The Silence when it comes to Chrisitan Persecutions

Perpetual Kahindo, Staff writer and Editor

From the News to social media, the world cries in outrage at the persecutions and oppression of Muslims in China, France, and Palestine or the Hindus in India and Pakistan. But when it comes to the persecution and oppression of Christians, it seems like the world turns a deaf ear. 

Barely anyone knows about the beheadings of Christians in Egypt, Mozambique, Tunisia, Libya, and Nigeria by Muslims, or the Church bombings in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Egypt, India, and even the kidnapping and forced conversions and marriages of women and underage girls in Pakistan. The world seems to have no problem reposting and bringing awareness to other persecuted religions around the world but when it comes to Christians, it’s as if no one cares or they fear condemning other religions that are the main oppressors. 

Isalm has been on the rise for years now but what they fail to mention about this surge is that forced conversions and the threat of death if Muslims leave the faith, make up a large portion of why it’s on the rise. The number of Christians across the Middle East has been rapidly declining. It is a prominent example of the poor status of Christians in the Middle East despite the religion being native to the region. The question we need to know is why Christianity is dying out.

Let’s take a closer look at Syria, a beautiful country settled in the Middle East that had 10,000 Assyrian Christians that lived in more than 30 villages and more than 20 dozen churches. But the war in 2011 chased away all the Christians that were not kidnapped or killed and now about 900 Christians remain and only one Church holds service. But the persecutions of Syrian Christians did not start in 2011, they have been running for their lives for years.

What about Egypt? The persecution of Copts is a historical issue in Egypt against Coptic Orthodox Christianity and its followers. Persecution against Christians in Egypt happens mostly at the community level. Incidents occur most frequently in Upper Egypt, where Salafist movements exert a strong influence on the rural communities due to high levels of illiteracy and poverty. Incidents may vary from Christian women being harassed while walking in the street, to Christian communities being driven out of their homes by extremist mobs. 

Furthermore, in contrast to how mosques and Islamic organizations are dealt with, churches and Christian non-governmental organizations are restricted in their ability to build new churches or running social services. Christians of all backgrounds face difficulties in finding new places for communal worship. The difficulties come both from state restrictions, as well as from communal hostility and mob violence.

Christians from a Muslim background often have great difficulty in living out their faith since they face enormous pressure from their families to return to Islam. The state also makes it impossible for them to get any official recognition of their conversion.

The Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Christians has taken a disturbing new turn. According to a recent Radio Free Asia report, Chinese Christians are being detained at secretive “brainwashing camps.” These Christians are Imprisoned in a windowless room without ventilation, Li was subjected to verbal and physical abuse. United Front officials use intimidation, threats, and beatings to force detainees to renounce their faith. The CCP’s persecution of Christians has also involved demolishing churches and arresting leaders like Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2019.

Imprisoning Christians in brainwashing camps is another step in the CCP’s intensifying crackdown on religion. The CCP believes independent religious practice threatens its power. Under President Xi Jinping’s policy of “Sinicization,” the party seeks to conform religion to its political goals. Religious groups deemed to “disrupt public order” face severe monitoring and persecution

Nigeria just reported on June 9th, 2021 that 1,500 Christians have been killed by Islamic Jihadists during the first months of 2021. And on top of that 2,200 Christians were abducted within the same time period. Even though we are in the midst of a global pandemic, terrorist groups like Boko Haram and radicalized Fulani militants have shown no signs of slowing down their onslaught. Since 2001, 60,000 Christians have been brutally murdered in Nigeria at the hands of Boko Haram. And two million of them have been displaced due to religious persecution. Terrorists ravage and burn homes and kidnap children then forcibly convert them to Islam. They pull Priests from their Pupils and beat them to death with machetes.

Let’s not fear condemning any religion at the expense of another. Let’s hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Let’s get educated and condemn religious oppression when we see it, regardless of who the oppressor and oppressed are. All religious and non-religious people worldwide, deserve to live in peace and not fear persecution.