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Religion clearly assumes a greater and greater place on the international stage, whether the diplomats like it or not. And there are cases where religious persecution is so egregious that the observance of diplomatic niceties and the desire to protect trade amounts to collusion. Religious freedom is bound up with other freedoms — thought, movement, speech, etc. — and it behooves a country that seeks to maintain those freedoms, both at home and abroad, to be a voice for the persecuted. We can only hope Bennett is allowed to speak out regardless of which dictatorial regime is offended.