Obama blasted, 13 nations cited on religious freedom

clipped from www.usatoday.com A bipartisan U.S. commission on religious freedom says President Obama is softening his stand on protecting the right to one's faith at a time when religious persecution is on the rise, according to an annual report to be released today. The 11th annual report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says Obama's recent call for nations to respect "freedom of worship" rather than "religious freedom" allows regimes to claim they are not oppressing certain religions if those faiths exist in a form acceptable to the regime. "When you start narrowing the discussion, the signal the administration is sending to the international community is that as long as they prop up a few churches or houses of worship (of minority faiths), there isn't going to be a problem," The commission report slams U.S.-supported nations, such as Iraq and Pakistan, for failing to protect members of minority faiths who have been targeted with violence or discrimination.

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