Just In Case You Missed It

I haven't written much lately about the persecution of Christians and other religious groups, so I decided to share a few recent news stories that describe this growing worldwide trend. Some of these stories address real persecution by governments or other religious groups, while others describe the increased societal rejection of religious values, even in nominally Christian countries. Of course, life for believing, practicing Christians is almost intolerable in most Muslim and Communist nations.

I don't intend to offer much detail since you can simply click on the links I've provided and visit the original news stories. Here goes...

In Africa, Uganda has seen its share of violent persecution. Just last month a Christian pastor was murdered outside his church, in front of his daughter, by three Muslim attackers who demanded he destroy his church because it was too close to the local mosque. Because he refused, he was beaten and slashed with machetes after being told, "Today you will face the wrath from Allah." Sadly, it's just one more story of violent anti-Christian attacks -- read more here.

In Nigeria, a country which has experienced far too much anti-Christian persecution, a Muslim militia group attacked a Christian community, killing 49 residents and kidnapping another 27. Read more about the almost daily attacks on Nigerian Christians here. 

Things are no better in Asia. In Myanmar, for example, the military has been attacking Christian settlements, destroying churches, burning homes, and even murdering clergy. In Afghanistan, hundreds of Christians have fled because of the intolerant, murderous policies of the Taliban toward other faiths. Many more, however, remain in the country, unable to make their way to a safe refuge. Based on experience with the Taliban, many of these will no doubt be slaughtered. Life was never easy for Afghan Christians, but our grossly incompetent exit from the country has made things far worse and will certainly lead to more persecution of these courageous, faithful people. 

French Catholics Threatened With Death. On December 8 a small group of about 30 Catholics in the Paris suburb of Nanterre were taking part in a torchlight procession celebrating the Immaculate Conception when they were accosted by perhaps a dozen Muslims. The Muslims shouted out threats to "the infidels" and called for the death of the priest leading the procession. This is just another example of similar attacks by anti-Christian groups that have become more common in France. Not long ago Leftist Antifa radicals violently attacked a similar procession in Paris. Between the years 2008 and 2019 attacks against Christians in France have increased by 285%.

Christianity: The #1 Target of Hate Crimes. Click on the link and read Raymond Ibrahim's article describing the disturbing growth of attacks on Christianity in Europe. Even though many European countries do not keep track of anti-Christian attacks, such attacks outnumber hate crimes against any other religion. Ibrahim, by the way, is always worth reading. He is among the most knowledgeable scholars and commentators on the Middle East.

Dying Catholic MP, Sir David Amess, Denied Sacraments by Police. On October 15 Sir David Amess, a Catholic Member of Parliament in the UK, was meeting with constituents in a local church hall when he was attacked by a Muslim and stabbed to death. His pastor, Fr. Jeffrey Woolnough, hearing what had happened drove to the scene with the intention of offering the sacraments to Sir David in the event the MP was in danger of death. As it turned out, he was, but the police refused to allow the priest access to the dying man declaring it was a crime scene. Priests, of course, are fully aware of the necessity to avoid causing problems with crime scenes, but the UK has become so officially irreligious that police and other authorities see no reason to accommodate clergy who desire only to minister to the dying. 

President Biden's Build Back Better legislation discriminates against religious facilities. The bill, which includes federal funds to improve child-care facilities, prohibits the use of these funds by religious based childcare facilities. This will no doubt lead to increased costs for these church-based facilities and end up forcing many of them to close, unable to compete with better funded secular facilities. It's just another form of subtle religious persecution by the Biden administration.

I haven't addressed the severe persecution evident in communist countries such as China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba. Perhaps in my next post.

Pray for persecuted Christians here and throughout the world.