Recent Supreme Court decisions should remind all Americans of the importance of freedom of religion and of redress mechanisms embedded in the U.S. system to protect this right when threatened or undermined. Many in other countries are not as fortunate. Countless innocents worldwide are persecuted for the peaceful practice of their faith. Some are subjected to torture, beatings, forced marriage, rape, imprisonment, enslavement, and forced resettlement. Others, such as MeriamYahia Ibrahim Ishag, a Sudanese woman who converted to Christianity, are sentenced to death for their beliefs. Faced with this grim reality, Congress was compelled to act and the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) became law in 1998. The IRFA defined U.S. policy as standing “for liberty and… with the persecuted.” It called for “appropriate tools in the United States foreign policy apparatus” to be focused on the promotion and protection of religious freedom by all...(Read Full Article)