Washington, DC, Nov. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
International Conference Urges Support for Religious Freedom and Human Rights
“Religious freedom is a hallmark of an open society”
The best distinction between open, free societies and authoritarian regimes is respect for human rights and spiritual freedom, audio system advised the Conference of Hope for Universal Human Rights and Religious Freedom, sponsored by The Washington Times Foundation and Think Tank 2022.
The convention, held Nov. 12 in South Korea and livestreamed to thousands and thousands of viewers globally, concluded with a name to motion for folks worldwide to signal a Declaration on the Universal Value of Religious Freedom. “We call upon all people throughout the world to stand firmly against all forms of intolerance, prejudice, slander, and hate toward believers of our world’s religions,” says the assertion.
“When we speak of human rights, the most basic, fundamental right would be religious freedom,” mentioned Dr. Yun Young Ho, Chairman of the Steering Committee for Think Tank 2022. This proper is well-known, he mentioned, noting that freedom of faith was included in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly.
At a time when many non secular teams face persecution, intolerance, discrimination, and violence in lots of nations, that is “a critical moment in which we must unite, we face the truth, and we move forward courageously based on the principles expressed in the Declaration on the Universal Value of Religious Freedom,” mentioned Conference of Hope co-host Thomas P. McDevitt, Chairman of The Washington Times and board member of The Washington Times Foundation.
Speakers pointed to persecution of spiritual teams together with Muslim Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Ahmadis, Bahais, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Yazidis, Falun Gong, and, extra not too long ago, the Family Federation of World Peace and Unification, previously the Unification Church, in Japan.
The Chinese Communist Party is “at war with all faiths,” mentioned Ambassador Sam Brownback, former US senator who served as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom (2018-2021).
In distinction, “religious freedom is a hallmark of an open society in a democracy” and democracies “must stand for religious freedom for everybody, everywhere, all the time,” he mentioned.
“Why is evil so influential in today’s world? Because it has many allies. Three siblings are the most spread and efficient: Indifference, ignorance and fear (when we don´t care, when we do not know, or when we are scared to say or do something),” mentioned Hon. Jan Figel, First Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion, European Union (2016-2019). “To overcome these siblings, we must invest more into active engagement, lifelong education, and civil courage. Then a century of hope may come, and a culture of human dignity may prevail over extreme violence, aggressive wars and a century of genocides.”
Several audio system addressed the persecution of the Family Federation in Japan that has intensified because the tragic and mindless assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Paris-based CAP Freedom of Conscience, a revered UN NGO, filed a proper criticism with the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, saying that Japan’s “national tragedy” has been turned “into a bizarre narrative that makes the alleged assassin into a victim.”
“Religious liberty has been defined by the Holy See as the most violated human right in the 21st century,” mentioned Mr. Massimo Introvigne, Founder and Managing Director, Center for Studies on New Religions in Italy. “The events in Japan prove that the use of the word ‘cult’ to discriminate against and persecute peaceful religious movements has now reached intolerable levels and should be stopped. Those who do not publicly reject and denounce the campaigns against ‘cults’ are not real friends of religious freedom.”
“After World War II, the Soviet Union was aggressively working to bring Japan into the Communist sphere of influence,” mentioned Hon. Newt Gingrich, US House Speaker (1995-1999). Japanese leaders, together with Mr. Abe’s grandfather Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, met with Rev. Sun Myung Moon through the Cold War, he mentioned, and “a natural relationship formed between the victory-over-communism movement, Mr. Kishi and many members of the Diet, especially the Liberal Democratic Party.”
Today, “we are seeing that many in the [Japanese] media are trying to dissolve the movement in Japan without any legal due process,” Mr. Gingrich mentioned.
“We are not surprised that so many current and former members of the Liberal Democratic Party and other parties in Japan understood that work with the Universal Peace Federation, co-founded by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, was so important and collaborated with it,” mentioned Pastor Paula White-Cain, former advisor to US President Donald Trump and director of the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. She added, “it is good for Japan, good for the Republic of Korea and for America and good for peace in Northeast Asia and the world.”
Former BBC Correspondent Humphrey Hawksley, who spoke dwell from London, recalled how the Family Federation and different NGOs helped him lead a BBC crew into North Korea. “The work the church did in the 1990s helped bring about a peace deal that took the prospect of war off the table on the Korean Peninsula, and it has been doing similar work since,” he mentioned.
Cardinal Kelvin Felix, Archbishop emeritus of Castries, Saint Lucia, recalled assembly Japanese volunteers with the Women’s Federation for World Peace within the island nation of Dominica. “For 26 years, they have been conducting art classes at our Teachers’ Training College and in many schools around the country,” whereas additionally holding applications to strengthen household unions,” he mentioned.
The Family Federation has had 4,300 of its members in Japan kidnapped and held in pressured confinement by extremely paid skilled “faith breakers” over the last 45 years, mentioned Norishige Kondo, an legal professional in Japan who has been serving as authorized counsel to the Association of Victims of Kidnappings, Forced Confinement and Conversions. Kidnapped victims have additionally suffered sexual assault, violence, and threats, he mentioned. In one case, a medical physician—who had critically unwell sufferers underneath his care—was held for greater than a yr by kidnappers. Another man, Toro Goto, was held for greater than 12 years. “Mr. Goto was able to maintain his faith,” Mr. Kondo added, “but 70 to 80 percent of the victims of forced conversions and kidnappings lose their faith due to these inhuman and illegal detentions.”
“Religious freedom has long been called the first freedom, like the famed ‘canary in the mine,’ the violation of which warns us of impending danger elsewhere,” mentioned Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow at Cato Institute, who makes a speciality of overseas coverage and civil liberty.
A gaggle known as Open Doors lists 50 of the highest persecutors of Christians and different faiths, beginning with Afghanistan’s Taliban and North Korea’s regime, mentioned Mr. Bandow. “Governments which refuse to protect us as we seek God—or otherwise address the transcendent—are unlikely to protect us as we exercise our conscience in other ways,” he added, noting that eroding of spiritual freedom results in denials of free speech, debate, and elections, and breeds horrible conflicts, together with terrorism and genocide.
Prof. W. Cole Durham Jr., who directs the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, recalled how leaders and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) endured many years of persecution, brutal rejection, and bloodshed. Today, the LDS Church is a significant denomination, and its members are broadly accepted. “Standing up under persecution builds a kind of strength, which is its own reward,” he mentioned. Moreover, surviving persecution results in “an intensified appreciation of the practical importance of the freedom of religion” and “empathy for the suffering of others,” he mentioned.
The Washington Times Foundation, based in 1984 in Washington, D.C., hosts quite a few applications, together with its month-to-month webcast “The Washington Brief,” to collect professional commentary on points regarding peace and safety on this planet. Think Tank 2022, a undertaking of the Universal Peace Federation, frequently mobilizes its worldwide community to advertise dialogue, reconciliation and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The Washington Times Foundation and Think Tank 2022 plan to proceed sponsoring the Conference of Hope applications to advertise peace and safety globally—and particularly on the Korean Peninsula and the Pacific Rim.
Related hyperlinks:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/nov/11/prime-minister-abes-assassination-and-japanese-com/
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/nov/12/conference-promotes-religious-freedom-as-human-rig/
Media Contacts:
● UNITED STATES, Mr. Larry Moffitt, Vice President and Executive Director, The Washington Times Foundation [email protected]
● Dr. William Selig, Communications Director, Universal Peace Federation [email protected]
● AFRICA, Mr. Mamadou Gaye [email protected]
● ASIA PACIFIC, Dr. Robert Kittel [email protected]
● CANADA, Mr. Pierre Beauregard [email protected]
● EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST, Mr. Peter Zoehrer [email protected]
● CENTRAL AMERICA/THE CARIBBEAN, Mr. Mario Salinas [email protected]
● SOUTH AMERICA, Dr. Simao Feraboli [email protected]
