The dominoes began falling when Haik Hovsepian-Mehr dared to start a global campaign to save a fellow Iranian pastor.<\/p>\n\n
Mahedi Dibaj was on death row in 1994, charged with apostasy for converting from Islam to Christianity. He was released, to the joyful surprise of Iran\u2019s tiny Protestant community.<\/p>\n\n
Then Hovsepian-Mehr was kidnapped, tortured and murdered. Then Dibaj disappeared. Then Tateos Machaellian, who followed Hovsepian- Mehr as leader of Iran\u2019s Protestants, was murdered. Police said they had discovered Dibaj\u2019s body while hunting Machaellian\u2019s killers. These crimes remain unsolved. Since then, 20 Christian leaders from Iran have fled for their lives. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has denied their pleas for asylum.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis is just one tragic example of what\u2019s going on,\u201d said Faith McDonnell of the conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy. \u201cThere are many other cases just as bad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The falling dominoes in Iran, China, Kuwait, Sudan and elsewhere officially reached Washington, D.C., during the past two weeks. After months of lobbying, religious conservatives and human- rights activists convinced Congress to call for action \u2014 including the appointment of a White House specialist and a thorough review of all U.S. policies affecting \u201cpersecuted Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
A Sept. 17 Senate resolution noted: \u201cIn the past, the United States has used its international leadership to vigorously take up the cause of other persecuted religious minorities. Unfortunately, the United States has in many instances failed to raise forcefully the issue of anti-Christian persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The House resolution this week said more Christians have been martyred in the 20th century than in the previous 19 combined. In one blast of politically sensitive text, it noted that China\u2019s Communist leaders have called underground Evangelical and Catholic congregations \u201ca principal threat to political stability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Meanwhile, the White House braced for criticism during this Sunday\u2019s \u201cInternational Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church\u201d in thousands of churches linked to the Worldwide Evangelical Fellowship. Earlier this week, the administration began circulating its plans to heed the advice of more liberal religious groups and appoint a study commission linked to the State Department, instead of taking more confrontational actions.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cFrom day one, the White House position has been that this isn\u2019t really about the persecution of Christians,\u201d said Nina Shea of Freedom House, who has verbally agreed to serve on the new commission. She was, at mid-week, awaiting written confirmation of the panel\u2019s existence and details of its mandate.<\/p>\n\n
White House officials, said Shea, are \u201cespecially interested in what they call the positive uses of religion, like finding ways for religious groups to work together. \u2026 That\u2019s fine, but it would be tragic if issues of religious persecution turn into one item on some commission\u2019s long list.\u201d<\/p>\n\n