scholarly journals Shall Weigh Your God and You: Assessing the Imperialistic Implications of the International Religious Freedom Act in Muslim Countries

2002 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 423
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Fore
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
International Religious Freedom Act

The Persecuted Body

Facing Fear ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melani Mcalister
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
First Century ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Evangelical Christians ◽  
The World ◽  
Politics Of Fear ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
International Religious Freedom Act ◽  
The U.S

This chapter examines the politics of fear underlying the antipersecution discourse that revolved around evangelical Christians at the turn of the twenty-first century. A video made by the U.S.-based Christian evangelical group Voice of the Martyrs showed that Christians are being persecuted all around the world. By the turn of the twenty-first century, a passionate concern with the persecution of Christians united conservatives as well as liberal and moderate evangelicals. The chapter shows how antipersecution discourse resulted in the passage of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. It also considers the significance of spectacles of the violated body to the discourse of persecution and how intense attention to Christian persecution created a tension for evangelicals between the universalizing language of human rights and a specific commitment to the “persecuted body” of Christ. Finally, it explores how evangelicals' attention to Christian persecution intersects with Islamic concerns.

Religion’s role in US foreign policy to grow

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Religious Persecution ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
Trump Administration

Significance Any Trump-Rouhani meeting would undoubtedly involve discussion of religion and politics, since these issues have set both governments at odds since the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979. This is important, since the nature of the influence that religion is having on US foreign policy is changing under Trump’s administration. The administration has often downplayed the role of ‘values’ (understood to be the promotion of democracy and human rights) in foreign policy. Now, religious freedom is emerging as a values framework. Religion is also used more frequently to justify the administration’s policies towards complicated issues including Iran and Syria, and counterterrorism. Impacts Defense Secretary James Mattis would likely oppose any attempt at regime change in Iran. Emphasising religious freedom will play well to pro-evangelical voters, likely most benefitting Republicans. The administration will increase funding for anti-genocide and anti-religious-persecution measures. Perceptions that the Trump administration is ‘anti-Muslim’ could constrain it advancing foreign policy in Muslim countries. US sanctions could be imposed on religious grounds, which could affect US and other investors.

scholarly journals The Religious Freedom: Universalism Claim, Resistance of Islamic World, Reconceptualization

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fawaizul Umam
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Muslim Countries

AbstractReligious freedom is one type of human rights which caused major resistance to the universalism claim of human rights in Muslim countries. This article attempted to describe why that resistance arose and how Islam should reconceptualize religious freedom. The religious freedom issues are important to be explored in the context of contemporary Islamic studies because its value and scope tended to be limited in the Islamic conservatism discourse. One of the issues is the fallacy in categorizing the apostasy (riddah)—a non-derogable right—verdicted as a blasphemy in Islam. By reconceptualizing the Islamic meaning of religious freedom, this study applied document analysis to enrich the contemporary Islamist studies, especially to postulate the significant relationship between Islam and human rights and to argue that Islam actually legitimized religious freedom as one of the non-derogable rights.

scholarly journals Trump and the Politics of International Religious Freedom

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Haynes
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Sexual Minorities ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
International Religious Freedom Act ◽  
Trump Administration

The article examines the USA’s international religious freedom policy during the presidency of Donald Trump. It argues that the Trump administration consistently prioritised America’s international religious freedom (IRF) policy according to Judeo-Christian values. This contrasted with previous administrations, which did not pursue such a clear Christocentric approach. The Trump administration has pursued the policy with vigour, drawing on Judeo-Christian ideology and prioritising religious freedom above other human rights, such as equality for women and sexual minorities. The article begins with a brief summary of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), signed into law by President Clinton in 1998. It then examines the influence of Judeo-Christian ideology on Trump’s international religious freedom policy. To do this, the article surveys three recent initiatives: the Commission on Unalienable Rights, the annual Ministerial to Advance International Religious Freedom, and the International Religious Freedom Alliance. I argue that collectively the initiatives promote the paramountcy of Judeo-Christian ideology. The article concludes that the Trump administration’s international religious freedom is strongly informed by a Judeo-Christian ideology which seeks to place religious freedom first in a hierarchy of human rights, while relegating others, especially equality for females and sexual minorities, to a lesser position.

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