The chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has released a damning report revealing that the U.S. State Department is promoting atheism abroad in the name of “religious freedom.”
At the culmination of a two-year Congressional investigation into the State Department's funding of “ideologically charged foreign aid projects,” Chairman Michael T. McCall wrote in a summary: report On Wednesday, it was announced that the current administration has failed to effectively manage the cause of religious freedom overseas, preferring instead to support atheism.
McCaul and his team obtained “information that the State Department has tried to hide,” and that funds for religious freedom initiatives were “funded by religious groups around the world to support the right of nonbelief for agnostics and atheists.” He points out that this shows that the government has been appropriated by the minority.
This choice included downplaying “believers who are truly at risk” in order to promote the worldview of non-believers.
In his report, McCaul cited the example of a 2021 $500,000 “Funding Opportunity Notice” issued by the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The notice specifically asked for proposals for programs that would “promote and defend religious freedom, including for atheists, humanists, non-religious individuals, and unaffiliated individuals.”
It also told participating NGOs that the proposed (taxpayer-funded) program should increase the ability of atheists and humanitarians to “form” and “strengthen” “networks” in South Asia. he suggested.
According to McCaul and his team, such a notice translates to “we invite you to consider ideas for expanding atheist presence and influence abroad.”
The report states that the State Department's promotion of atheism abroad does not arise in response to situations in which nonreligious people are persecuted, but is simply an ideological choice to promote nonreligion. He is quick to point out that it appears to be the case.
In countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka, certain Christians and Muslims have recently faced persecution, while atheists and humanitarians have been left in peace, the text said. However, the State Department “intentionally chose to exclude the most needy religious groups in the countries concerned and instead direct funds to pet projects that appeared to be tailored for grant recipients.”
Furthermore, there were no comparable religious freedom grants to assist persecuted Christians and Muslims in Nepal and Sri Lanka. These groups were simply ignored.
Official grant documents, some of which were obtained by subpoena, provide for the “translation and dissemination of various humanistic contents (manifestos, textbooks, guides, etc.) into relevant national and local languages.” was proposed.
Other documents reveal that the grant targets atheists and humanitarians as priority recipients, stating: [and] their past and present relationships with secular organizations; ”
A training program conducted in Nepal turned the concept of religious freedom on its head and promoted freedom of non-religion, but so-called “religious freedom” does not include expressions of faith, such as the distribution of the Eucharist by Christian priests. It was suggested that.
It also argued that when Christian adoption agencies operating based on sincere religious beliefs deny services to same-sex couples, it is a human rights violation and a position contrary to U.S. policy.
Related training programs focused on recruiting people to anti-religious groups and turning people into active “humanists,” McCall said.
In the case of Nepal, State Department grants from U.S. taxpayers were given to the anti-Christian group Humanists International, whose CEO said people should be ashamed of their association with the Catholic Church and that his work was “the Vatican.” “It's about fighting,” he said. It's about promoting policies and opposing them. ”
McCaul told Congress that he “has no hesitation in using taxpayer funds to export his secular policies abroad, and he strives to keep the details of his efforts hidden outside the department.” McCall wrote that he is observing this, but is calling on Congress to immediately end the policy. This new model of atheistic conversion.
