Sen. Ben Sasse on Russian Moves Against Religion

I don’t bother much with Russia, since I don’t expect Putin to respect any kind of freedom, but here goes:

Sen. Sasse:

There are troubling new developments in Russia. Russia’s parliament, the Federal Assembly, has just approved so-called anti-terrorism legislation that criminalizes free speech and that attacks religious liberty.

If President Vladimir Putin signs this into law in the coming weeks, it will be illegal for Christians to share their faith outside of a church building, as if faith is constrained by the four walls of a structure and belief to a single day of the week.

In some ways, this isn’t a surprise.

In some ways?  Yeah.

We’re in a dangerous age.

At the same time, Americans well understand that it is not our national calling—nor is it within our power—to attempt to right every wrong in a broken world.

But we should be clear about what is happening—as well as the fact that there is not an easy fix here. It is naive to hope that Russia can be reformed with reset buttons or with promises of future “flexibility.”

Instead we need to begin telling the truth about an increasingly aggressive actor in global affairs.