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The Strange Silence While Christians Suffer Persecution In 45 Nations

By: Herb Denenberg,

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The world seems to slumber while a global epidemic of religious persecution rages and gains force. There are aspects of this madness that boggle the mind and defy rational explanation:
* It seems clear, however incredible, that we have learned little from the Holocaust and do not understand the escalating catastrophes that are let loose by unopposed religious persecution. “Never again” now seems only to mean “never again until the next time.”
* This epidemic of religious persecution not only involves some of the less populous religions – e.g., the Jews (13 million worldwide) and the Baha’i (7.7 million worldwide) – but also involves the most populous and widespread of any religion: Christianity, with 2.1 billion members.
* Some of the nations where this persecution takes place are among our allies, such as Afghanistan , Iraq and Saudi Arabia .
* Religious persecution can be found most often in nations with Muslim majorities, but it can also be found in nation’s where other religions hold the majority position, such Buddhists (Bhutan, 72 percent Buddhist), Hindus (India, 79 percent Hindu) and Christians (Colombia, 95 percent Christian).
* Many of the nation’s persecuting religious minorities claim they practice freedom of religion and even incorporate guarantees of religious freedom in constitutional documents (e.g., Cuba ). But in the tradition of the communists, these claims and guarantees mean nothing in practice. It is what they do, not what they say or write.
* The world, including the mainstream media, seems almost oblivious to this epidemic of religious persecution and virtually ignores it. In one of four previous columns on this subject, I asked Lela Gilbert, a leading authority on religious persecution, to try to explain why the mainstream media has failed to cover religious persecution against Christians (See “The Underreported Persecution of Christians,” Oct. 19, 2007). Among six reasons given, one was that foreign murders and atrocities are not “sexy” and don’t sell newspapers or attract viewers. Another reason is that reports of persecution support the Bush message that there are indeed violent jihadis at work in the world, and that flies in the face of liberalism’s party line.
So in an attempt to call attention to this problem of religious persecution of Christians and others, I thought I’d catalog some of the nations where religious persecution against Christians can be found. My job was made easy by an organization called the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), which publishes a magazine by the same name. In its special issue of 2008, it cataloged the state of persecution of Christians in 45 different nations, most of which have a predominant Muslim population.
Here is some sampling of that compelling documentation:
* Afghanistan is about 98 percent Muslim and 0.02 percent Christian, with multiple problems on many fronts. But it manages to persecute Christians. VOM reports, “Anyone who acknowledges faith in Christ experiences intense persecution, including death. Persecution normally comes from family members and neighbors, while police and government officials turn a blind eye.”
* Algeria has been in either internal or external wars for nearly half a century, with Berbers agitating for autonomy and with the presence of extremist militants. VOM reports, “A second anti-conversion law restricting Christian evangelism was implemented in June 2007. The move is intended to put the first law passed March 2006 into practice. Those found guilty of ‘shaking the faith’ of a Muslim face punishment of two to five years in prison and a maximum fine of about $12,000. The same punishment is applied to anyone publishing or keeping literature and/or audio-video materials that threaten the Islamic faith. Through this law, an era of relative liberty to practice Christian faith ended.”
* Bangladesh has faced a plague of floods and cyclones, costing billions of dollars worth of property damage and loss of life, and its people are mired in poverty. With an 86 percent Muslim population, despite its problems, it has resources and energy to engage in violence against Christians. For example, VOM reports, “In July 2007, Muslim villagers attacked and severely beat 41 former Muslim converts. The next day, the Christians were given 24 hours to get out of the village or face further beatings and the destruction of their property. Police who were to protect the Christians for three months left after only a week. The believers were also banned from using the village well, a common form of ostracism.”
* Bhutan was taken over by Communist China in 1949. Its population is 72 percent Buddhist, 23 percent Hindu and 0.46 percent Christian. VOM reports, “All public worship and evangelism by non-Buddhists is illegal in Bhutan . When Bhutanese are discovered to have converted to Christianity, they are denied government benefits – including education and employment. They face subtle forms of discrimination. In 2007, a Christian who contracted a serious disease while a government medical worker was denied medical treatment.”
* Colombia is one of these Christian-persecuting locations, which is surprising as it is in the western hemisphere and is 95 percent Christian. There, a Marxist guerrilla group, FARC, has killed more than 300 evangelicals and displaced hundreds more. VOM reports, “Guerrillas persecute Catholics and Protestants, seeing Christians as a threat to new recruitment. These violent acts are funded by illegal drugs.” Despite all this, VOM reports Christianity is growing in Colombia .
* Iran , as you might guess, is a leader in persecuting Christians and other non-Muslim religions. It is over 99 percent Muslim. A Muslim who converts may receive the death penalty. VOM reports, “In 2007, the government organized a highly coordinated crackdown that included the arrest and interrogation of Christians, along with the confiscation of thousands of Bibles. Pastors are forbidden to preach in Farsi (the official language) and can only use the Armenian language. Mission organizations are not allowed to enter Iran .” It should be noted that Islam deems the Baha’is heretics, so they are in for special persecution in Iran and other Muslim nations. For more on religious persecution in Iran see my column “The Nazi-like Propensities of Iran (Nov. 1, 2007) on The Bulletin’s Web site at www.thebulletin.us.
* Gaza and the West Bank are among the great factories of religious intolerance, violence and would-be genocide directed at Christians and Jews. This column has documented the religious persecution of Palestinians on two occasions – “More on the Persecution of the Christians: The Palestinian Authority” (Nov. 6) and “A Case Study on Religious Persecution” (Dec. 28).
* China , an emerging world leader, also leads in persecuting Christians. More Christians are in prison or under detention in China than any other nation. VOM reports, “Again in 2007, church property and Bibles were confiscated. Christians were harassed, questioned, arrested and imprisoned.”
* Burma ( Myanmar ) is 82.9 percent Buddhist, and its government continues to “discourage, harass and use other more severe forms of persecution on any group or belief they consider harmful to the state. Christianity is high on their list for eradication; all the while the government claims freedom of religion.” VOM has even obtained a secret memo entitled “Program to Destroy the Christian Religion in Burma .” It details “instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state. It calls for anyone caught evangelizing to be imprisoned. VOM has received widespread reports of churches being burned, forcible conversion of Christians to Buddhism and Christian children banned from schools.”
* Saudi Arabia, 93 percent Muslim, not only practices the most extreme form of religious persecution at home but also – with our petro dollars – exports it worldwide by funding madrassas, religious boarding schools and other institutions that can spread the Saudi brand of religious intolerance and violence. VOM reports, “After North Korea, Saudi Ara
bia has been called the most repressive nation in the world for Christians.”
* Cuba , in our own backyard and with a Christian plurality of 47 percent, has a long history of persecuting Christians. VOM reports, “In the 1960s, [Fidel] Castro labeled Catholics and Protestants ‘social scum’ and forced lay people and clergy into labor camps under inhumane conditions. Cuba ‘s constitution was amended in 1992 to guarantee freedom of religion. Yet, today Christians are still imprisoned and churches destroyed.”
What can you do to fight religious persecution including the variety cataloged in this column? Here are a few ideas from the site of the International Christian Concern Web site, www.www.persecution.org:
* Get informed. Learn about what is going on in the world in terms of religious persecution (see the box accompanying this column for some references). Get copies of press releases and other documents related to religious discrimination and send them to media outlets, politicians and other opinion makers. Have your groups invite speakers on the subject. For example, Persecution.org will put you on an e-mail list to receive its releases and other documents.
* Support groups that fight religious discrimination. I’ve often recommended switching gifts from our major universities, which are now centers of the anti-American and the anti-religious, and support groups fighting for American values, such as the Heritage Foundation, the Hudson Institute and the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
* As you might guess, they also recommend prayer with copies and distribution.
* Finally, they recommend getting involved. That would include writing your representatives in Congress, outlining problems and calling for action and specific remedies. Write others such as the secretary of state and the first lady. Write letters and opinion pieces for newspapers and magazines. Call talk shows and express your views on this subject.
* As always, I’d add to the list: Don’t limit yourself to reading the mainstream media, which shows little interest in religious persecution and, if anything, slants its journalism to support rather than fight it. Go to alternatives that are not anti-American and anti-religion. I’d also recommend dropping subscriptions to mainstream media publications known for their anti-American and anti-religion bias.
Why is the leadership of the Christian churches so silent and almost indifferent to worldwide persecution of Christians? This problem deserves far more resources and attention than it now receives. Based on the action or inaction of Christian leaders, you have to wonder whether they are really Christians and really leaders.