每年 10 月 27 日，美国都会纪念国际宗教自由日，这一天是 1998 年《国际宗教自由法》签署生效的周年纪念日，该法将在海外捍卫良心自由确立为美国外交政策的长期目标。这一纪念活动最好理解为关于什么能让一个国家保持稳定（包括我们自己的国家）的宣言。
Each year on Oct. 27, the U.S. marks International Religious Freedom Day, the anniversary of the 1998 law that made defending conscience abroad a standing aim of American foreign policy. The observance is best understood as a statement about what keeps a country stable, ours included.
国际宗教自由日背后的原则很简单。当来自不同信仰传统的邻里能够相互依赖、相互信任时，一个国家的实力就会增强。建国先贤们押注于多元信仰共存、所有人都享有信仰自由的局面，认为这将带来稳定而非混乱。
The principle behind International Religious Freedom Day is straightforward. A nation’s strength is enhanced when neighbors from different faith traditions can rely upon and trust one another. The founders wagered that a multiplicity of faiths, where all are free to exercise their faith, would yield stability rather than chaos.
我们并不总是兑现这一承诺。在布莱恩修正案时代，各州在其宪法中写入禁止资助“教派”学校的条款——这些限制被广泛理解为针对天主教学校。自 2023 年 10 月 7 日以来，犹太裔美国人遭遇的反犹太主义事件急剧上升。
We have not always kept that promise. In the Blaine Amendment era, states wrote bans on aid to “sectarian” schools into their constitutions — restrictions widely understood as targeting Catholic schools. Jewish Americans have experienced a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7, 2023.
几代以来，黑人教堂一直是种族主义者的攻击目标，从 1963 年伯明翰爆炸案导致四名女童遇难，到 2015 年查尔斯顿伊曼纽尔非裔卫理公会教堂枪击案。9·11 事件发生后，穆斯林和阿拉伯裔遭受仇恨犯罪。每一次，我们都因此而变得更弱。
Black churches have been targeted by racists for generations, from the 1963 Birmingham bombing that killed four girls to the 2015 murders at Emanuel AME in Charleston. In the aftermath of 9/11, Muslims and Arabs endured hate crimes. Each time, we were weaker for it.
这就是为什么国务卿马尔科·鲁比奥的出访至关重要。他对宗教自由的承诺早于其担任国务卿的任期。作为参议员，他支持两党措施，包括《维吾尔强迫劳动预防法案》和美国国际宗教自由委员会的重新授权。
That is why Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s travels matter. His commitment to religious freedom long predates his tenure at State. As a senator, he supported bipartisan measures, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and reauthorization of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
本月早些时候，他访问了印度，那里拟对《外国捐赠监管法》进行修正，将允许当局以模糊的“社会或宗教和谐”担忧为由吊销慈善机构执照，进而接管其资产。许多面临风险的学校、医院和孤儿院可追溯至圣方济·沙勿略等传教士创办。该法案已暂停并提交议会委员会审议，但尚未撤回。
Earlier this month, he was in India, where proposed amendments to a foreign contribution law would let authorities revoke a charity’s license over vague concerns about social or religious harmony, then take control of its assets. Many of the schools, hospitals and orphanages at stake trace back to missionaries such as Saint Francis Xavier. The bill has been paused and sent to a parliamentary committee, but it has not been withdrawn.
一个主权国家可以管制外国资金。它不应给予官员一个模糊的标准和没收教会财产的权力。
A sovereign nation may regulate foreign money. It should not give officials a vague standard and the power to seize a church’s property.
政府还提名简·“西西”·格雷厄姆·林奇为国际宗教自由特使。这位福音派牧师富兰克林·格雷厄姆的女儿自2010年起一直在救援组织“撒马利亚的救赎”工作。她还被任命为美国国际宗教自由委员会的无表决权委员，该委员会现已凑齐全员。
The administration has also nominated Jane “Cissie” Graham Lynch as ambassador at large for international religious freedom. The daughter of Evangelical pastor Franklin Graham, Lynch has worked with the relief organization Samaritan’s Purse since 2010. She was also appointed as a non-voting member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a commission now at full strength.
上个月，特朗普总统还任命了天主教主教罗伯特·巴伦、前白宫国内政策委员会主任乔·格罗根，以及曾在土耳其入狱的牧师安德鲁·布伦森。他们加入了由国会两党领袖选出的六名委员。
Last month, President Trump also appointed Catholic Bishop Robert Barron, former White House domestic policy chief Joe Grogan, and Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was imprisoned in Turkey. They joined six commissioners chosen by congressional leaders of both parties.
林奇的确认应当恢复法律早已要求的东西。《国际宗教自由法》指示特使直接向国务卿汇报；鲁比奥作为2016年修正案的共同发起人，曾帮助将这一要求写入法律。最近的重组通过将该办公室重新划归民主、人权和劳工局，模糊了这条界线。一位获确认、拥有直接接触国务卿渠道的特使，能将受迫害者的诉求带给那位能够采取行动的唯一官员。
Lynch’s confirmation should restore something the law already requires. The International Religious Freedom Act directs the ambassador to report directly to the secretary of State; a requirement Rubio helped write into law as a cosponsor of the 2016 amendments. Recent reorganization has blurred that line by realigning the office under the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. A confirmed ambassador with direct access to the secretary can carry the cause of the persecuted to the one official who can act.
这种美国承诺具有全球共鸣。作为首位美国教皇，利奥十四世坚持不懈地为和平奔走呼吁。当选数日内，他提出由梵蒂冈担任调解人，坚称战争绝非不可避免。他向交战领导人恳请：“让我们会面，让我们对话，让我们谈判！”他点名了宗教迫害热点地区，并召集世界主要宗教代表共同发出和平呼吁。
That American commitment has a global resonance. Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, has pressed the case for peace persistently. Within days of his election, he offered the Vatican as a mediator, insisting war is never inevitable. To warring leaders, he pleaded, “Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate!”He has named hotspots of religious persecution and brought representatives of the world’s major religions together in an appeal for peace.
和平并非消极被动。侵略者必须被遏止，弱势群体必须受到保护，罪责人必须被追究。当宗教被挪用以奴役或伤害他人时，世俗权力也必须介入。将信仰作为暴力、胁迫或虐待的挡箭牌，不是宗教自由，而是其赝品。自由社会必须谨慎而公正地划清这条界线。
Peace is not passivity. Aggressors must be stopped, the vulnerable defended and the guilty held accountable. Civil authority must also step in when religion is misappropriated to subjugate or harm others. Faith invoked as cover for violence, coercion or abuse is not religious freedom but its counterfeit. Free societies must draw that line carefully and evenly.
缔造和平者是有福的。一个保护自身多元主义、并敦促其伙伴保护其多元主义的国家，不仅是在践行其理想；更是在保护其未来。安德烈娅·皮奇奥蒂-贝耶尔是“良知项目”主任。
Blessed are the peacemakers. A country that protects its pluralism and presses its partners to protect theirs is not only living its ideals; it is protecting its future. Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is director of the Conscience Project.