There must be a new covenant on religious tolerance! It is more important to stand in for religious freedom than ever before!

Following the example of the "Edict of Milan" which was signed 1700 years ago, there should be a new covenant on worldwide religious tolerance. This appeal was raised by the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP). "Now, it is more important to stand in for religious freedom than ever before," claims the Göttingen-based human rights organization which advocates for religious freedom all over the world. "In 2013, it is not only the Christians who are being persecuted because of their faith, but also the Shiite and Sunni Muslims, the Ahmadiyyah, Buddhists, Hindus, Bahai'i, Mandaeans, Jews, Falun Gong practitioners, and many other religious communities. In times of growing religious intolerance, faithful people of all religious communities should stand together and work for more respect towards the freedom of religion." 

Next Saturday, there will be a ceremony in Nis, Serbia, to celebrate the signing of the "Edict of Milan" in 313 AD. Back then, the declaration – which was signed by Constantine I (emperor of the West) and Licinius (emperor of the East) – was agreed upon by the most powerful rulers in Europe to ensure free choice and practice of faith – not only for Christians, but for everyone.

"Today, it is no longer only the governments and official agencies of Iran, China and Vietnam who arbitrarily harass religious communities," said STP-consultant Ulrich Delius. "Nowadays, advocating for more religious freedom has become more difficult due to fact that there are non-state actors who exclude, abuse, or terrorize the believers. They often appear as religious extremists who justify their verbal assaults and the intimidation by supposedly protecting their own religion. However, there are often other interests behind religious intolerance. Many of the agitators are primarily trying to gain political power rather than fighting about religious issues. They misuse religion in order to make a name for themselves, at the expense of the believers." Thus, the Christians in Nigeria are being threatened by the terrorist sect Boko Haram.

Furthermore, the STP is especially concerned about the escalation of religious intolerance in southern and south-eastern Asia. "If extremists happen to set fire to Buddhist shrines in Bangladesh, it most probably won't take more than a few hours until mosques are burning in Burma or before Muslim businesses are destroyed in Sri Lanka as a means of retaliation," said Delius. "In India, Muslims and Christians become victims of violence and are being discriminated against by the radical Hindus – and in Pakistan, the Sunni extremists treat Shiites, Christians and Ahmadiyyah as fair game, trying to harm them with bomb attacks or accusations of blasphemy." Even in previously tolerant countries – Indonesia, for example – there are more and more acts of discrimination against dissenters such as Christians, Shiites and Ahmadiyyah, keeping them from practicing their faith.