The 'Golden Rule' approach to persecution

WEF calls for 'Golden Rule' approach to persecution

By Dan Wooding

THE WORLD Evangelical Fellowship has called on the world community of nations to apply the 'Golden Rule' when they deal with religious persecution.

WEF, which was granted special consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 1997, made its statement to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland March 28th.

Its report began: "Human rights and religious freedom are now at the centre of discourse in international affairs. The notion that certain rights are inherent to the human experience is reflected in the universal principle most often referred to as 'the Golden Rule' that is present in various forms in every society and religion."

The WEF report pointed out that some of the major religious traditions articulate this principle as follows:

Buddhism

Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. (Udana-Varga 5:18)

Christianity

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

Confucianism

Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others what you would not have done unto you. (Analects 15:23)

Hinduism

This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you. (Mahabharata 5:1517)

Islam

No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself. (Sunnah)

Judaism

What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. (Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

Taoism

Regard your neighbour's gain as your own gain and your neighbour's loss as your own loss. (T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien)

The report continued, "The Golden Rule is applied to religious freedom when the powerful and dominant religious and philosophical traditions, government leaders, and the elite in a society ask how they would want to be treated if they were the powerless and minority faith. All minority groups, whether they are religious, ethnic, political, racial or gender-based, want equal and fair treatment before the law, and every group is a minority somewhere in the world.

"The temptation facing those in power is to seek preferential treatment for themselves at the expense of those who have little or no power. The Golden Rule counsels the powerful to be sensitive to the powerless by treating them with the same care and respect that they seek for themselves in their country and in places where they are themselves the powerless.

"At the beginning of the new millennium, religion remains a deeply relevant and central aspect of human life and behaviour despite the view of some skeptics who echo Nietzsche's timeworn claim that 'God is dead.' Yet of the world's six billion inhabitants only three percent (150 million) identify themselves as atheists. With varying degrees of commitment, two billion Christians, 1.2 billion Muslims, 786 million Hindus, and 362 million Buddhists, not to mention adherents of hundreds of smaller religions, affirm the relevance and importance of a spiritual dimension in life and society. In fact, the trend over the past few decades has been an increase in religious commitment and activity in the face of growing secularization."

The report went on to say that religious freedom is the "lynchpin" or litmus test for all other human rights because where there is no freedom of religion other fundamental rights are always missing.

The WEF report then said, "Some of the rights most often compromised where religious freedom is lacking are freedom of speech and press, freedom of association and movement, equality before the law, the right to life, liberty and security of person, freedom from torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment, and the right to work. Recently, Norway's former Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik stated: 'Religious freedom and belief is one of the fundamental human rights.'

"Actually, it is more than that. . . . Without freedom to worship, there can be no real political freedom -- nor freedom of thought and freedom of conscience. These are interrelated.

"For people with deeply held religious beliefs, religion is the essence of their very being. It defines the terms of their existence and determines the values they bring to bear daily in relationships and decisions."

The WEF report stated that Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides, perhaps, the best summation of the scope of religious freedom in the international arena:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

It continued, "The World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF) believes that its communities must not only seek to protect their own constituents, but should also assist others who suffer for their beliefs. It recognizes that the first act of violence recorded in the Christian Scriptures, the killing by Cain of his brother Abel, was the ill fruit of religious intolerance. Cain refused to accept Abel's mode of worship and therefore chose to kill him. WEF believes that in the religious freedom arena we are indeed 'our brother's keeper' and should proactively speak on behalf of others who suffer persecution.

"At the same time WEF believes that it is necessary to pay particular attention to the suffering faced by Christians globally due to its sheer magnitude. No doubt, many people would find it surprising, even unbelievable that at the beginning of the 21st century the largest faith group being persecuted is the Christian faith. It has been estimated that over 200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith. Moreover, persecution of Christians often serves as an indicator of the status of religious freedom for other minorities since where Christians are persecuted other religions tend also to suffer. Discrimination and persecution have been found to follow a distinct pattern regardless of who is being persecuted. Thus, although the focus and examples used in this report relate primarily to the Christian community, the same analysis could be applied to other faiths.

"With respect to religious freedom, the ideal society seeks to reach a place where all faith traditions enjoy 'equal justice under law.' Even though religious tolerance is clearly preferred over intolerance, the notion of 'tolerance' suggests that those in dominance simply tolerate or allow other faiths to exist on a more-or-less equal footing. Tolerance is not synonymous with freedom but infers a top-down mindset rather than one of equality. It is our hope that those nations where tolerance is embraced would continue to move towards full and complete equality before the law for all faiths."

The report then laid out the pattern of religious persecution by saying, "There is a discernible pattern in the societal evolution leading down the slope from tolerance to intolerance and eventual persecution of minorities.

The first slippery step is disinformation that often leads to the second step, discrimination, which can finally end in a slide into persecution. At each step, the role of the state and its agencies may be passive or active."

The WEF report then continued with what it saw as the steps to persecution:

Step 1: Passive disinformation

Passive disinformation occurs when a minority group is slandered, vilified or unfairly attacked through the private, or not state-operated, media. The attacked group rarely has access to make an adequate response to these attacks and its opportunities for redress may be limited.

Step 2: Active disinformation

Active disinformation occurs when the state uses its agencies, particularly the state-run media, to poison the well of public opinion against a minority faith. In so doing, the state creates a nearly insurmountable barrier for a minority faith that has few options to reply.

Step 3: Passive discrimination

Disinformation prepares the ground of public opinion for the next stage: discrimination. Here again the state may be a passive or active party. The state passively discriminates against minority faiths when it turns a b lind eye to discrimination taking place against unpopular religious groups by private actors.

Step 4: Active discrimination

The state is engaged in active discrimination when it adopts policies and practices, through legislation or rules and regulations, that effectively deny members of minority religions opportunities to practice their faith with the same freedom as that enjoyed by the dominant or accepted faiths.

Step 5: Passive persecution

When the state has discriminated actively or passively against minority faith groups, the ground is fertile for persecution to take root and produce its evil fruit. Persecution carried out by private actors, such as religious extremists or fanatics acting singly or as a mob, can range from the destruction of property to torture and murder. Where the state stands by and does nothing to stop the law-breakers, the state becomes an accomplice to the perpetrated evil. A primary function of the state is to protect its citizens from lawlessness and when it fails to do so, it also falls short of the acceptable international standards of governance.

Step 6: Active persecution

The slide toward persecution hits bottom when the state and its agencies become active participants in destroying or confiscating property, arresting or incarcerating religious minorities, torturing or executing believers because of their faith tradition. At this point, the offending state not only violates the long-standing universal principle of human behaviour as seen in the Golden Rule, but is in direct violation of international standards as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Charter and elsewhere.

WEF then made its recommendations to deal with the situation.

"It is unrealistic to expect any country to change overnight from a situation where abuse of human rights has been the rule to one where religious freedom is fully embraced and nurtured," said the report. "Our hope in publishing this report is to encourage countries to begin to take steps to move "up the slope" towards tolerance and religious freedom and away from disinformation, discrimination and persecution.

"When it comes to religious freedom, there is no country in the world today that is free from problems. Thus, the recommendations put forth in this report apply to all nations. It is incumbent upon every state to affirmatively guarantee respect for religious freedom and all human rights within its borders and also to remain vigilant in holding other states accountable to the broader international community of nations."

The report then laid out the following:

• The primary responsibility of each state is to ensure proper safeguards for the protection of religious freedom and related human rights to its own citizens. Thus, each state should:

• Cease passive or active disinformation, discrimination or persecution of members of any faith tradition;

• Review, repeal or revise legislation impacting religious freedom to ensure that they meet international standards;

• Focus on the need for openness and transparency of its legislative, judicial, and law enforcement system;

• Evaluate enforcement policies and practices to make sure they conform to international standards;

• Provide training for the police and the judiciary focusing on religious freedom;

• Encourage dialogue between dominant religious institutions and minority traditions in order to reduce tensions and increase understanding;

• Establish communication liaison with religious groups operating within the nation;

• Enc ourage and facilitate dialogue with non-governmental organizations on religious freedom;

• Educate citizens about the importance of freedom, human rights, tolerance, and respect for other religions.

WEF then said that there are practical measures that nations can take to help promote religious liberty globally:

• Work multilaterally to strengthen international religious freedom laws;

• Establish a special Rapporteur or commission to monitor the development of religious liberty in other countries in the region and globally;

• Issue instructions to diplomatic posts to give more attention to religious freedom issues;

• Train diplomats in religious liberty issues to increase their awareness of the problems and enable them to be more effective and creative in finding soluti ons;

• Take into account the increasing role of religion in internal conflicts by asking their ambassadors and ministries of foreign affairs to report on developments regarding religious rights in other countries;

• Inform international trade delegations of the positive role they can play in raising religious liberty constructive measures; and,

• Maintain a liaison with international non-governmental organizations specializing in monitoring religious liberty and human rights organizations.

For further information contact:

World Evangelical Fellowship Box WEF, Wheaton, IL 60189, USA Phone: 630-668-0440 Web: www.worldevangelical.org Johan Candelin, Director WEF Religious Liberty Commission

The complete report is located at www.worldevangelical.org