Religious persecution rampant in our world

 

 

“Christianity began in persecution, and Christians are the most persecuted

believers today – 160,000 killed in Nigeria alone in the past 15 years”.

 Barney Zwartz

  

©Sydney Morning Herald Lifestyle

 

Persecution peaks, and Christians are most at risk

Story by Barney Zwartz

 

Persecution is one of the ugliest behaviours people are capable of, and we’ve been doing it since the dawn of humanity.

 

In fact, it is more widespread today than at any point in history, yet few in the secular West realise that much the most endangered group is Christians. Some 400 million Christians, more than one in seven, are at daily risk of persecution, especially in Africa and Asia. According to a 2019 British government report, they make up 80 per cent of those being persecuted for their religion.

 

Christianity began in persecution, and Christians are the most persecuted believers today – 160,000 killed in Nigeria alone in the past 15 years.

 

Genocide by Muslim groups in Nigeria alone has claimed 160,000 Christian lives in the past 15 years, yet Western media usually reports this as ethnic conflict, if it even notices. The causes, as always, are complex and mixed, but there is no doubt that religious conquest is the main motivation behind groups such as Boko Haram.

 

Why does the plight of Christians attract so little attention from Western activists who care about rights abuses? I suspect the most important factor is that they have been taught to see Christianity as the religion of Westerners, colonialists who deserve opprobrium. In fact, the vast majority live in Africa, South America and Asia, and have little political power.

 

It is not only Christians who are persecuted. India has the third-highest Muslim population, more than 200 million, and many are under intense pressure, as are Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Numerically, the worst persecutors of Muslims are other Muslims.

 

Atheists are persecuted in many nations, Baha’is in Iran, while China has targeted political dissidents, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, Catholics, Protestants and the Falun Gong. Then there’s perennial antisemitism.

 

Paradoxically, persecution has always strengthened the church, in faith and numbers, from first- century Rome to 21st century Iran and China. Tyrants fear people of faith, because they may torture the body but they cannot own the soul.

 

Persecution peaks, and Christians are most at risk