1997 NCC General Assembly, Nov. 11-14, 1997, Washington, D.C.
1997 NCC General Assembly, Nov. 11-14, 1997, Washington, D.C.
February 15, 1996
Albert M. Pennybacker
Associate General Secretary
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
My name is Albert Pennybacker. I am an Associate General Secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. I wish to express my gratitude to you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to testify before you on this important matter.
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. is the principle ecumenical organization in the United States through which 33 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican church bodies with a combined membership of 51 million Christians make a common witness to their faith and work together to serve the churches and the world. While I do not purport to speak for all members of the communions constituent to the National Council, I do speak for our policy-making body, the General Assembly, whose 260 members are selected by those communions in numbers proportionate to their size.
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. once again voices its strenuous opposition to religious persecution anywhere in the world - the punitive attack on religious liberty and freedom for which we have been a long-standing, vigorous advocate. We are pleased to be in the company of other religious voices now addressing this fundamental human rights issue.
We are and have been deeply committed to the religious freedom of people of every faith, and even the freedom of conscience of people of no faith, and especially of those who share our Christian faith. During the difficult years of Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, we maintained strong, affirmative and cooperative ties with the Christian communities of long and faithful histories who maintained their faith under conditions of painful, almost unimaginable religious persecution, even martyrdom. We rejoice today in the new freedom they know to rebuild their churches and publicly affirm both their faith and their compassion and we support their new life.
In settings today where there is genuine religious persecution, often directed at the diminishing of resident Christians as well as other religious communities, we seek to maintain ties of support, encouragement, advocacy and even direct aid. This is currently the status of our ties with Christians in Cuba, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Pakistan and other nations. We have not hesitated to address governments in such settings in seeking genuine redress, typically with the counsel of the resident religious community.
Our first concern is that in addressing religious persecution, the integrity of the resident religious communities be respected and the transnational ties of all religious faiths be allowed to offer companionship, support, advocacy and aid to religious communities in difficult, even hostile, settings.
We recognize that the relationship between religious faith and the communities that live out such faith, and the cultural heritage of religions and nations are deep-seated, complex and defy easy assessment from afar. There is an interior religious and cultural reality that requires respect by governments, and especially by religionists of other cultural and religious traditions. The evangelistic zeal of outsiders, openly voiced or even subtly imposed, may encounter an authentic resistance as it moves on unfamiliar ground. What may appear as "persecution" and indeed is resistance may in fact be the wish to preserve authentic religious and cultural traditions. This has long been a reality in the missionary outreach of the churches over the centuries and a tension that continues today.
So, as a second concern, in any increased commitment to oppose all forms of religious persecution, we urge a careful assessment of the claims of religious persecution, listening not only to the voices of those who enter new settings from outside but the witness from indigenous religious voices where such religious persecution may appear to be occurring.
There is no question that religious persecution as described to this committee by others with whom we join is occurring in numerous places in the world. We would add, as uplifted in our recent policy statement on human rights (1995), that the evidence is all too clear that "group classifications" of people become the basis for prejudicial and hostile actions, violating the rights of both particular communities and the rights of individual to belong to them. Women, for instance, are the ones who often suffer the most as members of religious groups under attack. Further, religious groups may be caught in intra or intercommunal strife, as well as the dynamics of religious fanaticism and ethnic cleansing. Civil wars and genocide can threaten religious groups. Such realities insist on being confronted in the context of a commitment to a pluralistic civil society. Both the U.S. government and religious bodies here, we believe, are called to such a shared commitment.
However, there are also claims of the "persecution of Christians" in our own country sometimes along the lines that appear to us to be excessive, aligned with domestic political concerns and an inappropriate use of so strong a term as "persecutions." We urge great forbearance in linking the authentic concern for those of our religious tradition experiencing persecution for their beliefs beyond our borders and excessive and unsubstantiated claims of religious "persecution" here. We believe that our historic preservation and defense of religious freedom here and the separation of church and state have protected us from the horrors of religious persecution experienced elsewhere. We are grateful for every voice and action that defends and maintains this fruitful American commitment.
Turning now to actions that may need to be considered by the United States government regarding the real occurrence of religious persecution in our world, we are ready to join with others in calling for a genuine investigation and assessment of the persecution of any for their religious beliefs anywhere in the world. Further we believe it is an appropriate role for the United States government and true to our heritage to use its influence and power to ameliorate any such identified conditions. If it is true that the persecution of believers of all faiths is pervasive, it is rightly a cause for deep concern and lament. We urge an investigation leading to appropriate actions to address such persecution.
We have seen in action ambassadors and foreign service representatives of the U.S.A. who seek to understand the cultural and religious life of the settings to which they are assigned. We urge a more thorough attention to religious life where they may serve, and we are prepared to put the heritage and understanding represented by the member communions of the NCCC - 33 in number with a constituent membership exceeding 50 million - in the service of such increased understanding.
We support the appointment of a commission, knowledgeable, representative and compassionate to investigate and report to the President the conditions of religious persecution and to recommend an appropriate course of action to address such conditions. We believe the focus should be the task, that a broad perception of religious persecution needs to inform our actions, and that it is premature to move quickly to the appointment of a Special Advisor to the President on these matters. It is a matter of timing. We believe that the actions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding any instances of religious persecution, not simply anti-Christian persecution, needs to be included within the investigation. We urge further a continuing and strong commitment to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to the U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance Based on Religion or Beliefs. There is an integral relationship between religious freedom and freedoms of expression, communication and assembly.
We believe that from such a body can come appropriate guidance for our U.N. representatives, consular officials and other senior officials of government. We believe that these are matters too urgent, delicate and important to address without the best guidances that come through investigation and the experience of the whole religious community with its international ties.
We believe that the use of non-humanitarian foreign assistance in seeking relief from religious persecution is a legitimate course of action. We believe that strategic decisions of this sort must invite a thorough grasp of instances of religious persecution.
We concur with the National Association of Evangelicals with whom we share Christian faith - that religious liberty is not a privilege granted by governments but is God-given - to use a world familiar in our American vocabulary - an "inalienable", God-given human right. Our Council has a long history of standing firmly for religious liberty, dating from our first policy statement in 1955, renewed in 1963, and revised and updated as recently as 1995. I quote an early phrase that describes religious liberty as "basic both historically and philosophically to all our liberties." (October 5, 1955) Recall the conditions of our world when that statement was issued. We are pleased to voice again in concert with others our vigorous opposition to all forms of religious persecution. We affirm again and urge you to affirm a commitment to religious freedom and the relieving of any religious persecution experienced not only by Christians but by those of any and even no faith. We commend the sensitivity and caring of those who have been alert to raise the issue and newly put it before us all at this time. We stand ready to cooperate with the recommended actions that may issue from these hearings.