The countries most often mentioned as guilty of religious persecution of minorities are Iran, Sudan, Serbia, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea. Late last October President Clinton signed this act into law. Implicitly at least, the challenge is to work toward religious toleration before religious persecution becomes an issue. Other mainline and evangelical denominations, as well as parachurch organizations, have done so as well. The original legislation also created an Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring in the White House, with an officer who would report directly to the President.
Religious persecution is often only part of a larger ethnic or political struggle.
There is not always agreement about what exactly is going on in a specific situation, about what can and should be done, and especially about how foreign governments can help. One of the fears expressed by some of our church partners abroad is that U.S. government action, rather than helping, may actually put a Christian minority at greater risk. Under IRFA, religious persecution need not necessarily be blatant acts of violence against members of a religious community. If it had not, it would have given a green light to thugs to continue their persecution. It would have sent a message that the world does not care.