USA (MNN) — The annual 2024 report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) dropped this week. But it didn’t make much of a splash amidst waves of unrest on American college campuses and a volatile election cycle.
Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA (VOM) says, “Religious freedom, for many people, is kind of a ‘page 27 issue’ instead of a ‘page one issue.’ So…unfortunately, it doesn’t get the media attention that other issues do.”
Still, there is a lot to unpack in USCIRF’s latest report.
Along with the recommendation to redesignate 12 countries of particular concern, the religious freedom watchdog also recommends an additional five countries as CPCs — Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Nigeria, and Vietnam.
“Later this year, the State Department will be the one who actually issues the list of countries of particular concern and the special watch list and entities of particular concern.”
(Photo courtesy of VOM USA)
The big question now is: Will the US State Department adopt these recommendations?
Nettleton explains, “The thing about it is the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, they have one issue. They have one priority: Religious freedom.
“When you come to the State Department, religious freedom is one of many priorities. They want to talk about trade. They want to talk about countries we’re in conflict with. We want to get other countries to help us. So can we really afford to call them out and embarrass them on religious freedom?”
This complex political reality is why the State Department sometimes does not adopt USCIRF’s recommendations to designate certain countries as CPCs.
“As someone who cares about religious freedom, I would say that’s unfortunate,” says Nettleton. “I wish the State Department did put more priority on the issue of religious freedom.”
As Christians, we can pray over this list of recommendations in the USCIRF report. Pray for both the persecuted Christians to be spiritually encouraged in their Gospel witness, and for persecutors to have their eyes opened to the glory of Jesus Christ (like the biblical example of the Apostle Paul.)
(Photo courtesy of VOM Canada)
Also, Nettleton says, “I think the key is to pray for wisdom for leaders as they are making decisions – and I think particularly at the State Department where there are multiple competing priorities, to have discernment and to have wisdom to bring about the best possible outcomes.”
Finally, pray for greater religious freedoms to see the Gospel proclaimed around the world!
Learn more about how VOM supports persecuted Christians.
Header photo courtesy of Aaron Burden/Unsplash.
