The president of International Christian Concern (ICC), an organization that documents and campaigns against the persecution of Christians around the world, urged American Christians to vote for former President Donald Trump in a statement Monday. , argued that “conflicting” personal feelings about Trump would influence votes. Don't erase his “unrivaled” record of defending religious freedom.
ICC President Jeff King said that regardless of President Trump's merits, the American left has adopted attitudes that “alienate and silence Christians” and pose a real threat to American religious freedom. he added.
King's statement, released to reporters in a press release on Monday, comes after a recently released Arizona Christian University report found that just over half of “faith voters” plan to vote in the 2024 presidential election. This is in response to this.
“That means it is unlikely that all 104 million voters of faith will vote in this election, including 41 million born-again Christians (not by self-identification but by their beliefs about sin and salvation). 32 million regular church attendees, and 14 million Christians who attend evangelical churches,” the researchers say. noticed. Dr. George Barna, who conducted the study, said potential Christian apathy could be a “game changer” in the election outcome.
“Dear Christians in conflict: Politics is a messy and toxic issue, and no leader can fully embody Christian morals,” King said in a statement. “The simple truth is we are not voting for a pastor. We are electing a flawed human being who we want to be respected and governed within the framework of the Constitution. is.”
Although King acknowledged that he was “at odds” with Trump as a human being, he praised him for “building a religious freedom team that is second to none in modern politics.” He also said that President Trump “appointed judges to the Supreme Court who supported religious freedom and defended constitutional values consistent with Biblical principles.”
“Like you, I am also repulsed by Donald Trump. But I am also repulsed by the left and how they have marginalized and silenced Christians and have literally destroyed our nation's faith for one of their factions. “I don't have a lot of resistance about whether we're trying to take away their freedom,” Dr. King added. “But what worries me most is that all the tactics I've seen tyrants use abroad to marginalize and silence Christians are being practiced by the left in the United States. ”
“We have to learn from the past and grow to some extent. We must not retreat from the public square, because if we stop engaging, ) will get what is due,” he concluded.
The ICC works both to advocate for the protection of persecuted Christians abroad and to raise awareness of the dire conditions facing millions of Christians around the world. The group has been warning about the situation of violence, particularly in Nigeria, for years. Yet it is repeatedly cited as the most dangerous place for Christians. almost half The majority of the population is Christian. The ICC also operates in countries such as India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia and North Korea, where Christians face violent attacks by Hindu nationalists and Islamic extremists.
President Trump has prioritized the protection of religious freedom as an official policy of the White House, and has designated January 16th as “Religious Freedom Day.” international alliance Religious freedom brings together countries as diverse as Brazil, Israel, Ukraine, Gambia, the United Kingdom, and Togo.
Domestically, President Trump proclaimed the creation of Religious Freedom Day, asserting that:[N]o Americans, whether they are nuns, nurses, bakers, or business owners, should be forced to choose between the tenets of their faith and obedience to the law. ” Abroad, Trump has centered religious freedom as a foreign policy directive.
In his 2020 executive order, President Trump declared that “America's first freedom, religious freedom, is a moral and national security imperative.” “Religious freedom for all peoples around the world is a priority of U.S. foreign policy, and the United States respects and respects it.” Please vigorously promote this freedom. ”
President Trump has advocated religious freedom at international venues such as the United Nations. In 2019, the former president gave an unprecedented speech urging other UN member states to prioritize defending religious minorities within their borders.
There eventTrump said.
As we speak, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Yazidis, and people of many other faiths are simply expressing their deep feelings. , often imprisoned, sanctioned, tortured, and even killed at the hands of their own governments. had religious beliefs.
Today, with one clear voice, the United States of America urges the nations of the world to end religious persecution, stop crimes against people of faith, release prisoners of conscience, and restrict freedom of religion and belief. We call for the repeal of laws and protection of the vulnerable. , the defenseless, and the oppressed. America stands with believers from all countries who seek nothing more than the freedom to live according to the faith in their hearts.
Under outgoing President Joe Biden, persecution of Christians and religious freedom in general have fallen far below the priorities that President Trump had made during his time in office. In 2021, Biden removed Nigeria from the State Department's list of countries of particular religious freedom concern, particularly infuriating religious freedom advocates. Christians in Nigeria face large-scale jihadist violence from terrorist organizations such as Boko Haram and Fulani terrorists in the heart of the country. Some international observers believe that Nigeria's exclusion from the list has nothing to do with the actual situation on the ground in Nigeria, but rather that China has been successful in increasing its influence in Nigeria over the years. In response, he suggested that this was an attempt to bring Nigeria closer to the United States. Nevertheless, religious freedom advocates expressed outrage, calling the move an “incomprehensible error.”
In Nigeria, Christians lamented the disappearance of suffering.
“I am well-educated to know that America needs allies around the world…But our appeal is that it costs the lives of Christians and the blood of innocent people. It should not be sacrificed,” said Father Remigius Ihlula, a Catholic priest serving the Naka diocese. Belt in Nigeria, told Breitbart News in July 2023.
Biden's prolongation of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, which led to the return of the jihadist Taliban to power, has also dramatically increased persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in Afghanistan.
A Christian leader in Afghanistan said, “It's too dangerous to go out right now, so we're telling people to stay at home.'' said ICC in 2021. “Some prominent Christians have already received threatening phone calls, where strangers say, 'We're coming for you.'”
In July, ICC President King said Biden's announcement that he would not run for re-election was a reason for religious freedom advocates to hope.
“President Trump is a deeply polarizing figure, but during his presidency, the United States has become a focused and effective champion of religious freedom around the world,” King said at the time. He added that Trump's team's “effectiveness in promoting religious freedom around the world has been unparalleled (if at all) in recent decades.”
