The State Department has released its annual report on religious freedom around the world. Much of it, frankly, is a testament to how few persons around the world enjoy true religious liberty. Various stages of persecution and restriction remain all too prevalent, with the vast majority of oppressive regimes largely unmoved by efforts to allow and ensure greater freedom of worship.
Still, there are moments of positive development worthy of note. The report's introduction lays out these highlights from the past year:
We welcome the Lao government’s written agreement with the Institute for Global Engagement to provide training on religious freedom for government officials and religious leaders. Lebanon is finalizing the restoration of the Maghen Abraham synagogue in Beirut that had been destroyed by shelling during the Lebanese Civil War. The Indonesian government hosted the first Indonesia-U.S. Interfaith Dialogue, bringing together religious leaders, scholars, students, and interfaith activists from both countries and the region. Much work remains, however, in these countries and many others throughout the world.
That last sentence may be the understatement of the year in international religious freedom. Still, the message of the report is an essential one to remember: Improvements are slow in coming but worth the effort, given what's at stake considering the incredible difficulty many citizens of the world face simply trying to worship according to their conscience.
C-Span's coverage of Secretary Clinton's press conference on the report is online.
