A joint House Foreign Affairs hearing highlighted the escalating crackdown on faith communities worldwide due to authoritarian regimes and extremist violence. Congressman Christopher Smith emphasized the deteriorating religious liberty globally, with billions facing severe restrictions leading to incarceration, torture, and execution. Smith cited the Open Doors 2025 World Watch List, revealing over 380 million persecuted Christians and a surge in antisemitism across Western democracies.
Former US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback, raised concerns about an alliance of authoritarian states viewing faith as a threat to their control. Brownback urged Congress to prioritize religious freedom as a strategic security issue rather than a humanitarian concern. He pointed out China’s significant role in repression, investing in advanced surveillance technology shared with other regimes to control religious communities.
Grace Jin Drexel, daughter of detained Chinese pastor Ezra Jin, shared harrowing accounts of the crackdown on an independent Christian congregation in China. She called for the release of detained pastors and church leaders, highlighting President Xi Jinping’s efforts to bring religious life under state control. Drexel described the imposition of surveillance measures, removal of religious symbols, and state interference in church leadership and theology.
Stephen Schneck, former US Commission on International Religious Freedom chairman, linked the global crisis to the decline of liberal democracy and the rise of authoritarianism. He warned that cuts to foreign assistance programs have weakened support for civil society and religious freedom defenders, diminishing US credibility internationally.
