In the Muslim world, there is also “an alarming trend to rule by Islamist totalitarianism,” Shea said, noting that Iran and Saudi Arabia are spreading this type of “repressive rule” to other countries.
As a nation, “we seem to be witnessing the destruction of religious diversity in formerly pluralistic Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan and elsewhere,” she said.
Shea also pointed to Algeria and Morocco as places attacks and acts of persecution are carried out against Christians, adding that Turkey’s non-Muslim population is getting smaller every year, “primarily due to a morass of state regulation that strangles Christians, Jews and other minorities.”
Despite the persecution religious minorities experience in these countries, however, the Obama administration has remained largely silent on the issue.
Shea highlighted President Obama's speech to the Middle East last month, where he outlined concrete steps on American support for the region’s economy.
“By contrast, no specific steps were mentioned to promote religious freedom – based on the events since January, the lack of which for the Christian Copts of Egypt can be expected to result in instability and human misery for years to come,” she said.
In Farr’s view, the “vigorous promotion” of international religious freedom benefits not only the interests and values of the U.S., but those of other developing countries as well.
“We must convince Middle Eastern religious actors, societies, and governments that religious freedom is necessary if they are to achieve what they wish,” he said.
“In the cases of Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, they seek stable, lasting democracy.”
“Both history and modern scholarship make it clear that they cannot succeed unless they embrace, in law and culture, the institutions and habits of religious liberty.”
“That is what our policy should be advancing,” he underscored.
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Farr, who also served as the first head of the U.S. State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, said that Ambassador Cook “lacks experience in diplomacy and religious freedom.”
However, she is an “intelligent and highly motivated woman,” he added, “she can learn.”
Cook is currently the pastor of Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in New York City and founder of the Worldwide Wisdom Center. She also served as an advisor on President Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council and as Chaplain to the New York Police Department.
“I wish her the best at the State Department,” Farr said.
Shea likewise expressed her best wishes to Cook as she begins her appointment as ambassador.
Marianne is a journalist with a background in writing and Catholic theology. When not elaborating on the cinematic arts, she enjoys spending time with people, reading thick books and traveling anywhere and everywhere.