It’s Time Washington Gets Serious About Persecution of Christians Worldwide
Last month, Time magazine reported: “In the last census of the Ottoman era, conducted in 1914, Christians made up a quarter of the Middle East’s population. Now they are less than 5%.” The quickly declining numbers of Christians throughout the Arab world should be a national concern – not just of the United States – but every other country. Time goes on to say that “Tolerance of minorities is a powerful indicator of the future health of viable modern states.” It’s estimated that the Middle East’s current population of 12 million Christians will probably be cut in half by 2020. The turmoil caused by the recent “Arab Spring” has accelerated the trend. When the Muslim Brotherhood took over Egypt, Islamist mobs attacked 63 churches and ransacked Christian orphanages and businesses. It’s no surprise that Christians in that part of the world feel like they’re constantly at war.
But the Middle East isn’t the only place where it’s happening. The Spectator reports: “According to the International Society for Human Rights, a secular observatory based in Frankfurt, Germany, 80 per cent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed at Christians. Statistically speaking, that makes Christians by far the most persecuted religious body on the planet.”
The nonprofit organization “Voice of the Martyrs” lists a shocking number of countries where Christians are being persecuted today.
Other groups like “Open Doors” are working to create awareness and make a difference. They currently track persecution through their online Watchlist.
It’s time to step up the pressure on Washington to take the lead. One of the founding principles of this country was freedom of religion. But once the domino of religious freedom falls, the other freedoms won’t be far behind. We need to leave the politically correct speech behind and start calling it like it is. In our fear of offending, we refuse to point out the causes and hot-spots of Christian persecution.
If the current trend continues, by the end of my lifetime there may not be any Christians left in the Middle East. And you can count on the fact that the intolerance won’t stop there.
how about starting in our own country? The most recent garbage on HGTV should be an eye-opener for that. I do agree it is bad all over, but they do need to start at home. Those who want tolerance are intolerant.
I agree with Bill (cycleguy) that we need to clean our own house to start with. Freedom of religion to me goes hand in hand with freedom of speech, you really can have one without the other. We can put pressure on Washington all we want but what are they really going to do? They can talk and condemn other countries’s actions all they want but until they do something along the money line nothing much will change. Even with that what could we really do to some place like China? We probably owe them more money than they do us. If our own government would abide by our founding principles and we as Christians would hold them to it, then we would have a stronger front to put pressure on these countries.