America is a symbol of the principle of freedom for the oppressed. If the United States is silent in the face of the expressed instances of religious persecution it would be seen as acquiescence and would deal a final blow to those persecuted for their religious beliefs. A clear and firm policy utilizing all appropriate forums is required. I have asked my colleagues to support a resolution condemning religious persecution wherever it exists and asking the President to take every possible opportunity to oppose these reprehensible acts in the strongest possible terms. To date, 88 Members of Congress have cosponsored H. Con. Res. 249. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Subcommittee for holding hearings on this crucial issue and to reiterate my thanks to my distinguished colleagues, Chairman Bonker, and Mr. Leach. Condemning religious persecution and bigotry as an official policy or practice of national governments. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 26, 1982 Mr. PORTER submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Condemning religious persecution and bigotry as an official policy or practice of national governments. Whereas groups associated with the Government of Poland are implementing a policy of disseminating anti-Semitic propaganda to the peoples of Poland which is designed to link Solidarity with Judaism; Whereas the Government of Iran has persecuted peoples of the Baha'i faith, has burned Baha'i homes, has destroyed and demolished Baha'i cemeteries, has dismissed Baha'is from public and private employment, has confiscated Baha'i property and companies, has jailed Baha'is unjustly, and has killed more than one hundred individuals of the Baha'i faith since 1978; Whereas the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics continues to discriminate on the basis of religion, such discrimination including consistently denying the rights of Jews and Pentecostals to practice their faith; subjecting Jews and Pentecostals to physical and psychological harassment, such as imprisonment, beatings, confinement in mental institutions, and separation of family members; and decreasing Jewish emigration significantly and nearly completely; and Whereas the right to freedom of religion is guaranteed by international law and custom, as acknowledged by nations adhering to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki, 1975): Now, therefore, be it 1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 2 concurring), That (a) the Congress, in accordance with our 3 own history and national traditions of opposition to religious 4 persecution and bigotry, as well as in full respect for interna5 tional law and custom, condemns and opposes religious per6 secution and bigotry wherever practiced, encouraged, or tol7 erated by national governments. 8 (b) It is the sense of the Congress that the President and 9 other official representatives of the United States should at 10 every opportunity before international and regional forums 11 reiterate and emphasize the opposition of the United States 12 to religious persecution and bigotry, in whatever form, as a 13 policy or practice of national governments. 14 (c) The appropriate committees in the Senate and the 15 House of Representatives should hold prompt hearings to de 1 termine United States policy and actions, including sanctions 3 ternational law guaranteeing freedom from religious persecu- Mr. BONKER. Thank you, Mr. Porter, both for your testimony and for offering a resolution. Be assured that the subcommittee will be taking up such legislation at a later date. I have a comment with respect to the Pentecostals who have taken refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The House today will be considering House Concurrent Resolution 100, which calls on the President to allow the "Siberian Seven" to reside at our Embassy until such time as the Government of the Soviet Union authorizes their emigration. It is an honor to have you here, Mr. Jack. Please proceed. STATEMENT OF HOMER A. JACK, SECRETARY-GENERAL, WORLD CONFERENCE ON RELIGION AND PEACE Mr. JACK. Thank you, Congressman. I think you have before you a much longer statement. I will adhere to the ground rules on time and give some oral excerpts from it, if that is agreeable. Mr. BONKER. That would be desirable. Mr. JACK. Perhaps I can begin with the first paragraph. Intolerance, prejudice, and discrimination based on religion or belief are, unfortunately, probably as old as the rise of organized religion. While all religions aim at bringing out the best in human nature, one byproduct of the development of almost all religions in almost all times is bigotry. Some people tend to use any means to advocate their own religion and, in a multireligious society, to downgrade that of the other person. In any final moral reckoning, organized religion has undoubtedly been useful to society and to individuals; but it has also been harmful and sometimes suicidal and even genocidal. I learned in theological school that "God has no special concern with the churches." That statement is a reflection of religious history. Religion can be ungodly sometimes toward other religions. Wars have been fought in the name of religion. Yet some of the progress in the evolution of secular democracy has been painfully achieved often over battles involving the freedom of religion. Certainly that is the history of the West. The occasion of this hearing is neither the time nor the place to give a seminar on the history of religious bigotry; in any case, I am not the person to give one. However, I do want to recall one hinge in modern history which made possible a higher degree of tolerance of all world religions. That was in 1893 when the World Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago. The sponsors decided to convene, in connection with that exposition, a World Parliament of Religions. Invitations were sent worldwide; and representatives of many world religions came to Chicago. However, when they arrived they found themselves all seated together; there was no high chair for representatives of Christianity or of any other religion. The Hindu sat on the same level as the Jew, the Buddhist as the Christian. This historic conference did not eliminate religious discrimintion and it did not automatically place all world religions on the same level with each other. Yet it did set the stage for a greater freedom of religion. After the Parliament was held, no religion, and no adherent of any religion, need feel inferior-or superior. No missionary could make conversions without the object of his or her attention having the right to assert that his or her own religion was every bit as good-for him or her-as the religion purveyed by the missionary. Some Christians in the late 19th century dreamt that the 20th century would be the Christian Century. It has not been. Indeed, it has continued to be a bloody century as human rights continue to be violated, as people were massacred in the name of religion, as the Jewish Holocaust by the Nazis took place. As what is called modern "progress" continues, the means of human extermination also seem to continue and progress. Evolution is not automatic. In some ways, the higher humanity rises, the deeper it falls. Thus the past decade has been no exception in the history of religious discrimination. Let me make an inventory of religious discrimination on a rapid tour of many parts of the contemporary world. I have been privileged to make investigations of religious discrimination, especially in Asia. We might begin anywhere, but let us try the southern Philippines. While Muslims constitute only 10 percent of the only Christian country in Asia, they have been discriminated against for centuries. The Catholics of Mindanao are attempting to squeeze the Muslims out of their land. The Muslims call for autonomy and bloody battles continue. The solution remains more in the hands of the Christians in the Philippines than of Muslims. I saw this conflict with my own eyes in 1975 and it may not be improving. In all four other ASEAN States, there are also religious problems except in Singapore, which is a true multireligious society. (Fiji, Hong Kong, and Japan in that part of the world are also relatively tolerant multireligious societies.) The Confucianists of predominantly Muslim Indonesia experience difficulties, partly because they are of Chinese ancestry. The Buddhists in Muslim Malaysia, again mostly Chinese, also complain of bias. The Muslims in Buddhist Thailand, especially in the South, demand autonomy, often with guns. As for Indo-China, Kampuchea is now free from the genocide of the Pol Pot regime in the latter half of the 1970's, and this included the elimination of Buddhist leadership. Today Buddhism is slowly returning to Kampuchea, yet as in Vietnam and Laos, religion is of a domesticated variety and hardly prophetic. In the People's Republic of China, the severe persecution of religion which occurred during the Cultural Revolution is also history, but bitter history. The five religions of China are all emerging, and I was fortunate to witness the religious "spring" when I visited that land in June 1980. In South Korea, religion is "free," but many religious |