Religious Freedom Lately: Myanmar Minorities Hold Their Breath, ICE Shakes Down Churches And Secular Officials Band Together

St. Columban's Catholic Cathedral, in Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar. Creative Commons image.

WASHINGTON— This week, we look at news stories concerning the right to exercise religion in peace, without government intervention or roadblocks.

Punishment for belief (or lack thereof) can come in many forms, from fines and fees to full-scale genocide. While not all three of this week’s stories are gruesome or Earth shattering, they all speak to the desire to practice and believe without the heavy hand of government officials on your shoulder.

Coup In Myanmar Could Mean Severe Danger For Religious Minorities

On Feb. 1, the world was rocked with the news that Buddhist-majority Myanmar was undergoing a coup as the military seized power and detained political opponents, including controversial former state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner later blamed for the military’s ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.

While the socio-political implications of the government overthrow are yet to be determined, the possibility of a hard crackdown on minority religions has Myanmar Christians, Muslims and others concerned for their safety.

“Military rule could mean reinforced power for the dominant religion,” an Open Doors partner told the non-profit organization under anonymity. “The military government of the past has always been protective of their Buddhist culture and tradition. This may have serious implications to the church. We are expecting restrictions upon the church to happen once again, though we are unsure of the extent and the form it will take as of yet.”

“The trapped believers cannot move forward or go back to their homes. They need food, medicine and clothes, but access and communication are very difficult,” another local Christian stated.

The country already has a concerning and bloody history of religious persecution, including what human rights bodies have labeled a genocide of Rohingya Muslims, stripped of their citizenship in the 1980’s. The ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya peaked in 2017 when the campaign was condemned by dozens of foreign nations. 

Members of minority religions are often treated as second-class citizens in comparison to the vast majority of the country which practices Buddhism. The new military government is speculated to adhere to strict ideas of Buddhist nationalism, a terrifying proposition for Christians, Muslims, and others. 

“The village sorcerers would come to destroy, to kill our mission and ministry and those who are living here. But they are truly afraid of the ministry that we are doing here because we are bringing the gospel here,” a pastor said of previous waves of persecution.

Leaders In Sanctuary Churches Call Foul On Government Fines

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has teamed up with Women in Sanctuary, as well as several other parties, to fight the recent slew of fines and punishments lobbied on churches providing sanctuary for illegal immigrants.

Women in Sanctuary claims that the civil fines slammed on leaders of churches with a pro-sanctuary position or who have actively aided the illegal immigration of non-Americans are excessive and meant to send a message.

“Each of the plaintiffs is a leader in the modern sanctuary movement. The sanctuary movement originally began in the 1980s as resistance to government oppression,” Austin Sanctuary Network chair Peggy Morton said in the press release. “Today, houses of worship across the country are continuing that tradition and have come together in support of immigrant rights, including by offering sanctuary as an act of solidarity to people who would otherwise be deported.”

The CCR’s cases against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cited the First Amendment and Eighth Amendment as the basis for their complaints.

According to the Eighth Amendment, “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

CCR provided a document titled “Briefing Guide: FOIA Documents Reveal ICE’s Use of Civil Fines To Target Immigrant Leaders In Sanctuary” on their website. The document compiles and details the center’s data on religious leaders and the fines and penalties imposed on them.

“These efforts are part and parcel of a broader effort by ICE to retaliate against individuals, organizations, faith communities, and localities affiliated with sanctuary. This includes individuals in sanctuary and their loved ones, organizations and organizational leaders that advocate for sanctuary policies, and ‘sanctuary cities’ themselves,” the document reads.

“Fining us for telling the truth is an unfair way to shut us up. I decided to take sanctuary to protect the lives of my daughters, and arriving at my church without knowing anyone was God’s purpose so that I could continue fighting for justice in my case,” said Vicky Chavez, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and a targeted sanctuary movement leader from Utah.

Putting Faith In A Group For Leaders With No Religion

A group of non-believers have formed a coalition to bolster and protect members of local, state and national governments that claim no religious affiliation.

The Association of Secular Elected Officials (ASEO) describes itself as a non-profit organization that aims to change the modern reality that non-religious Americans are proportionally very under-represented in the government.

“By openly serving as secular elected officials, our members help dispel the prejudice against the non-religious community, encourage other members of this community to run for office, and make our democracy stronger,” the ASEO said in a statement.

The ASEO claims that atheists are discouraged from holding public office and carry a stigma while serving in government roles in the widely-Christian U.S.

“For too long the non-religious have been excluded from being open about their constitutional right to be non-religious,” the group’s founder and leader, Leonard Presberg, said. “As the need for science-based policy is paramount, we have a vocal minority pushing for special rights for their religious beliefs. Now, more than ever, we need to support and educate our non-theistic elected colleagues as they work to make our country and their community better for everyone.” 

ASEO said in their announcement that they were specifically concerned about the rise of “white Christian nationalists.”

“We are determined to bring their anti-democratic, bigoted, anti-science, racist, misogynists, xenophobic, and homophobic crusade to an end,” Presberg said.

“Non-religious people may choose to call themselves atheists, humanists, agnostics, skeptics, nonreligious, freethinkers, nonbelievers, religiously unaffiliated, and/or ‘spiritual but not religious,’ among other terms. The association uses the word “secular” as shorthand for the wide variety of nonreligious identifiers its members choose,” the ASEO concluded.

Timothy Nerozzi is a writer and editor from northeastern Pennsylvania. He covers religious issues with a focus on the Catholic Church and Japanese society and culture.