US Raps Russia Over Religious Freedom Shortly After New York Church Death

The US State Department has criticized Russia in its annual International Religious Freedom Report, a document that comes amid reports of a teenager being beaten to death in a New York church.

The US State Department has released its International Religious Freedom Report for 2014, in which Russia and Iran are placed on its 'concern' list, among other countries, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

The report was presented by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, the pages of this document contain reports on violations of the rights of religious minorities in such countries as Burma, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and others," Kerry said.

While the US touts its tolerance of religious minorities, even this seemingly enlightened policy unwittingly fosters cults. Kerry's comments come amid reports that in an attempt to coerce two brothers to "confess their sins", members of a secretive upstate New York church beat one of the teenagers to death and badly brutalized the other.

During the assault, which took place on Sunday, one of the brothers, 19-year-old Lucas Leonard, was taken to a hospital by family members on Monday and pronounced dead the same day.

Lucas's brother, 17-year-old Christopher, was also hospitalized and currently remains in a serious condition, according to police investigating the tragedy.

It is not the first time that the US has slammed Russia in its reports on international religious freedom. The Russian Foreign Ministry rejects the accusations, which it says are far-fetched and contain previously stated complaints.

The US fails to review itself in the report, but many believe the country has failed to live up to the religious guarantees promised in its Constitution. For example, two Christian bakers who refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding were ordered to pay $135,000 in damages for "emotional suffering"; luckily the Portland-area couple was able to obtain $372,000 via two crowd-funding sites. In New Mexico, a photographer was similarly taken to court and forced to pay approximately $7,000 after refusing in 2006 to take photos of a 'same-sex commitment ceremony' due to her Christian religious beliefs. Other cases involve Christian florists, churches and caterers who have been forced to cater to gay weddings, pay damages or abandon their businesses. 

Meanwhile, a state lawmaker in Tennessee is proposing a bill that would ban schools from teaching "religious doctrine" before the 10th grade, prompting one group which promotes civil rights for Muslims to claim that the proposed law is directed specifically against Islam. The current school curriculum covers the religions of the world so that students can develop "a deep understanding of how world religions impact world history" according to the state's education commissioner.