WASHINGTON — Kristina Arriaga scanned the dozens of young congressional aides filing out of a large Senate meeting room in the Capitol Visitors Center Monday, smiling with closed lips and nodding in satisfaction.
The audience of more than 60 had just heard an hour of speeches, questions and answers about why religious freedom matters. Now, Arriaga hoped those impassioned pleas to help the religiously oppressed in the world would inspire the young adults — many of them summer interns — to take up the cause whether they go into politics, public service or business.
"The future of our country is in the hands of these young people who are interning in these congressional offices," said Arriaga, a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, after the room had emptied out Monday afternoon. "And planting the idea that religious freedom is a vital human right and that religious freedom is part of the answer to the world's problems is key to what we're doing at USCIRF."
She said religious freedom has "fallen off the table" in certain government sectors that are dealing with other emergencies. But part of the commission's job is to help government link religious freedom to other priorities.
"At USCIRF, we are very interested in continuing to promote this vital human right that is connected to every other right," Arriaga said, "as well as (to) economic prosperity and women's rights."
The gathering took place at time when religious freedom in the United States has become a polarizing topic. But based on the broad base of people attending the seminar — from staff of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to representatives of advocacy groups and relief organizations — religious freedom in the international arena remains an issue all sides can agree on.
"Religious freedom has been deeply embedded in our culture in our society. … And it always has been bipartisan," former Congressman Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, said, urging young adults to get involved.
The religious connection
In 1998, Wolf sponsored the International Religious Freedom Act, which created an International Religious Freedom Office in the State Department and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The commission is an independent, bipartisan government panel that monitors religious liberty around the world to make policy recommendations to the administration and Congress in their dealings with foreign countries.
Arriaga invited Wolf to speak at the seminar, where he lamented waning interest in religious persecution on the part of media and government. He mentioned ongoing cases of China's persecution of Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists, Rohingya Muslim refugees forced out of Myanmar, the diminished Christian community in Iraq and still-missing Christian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria as examples.
"Dr. Martin Luther King said in the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends," Wolf said, asking if those religious believers suffering around the world are not friends. "We have a moral obligation to speak out."
Another panelist was Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. A expert in religious demography and the socio-economic impact of religious freedom, Grim presented data showing that the economy thrives in countries with diverse religious populations that are allowed to freely practice their faith.
He explained that despite rising numbers of religiously unaffiliated people in the West, projections indicate the rest of the world is becoming more religious, and religious people will outnumber nonreligious 23 to 1 in the next three to four decades. "The need for (religious freedom) will become all the more pressing as the religious world grows and we become more diverse," he said.
These religious populations impact nearly every facet of life, including economics. But the latest data from the commission and the State Department show about 80 percent of the world's population live in countries (primarily China and India) where government and society impose religious restrictions.
Grim said those countries put their economies at risk as religious restrictions stifle growth by making foreign investors reluctant to enter and forcing their own successful entrepreneurs to flee to places where there is more freedom. He cited a Bloomberg study that found China, Russia, India, Turkey and France experienced a net loss of in the number of millionaires because of religious, cultural and economic factors, while Australia and the United States, where religious freedom is more robust, had a net gain of millionaires.
See for yourself
Arriaga, who has worked in the religious liberty arena for more than 30 years, told the audience that she was once in their place — a young intern who initially sought out receptions and other gatherings with policymakers for the free food. But she learned those events also were valuable opportunities to meet decision-makers, learn from them and share her ideas with them.
"The Hill is very relational," she said, referring to how things get done in Congress. "And it's oftentimes one person, a young person, in a congressional office that has the chutzpah that pushes for an issue" to be considered.
Wolf said international religious freedom is one of the few issues in Congress that has bipartisan support and he hoped members of Congress would take advantage of that agreement to relieve suffering of persecuted believers around the world.
He urged the audience to visit refugee camps, volunteer with relief groups and otherwise find ways to get outside the country and witness firsthand the suffering of religious minorities in the world. He said that on-the-ground exposure changed his life and perspective on the value of religious freedom.
Anna Unger, a 21-year-old congressional intern majoring in international studies at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, said religious freedom has always been important to her although it wasn't a topic of discussion where she grew up in Fairfield, Iowa.
"I'm Jewish, so it's something that's always in the back of my mind," she said. The deadly shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue in October last year was mentioned during the seminar as case of religious restrictions imposed by social groups through violence.
And while she started her internship with Rep. Dave Leobsack, D-Iowa, just last week, she said Monday's seminar prompted her to look for opportunities to talk about or research religious freedom during her time in Congress and at school.