trafficking. The commission will continue to conduct hearings on the rights of religious minorities across the globe.
Congress must enact legislation to uphold the dignity and rights of all people. To whom much is given, of him much shall be required.
Christians and people of good will around the world must unite in defense of the persecuted. I invite my colleagues and the public to support our anti-blasphemy resolution, to support the Shahbaz Bhatti International Religious Freedom Act and to support the activities of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
The days are evil, but we have assurance, for “blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness; theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Joe Pitts is a Republican representing Pennsylvania’s 16th congressional district. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
