OPINION:
In 1998, the International Religious Freedom Act mandated the targeted defense of religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy. It also established the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, headed by an ambassador-at-large.
Yet during presidential administrations that followed, the ambassador and his crew were buried in the department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and international religious freedom policy languished.
After his 2016 election, President Trump rejected this recipe for failure. He issued an executive order affirming that advancing religious freedom abroad was a “moral and national security imperative” and named former Sen. Sam Brownback as ambassador-at-large.
Mr. Brownback capitalized on a new statutory requirement that he “report directly to the secretary of state” (in this case, Mike Pompeo) rather than to the assistant secretary for human rights — a position that, tellingly, is below the ambassador-at-large.
In short, Mr. Brownback was empowered to take bold action in defense of international religious freedom.
The result was a series of extraordinary successes that restored America’s rightful status as the world’s leader in defining and defending religious liberty. For example, Messrs. Brownback and Pompeo instituted annual “Ministerials,” during which scores of foreign ministers and hundreds of foreign civil society leaders gathered to hear America’s evidence that more religious freedom yields less human suffering, more economic development, less religion-based violence and war, and greater security.
Mr. Brownback traveled the world to expose persecutors, give hope to their victims and build a truly international religious freedom movement. He began a privately funded International Religious Freedom Summit that, to this day, attracts thousands to Washington each year. With British Parliament member Fiona Bruce, he co-founded the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (now the “Article 18 Alliance”), a coalition dedicated to advancing the principles in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
When Joseph R. Biden became president, the State Department stopped hosting the Ministerials, formally repudiated the existence of inalienable rights given by God, including religious freedom, and elevated LGBTQ rights above all others in U.S. foreign policy.
Today, America’s international religious freedom policy is at a pivotal moment. Christians are under a new wave of assault in China while world leaders remain largely silent. Persecution is intensifying in Nigeria, Syria, Sudan and even in South Korea, which was once a strong defender of religious freedom.
Ministers and policy experts who have coalesced to oppose such forces seem stymied by an absence of leadership. The Article 18 Alliance lacks direction. Ministerials have faded. Religious freedom policy in the U.S. and abroad is like a ship with no captain.
We are 16 months into the second Trump administration, and the position of international religious freedom ambassador-at-large remains unfilled. Given the unprecedented levels of violent religious persecution, religion-based terrorism and resulting threats to American interests, that the seat is empty is stunning.
We are, however, encouraged to learn that a strong candidate has been chosen. Our plea to Mr. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a lifelong religious freedom champion, is to ensure rapid Senate confirmation and empower the new ambassador to succeed.
That means the ambassador must report directly to the secretary and be authorized to speak with the imprimatur of a Trump administration that is serious about religious freedom as a fundamental human right and the cornerstone of stable societies, human flourishing and national security.
The ambassador must work hand in hand with the White House, the secretary of state and civil society to advance religious freedom globally. The world looks to America for this leadership. America must answer this call.
The trappings of bureaucracy must be overcome, and doing so may require the president and secretary of state to trim the sails of senior White House and State Department officials who would be content to “backburner” religious freedom as a cost-saving measure. Costs to whom? The millions of suffering religious victims, with Christians at the head of the list? The religious supporters of Mr. Trump who love what he has done for religious freedom?
Mr. Trump put it nicely: “America stands with believers in every country who ask only for the freedom to live according to the faith that is within their own hearts.” That is who we are.
• David Trimble is president of the Religious Freedom Institute. Thomas Farr, Ph.D., is president emeritus of the Religious Freedom Institute. He served as the first director of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom.
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