Advent peace demands action: Defend those who risk their lives to worship freely

On the Second Sunday of Advent, Christians the satellite implicit hole to observe Christmas by contemplating the bid Christ’s coming was foretold to usher in. Christ promised his followers, "Peace I permission with you; my bid I springiness to you. Not arsenic the satellite gives bash I springiness to you. Let not your hearts beryllium troubled, neither fto them beryllium afraid" (John 14:27, ESV). Indeed, 1 of Christ’s galore titles, among those gloriously sung successful Handel’s "Hallelujah" chorus astatine this clip of year, is the "Prince of Peace."

Yet, bid remains elusive — some individually and particularly adjacent much truthful connected the level of communities, societies, cultures, and nations. Sadly, this is peculiarly existent for radical of religion astir the world, careless of their spiritual affiliation. Sincere believers from each religion contented progressively look restrictions connected their quality rights to judge and worship freely, according to the dictates of their conscience. In galore cases, the concern is acold worse, and they look outright repression and persecution, often convulsive successful nature, simply for choosing to workout their close to spiritual freedom.

From Christians successful Nigeria being slaughtered successful ineffable spaces, to Uyghur Muslims incarcerated successful modern-day attraction camps successful China, to the Baha’is and Jews successful Iran, to Hazara Shia Muslims successful Afghanistan, to Assyrians, Rohingya, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, Ahmadiyya Muslims, and the database goes connected — for these religion communities, and for anyone who cares astir planetary spiritual freedom, bid tin look similar a fantasy.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT REMINDS US THAT HOPE IS OUR CALLING EVEN IN THE DARKEST TIMES

Still, it is worthy reminding america to retrieve that the Christmas communicative is lone the starting constituent for a beingness communicative that offers a guide, whether Christian oregon not, to some seeking bid and gathering it. In the Christian tradition, Christ was not calved into comfortableness and tranquility. Rather, his accomplishment successful humble circumstances was an antithetic opening for an enactment of divine courageousness meant to alteration the people of history.

Christ preached bid arsenic helium modeled an progressive courageousness that sought to disrupt aged traditions and connection a caller mode of seeing the satellite and the radical successful it. At the aforesaid time, helium was an illustration of humility and the sincere tendency to question reconciliation, adjacent with those we mightiness presumption arsenic our enemies. Peace, successful the words of Jesus Christ, was not passivity, but a willingness to boldly basal for what is close portion choosing to spot each quality being arsenic divine arsenic created successful God’s representation and worthy.

BIRTHPLACE OF JESUS TO RESUME CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS AFTER WAR FORCED A TWO-YEAR PAUSE

The telephone of this Advent Sunday to physique bridges of bid with others tin consciousness similar a monumental task successful this epoch of division. Peace tin consciousness similar a extremity requiring a miracle, alternatively than thing that is wrong scope for specified mortals. Nevertheless, we person unneurotic glimpsed a glimpse of what bid tin look similar done the privilege of serving arsenic co-chairs of the yearly International Religious Freedom Summit.

The telephone of this Advent Sunday to physique bridges of bid with others tin consciousness similar a monumental task successful this epoch of division. (iStock)

Each year, the Summit brings unneurotic thousands of spiritual state advocates from dozens of planetary religion traditions. These radical acceptable speech theological, cultural, and governmental differences to basal unneurotic successful enactment of quality dignity and the basal quality close of each radical to worship according to their ain beliefs. The constituent is not who you worship oregon how; it is that we each person a God-given close to judge freely and without regularisation oregon fearfulness of persecution.

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We cannot lick the world’s galore urgent challenges to spiritual state implicit the people of our abbreviated clip unneurotic astatine the Summit. But this yearly gathering does connection a exemplary — and a root of anticipation — for what bid tin look similar successful a satellite that is roiled by struggle and division.

This Advent Peace Sunday, we gully inspiration from the communicative of Christ who, arsenic Scripture recounts, came to world "to springiness airy to those who beryllium successful acheronian and successful the shadiness of death, to usher our feet into the mode of peace" (Luke 1:79). 

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We besides gully spot and courageousness to question bid from the examples of the galore dedicated advocates and activists who enactment alongside america successful the planetary spiritual state community, and who connection surviving and breathing examples of what it means to question bid actively and not passively.

We cannot yet assertion "peace connected earth," but arsenic we basal broadside by broadside and advocator for state of religion and content for all, we tin statesman to ideate it.

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Sam Brownback served arsenic ambassador astatine ample for International Religious Freedom (2018–21) and is co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit.