[AmericanSpectator] Religious freedom is the foundation to all other freedoms.
Freedom of thought, really, of which freedom to believe is one subset. The group Open Doors USA released its last week, which tracks the countries that are the worst offenders of Christian persecution. There is a new top persecutor, which took over from longtime number one North Korea. The new winner, perhaps unsurprisingly, is Afghanistan. However, at number two, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea remains poised for a comeback next year. Another nine countries also are guilty of “extreme persecution.”
The Taliban takeover worsened an already terrible state of religious persecution in Afghanistan. Open Doors explained: “Christian persecution is extreme in all spheres of public and private life. The risk of discovery has only increased since the Taliban controls every aspect of government—including paperwork from international troops that may help identify Christians.” Even before August, noted Open Doors, it was “impossible to live openly as a Christian in Afghanistan. Leaving Islam is considered shameful, and Christian converts face dire consequences if their new faith is discovered. Either they have to flee the country or they will be killed.”
Isolated and brutal, North Korea fell back to number two even though persecution actually worsened. Its very human leader, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, is treated like a near-deity, and he fears competition. Open Doors wrote: “North Korea has been at or near the top of the World Watch List for more than 20 years. That’s because any North Korean caught following Jesus is at immediate risk of imprisonment, brutal torture and death.”
The other countries in the top eleven, in order, are: Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, India and Saudi Arabia. There’s a short paragraph about each at the link. These are merely the worst of a very bad lot. Open Doors lists another 39 countries with “very high persecution.” Like the preceding states, these tend to be Muslim and/or authoritarian. Following the Kingdom through number 20 are: Myanmar, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Maldives, China, Qatar, Vietnam, and Egypt. As for numbers 21 to 30: Uzbekistan, Algeria, Mauritania, Mali, Turkmenistan, Laos, Morocco, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Colombia. Numbers 31 to 40 run: Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Niger, Bhutan, Tunisia, Oman, Cuba, Ethiopia, Jordan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Completing the list at numbers 41 to 50: Mozambique, Turkey, Mexico, Cameroon, Tajikistan, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Kuwait, and Malaysia.
President Joe Biden promised to make human rights a central issue of his administration. So far he has failed to deliver and has not used America’s clout against even the most egregious offenders with whom the U.S. has influence, such as Saudi Arabia.
So Biden still has the freedom to be a lying asshole.
Unexpectedly. 
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