Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf, R-10th, is Congress' leading defender of human rights worldwide. His stature can be measured by recent events in Pakistan.
The other day his phone rang at 2:20 a.m.; the American ambassador to Pakistan called to report the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti. The victim was the only Christian to serve as a minister in the Pakistani government. Bhatti had foretold his own death; he died a martyr. Wolf lost a friend. Bhatti is mourned by Pakistan's Christians, as well as by those of other faiths who practice tolerance.
Wolf has monitored Islamist terrorism for 30 years. In Thursday testimony to the House Committee on Homeland Security, he lamented the enormities committed against Muslims in Darfur and other places under siege. He reiterated his call for establishing a panel of outside experts to study domestic radicalization and counterterrorism strategy.
Mano Rumalshah, bishop emeritus of the Anglican Diocese of Peshawar, spoke to a forum at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church last Sunday and described the religious situation in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. After Morning Prayer on Monday, he visited the First Freedom Center.
The center's Randolph Bell reports that Rumalshah "bemoaned the ham-fisted use of sanctions by the U.S. Congress in the administration of assistance to Pakistan but confessed that fine-tuning the actions of so large a government as ours would be difficult." And: "He saw no possible, effective role for the international human-rights community with respect to the blasphemy law." When asked if the regime treats Christians worse than other minorities, "he said he didn't think so."
Last week Christians marched in Cairo to protest the destruction of one of their churches. They blocked streets and threw stones. Muslims met their rage with fury. Shots were fired; 13 children of God died. Christian spokesmen identified all the dead as Copts; others put five Muslims in the toll. Forgive them, although they know what they do.
The treatment of religious minorities — and nonbelievers — rates as an accurate indicator of a government's decency. Conditions for minorities reflect the attitudes of society itself, for good or for ill. The practice may be impotent, but interfaith dialogue offers additional clues. Rumalshah's presence blessed Richmond. Wolf and the First Freedom Center do work that is necessary and difficult yet sanctioned by the highest authority. As martyrs did in ages ancient and bold, Bhatti died for God's sake.
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