Freedom of Religion Across the Globe

Today's Wall Street Journal included this plea made on August 5th by Vian Dakhil to her fellow members of the Iraqi Parliament, on behalf of the Yazidi, a religious sect whose members are besieged on Mount Sinjar by the extremist group formerly known as the Islamic state of Iraq and al-Sham:

I beg you, Mr. Speaker, my people are being slaughtered, just like all the Iraqis were slaughtered: Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, Turkmens, and the Shabak people. Today, the Yazidis are being slaughtered.
Brothers, despite all the political disagreements, we want human solidarity. I speak in the name of humanity. Save us! Save us! For the past 48 hours, 30,000 families have been besieged on Mount Sinjar, without food or water. They are dying. Seventy children have died so far of thirst and suffocation. Fifty elderly people have died because of the deteriorating conditions. Our women are being taken captive and sold on the slave-market.
Mr. Speaker, we call upon the Iraqi parliament to intervene immediately to stop this massacre. . . .
We are being slaughtered, annihilated. An entire religion is being wiped off the face of the Earth. Brothers, I am calling out to you in the name of humanity! In the name of humanity, save us! Mr. Speaker, I want to . . .
Vian Dakhil breaks down crying.

We will post later on President Obama's decision to authorize air strikes in Iraq to aid the families on Mount Sinjar, as well as on the group formerly known as ISIS's persecution of Christians.  For now, though, Ms. Dakhil's heartrending plea highlights the importance of our First Amendment.  

Yazidism is an ancient monothiestic religion. Yazidis believe in one god, who created the world and entrusted it to the care of seven holy beings. One of these beings was Tawuse Melek, the "Peacock Angel", who refused to bow to Adam after God created man. According to Yazidi tradition, God then made Tawuse Melek the leader of all angels and his deputy on earth. Followers of other religious traditions, such as Muslims, maintain that Tawuse Melek fell out of favor with God after the Adam incident and eventually became Satan. They therefore view Yazidis as devil-worshippers. 

Now, in A.D. 2014, Sunni Muslims are attempting to kill 30,000 Yazidis on Mount Sinjar because of THESE differences in belief. This is why we must zealously guard the religious protections in the First Amendment.  When the government burdens religious exercise, it implicitly derogates those beliefs and the people that hold them.  Its actions imply that a religion is unworthy of protection.  Taken to extremes, it creates an environment where genocide is possible. A child's belief in a Peacock Angel's fate should not earn her a death sentence.