WEA RLC met with Bhutan government and Church leaders to lobby against anti-conversion laws.

On January 29th-31st, Rev. Godfrey Yogarajah, Executive Director of the WEA Religious Liberty Commission met with government officials and Christian leaders of Bhutan to lobby against the anti-conversion laws that were approved by the parliament in December 2010. The laws shall ban religious conversions by force or allurement and provide for imprisonment of three years for “proselytization”.

This was a follow up meeting to the earlier two meetings that the WEA RLC delegation had with the minister of Home affairs and the director of religious regulations and the prime minister.

Rev. Yogarajah also met with representatives from the different constituencies of the Church – the National Christian Council and the Evangelical Alliance as well as some other groups in order to bring them closer together. He introduced the document “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct”, a joint statement by the WEA, the WCC, and the Catholic Church, in order to illustrate ways in which co work among different Christian bodies has become possible in other countries and regions and how this could be implemented in Bhutan.
 
Rev. Yogarajah described the meetings as very cordial and positive.