Before Preaching to the World, Maybe Clean the Graffiti Off Your Temples: An Open Letter to USCIRF
If irony had a permanent address, it would be headquartered somewhere inside the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)—that paragon of virtue, that lighthouse of moral outrage, that ever-vigilant babysitter of other nations’ soul. And oh, how generous they are with their unsolicited advice.
This week, in their annual performance review of the world’s religious souls, USCIRF graciously offered India a fresh round of condescension—topped off with a cherry-picked horror story about an alleged assassination plot involving India’s intelligence agency. Naturally, they skipped the footnotes, like the internal probe launched by India or the pesky concept of evidence. But who needs due process when you have holy indignation and a press release template?
Of course, USCIRF didn’t stop at a gentle slap on the wrist. No, no—they recommended sanctions. Because nothing says “global religious peace” like Washington D.C. bureaucrats throwing diplomatic Molotov cocktails from their climate-controlled offices. Sanctions are, after all, the modern-day indulgence: punish first, ask later, or never.
But here’s a wild thought—what if, just for fun, USCIRF tried a little experiment in introspection? What if it took its high-powered telescope off India for one moment and turned it—gasp—on its own backyard?
Let’s start with the temples. Not the imagined ones in Gujarat. The real ones—right here in the U.S.—that have been defaced, looted, and smeared with anti-Hindu, anti-India hate speech. From California to New York, Hindu temples have been systematically vandalized, their walls spray-painted with genocidal slogans. The land of the First Amendment seems oddly okay with the desecration of Hindu symbols. USCIRF must be saving its outrage for another day.
Then there’s the little issue of Indian-Americans being physically attacked. Just last year, an Asian woman was stabbed in the head on a bus in Indiana because, according to her attacker, “It’s one less person to blow up our country.” Poetic justice, maybe, in the eyes of those who think religious freedom starts and ends with their holy book.
And while we’re here, let’s not forget the digital battleground. In January 2025 alone, nearly 88,000 anti-Asian slurs were tracked online. Many of them were aimed squarely at Indians. But surely, that’s just free speech, right? No cause for USCIRF to designate Silicon Valley a “Country of Particular Concern.” That would be awkward.
What makes this entire charade more stomach-churning is the composition of USCIRF itself. A Commission stacked with appointees from one political party, most of whom somehow find time between Sunday sermons and donor galas to draft foreign policy manifestos. Of course, some have worked tirelessly in the “interfaith” space—a term that often translates into “saving brown people from their heathen gods.” The evangelical undertones in USCIRF’s worldview are so loud they practically have their own choir.
And isn’t it strange how USCIRF’s compassion is so… geographically selective? Pakistan’s blasphemy laws? Sad, but complex. Saudi Arabia’s complete ban on churches? Unfortunate, but strategic ally. But if a state in India passes a law regulating conversions, it’s DEFCON 1 at the Commission.
So here’s a humble suggestion to the good folks at USCIRF: before you designate foreign governments as villains in your morality play, take a good, hard look at your own house. Clean the spray paint off the temples in your cities. Stop the hate crimes in your schools, buses, and neighborhoods. Maybe issue a report on the steady diet of racial toxicity your own citizens are fed about Hindus and Indians.
And while you’re at it, perhaps introduce a new category in your annual report—“Commission of Particular Hypocrisy.” We have a feeling you’d be first on the list.
India, like every democracy, is imperfect. But it doesn’t need lessons in secularism from a nation where brown-skinned gods are welcomed only if they come with a Bible in hand.
Until then, dear USCIRF, kindly keep your sanctions, your sermons, and your savior complex to yourself.
