Don't Forget the Right to Worship Freely; Securing Religious Freedom Should Be a Foreign-Policy Priority

Beginning of article

Byline: Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein and Carl Moeller, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

While we Americans largely take our freedom to practice religion for granted, a recent report from the Pew Research Center found that 70 percent of the world's people - that's about 4.7 billion people - live in countries with high levels of religious restrictions. All of us - believers, agnostics and atheists - have a stake in the protection of religious liberties. Because respect for human rights is such a reliable measure of the trustworthiness of nations, it is in our interest to see that they are protected. When President Obama fills the vacant position of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, he should make the changes to the office needed to make the appointee's voice heard by those …