Religious freedom is critical to a free society, especially as persecution of Christians accelerates around the world, warns author and expert Tina Ramirez in this interview on Conversations That Matter with The New American magazine's Alex Newman. Christianity has survived and even thrived in Iraq and other nations in the Middle East despite genocide attempts and endless persecution, as Ramirez explained in a book she wrote for Voice of the Martyrs. She was able to go to Iraq to study this issue. In Afghanistan, the situation is now worse since the United States invasion and departure, she warned. Ramirez has worked actively in Sudan, too, where millions of Christians have been butchered and slaughtered for their faith. Now, with religious liberty under assault even in the United States, Ramirez is running for U.S. Congress to help protect it.