HJR 500 - Condemnation of Global Christian Persecution

A RESOLUTION to condemn global Christian persecution. 

 WHEREAS, the greatest human rights violation today is the persecution of religious
minorities, the greatest number being Christians, according to a 2014 Pew Research report; and 

 WHEREAS, according to current global data reported by OpenDoorsUSA, there is
massive suffering by Christians, including beatings, kidnappings, rapes, arrests, and forced
marriages; and 

 WHEREAS, according to the United States Department of State, Christians in more than
sixty countries face persecution from their governments or surrounding neighbors; and 

 WHEREAS, unremitting global Christian persecution is annihilating Christianity,
particularly in the Middle East, where the Christian population has been reduced from fourteen
percent in 1910 to four percent in 2010; and 

 WHEREAS, in 2015, persecution of Christians has increased around the world,
spreading to parts of Asia, Latin America, and especially sub-Saharan Africa; and 

 WHEREAS, in April 2015, a meeting titled "The Persecution of Christians Globally: A
Threat to International Peace and Security" was held alongside a regular United Nations
session where speakers cited that between 2006 and 2012, Christians were targeted through
harassment, persecution, or martyrdom in 151 out of 193 member states of the United Nations
and called for increased UN action to protect Christians; and 

 WHEREAS, mass Christian annihilation, such as more than a million Armenians of
Turkey in the twentieth century, is not spoken of; and 

 WHEREAS, global Christian persecution has reached historic levels, and it is described
as one of the "greatest crises of the modern age"; now, therefore, 

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE
CONCURRING, that silence supports the oppressors and so the General Assembly condemns
the global unrelenting persecution of Christians and acts of terror and aggression against
Christians.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the General Assembly calls upon the President,
Congressional leaders, and Governors to speak out specifically about the global persecution of
Christians.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the General Assembly calls upon the U.S. State
Department Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom to address specifically,
and as a top priority, the global persecution of Christians.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the General Assembly encourages faith leaders of all
denominations to join in speaking out against the global persecution of Christians.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that appropriate copies of this resolution be prepared and
transmitted to the President of the United States, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States
House of Representatives, and the President and Secretary of the United States Senate.