报告称武装分子利用宗教来洗白他们的暴力行为

AS IT IS 2015-10-18 Report: Militants² Use Religion to Justify³ Their Violence 报告称武装分子利用宗教来洗白他们的暴力行为

The biggest barrier to religious freedom is the use of religion to justify violence, according to a U.S. State Department official on international religious freedom.

David Saperstein is the State Department’s Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. He is the first non-Christian⁴ to hold the position.

In the past 18 months, there has been an increase of terrorist acts from those who “falsely” interpret religion to justify their violence. The ambassador made the statement as the State Department released its yearly report on international religious freedom.

The report deals with the treatment of religious groups in countries around the world. Congress required the report in a 1998 law, which made religious freedom an important concern for American foreign policy.

Non-state militant¹ groups named in the report include the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, Boko Haram in Nigeria and al Shabab in Somalia. Other groups include Shi’ite militias⁵ in Iraq, the al-Nusra Front in Syria and Lashkar I Jhangvi in Pakistan.

The State Department placed attention on the Islamic State group for abuses in Iraq and Syria. It noted⁶ a case in which an extremist ripped a three-year-old girl from the arms of her Christian mother and forced the woman on to a bus threatening her with death if she did not obey his orders. The report said the mother was “never to know what became of her daughter.”

Another issue of concern was the repressive use of blasphemy⁷ laws. These laws target minorities whose practices may offend the majority. Mr. Saperstein said, “such laws are inconsistent with international human rights and fundamental freedoms.” He said the U.S. would continue to call for their repeal⁸.

Mr. Saperstein noted a third point of concern. He said some governments have used measures to fight terrorism or extremism to repress religious groups or place restrictions⁹ on religious activities.

He said Russia has used, “vaguely¹⁰ formulated¹¹ anti-extremism laws” to justify raids on homes and religious places and the seizure¹² or banning of religious material.

Speaking of China, Mr. Saperstein credited the country with some reforms. During a recent visit, he saw faith-based groups operating homeless shelters, soup kitchens and orphanages¹³. But issues of concern remained.

“The worsening situation of the Tibetan Buddhist¹⁴ community and the Uighur Muslim community is clearly a source of concern. The ongoing¹⁵ oppression of non-traditional groups like the Falun Gong remains¹⁶ a source of concern, and the very ubiquitous effort at control under the registration¹⁷ process and the approval process that every church or mosque¹⁸ or temple has to get in order to function from the government, you know, is a continuing problem.”

Mr. Saperstein said there is a need to give a voice to people who are religiously oppressed. He added, however, that religion in China was spreading.

Is the attention always good?

Katrina Lantos Swett chairs the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom. The commission writes its own yearly report of countries.

She said, “There’s a lot of evidence out there, from many credible¹⁹ sources, that societies that do a good job protecting this fundamental human right … also tend to be more peaceful. They tend to be more economically prosperous.”

Some experts see problems in some religious freedom efforts. Elizabeth Shakman Hurd of Northwestern University has said expanding the importance of religious identity can draw the attention of extremists.

She said, “When they’re singled out for protection on the basis of religion, that actually can make things more difficult for them paradoxically.” Policies toward Christians²⁰ in Pakistan and Muslims in Myanmar are examples of this, she said. 

She said the civil war in Syria has been turned into a religious conflict partly by Western groups and by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. She said it has used the threat of sectarian anarchy²¹ to justify its own rule.

Critics of calls for greater religious freedom say they only reflect Western values. Elizabeth Shakman Hurd agrees there is a double standard. 

The U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from interfering²² in the religious practices of citizens. But the 1993 Freedom of Religion Act recently presented a problem. The law was meant to be an effort to increase religious freedom in the United States and has been adopted by many states.

But, some businesses have used the law to deny services to gay and lesbian marriage ceremonies. This resulted in state efforts to make changes to the law.

David Saperstein says the international religious freedom report remains important as a source of hope to religious communities around the world.

“Before the report, it was the overlooked piece of the busy lives of staff people at embassies,” Mr. Saperstein said. “This forced them to engage seriously. So as I traveled the world in these last 15 years, time and again I heard, ‘What a difference that this structure made.'”

Words in This Story

blasphemy – n. something said or done that is disrespectful to God or to something holy

vaguely – adj. in a way that is not clearly stated or expressed

ubiquitous – adj. seeming to be everywhere

function – v. to work or operate

sectarian – adj. relating to religious or political sects²³ or groups and the difference between them

anarchy – n. a state of confusion or lawlessness

adopt – v. to accept or approve in a formal way

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 blasphemy   

n.亵渎，渎神

参考例句：

• His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.他的著作被定为淫秽作品，是对上帝的亵渎。
• You have just heard his blasphemy!你刚刚听到他那番亵渎上帝的话了！

8 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

9 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

10 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

11 formulated   

v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

13 orphanages   

孤儿院( orphanage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It is Rotarians running orphanages for children who have no homes. 扶轮社员们为没有家的孩子办孤儿院。
• Through the years, she built churches, hospitals and orphanages. 许多年来，她盖了一间间的教堂、医院、育幼院。

14 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

15 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

18 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

19 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

20 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

21 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

22 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

23 sects   

n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had subdued the religious sects, cleaned up Saigon. 他压服了宗教派别，刷新了西贡的面貌。 来自辞典例句