Religious Freedom a Low Priority?

One of the  casualties of the latest round of budget battles in Washington may be the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom , which has from time to time done invaluable work in highlighting threats to this basic human right.  While there are some disputes about the Commission’s approach , as well as some doubts about how seriously the Obama Administration’s takes its activities, it remains important for someone to hold the beacon up high.

The House of Representatives has reauthorized the Commission with a smaller number of commissioners and a smaller budget.  Characteristically, the Senate hasn’t acted.  If I thought this were an indication that the Senate took its fiscal responsibilities seriously, I might take a deep breath and say that losing this Commission might be a small price to pay for getting our economic house in order.  But I have no reason to believe that that’s the case.  Rather, talk about abuses of religious freedom tends to focus on people and places whose favor the Obama Administration has sought eagerly (and for the most part unsuccessfully) to curry.  Perhaps the Commission has all too frequently pointed out inconvenient truths.

Now, I’m not arguing that a rigid and doctrinaire insistence on abstract rights ought to be the driving force in U.S. foreign policy.  In a messy world, we often have to deal with unsavory partners in order to head off yet more unsavory adversaries.  But can’t we maintain at least a dim official spotlight on the bad things that all too often happen to good people all over the world?

UPDATE :  This article gives some more information about what’s going on in Congress.  As a commenter remarked below, the vote in the House was bipartisan , with all the “No” votes coming from Republicans (including my own Congressman, who will receive a letter of inquiry from me).

Also worth reading is this piece , which appeared today.  A snippet:

Of late, Congress also has done little to advance the cause of religious freedom. In 1998, it passed the International Religious Freedom Act, which provided the statutory basis for U.S. policy. Recently, a bipartisan group in the House sponsored a bill with amendments that would force the State Department to prioritize religious freedom—putting the ambassador under the Secretary, allocating democracy funding to religious freedom, and mandating training for American diplomats.

Unfortunately, neither Senate Democrat nor House Republican leaders appear to see the value of passing these amendments. In mid-September, all State Department language was summarily stripped from the bill, leaving only the reauthorization of an advisory panel called the Commission on International Religious Freedom. The Commission is important and should be reauthorized, but it is only an advisory body, unable to drive U.S. policy.

If policy is to have an impact on religious persecution, the emergence of stable democracies in the Middle East, or the defeat of Islamist terrorism, the Department of State must take the lead. At the moment, there is little sign of that happening. The great tragedy is that the proposed bill, if successfully passed in full, could help both reduce the deaths and injuries of young American men and women, and curtail the extraordinary sums we are spending to fight terrorism.

There appears to be plenty of blame to go around.  And I’m not convinced that the option currently on the table is the best one available.  But in the absence of any real and consistent leadership in the Obama Administration, it at least keeps the light shining, however dimly.