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"Religious liberty is not a privilege to be granted or denied by an all-powerful State, but a God-given human right," asserts the NAE Statement of Conscience.

Brother Andrew advocates friendship evangelism in dealing with Muslims. "We must forever set aside the idea that they are our enemies," he writes. "We did this for decades with the Russians-they were the terrible, evil communists who were going to conquer the world. That very attitude on our part is why it took so long for their system to crumble. In our fear we did not go to them with the love of God."

This article originally appeared in the July 15, 1996 issue of Christianity Today. At the time, Kim A. Lawton was senior news editor for the magazine.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also appearing on our site today:

Persecution Summit Takes Aim at Sudan, North Korea | Christian leaders issue second "Statement of Conscience."

The NAE site includes the text of both the 1996 and 2002 "Statement of Conscience."

Previous Christianity Today articles on the effect of 1996's statement includes:

Progress for the Persecuted | New successes represent a new approach. (Oct. 6, 1997)

State Department Report Decries Persecution of Christians | Freedom from Religious Persecution Act reflects the initiatives outlined in the NAE's Statement of Conscience. (Sept. 1, 1997)

Government Awakens to Persecution | The Clinton administration and Congress have taken new steps to re-examine U.S. policy responses to global religious persecution. (November 11, 1996)

Christianity Today's persecution archive has more articles on religious discrimination and violence from around the world. The World Report section allows readers to search for past articles by country.

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April (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46