H. Knox Thames, author of Ending Persecution: Charting the Path to Global Religious
Freedom, speaks about his book and work in challenging global religious oppression. With over 20 years of experience, Thames details how his work influenced his writing and how he and readers can #StepUp to fight against oppression and persecution.
You’ve served for years as an advocate for the U.S. government and as an international
human rights lawyer. How did your experiences with your work inspire you to write this
book?
For 20 years, I served at the center of the U.S. international religious freedom establishment,
working at the State Department across three administrations and at two special U.S. government foreign policy commissions. During my career working for Congress and the State Department, I traveled the world to press repressive governments to reform. I endeavored to leverage U.S. influence to speak up for the oppressed and persecuted, doing what we could to reflect the best of American values of diversity, minority rights, and freedom of conscience. Special offices and ambassadors were created and appointed, money appropriated, summits convened. Yet, these efforts have not altered grim statistics demonstrating unrelenting restrictions on the free practice of faith. Millions suffer discrimination or violence because of their faith. To reverse these negative trends, a paradigm shift is needed to utilize 21st-century tools and approaches to defeat the age-old problem of religious persecution. Ending Persecution is the beginning of this crucial conversation.
In your book, you discuss several cases of religious persecution, like oppression of the
Uyghurs or the terrorism in the Middle East. While these are global issues, what can
individuals learn about how to end these types of persecutions?
I wrote the book for advocates and policymakers, teachers and students, as well as general readers interested in international religious freedom and global affairs. Ideal as textbook and classroom learning tool, Ending Persecution is accessible in tone, taking readers to some of the world’s most repressive countries in the Middle East and Asia, pulling the curtain back about the conduct of human rights diplomacy. Readers will meet the persecuted and the persecutors, understand the opportunity and limitations of U.S. advocacy, while also learning about new ways to defeat oppression.
The book illustrates four types of persecution causing millions to suffer, with following chapters highlighting ways to respond more effectively. Chapters grapple with government-sponsored genocides, such that today confront Uighur Muslims in China and Rohingya Muslims in Burma. Next, readers learn about the impact of cultural climate change due to extremism in places like Pakistan and Egypt. After this, readers will be informed (and perhaps surprised) about how democratic rule can trample minority rights, such as in India and Nepal. Finally, the book addresses terrorism, such as the Taliban repressing Shia Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus in Afghanistan and ISIS targeting Yazidis and Christians in Iraq.
If readers could take one lesson on how to step up for religious freedom from your book,
what would that lesson be?
That what we do matters, both individually and as a country. As I wrote in the conclusion, People worldwide face a maelstrom of hate, violence, and oppression because of their beliefs. They cannot stop the storm alone, but they will resist it. Communities worldwide continue to push forward through the vortex of persecution and hostility. The question is, Will we help? Will the United States and others stand with them against the storm? Will we help stop these crimes or commit the crime of silence? Ending persecution is an audacious goal. But it is possible only if we try. The future is not set. Our actions will determine the outcome.
Ending Persecution tries to answer these questions, ones made even more pressing as the United States nears a transition to a new administration. While neither campaign focused on these challenges, the Trump administration will face them immediately as a pandemic of persecution continues to impact every faith community somewhere. American leadership is needed, and I hope my book can provide insights and new ideas.