Tag Archives: religious freedom

To Know Me Is To Love Me? Perhaps Not.

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January 16 is Religious Freedom Day here in the United States, which got me to thinking:  Why does religious intolerance still exist in the modern world?

Many nations have joined the United Nations in condemning religious persecution, and certainly the United States strongly upholds religious freedom.  No matter what their personal religion, most people have plenty of opportunities to learn about other religions from television and the Internet.  In many communities, interfaith understanding events are available.  Travel opportunities are more accessible than ever, so more people can travel to different countries and learn about different religions – or at least meet travelers of different religions who visit theirs.

There’s an old cliché that says “to know me is to love me” – suggesting that knowledge fosters understanding which fosters, if not love, at least tolerance. But clearly that isn’t necessarily the case. Why not?

The U.S. Department of Justice tracks hate crimes in the United States, and according to its statistics, 14 percent of hate crimes reported to the police in this country are about religion.  Shockingly, the major reason found among those who commit hate crimes of any type is “thrill seeking.”

Perhaps the missing ingredient needed for more religious tolerance is respect.  What are your thoughts?

Learn more:

Mutual Respect Crucial for Religious Freedom

Justice Department Web site:  What Motivates Hate Offenders?

The NATO and U.S.-E.U. Summits / Fighting Cholera in Haiti / Persian Poetry in New York

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President Obama heads to the NATO and U.S.-E.U. Summits in Lisbon, Portugal. Learn what the United States is doing to help Haiti battle a cholera outbreak. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton releases a study on religious freedom and discusses the importance of protecting Americans traveling overseas. According to a new report, Asian water supplies are at risk. A top U.S. terrorism official says cooperation among nations has been successful in fighting terrorism. A group of African journalists discuss professional issues. And, in New York City, a museum displays linkages between New York and the Spanish world, while a bar showcases Persian poetry.

Upcoming NATO and EU Summits
President Obama, right, will be attending the 2010 NATO and U.S.-European Union Summits in Lisbon on November 19th and 20th. The meetings are intended to demonstrate the central role of the United States’ relationship with Europe and the U.S.-European capability to meet global challenges.



An “Aggressive Campaign” Against Cholera
U.S. officials promise an “aggressive campaign” to help Haitian authorities fight the spread of cholera in their country through prevention techniques such as providing clean, chlorinated drinking water, oral rehydration therapy, education and additional funding to expand cholera treatment centers.

Religious Freedom and U.S. Foreign Policy
Promoting religious freedom is a core element of U.S. diplomacy, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says in releasing the 2010 Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom.

Protecting Americans Overseas
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says it is important for the State Department and the American private sector to cooperate on protecting Americans who travel overseas.

Asian Water Supplies at Risk
A new report from the U.S. Agency for International Development outlines steps that can help mitigate the impacts of climate-change-induced glacier melt in the greater Himalayas area.

Nations Team Up Against Terror
Cooperation among nations fighting the global war on terror has been remarkable in the nine years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, says Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s top counterterrorism official.

African Journalists in the U.S.
African journalists visiting the United States as part of the fifth Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists have a lot to say about professional standards and freedom of the press as they finished their three-week stay in the United States.

Spanish Connections in NY
This fall, the exhibit “Nueva York (1613-1945),” a collaboration of El Museo Del Barrio and the New-York Historical Society, will document four centuries of cross-cultural influence and cooperation between Latin America and Spain and New York.

In NY, New Persian Poetry
Since beginning five years ago, the Persian Arts Festival in New York has grown to offer music, films and other visual arts as well as literary events. Its audience is “very diverse,” says founder Mona Kayhan, including many people with no personal connection to Iran or Persian culture. At right, Sholeh Wolpé reads aloud from her work at the festival. 

Freedom, Religion, Politics: Where Do You Draw the Lines?

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A few years ago I was charged with escorting some Muslim educators from Indonesia around Washington, D.C. Several asked me about stories of harassment of Islamic women in the United States who chose to wear headscarves. Where is the religious freedom in the United States, they demanded to know, if devout Muslim women cannot freely wear their headscarves? I had to admit to them that cases of harassment do occur, but this doesn’t mean Americans don’t value religious freedom as well as freedom of expression for everyone. Tens of thousands of people living in the United States freely wear amulets depicting the crucifix, the crescent moon and star, the Star of David, medals of saints, scapulars, and more. They wear — free of harassment – turbans, yarmulkes, scarves, saffron robes and other forms of religious dress. The problem arises, I explained to my visitors, when a religious symbol loses its association with faith and becomes identified with politics. Some Americans, I said, don’t see the headscarf as an expression of faith, but as a symbol of an extremist political affinity that has endangered their lives.

This incident came back to me when I was asked to write this blog in anticipation of Religious Freedom Day in the United States. Every year since 1993, the president of the United States has declared January 16 to be Religious Freedom Day and to recall the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees religious freedom. January 16 also marks the anniversary of the passage in 1786 of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. Written by Thomas Jefferson, it ended the practice of taxing people to pay for the support of the local clergy and protected the civil rights of people to express their religious beliefs without suffering discrimination.

More recently, freedom of religion and freedom of expression have become entangled with “defamation of religion.” The United States has called for tolerance and balance on this issue. What are your views on this? When does a religious symbol become a political statement? When does freedom of expression become defamation? Please leave your comments here. And join a webchat on the topic on January 20.