In the book of Isaiah, the prophet declares, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And to open the prisons for those who are bound” (Isaiah 61:1). This is not just the role of religious leaders; this is the role of every person.

The reality, despite many narratives shared around the world, is that faith and religion matter. As others at this Symposium have discussed so eloquently, 80% of the world’s population sees itself as having some sort of religion or belief and regards it as important. I have had the privilege of being born in Egypt, raised in Australia, and then serving for almost 30 years in the United Kingdom. In these different contexts, religion and religious freedom are experienced differently. In some parts of the world, religion is something that can be compartmentalized, something we put in a box and refer to only at times. But in other parts, it is an indistinguishable part of one’s identity and day-to-day life, and to be denied it is to be denied part of one’s actual identity.