Samford, how long will you remain silent?.The current session of Congress will conclude prior to the 117th session beginning on Jan. The Senate version of this bill was referred to the Foreign Relations Committee nearly one year ago. “Pakistan, one of the countries where blasphemy is a capital offense, has charged more Muslims with blasphemy than any other religious group.” These laws do not just persecute Christians, she added. “Fear of government reprisals or vigilante violence exists in many countries for expressing or being accused of expressing a religious opinion that differs from the ruling class.” “While most Americans may give little thought to blasphemy and apostasy laws, our global neighbors and Americans who travel or work abroad are not so fortunate,” Hawks said. “Fear of government reprisals or vigilante violence exists in many countries.” That vigilante now is being celebrated as a local hero. While Naseem was in a Pakistani courtroom for a bail hearing related to his 2018 charges of blasphemy, he was gunned down by a teenage vigilante.
State Department, he was lured from his home in Illinois to Pakistan by people who then entrapped him with Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. For example, in July 2020, American citizen Tahir Naseem was assassinated when, according to the U.S. She emphasized that Americans still can be directly affected by these laws, even though they aren’t enforceable in America. “Because of our Constitution’s First Amendment, blasphemy and apostasy laws are unenforceable in the United States, but much work is still needed around the world,” Hawks explained. This runs counter to Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which says all people are entitled to religious freedom, including the ability to change religion or belief. Jennifer Hawks, BJC associate general counsel, said blasphemy and apostasy laws “strike at the most fundamental human right: the ability for each individual to decide whether to be religious and, if so, what that religion will be.” Among those was Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. In addition to the bipartisan support in the House, the resolution - which was introduced in 2019 - received support from a diverse coalition of religious and nontheistic organizations. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reports that more than one-third of the world’s countries maintain the use of blasphemy laws, with penalties including fines, imprisonment, forced labor and the death penalty. More than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, Raskin said. The resolution calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide. Congress has no authority over other world governments, this sense of Congress, if also passed by the Senate, will inform U.S. I’m gratified by this crucial victory, but our work continues to ensure that no one is imprisoned for his or her religious beliefs across the globe.”Īlthough a resolution has no force of law and the U.S. Today the House called for an end to these egregious human rights violations worldwide. “Authoritarian regimes use arbitrary blasphemy, heresy and apostasy laws to imprison, torture and kill religious minorities. “I’m gratified to see our bipartisan resolution pass in the House,” Raskin said.