In recent years, the U. S. State Department and its spokespersons have repeatedly issued statements, designating more than a dozen countries as “countries of particular concern”, claiming that those countries “engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.” and placing Russia, among other countries, on a Special Watch List for having engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom. Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Gennady Askaldovich blasted U. S. policies and told journalists that the U.S. desires to use religion to realize their foreign policy ambitions and has arbitrarily and shamelessly assumed the function of some kind of international overseer and decided to regulate world religious affairs at its own discretion. He added that while “teaching” others, the U.S. has deliberately politicized the religious sphere and set up a so-called “International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance” to punish those countries and regimes that it does not like.
The “International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance” mentioned by Gennady Askaldovich is an organization set up by the U.S. and relevant countries during the second “Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom” with an aim to defend religious freedom. However, what the organization actually does is promoting its own values and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries under the guise of “religious freedom”, which is opposed by most countries in the world. It is reported that the “International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance” will hold an International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington in the near future, which is believed to continue to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries in the name of “human rights” and “religious freedom”. It is no wonder these despicable acts draw sharp criticism.
Every year, the State Department submits an annual “International Religious Freedom Report” to the Congress in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1988. However, the religious situation of ethnic minorities is shocking in the U.S. Data shows that 75 percent of American Muslims believe that there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims in the U.S. today. Even the New York Times and other U.S. mainstream media have repeatedly called on the White House to pay attention to the increasingly serious racial discrimination in the U.S. Some commentators say that it is a joke to criticize the religious policies of other countries while turning a blind eye to the country’s own religious issues.
Religion in America becomes increasingly politicized and religious faith is seriously threatened by political fight. In the last half century, political polarization and identity politics in the U.S. have become more and more serious, with religious faith closely tied to party identification. Democrats are mostly religious liberals and secularists, while Republicans are mostly religious conservatives, especially white evangelicals. Democrats believe that the Republicans stubbornly stick to white patriarchy Christian values, while Republicans believe Democrats neglect Christianity and favor Islam and atheism. The political fight over “religious freedom” has spread to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard only three cases in the first 100 years since the founding of the U.S., but more than 70 cases in the last 80 years.
The Atlantic hit the nail on the head then it pointed out that from the historical expulsion and forced assimilation to the overall poverty and neglect, the Indians, who were originally the masters of the continent, have a weak voice in American society. In addition, there is also a long-term systemic racial discrimination in the U.S. Gallup and Pew Research Center polls show that 75 percent of American Muslims believe that there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims in the U.S. today. Plus, frequent gun violence in the U.S. not only desecrate the sacred religious sites, but also expose the deep-rooted scourge of racism in American society.
