A columnist of The Christian Post warned that Christian persecution abroad “may worsen” in the hands of United States’ current UN ambassador.
Citing Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s remarks during the U.N. General Assembly, Hedieh Mirahmadi observed that the ambassador failed to address the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and their massacre in Africa.
Thomas-Greenfield, commemorating the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination, rebuked China and Myanmar for Muslim minority genocide, then turned to America’s racial issue.
Mirahmadi said that after her “lengthy introduction” about slavery, the ambassador discussed the “need” of destroying “white supremacy” in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“[T]he senseless killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many other Black Americans sparked …. a movement that spread across the world: Black Lives Matter. And because Black Lives Matter, we need to dismantle white supremacy at every turn,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
The columnist stated that America’s International Religious Freedom Act promotes religious freedom abroad, an important factor of the country’s foreign policy. The law entail the assignment of an Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom and an agency that handles policy recommendations and monitors religious freedom abroad, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
Mirahmadi further said that during the time that she was still working for the U.S. State Department, she noted that the American policy focused “on the rights of radical Islamists to freely practice their religious beliefs rather than on expanding the protections of Christians,” which she described as ironic.
Though she was a Muslim herself at that time, the columnist said that she was bothered by the policy since it defined strengthening Islamic extremism, resulting to “increasing terrorism”.
Mirahmadi opposed the approach but was told that “the U.S.’ focus on religious freedom as a democratic right meant the U.S. would defend beliefs it did not agree with”, regardless of its effect on the country’s national security.
She also revealed that religious freedom “took a back seat” during the Obama administration, giving priority to the issues of LGBTQ. Moreover, the Ambassador-at-Large post was made vacant for two years and Thomas-Greenfield, then the Under Secretary for Africa, moved to reduce the funding of agencies in Nigeria and Uganda for their discrimination of the LGBTQ community.
The scenario changed, however, during the Trump administration. Mike Pompeo modified the rules of reporting relative to the Ambassador-at-Large and USCIRF. Christians in Africa and the Middle East were regularly monitored and stricter policies were advocated. Nikki Haley also defended the cause of persecuted Christians in India and the Middle East.
These changes, Mirahmadi said, have improved the conditions of Christians in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The columnist argued that the lives of people in minority Christian communities are in “grave danger” if America will not defend them through its diplomatic efforts. She also mentioned that over 340 million Christians are facing severe persecution and the number of those who were killed for their Christian faith rose to 60% since 2020.
Mirahmadi concluded with an alarming message to America.
“…if Thomas-Greenfield’s first official speech is a bellwether of things to come, Christian persecution may reach our own shores,” she said.
