The invitation came from the director of the Washington, D.C., office of perhaps the largest Buddhist group in the country. He invited me to sit on the planning committee for a State Department roundtable on Buddhism to be convened this fall.

The Center's leadership gave me their blessing to represent the Center. Although the State Dept.'s agenda in this instance does not address health care or bioethics per se, it does fall at our intersection of health, faith, and ethics.

The initiative for the Buddhism roundtable, and for existing roundtables on Islam and Hinduism, came from the State Dept.'s Office of International Religious Freedom (OIRF). Their "Annual Report on International Religious Freedom" monitors conditions of religious freedom and persecution around the world. OIRF is familiar with the beliefs and concerns of at-risk Christian groups; staff want input, however, from adherents of and experts on non-Christian religions so that the OIRF annual reports are not "inadvertently ignorant of or insensitive to" those groups. Additionally, the roundtables will draw marginal religious groups in the U.S., especially recent immigrants, into foreign policymaking at the State Dept. and provide forums for concerns about their treatment within the U.S.

The OIRF was created in 1998 to implement the International Religious Freedom Act. The OIRF, states the 2000 annual report, "has sought (in the words of the Act) to 'stand with the persecuted,' to provide hope to the millions throughout the world who suffer because they dare to believe in, and to worship, an authority beyond the state." This is a remarkable perspective and a noble charge. The annual report is the standard text on religious freedom and persecution worldwide. Excerpts from the 2000 report illustrate the ethical and health aspects of religious persecution:

Burma. "The Government . . . generally infiltrates or monitors the meetings and activities of . . . religious organizations. During the period covered by this report the Government continued to imprison Buddhist monks who exercised their rights to free speech and association by calling for democracy and political dialog with prodemocracy forces."

China. "Members of [unregistered religious groups] were subject to harassment, extortion, prolonged detention, physical abuse, and incarceration in prison or in 'reeducation through labor' camps. There were credible reports of religious detainees being beaten and tortured. The Government increased restrictions on members of many minority groups, including Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uyghurs, members of Falun Gong and other 'heretical cults,' and Protestants and Roman Catholics not belonging to the official churches."

Israel. "Most non-Jewish citizens are Arab Muslims, and they are subject to various forms of discrimination. The Government does not provide Israeli Arabs with the same quality of education, housing, employment opportunities, and social services as Jews. Government spending and financial support are proportionally far lower in predominantly non-Jewish areas than in Jewish areas."

Saudi Arabia. "Proselytizing by non-Muslims is illegal, including the distribution of non-Muslim religious materials such as Bibles. No foreign missionaries operate legally in the country. During the period covered by this report, two Filipino men were arrested, charged with proselytizing, and forced to serve approximately 2 months in prison."

By commissioning roundtables on Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, the State Dept. is not promoting these religions. Rather, it is being responsibly attentive to them in carrying out its foreign policy mandate to monitor and promote religious freedom around the world. In a similar way, we at the Center are being responsibly attentive to the role religion plays in global contexts and staying true to the Center's own mission: "to explore and enhance the interaction of health, faith, and ethics through research, education, and consultation to improve the lives of individuals and communities."