Christian persecution is at an all-time high around the world, which has been brought on to fight the expansion of the church in places like Iran and Africa, according to former Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., on Newsmax.
"You've never had more Christian persecution in any time in world history than we have right now," Brownback told Monday's "Rob Schmitt Tonight," guest-hosted by Joe Pinion. "There's just more Christian persecution now and yet there is more Christianity and people that follow Jesus around the world now than any time in human history.
"And often there is persecution when there's expansion of the church — maybe not be as much in the West, but you're seeing a lot of expansion of the church in places – unusual places like Iran and many places throughout Africa that they've got a big expansion of the faithful followers of Jesus."
Brownback was the U.S. ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom under former President Donald Trump.
"I think we have to fight for religious freedom," he continued to Pinion. "I think we have to stand up for this foundational human right. It's in the 1948 Charter of U.N. Declaration of Human Rights that you have a freedom to do with your own soul what you see fit."
Brownback remembered Pope Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI as "a towering intellect" who served as pope during "a very tumultuous time for the world."
"This moment in history and where we see the passing of this towering figure is a good time to remember that we've got to stand up and fight for these rights," Brownback continued.
Brownback, who also served in the Senate with both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and President Joe Biden, commented on the supposed political opponents holding a joint hailing of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed last year before another $1.7 trillion was passed in an omnibus budget before the end of the last Congress.
"Well, it's pretty tough optics, but I think, honestly, what's going on is these are two guys that have known each other for a long time," Brown said. "Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden served together in the Senate for decades, and I think what you're seeing is that bit of relationship that's there and that the president Biden has been working at."
Brownback said Republicans need to stand more firmly against Democrats' massive spending initiatives, something that McConnell has been criticized for not doing enough of.
"It's a tough time in politics, and I think we as a Republican Party have to start standing up to more for the things that we believe in, and one of them that has always been there for a number of years is holding federal spending down. I was part of the Congress that balanced the budget – as strange as that may sound.
"But I think we've got to start standing up for some of those principles, and Lord knows we've got to get this budget under control."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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