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Christian Persecution Has Never Been Worse
Last week, the world reacted in horror as ISIS released a new video showing militants beheading a group of 21 men for being “people of the cross.” The latest gruesome display of religious persecution is part of a troubling trend of violence targeting Christians and other religious minorities. According to the group Open Door USA, the persecution has never been worse.
Kristin Wright is the director of advocacy at Open Doors USA, a group dedicated to helping Christians facing persecution around the world. We recently spoke with Wright about where Christian persecution is the worst, what Christians are facing and how people can help those suffering.
Has Open Doors seen an uptick in persecution against the Church?
We certainly have. Last year—2014—will go down in history as having the highest level of global persecution of Christians in the modern era. The worst thing, though, is conditions
Boko Haram’s Rise in Nigeria Sparks Civil War Fears
Friday’s deadly bomb attacks in Nigeria’s second largest city, Kano, are the latest in a series of spectacular strikes by the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram. The coordinated series of assaults on police stations and other government offices killed at least 200 people. The rise of Boko Haram is sparking concerns that Africa’s most populous country may be edging closer to civil war.
Nigeria’s Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka predicted it; political analysts are regularly asked about it; and the Kano attacks prompted the Leadership newspaper to run as its weekend edition headline, “Finally, Boko Haram Launches War.”
The radical Islamist Boko Haram has made headlines with increasing frequency lately for a series of audacious terrorist strikes. Among them, a Christmas Day bomb blast that Read more…
How Will The Shocking Decline Of Christianity In America Affect The Future Of This Nation?
Is Christianity in decline in America? When you examine the cold, hard numbers it is simply not possible to come to any other conclusion. Over the past few decades, the percentage of Christians in America has been steadily declining. This has especially been true among young people. As you will see later in this article, there has been a mass exodus of teens and young adults out of U.S. churches. In addition, what “Christianity” means to American Christians today is often far different from what “Christianity” meant to their parents and their grandparents. Millions upon millions of Christians in the United States simply do not believe many of the fundamental principles of the Christian faith any longer. Without a doubt, America is becoming a less “Christian” nation. This has staggering implications for the future of this country. The United States was founded primarily by Christians that were seeking to escape religious persecution. For those early settlers, the Christian faith was the very center of their lives, and it deeply affected the laws that they made and the governmental structures that they established. So what is the future of Read more…
Religious violence, abuse growing: world study
WASHINGTON — Religious-linked violence and abuse rose around the world between 2006 and 2009, with Christians and Muslims the most common targets, according to a private US study released Tuesday.
“Over the three-year period studied, incidents of either government or social harassment were reported against Christians in 130 countries (66 percent) and against Muslims in 117 countries (59 percent),” said the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life study.
In 2009, governments in 101 nations, more than half the globe, used at least some measure of force against religious groups. A year earlier only 91 nations had done so, the report said.
As of 2009, more than 2.2 billion people, or nearly a third of the world’s population of 6.9 billion, lived in countries where religious restrictions had risen substantially since Read more…
China’s Cold War on Christianity Perpetuates Historic Persecutions
Totalitarians cannot tolerate the free exercise of religion. As so many disillusioned communists in the last century observed, communism, to its disciples, is a religion and a god. One well known book, a collection of the writings of a number of former communists, is called simply The God That Failed. Anyone who has attempted to discuss a subject intelligently with a communist quickly grasps that he is talking to a follower of a secular religion.
Sometimes communism has entered into a truce with faith or has loosened the chains on religious people for tactical reasons. During the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, for example, the churches opened again and allowed people to worship without duress. That limited freedom disappeared after the Nazis were defeated. The Soviets also pretended to respect the rights of Jews to worship, although in actual practice Judaism was suppressed (Hebrew, for example, was forbidden while Yiddish, a secular language, was encouraged).
Why the fear of religion? As men such as Read more…
Egypt and Tunisia: risk of civil war
The deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians in Cairo, in Egypt and unrest in Tunis region, spark fears of renewed sectarian violence in Egypt, and insecurity in Tunisia. In Egypt, a religious leader warns against a “civil war”, while police is accused of inaction.
- The Egyptian government has promised to use all available legislative arsenals to prevent further clashes after those in the neighbourhood of Imbaba Saturday night having made 12 dead and 232 wounded.
- On Monday, the press was concerned about an expansion of violence: “The fire of religious fanaticism threatens Egypt,” headlined the daily Al-Ahram, while the independent Al-Masri al-Yom emphasized: “extremism burns the revolution.”
- Newspapers and the power blamed the “cons-revolutionaries” and “extremists” for the violence orchestrated by these followers of former President Hosni Mubarak ousted Feb. 11 by a popular revolt. The army has provided since the country’s leadership.
- Quoted by Al-Masri al-Yom, Mufti Ali Gomaa, one of the highest Muslim authorities in Egypt, has warned against “a possible Read more…
Nigeria Christians Concerned Amid New Deadly Clashes
ABUJA, NIGERIA (Worthy News)– Tensions remained high in Nigeria’s Plateau State Wednesday, February 16, where up to eight people were killed and more injured in sectarian clashes sparked by the stabbing of a police officer.
Witnesses said Tuesday’s violence in the city of Jos included a gang setting up a roadblock in one neighborhood, leading to up to four deaths. Others, including Christians, said up to four more people were murdered and their bodies set ablaze elsewhere, including in the Gada-Biu area.
There were also reports that tires, cars and motorcycles were burned as well.
Christians said the violence began after the police officer was stabbed to death when he Read more…
Iran Escalates Attacks on Christians
Joseph DeCaro
TEHRAN, Iran (Worthy News)– Last Christmas, the Iranian government began arresting Christians, raiding and ransacking their homes as they are taken to prison and interrogation.
Since December 26, anywhere from 100 to 600 Christians, often converts from Islam, have been detained without charge and without access to lawyers or family members for what the governor general of Tehran Province claims is their “corrupting” influence on society.
Along with Christians, other Iranian religious minorities — Zoroastrians, Sufis and Sh’ia — have also come under closer government scrutiny.
Reportedly, Iran’s religious minorities are increasing in large numbers because many of its Muslims will no longer tolerate their government’s intolerable version of Islam.
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