On Dec. 6, the White House released a memorandum instructing the heads of U.S. executive departments and agencies abroad to join in the “struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons” around the world.
In the memorandum, President Barack Obama expressed his concern over a broad swatch of matters in this arena, from “laws that criminalize LGBT status” to “beating citizens simply for joining peaceful LGBT pride celebrations, or killing men, women, and children for their perceived sexual orientation.” At the same time, the president also said, “Under my Administration, agencies engaged abroad have already begun taking action to promote the fundamental human rights of LGBT persons everywhere.”
With all due respect to the president, perhaps this is an all-too-obvious attempt to garner votes from a group that wasn’t that impressed with his performance until he successfully imposed homosexual behavior on the military earlier this year. Yet while he’s doing his best to appeal to that group, Christians around the world continue to be persecuted—to be hunted like animals, then tortured and killed when captured—yet we are still awaiting a serious White House memorandum on their behalf.
Perhaps Christ’s famous words, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first,” are applicable here, for it seems that the president, who long ago abandoned a defense of our nation’s Judeo-Christian underpinnings, is basically abandoning Christians altogether.
The most obvious and recent example is that there is no word of sorrow offered up for the Coptic Christians who have been beaten and shot in Egypt.
Nor is there any noticeable attempt to pressure India into overturning the anti-Christian legislation it has in place—legislation that makes it illegal to convert from Hinduism to Christianity. It is a fact that Hindu fundamentalists emboldened by this legislation have actually begun to bully and aggressively pursue Christians in their country.
Why isn’t the plight of Christians around the world today worthy of a White House memorandum, Mr. President?
Benjamin Bull serves with the Alliance Defense Fund as chief counsel, executive vice-president, and executive director of ADF-Global. He supervises the administrative functions and global activities for ADF primarily from its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.A., and currently practices exclusively in the areas of international human rights and American constitutional law.
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