The United States has nominated Jane "Cissie" Graham Lynch, a granddaughter of evangelist Billy Graham, to serve as its ambassador for international religious freedom. The nomination, announced by the White House on 14 September, is now awaiting confirmation by the US Senate.
The post heads the United States' international religious freedom work within the State Department, which is grounded in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to change one's religion. The office produces annual reports on religious persecution around the world and coordinates how the United States responds to violations of that right.
Reporting in the Swiss free-church newspaper LaFree, citing a 22 September analysis by Allen Hertzke and Judd Birdsall in Christianity Today, the account notes that the current administration has stepped back from that leadership role. For the first time in twenty years, it says, the United States has not delivered the required annual reports on religious persecution, and staffing and budget cuts have reduced the office's capacity. Hertzke and Birdsall argue that promoting religious freedom worldwide is both right and strategically important, and they hope voices on both left and right will revive the bipartisan coalition that long championed the cause.
The appointment carries personal as well as political significance: Lynch is the daughter of Franklin Graham and granddaughter of Billy and Ruth Graham, whose evangelistic ministry shaped much of twentieth-century evangelicalism. The question posed by the report is whether the nomination will restore the United States' historic leadership in defending religious freedom.
(Originally published in French. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
Source: LaFree Switzerland (Fédération Romande d'Églises Évangéliques) — lafree.ch/avec-la-petite-fille-de-billy-graham-les-etats-unis-retrouve
