Selection of Sarah Makin-Acciani shows the commitment to religious liberty

Just a few weeks ago, President Trump put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of handling the COVID-19 situation. Thus far, the vice president has done a remarkable job leading the charge: Millions of Americans are taking the call to stay home quite seriously and doing all they can to keep themselves, their families, and their neighbors safe.

But this isn’t the only area where the vice president has demonstrated a remarkable ability to preserve safety and freedom. News recently broke that one of his aides, Sarah Makin-Acciani, has been tapped to serve on the National Security Council (NSC) as the president’s adviser on international religious freedom. The position is an important one; some sources say that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the White House to fill this position for nearly 20 years. 

And Makin-Acciani is a perfect fit for the job. She’s served for many years in our nation’s capital, fighting to promote the biblical values of life and freedom across the country. Sarah served as senior advisor to Randy Forbes, the Republican representative for Virginia’s fourth congressional district from 2001 to 2017.

Forbes was well-known for his pro-life stance, having been given a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and, more recently, voting in favor of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Act, which bans abortions after 20 weeks when an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain.

After working for Rep. Forbes, Makin-Acciani served on the vice president’s staff as director of public engagement and intergovernmental affairs. Her leadership during this time made her an obvious choice for the role, as does her outspoken faith. Makin-Acciani is a practicing evangelical Christian who places Christ at the center of her life and aims to use the remarkable position she’s been placed in for his glory.

 he opportunity couldn’t come at a better time. Momentum on the international religious freedom front has continued to grow since President Trump took office. The evening before the National Prayer Breakfast in February, the International Religious Freedom Alliance — a group of 27 nations committed to protecting the rights of individuals to practice their religious faith — met for the first time in Washington. The Alliance aims to stem the tide of violence against religious communities and promote other human rights intimately linked to freedom of religion, such as freedom of expression and assembly.

The world desperately needs firm and decisive leadership on this issue. The World Economic Forum (WEF) reported a significant spike in religious violence over the last decade. Some of the violence is infighting among sects within one religious faith, such as Sunni and Shia Muslims; some of the violence is when individuals from one religious faith (or none) attack those from another, such as the increase in anti-Semitic violence in Europe and, sadly, here in the United States. Christians are not exempt from such violence: Open Doors USA, an organization that helps persecuted Christians around the world, reports that 260 million Christians experience persecution in 2020.

The more quickly we can coordinate effective international action — and the more passionately we advocate for such action here at home — the more we can keep believers of all faiths safe and free. Much of the world’s energy in the coming days will be dedicated to stopping the coronavirus, and that is as it should be.

But once we recover from this pandemic and begin to turn the corner, we must redouble our commitment to ending religious violence and ensuring that everyone, around the globe, can pray free from fear and safe from harm. I am confident that Makin-Acciani will be an invaluable resource in these efforts, and I look forward to seeing how she will help this administration continue its important work to promote the first and most precious of human rights in the years to come.

Timothy Head is executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a national grassroots movement of over two million conservatives and people of faith in support of time-honored values, stronger families, and individual freedom.