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As the International Religious Freedom Act turns 25, advocates look ahead to next steps.
Religious freedom advocates lamented the loss of civilian lives in the Israel-Hamas war, antisemitism, and Islamophobia on the 25th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
The bipartisan and multifaith US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), created by passage of the act in 1998, commemorated the 25th anniversary of IRFA at an October 23 event on Capitol Hill with an overview of USCIRF accomplishments, panel discussions, congressional remarks, and historical summaries of the act’s passage.
“As a clergy, as a man of faith, I am really disturbed by the loss of civilian life in Israel and Palestine,” said USCIRF commissioner Mohamed Magid, cofounder of the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network to build bridges between Muslim, evangelical, and Jewish communities.
“And also, I stand against antisemitism and Islamophobia in America, on campuses. Also the loss of many lives as we speak now, of civilians in Gaza, of children, and therefore we have to value all human life,” Magid said. “But I’m really standing with my brothers and sisters in Jewish community, and brothers and sisters in Muslim community.”
Commissioner Frederick A. Davie, USCIRF vice chair and senior strategic adviser to the president at Union Theological Seminary, reiterated USCIRF’s October 11 call for an international prayer service in response to the Israel-Hamas war. Death tolls vary, but thousands have been killed and injured. The US has confirmed the deaths of at least 33 Americans.
Davie offered USCIRF’s help in organizing and participating in such a prayer service that would acknowledge “the brutality and the horror and the depravity that is taking place in the ...
from Christianity Today Magazine
Umn ministry
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