Dr. Tom Farr Gives Powerful Congressional Testimony on Religious Freedom

on October 16, 2017

“We need more than words, and we need more than sanctions,” insisted Dr. Tom Farr, President of the Religious Freedom Institute and Institute on Religion & Democracy board member, as he addressed global religious freedom violations and persecution of religious people on October 11 at a hearing held by the U.S. National Security Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

A five-minute time limit did not constrain Farr from delivering a powerful, sharp opening testimony. In his statement, Farr summarized the intricate connections between religious freedom and national security and offered his recommendations on how the United States can improve its policies and action plans.

When speaking of America’s annual reports and lists of the worst violators of religious freedom rights, Farr said they are “vitally important…but they are entirely dynastic in nature. They shine a light on the problem but do little to solve it.”

Farr also noted that the economic sanctions that have been put into places in countries that have violated these rights throughout history have not yielded significant or successful results either.

The RFI president also noted the correlation between religious freedom and stable civil societies.  “The evidence shows that religious freedom has a causal impact on social, political, and economical goods, such as long term political stability, economic growth, and undermining religion related violence,” Farr stated.

It was Farr’s belief that a great deal more could be accomplished in resolving conflicts in such places as Egypt and Iraq if religious freedom is more thoroughly incorporated into national security strategies.

Further into the session, South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy asked Farr what three things should be done at an executive level to advance the fight for religious freedom.

One approach, Farr answered, are budget-cuts, which have already been done. Although he does not agree with the cuts, Farr is supportive in that a result will be “more staff and more umph” in the office of International Religious Freedom.

The second action item Farr suggested was that the Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom always reports to the Secretary of State, as required by the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act.

Lastly, Farr stressed U.S. international religious freedom policy needs to be aligned with national security policy, and expanded beyond its single office.

Transitioning to the topic of genocide of Rohingya Muslims occurring in Burma, Florida Congresswoman Val Demings questioned Farr on what he thinks the U.S. can do to stop this atrocity. Without missing a beat, Farr made the point that realistically this crisis is a “religious cleansing,” and the U.S. needs to make a move to condemn the situation and begin working with the Burmese to get ahead of the issue to prevent it from happening again.

The session did not center only on international religious freedom. Alabama Congressman Gary Palmer brought up domestic court cases on violations of religious freedom rights. The congressman asked Farr if such things in our own country concerned him.

Farr’s response was “if we don’t understand what free exercise of religion is and what it means in this country, how can we convince other people abroad that it is of value to them?”

In a solid closing, Farr advised the U.S. not to focus so much on producing reports and lists of violators but to implement strategic incentives for promoting religious freedom in places of crisis. “Success in such efforts will not come easy,” explained Farr. “But the long war against Islamic terrorism and religious persecution cannot be won with law enforcement and military force alone. America needs new ideas and new combatants to win this war. Religious freedom should be part of the mix.”

  1. Comment by John Kenyon on October 18, 2017 at 5:36 am

    Well said.

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