Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has recently compared today’s anti-religious sentiment to the encroachment on religious liberty that he witnessed along the Iron Curtain in Germany during the 1980s.
“Today I want to speak to you about the challenges that are ahead of you as followers of Christ, and how you should approach them and overcome them,” warned Pompeo during a commencement speech at Regent University, an evangelical college in Virginia Beach
Pompeo, a devout Christian, told the graduates about his time deployed at the “border of freedom” which acted as the border between West and East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, according to The Daily Wire.
“Today that border of freedom is much closer,” Pompeo stated.
“It’s right here in our own communities. Our freedoms, particularly our unalienable right of religious freedom, is increasingly under attack from our government, be it local, state, or federal.”
The video above shows a Christian pastor being jailed for “inciting” people to attend his Church.
Pompeo believes that the United States is “deeply rooted in Judeo-Christian values,” and that these values are slowly being eroded from the country.
Pompeo continues:
“There’s a growing threat right here, right in our backyard. Our country must remember that no one can enjoy the pursuit of happiness if you cannot own the fruits of your own labor, and no society can retain its legitimacy or a virtuous character without religious freedom.”
“I worry,” Pompeo stated. ““I worry that far beyond the battle lines of defense, economic or trade policy, that the battle to stop the divorce of America from its founding values is much more important.
“After all, it is those values, those values that make us a shining city on a hill, and give us the moral authority that permits us to lead the world.”
Seen in the video above, Pompeo has vehemently defended religious freedom in the past, listing nations such as Iran, China, and Russia who are known for persecuting religious groups.
Andrew Brunson, a pastor who was imprisoned for two years by Turkish President Erdogan had this to say about the looming threat:
“I believe the pressures that we’re seeing in our country now are going to increase, and one of these pressures is going to be hostility toward people who embrace Jesus Christ and his teaching, who are not ashamed to stand for him,” Brunson continued.
“My concern is that we’re not ready for this pressure. And not being prepared is very, very dangerous on a number of levels.”
