VOA常速英语:U.S. Stands Against Religious Persecution

At a recent speech in Washington, Vice President Mike Pence said that “protecting and promoting religious freedom is a foreign policy priority of the Trump administration.”

In too many nations, he noted, “Limitations placed on people of belief have become too numerous to count.”

Vice President Pence stated his belief that “From al Qaeda to al Shabaab, from Boko Haram to the Taliban, these extremist groups seek to stamp out all religions that are not their own, or even a version of their own that they approve. And believers from every background have suffered grievously at their hands. And this summit is about calling the attention [of] the world to those tragic circumstances.”

Vice President Pence stressed the need to speak to the persecution of all persons of faith worldwide, noting that “persecution of one faith is ultimately the persecution of all faiths.”

“America,” he said, “stands with those who are targeted and tormented for their belief, whether they are Christian, Yazidi, Druze, Shia, Sunni or any other creed. The President's commitment to protecting people of faith also will not end with the elimination of ISIS or the eradication of terror. America will continue to condemn persecution of any kind, of any faith, any place, any time. We will stand against it with our ideals and with all our might.”