What happens if we lose religious freedom? Here’s what few people realise

I have come across a lot of people who have come to Australia in recent times and they say, "We thought we were getting away from religious persecution, that's why we came to this land of freedom," [...] when the persecution has followed them to Australia.' [2]

Admittedly, most refugees are fleeing persecution that is much, much worse than anything (yet) here in Australia. But the point remains: if the West loses its religious freedom, then there will be no safe harbours left for refugees fleeing religious persecution.

As Samuel Adams, one of America's Founding Fathers, warned:

Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.' [3]

The vulnerability of the refugee adds another dimension to the religious freedom debate:

If we care about vulnerable refugees, we should also care about religious freedom in our own country

I realise that many Christians are ambivalent about religious freedom.

After all, the thinking goes, if the early Church didn't have religious freedom (and they seemed to get on just fine so far as making disciples), if many countries where the gospel is exploding don't have it, then why do we need it here in the West?

There are several problems with the view of not needing/caring about religious freedom here in the West.

The first is the problem of moral consistency.

If we care about the plight of vulnerable refugees fleeing persecution from overseas, then shouldn't we also care about their wellbeing once they're in our country?

After all, if it's unacceptable for innocent people to be persecuted by governments and cultures in other parts of the world, why would it then be acceptable for them to be targeted by activists and government Human Rights Commissions once they arrive on our shores? [4]

Thus, it strikes me as odd that some of the most pro-refugee people in our society – namely those on the political and cultural Left – are also those most suspicious of religious freedom. Don't they realise that most refugees are religious? Be it refugees from Africa, Asia or the Middle East. These people wear religion (often quite literally) on their sleeves (look at the 2017 marriage postal vote results: the highest number of 'no' voters were religious people from other cultures).