Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom

[Cartoonist]

This is coming up. What can we expect?

“Promoting and defending religious freedom is a priority for this Administration. To elevate the effort to ensure that everyone is able to live in accordance with the dictates of their conscience, Secretary Pompeo will host the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington on July 25-26. We will convene government and religious leaders, rights advocates, and civil society from around the world to discuss challenges, identify concrete means to push back against persecution and discrimination, and ensure greater respect for religious freedom for all.”

I lifted the above from a site called the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation. No link will be provided. I just wanted to alert on this

[Varaddem]

1. Codeword: white Jesus

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. One example: lobbying for a convicted violent criminal who tried to enter the USA illegally

and who tried to prejudice trials in England.

A diplomat representing Donald Trump lobbied the UK on behalf of the jailed far-right activist known as Tommy Robinson and threatened to publicly criticise its handling of the case, it has been reported.

Sam Brownback, the US ambassador for international religious freedom, is alleged to have raised concerns over Robinson’s safety in prison with the British ambassador in Washington, according to Reuters, which cited three sources.

It was unclear why an official responsible for religious freedom would intervene on behalf of the founder of the English Defence League, which has organised violent protests against Muslim immigrants over the past decade. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has recently styled himself as a journalist and campaigner against Islamic fundamentalism.

He was arrested in late May after broadcasting an hour-long video via Facebook from outside Leeds crown court during a trial related to child molestation. He was sentenced to 10 months’ jail for contempt of court and a further three months for breaching the terms of the previous suspended sentence.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/14/us-raises-concerns-with-uk-about-safety-of-tommy-robinson-jailed-edl-founder

Donald Trump Jr., Turning Point USA and the Middle East Forum are also lobbying for Robinson. As Wikipedia notes, he was earlier imprisoned for trying to enter the USA using someone else's passport, after he'd been refused entry due to drugs convictions, and has been convicted several times for violence, and mortgage fraud.

But he's white, and anti-Islam, so they love him. That's Trump's version of"religious freedom". I expect it will also include allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill contraceptive prescriptions, or for hormone treatments.

There's more on the latest organised efforts for Robinson here. It really is large - I've seen the right, not just in Britain but around the world, go on endlessly about him in the last few weeks. There have been, for instance, about 10 pro-Robinson threads at Discussionist since his imprisonment.