76 per cent in a poll commissioned by Open Doors USA said they wanted Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to address persecution of Christians. Reuters
ishtartv.com - christiantoday.com
ames Macintyre 20 July 2016
Over
three quarters of Americans want the next president to address
Christian persecution, according to a Harris poll commissioned by Open Doors USA.
Seventy-six
per cent of respondents agreed with the statement: "It is important to
me that the next US President be committed to addressing the persecution
that some Christians face around the world (eg., imprisonment,
beheadings, rape, loss of home and assets)."
David
Curry, the Open Doors USA President and CEO, said: "Persecution of
Christians, as well as adherents of other faiths, has grown
exponentially in recent years. Governments are clamping down on
religious freedom of expression, causing millions to face displacement,
harassment, imprisonment, beatings and even death. Americans are looking
to each presidential candidate for clear and decisive plans to address
this growing global crisis."
The organisation has set up a petition calling on the candidates to address the issue of persecution of Christians around the world.
Curry
added: "At Open Doors, our work brings us up close and personal with
the suffering of persecuted Christians—and that means we are also a
witness to the heartbreaking persecution faced by those belonging to
other faiths. This campaign is an effort to urge the candidates to state
clearly their plans of action for addressing the drastic rise in
religious persecution faced by millions around the globe."
The
Open Doors website said: "At Open Doors, we believe that the next
president of the United States should be equipped with a plan of action
to address the onslaught of unprecedented persecution."
Christians
around the Middle East and Africa are facing persecution at the hands
of Islamic militants, especially in Iraq and Syria, while increasing
numbers of Christians are leaving the Holy Land of Israel-Palestine.
At
a campaign event in New Hampshire last December, Clinton agreed that
Christian persecution at the hands of Islamic State is "genocide".
A
voter asked: "Will you join those leaders, faith leaders, and secular
leaders and political leaders from both the right and the left, in
calling what is happening by its proper name: genocide?"
Clinton replied: "I will because we now have enough evidence".
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