May 13, 2002
Religious persecution summit wants to keep up pressure
___By Adelle Banks
___Religion News Service
___WASHINGTON (RNS)--Encouraged by politicians and persecution experts, Christian leaders reiterated their commitment to work against religious persecution, especially in Sudan and North Korea.
___"This is an ongoing effort to set people free--it's nothing less than that," said Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson, opening the Second Summit of Christian Leaders on Religious Persecution May 1.
___"Our task ... is to keep public pressure on so that around the world tyrants know the cost of persecuting Christians is simply too high for them to bear."
___More than 100 religious leaders, members of Congress and former ambassadors attended the gathering, which was sponsored by the National Association of Evangelicals and Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom in Washington.
___The board of the evangelical umbrella group adopted a statement of conscience on worldwide religious persecution, a follow-up to its 1996 statement that officials say has helped fuel activism, from prayer efforts to congressional lobbying on the issue.
___"We have significantly achieved the goal of searing the consciences of millions and of focusing public attention on the plight of persecuted believers--a critical and necessary first step," the statement reads. "Such progress, however, is clearly insufficient to satisfy our obligations of conscience."
___The document specifically voiced support for President Bush, who has called the government of Sudan "monstrous" and the North Korean government "evil," and noted that President Reagan described the former Soviet Union as an "evil empire" at a meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals.
___"Horrible as may be the torments now suffered by vulnerable believers throughout the world, those suffered by faith communities of Sudan and North Korea may be more brutal, more systematic, more deliberate, more implacable and more purely genocidal than those taking place anywhere in the world today," the statement adds.
___The document cited the leaders' support of recent recommendations by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, calling for such measures as the enactment of the Sudan Peace Act and the expansion of reporting by organizations working to protect religious and other human rights in North Korea.
___Beyond the statements, the summit featured personal testimony from a former North Korean woman and an Episcopal bishop from Sudan who recounted stories of people being kicked, beaten and imprisoned for their Christian beliefs.
___Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, was among the members of Congress who urged the religious leaders to continue lobbying Capitol Hill on persecution.
___"We need your strength, we need your prayers," Brownback told them. "It has to happen in the heavenlies before it can happen in the U.S. Congress."
___Bush, in a letter read to the gathering by special assistant Tim Goeglein, assured the leaders that his administration is continuing its work to address religious freedom in Sudan and North Korea.
___"Strong advocacy on behalf of persecuted religious believers around the world will make a difference wherever men and women suffer for their faith," the president wrote. "Your advocacy and efforts help give hope to people who seek to worship as their conscience demands they do."
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