A man prays June 2 at the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo. (Reuters)

President Barack Obama will make a major speech to the world’s Muslim community on Thursday in Egypt.

In advance of that speech, some are calling on the president to address the persecution of Christians that occurs on a massive scale in many Muslim countries.

“Speaking on behalf of persecuted Christians around the world, I encourage President Obama to address the issue of freedom of religion and other basic human rights in the Muslim world. Islamic governments should allow people to practice their faith of choice, without retaliation,” Carl Moeller, president/CEO of Open Doors USA, said in a June 1 press release.

Open Doors is a Christian organization that works to help Christians who live in countries where they are persecuted for their faith. According to the organization’s June 1 press release, “Islam is the majority religion in seven of the top 10 countries on this year’s Open Doors World Watch List of the world’s worst persecutors of Christians — Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Maldives, Yemen and Uzbekistan.”

But on the eve of his departure tonight for his trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Obama said he wasn’t planning to call the Muslim world to account for its repression of Christians or for other human rights transgressions.

In an interview with the BBC that was broadcast today, “Obama indicated no stern lecture would be forthcoming,” The Washington Post reported.

According to the Post, “He said he hoped to deliver the message that democratic values are principles that ‘they can embrace and affirm.’

“Obama added that there is a danger ‘when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture.’”