President Obama Declares ''Freedom Of Worship A Major US-Foreign Policy''!

WASHINGTON — President Obama used the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday to declare freedom of religion a major part of American foreign policy.
Saying countries that assure religious freedom tend to be more peaceful, Obama told a bipartisan crowd "nations that do not uphold these rights sow the bitter seeds of instability and violence and extremism.

The president said that he and his administration have raised the issue in meetings with China, Burma and Middle East and African Nations that restrict worship.
''Even as our faith sustains us, it's also clear that around the world freedom of religion is under threat and protecting that freedom is a key objective of US foreign policy'' Obama said.

The president called for the release of American missionaries who are imprisoned in North Korea and Iran. He also criticized armed conflicts involving religion, saying that "the killing of innocents is never fulfilling God's will."
Obama has spoken every year of his presidency of the national prayer Breakfast, an inter political party event that started in the early 50s.
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