American Christian leader reveals how a steadily increasing number of important leaders around the world have become seriously concerned about Japan and its appalling record on violations of freedom of religion
Prepared by Knut Holdhus
A video message delivered by Reverend Paula White, religious advisor to the incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, at a lecture event titled “The Crisis of Religious Freedom and Democracy in Japan”. The event took place in Tokyo on 8th December 2024 and was organized by Japanese Committee of the International Religious Freedom Alliance (ICRF), a group of experts dedicated to protecting people from religious prejudice and oppression domestically and internationally.
Dear distinguished leaders, I am Pastor Paula White, President of the National Faith Advisory Board in the United States and spiritual advisor to President Elect Donald J. Trump.
I’m honored to speak to you today at the International Coalition for Religious Freedom. I want to greet all the leaders and citizens of Japan and thank you for your strong support for the United States-Japan alliance for Peace. Japan and the United States are very close and most critical allies to ensure peace in Asia and around the world.
As you know, President Donald J. Trump was elected to a second term on November 5, 2024. He is the strongest advocate of religious freedom and will increase his unwavering support for religious freedom for all faiths and all people.
President Trump was very close with Prime Minister Abe who was the most courageous leader who strongly led Japan against tyranny in the world. We mourn his loss.
Religious freedom is the foundation for all other freedoms. Japan is the United States’ great ally who we have the greatest appreciation for.
However, concern has now been raised by prominent leaders around the world that believe Japan is not upholding its religious freedom commitment as a signer of the UN Human Rights Declaration.
The United States State Department Office of International Religious Freedom in its 2022 and 2023 reports showed serious questions that Japan, as a prominent world leader and great liberal democracy is now violating religious freedom.
Ambassador Rashad Hussain, the current US State Department’s Ambassador-at-Large in the Office of International Religious Freedom, noted concern about Japan in the Japan section of his 2022 and 2023 report.
The report in 2022 stated the CAP-LC, a Paris-based United Nations NGO, submitted a series of statements to the UN Human Rights Committee that said that the Unification Church in Japan had become a victim of a campaign of intolerance, discrimination and persecution in Japan since Prime Minister Abe’s assassination.
The church stated its members suffered attacks, assaults and death threats as a result of negative media attention.
The 2023 report stated that Japan deviated from the norm when it decided to dissolve the Unification Church without any criminal law being broken by the church.
This year, on 30th April, the United Nations issued a UN mandate through its Rapporteurs on Religious Freedom and Human Rights, calling into question Japan’s compliance with the UN Human Rights Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Japan is a signer.
According to the UN Mandate, government guidelines are stating that parents who strongly urge their children to go to church could be seen as child abuse.
The mandate says this is directly causing the violations and physical attacks to the members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and persecution of the Family Federation and other religions.
The UN Rapporteur on Religious Freedom made a formal request to the Japanese government to visit Japan to investigate the possible violations of religious freedom against minority religions. But the nation of Japan has denied her request. This rejection of her request is listed on the United Nations website.
This is raising serious concern throughout the world about religious freedom in Japan.
We in the United States are concerned that the media and some in the government and the Ministry of Justice are suppressing information and not allowing the public to know about the facts.
Letters were sent to Prime Minister Kishida, the Foreign Minister and the court from current US Congressmen, former heads of state and the former US Secretary of State, as well as the former US speaker of the House.
The former US Secretary of State said that this could have severe implications for our vital partnership and global perception of Japan’s commitment to human rights.
Religious freedom scholars and experts around the world are calling on Japan to stop the violation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Family Federation / Unification Church. As faith leaders and religious freedom experts, we urge our great ally in Japan to uphold religious freedom for all.
May God abundantly bless Japan. May the United States-Japan alliance for freedom throughout the world be blessed.
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Featured image above: Paula White delivering her video message at the conference on religious freedom in Tokyo 8th December 2024. Photo: Screenshot from video published by ICRF.