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Teleios Research estimates government aid to persecuted countries
We evaluated the amount of United States government aid (total and military) as well as trade policy with the top 50 countries on the Open Doors persecution of Christians list.
The primary source noted of persecution in each country in the Open Doors list was: Islamic oppression (n=33), dictatorial paranoia (n=6), religious nationalism* (n=5), communist and post-communist oppression (n=4), or organized crime and corruption (n=2).
We used the Office of the United States Trade Representative website and the US Agency of International Development website as the primary sources of information supplemented by Google searches. We collected: country, trade with US ($), total US aid ($), US foreign military financing ($), trade restrictions (i.e., no trade, no trade allowed, some trade allowed), religious persecution-based restrictions (yes/no), restrictions (reason), and religious policies toward (yes/no).
This study found that all of the top 50 countries persecuting Christians received United States aid averaging $516,150,450 per year, of which $201,174,780 was military support. The lowest level of funding was to Bhutan at $18,000 and the highest was just over $5 billion separately to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine.
Of the 50 countries, there were no observable trade restrictions in 36, limited restrictions in 12 and no trade allowed in two. The trade restrictions were enacted in the 14 countries for a variety of reasons, the most common being corruption (n=4). In no instance was persecution of Christians a reason for restricting trade. The United States government had met with 20 of the offending countries to discuss their need for better religious tolerance.
This study suggests that the existence of Christian persecution, or religious persecution generally, did not affect United States general or military aid or influence trade policy. The government does discuss the need for better tolerance of religion in some cases but it does not appear to affect public policy.
–WC Stewart; JA Stewart; S Brogan; and LA Nelson–
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About Teleios – Teleios is a non-profit foundation that seeks to demonstrate the truth of scripture and the Christian faith through scientific methods by providing evidence for the positive results of a biblically-based lifestyle. Prior studies conducted by Teleios have shown that the practice of the Christian faith (praise, prayer, fellowship, service and Bible study) and security of salvation increases well-being while reducing guilt.
*Religious nationalism is the relationship of nationalism to a particular religious belief, dogma, or affiliation. This relationship can be broken down into two aspects; the politicization of religion and the influence of religion on politics.
