Religious freedom is a pillar of free society

Canada enjoys a world-class reputation as a welcoming, friendly country, where Sikhs can worship next door to Christians, Muslims can dine with Hindus, and Jews can work with Buddhists.

Some argue that the nation-state of Canada was an experiment in religious accommodation with its early history of largely French-speaking Catholics and English-speaking Protestants. Today, we tend to think of religious pluralism as a normal part of life in modern society.

Religious freedom is a fundamental human right

But we should be wary to take religious freedom for granted.  Religious freedom is a fundamental human right which many have fought and died for, and for which many continue to suffer throughout the world.  It must be protected and promoted across the globe.

In response to a growing tide of intolerance towards religious minorities, world leaders on all sides of the political spectrum have been speaking more and more about religious freedom as a fundamental tenet of human rights and of a free society.

I myself was drawn into the political arena due to a religious freedom case. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the government of Quebec had infringed on the religious freedom of Loyola High School – a private Catholic school in Montreal - by demanding that they teach the province’s Ethics and Religious Culture program from a religiously neutral perspective.

Justice Rosalie Abella wrote for the majority of the Court that by refusing to grant an exemption for Loyola, the Quebec government was "seriously interfering with the values underlying religious freedom."

The dangers of state interference in religion

As a young Christian, it was this over-reach on the part of the Quebec government that made me wake up to the dangers of state totalitarianism and the importance of religious freedoms.

Unfortunately, this is just one small domestic example of a growing intolerance towards expressions of faith in the public – and even the private - square.

Here in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made religious freedom a key plank of his foreign policy agenda, with the creation of the Office of the Ambassador of Religious Freedom in 2013.

In 2016, President Barack Obama signed into law the International Religious Freedom Act.

Despite this, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cut the Office of Religious Freedom.

Did he do this because it was no longer needed?

Religious persecution is on the rise in many parts of the world.

Religious persecution is a real and present danger

I was shocked to wake up on December 9^th to the news that over 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, had been arrested that day, accused of “inciting subversion to state power.”

The truth is, that these types of arrests are occurring daily to people of many faiths.

In August, it was reported that up to a million Chinese Muslims were being detained in “re-education” camps.

The Asia Times describes the plight of dozens of Indian Sikhs who fled to the United States in search of freedom from faith-based persecution.

The Hindu and Buddhist minorities of Bangladesh have had more than 50 temples destroyed in recent years, and thousands of homes burnt to the ground.

The October attack on a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh demonstrated again the ugly head of antisemitism.

The Falun Dafa in China continue to speak of the tens of thousands of their followers who have suffered organ harvesting and work in labour camps.

The list goes on.

It is all too easy for us to become complacent with our Western tradition of individual freedoms and rights, and fail to notice the plight of those suffering religious persecution.

Wang Yi, pastor of the Early Rain church, wrote an open letter to his congregation that was to be released in the case of his arrest.

In it, he says “I believe that this Communist regime’s persecution against the church is a greatly wicked, unlawful action. As a pastor of a Christian church, I must denounce this wickedness openly and severely.”

These words, written by a citizen of a brutal dictatorship such as China, prone to bouts of rage against religious minorities and those who speak up for them, ring out as a clarion call to Canada and our allies to censure China and all nations that engage in religious persecution.

Remembering those that are persecuted for their beliefs

They remind us that we cannot take freedom for granted.

This Christmas, as you celebrate one of the world’s great religious holidays, remember those who must do so secretly, or not at all.

Remember that our Prime Minister has failed to defend and promote a most basic human right: the freedom to worship without fear of persecution.

As we head into the New Year, ask your elected representatives, no matter their personal faith, what they will do to fight for religious freedom.

Without that freedom, all of our human rights are in jeopardy.