COMMENTARY: Iraq Constitution Must Protect Freedom to Choose Your Religion

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The war in Iraq isn’t really over until there is a guarantee of religious freedom in the new constitution. And right now, the deadline is looming as the creators of the new document debate ideas such as federalism, powers of regional governments, the role of religion and the allocation […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The war in Iraq isn’t really over until there is a guarantee of religious freedom in the new constitution.

And right now, the deadline is looming as the creators of the new document debate ideas such as federalism, powers of regional governments, the role of religion and the allocation of resources. The 71-member drafting board made up of Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites has until Aug. 15 to submit a draft constitution, which will then be voted on in a general referendum in October.


As a man of faith, I want the new constitution to guarantee the most basic of human rights _ the freedom of religion, the freedom to choose for themselves.

In April, I had the opportunity to spend an hour with Massoud Barzani, president of the largely autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq. I congratulated him on the new freedom of the Iraqi people, especially the Kurds, who comprise 20 percent of Iraq’s population. I told him frankly, “When Muslim people come to the United States, we allow them freedom of religion, we allow them to build their mosques, and we allow them to openly share their message.”

My next question startled him.

I looked him in the eye and asked, “Will you give Christians the same rights in your country? We have sent our young men and women here to shed their blood for your freedom. That freedom includes freedom of religion. Will you protect the rights of Muslims who become Christian in Kurdistan?”

He raised his hand decisively and said he would.

That is essentially the message I will share with the Iraq prime minister Dr. Ibrahim al-Jaafari when I meet with him in August. We sacrificed much for their political freedom; now we ask that they guarantee religious freedom for their people.

Freedom of religion is generally accepted as a basic human right. In 1948, the United Nations ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 18 of the document states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.” Most nations of the civilized world have accepted this U.N. document. Iraq should too.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, in its annual report to the secretary of state, said that constitutional guarantees of “freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief” are essential to genuine democracy and peace in Iraq.

“It should be noted that this effort does not reflect a desire to impose American values on the Iraqi people, since this right is recognized and entrenched in international law and, moreover, is similarly provided for in several other constitutions in the Muslim and Arab world,” the report said.


The commission also cited a number of religiously motivated attacks, including bombing or closing down Christian businesses, as evidence of the need for safeguards of religious freedom in the new constitution. According to the U.S. State Department, more than 30,000 Christian families have fled the country because of the attacks. But missionaries on the ground there say the churches that remain continue to grow.

In March, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “In places where religion has been used to separate people _ places like Lebanon or places like Iraq _ it is especially important that … the constitution recognize that the right to individual conscience is the key to democracy. Because people will never be truly free if this most personal of decisions is imposed on them.”

Time is growing short if we want to make an impact on the Iraq constitution and ensure the lives sacrificed thus far have paid for freedom of every sort. I believe freedom-loving people throughout the West have a moral, political and spiritual responsibility to demand freedom of religion for Iraqis. I invite you to join me in urging the framers of the new constitution to include religious freedom guarantees by signing our online petition at http://www.worldcompassion.tv.

MO END RNS

(Dr. Terry Law is founder and president of World Compassion, a non-denominational organization providing humanitarian relief and evangelism in areas of the world normally closed to Christianity.)

Editors: Search the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for a photo of Law.

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