In a world where religious persecution runs rampant, President Joe Biden has come out and forcefully condemned it. On May 16, he issued a brief video from the White House. Standing by the first lady, he said:
All people should be able to practice their faith with dignity, without fear of harassment or violence. We will defend the right of all, as we stand with you. That’s why I ended this shameful Muslim travel ban. And that’s why this administration will speak out for religious freedom for all people, including Uighurs in China and Rohingya in Burma. We also believe Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live in safety and security and enjoy equal measure of freedom, prosperity, and democracy. My administration is going to continue to engage Palestinians and Israelis and other regional partners to work toward sustained calm.
If you watch the video, you will see that Biden always emphasizes the word “all”—as in “All people should be able to practice their faith with dignity”; “We will defend the right of all”; “this administration will speak out for religious freedom for all people.”
And yet, as the speech develops—and perhaps because Biden has taken lessons in tawriya, the Muslim Brotherhood’s preferred method of speaking—it becomes clear who these “all” are: Muslims. Indeed, to anyone listening to the president who doesn’t know any better—and that accounts for tens if not hundreds of millions of Americans of a particular political persuasion—it would seem that Muslims are being persecuted by non-Muslims—Israelis, Burmese, and Chinese—in an unprecedented manner. Once again, and as usual, the opposite is closer to reality. Wherever Muslims are majorities, religious minorities suffer unspeakable evils.
A study published in January 2021 found, for example, that 13 Christians are killed for their faith every day around the world; 12 are illegally arrested or imprisoned; 5 are abducted; and 12 churches or other Christian buildings are attacked daily. Overall, 340 million Christians “suffer very high or extreme levels” of persecution—meaning they are harassed, beat, raped, imprisoned, and/or slaughtered on sight just for being Christian.
The study also relayed another interesting fact: of the 50 worst persecuting nations, 39 were Muslim—meaning that nearly 80 percent of the persecution hundreds of millions of Christians around the world experience is being committed by Muslims.
Similarly, what several international organizations have referred to as a “genocide” of Christians at the hands of “Allahu Akbar” screaming Muslims is currently taking place in Nigeria, Mozambique, and other sub-Saharan nations.
And yet, what has Joe Biden done—let alone even said—concerning these human rights tragedies? Where is these 340 million Christians’ right “to practice their faith with dignity, without fear of harassment or violence,” to use Biden’s own words?
Why is it that only Muslims—who unlike their Christian victims, often instigate, including through terrorism, quarrels with others, be they Chinese, Burmese, or Israelis—are singled out by Biden as in need of American support?
“We will defend,” he asserted, “the right of all”—all, and apparently only Muslims, that is.
Reprinted with author’s permission from Raymond Ibrahim
