The news out of Nigeria is horrifying: nearly 300 girls abducted, raped, and "on the block" for sale as slaves, and the mass murder of more than 300 people in a village in the northeastern part of the country.
"Boko Haram" is an Islamist terrorist group that, over the past several years, has murdered thousands, burned hundreds of churches, and sought to destroy Christianity in northern Nigeria. FRC was one of several groups last year that called on the U.S. State Department to designate the Boko Haram as the Islamist terrorist group it is, after years of the Obama Administration's resistance to doing so.
Although the Obama Administration has been late in recognizing the severity of Boko Haram's threat, FRC has partnered with our friends in the Jubilee Campaign, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, the American Center for Law and Justice, and other groups to encourage awareness of and prayer regarding this murderous organization. We have featured Nigerian human rights attorney and Christian activist Emmanuel Ogebe and several of his colleagues here at FRC, and FRC President Tony Perkins hosted Emmanuel on his November 2012 webcast on international Christian persecution.
FRC joins other Christian organizations and churches in standing with the persecuted church around the world. Persecution of people who claim the Name of Christ is occurring on a worldwide and intensifying scale, and we urge all believers to work and pray for those in prison or under threat for the sake of Jesus.
And we work at home for what we demand abroad: Religious liberty. For example, earlier this week the Supreme Court ruled in favor of public prayer before governmental gatherings, and FRC played a role in this important decision with our amicus brief signed by 49 Members of Congress. From maintaining religious liberty in the military to protecting and advancing our "first freedom" in every facet of American life through legal and political action, FRC is vigorously championing the religious liberty for which our forebears fought and died.
James Madison called religious liberty "the luster of our country." FRC is committed to keeping that luster glowing ever brighter for ourselves and our children. Learn more about how you can join us by clicking here.
