Are Christians the most persecuted religious group worldwide and if yes is this the premier human rights challenge of this era?

Answer 1

A:

It is rather doubtful that Christians are the most persecuted group in the world, since most Christians live at peace with their neighbours. Of course, the sheer number of Christians in the world does mean that there will be some tension with members of other religions, but this is rarely official policy.

On the other hand, the Falun Gong religious group is outlawed and heavily persecuted in China, whereas Christian churches are permitted and given restricted liberty. North Korean persecution is directed against all religions, Christianity included. In the Middle East, Israel could be accused of persecuting Muslims and Christians alike, but this is based on ethnic differences, not religious ones. Druze are persecuted by Muslims in Lebanon, while elsewhere Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims persecute each other depending on who is dominant. And it is really only since the twentieth century that Christians have ceased to take the lead in persecuting members of other religions, with a recent example being the Christian genocide against Muslims in the former Yugoslavia, while Christian-on-Christian strife in Ireland continued into the twenty first century. The International Service for Human Rights has called on France to lift its ban on Muslim women wearing the hijab in public places.

Even though Christians may not be the most persecuted religious group, religious persecution is indeed one of the most important human rights challenges. After all, religious persecution is just as wrong, no matter who the victims of that persecution are.

Answer 2

Yes, indeed it is, according to the International Society for Human Rights, a secular observatory based in Frankfurt, Germany. It was quoted by John Allen Jr, author of 'The Global War on Christians' in The Spectator (Oct. 5, 2013), stated '80 percent 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 carnage...represents not ontly the most dramatic Chrisitan story of our time, but arguably the premier human rights challenge of this era."

Our 21st Century news is full of appalling examples of persecution, murder &/or forced exile happening in Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, North Korea and India to name just a few. And although persecution of Christians is much less dramatic in the 'English-speaking' countries, it is still there and growing. Even Britian's 'Telegraph ran an article stating 'Britain's most senior policeman has been urged to issue guidelines to his officers to protect Christian rights to free speech, among claims they are suffering intimidation and discrimination from police' (Christians Demand Free Speech Guidance From Scotland Yard, July 27, 2013).

Is this just the beginning signs of what the Apostle Paul prophecized of the total disregard of Christian ethics:

2 Timothy 3:1-4

GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)

Watch Out for Sinful People

3 You must understand this: In the last days there will be violent periods of time. 2 People will be selfish and love money. They will brag, be arrogant, and use abusive language. They will curse their parents, show no gratitude, have no respect for what is holy, 3 and lack normal affection for their families. They will refuse to make peace with anyone. They will be slanderous, lack self-control, be brutal, and have no love for what is good. 4 They will be traitors. They will be reckless and conceited. They will love pleasure rather than God.

Answer 3

It is unclear how you would define "most persecuted group". For example, if one person has his house burned down on account of his religion and another person is forcibly converted on pain of death, it would be completely arbitray to say which person is "more persecuted" than the other. Also, it is unclear if a group is "more persecuted" if it has more members who experience persecution. For example, if I have 1,000 religious people who are banned from wearing certain religious clothes does that balance out 1 religious person who is forcibly converted? Because of these and other issues, it is impossible to determine who is the "most persecuted group".

Regardless, there are hundreds of millions of Christians who suffer under various degrees of persecution, such as: imprisonment, religious ethnic cleansing, theft of property. government non-recognition of the religion, violations on the right to build, improve, or modify centers of worship, violations on the freedom of movement of believers, prohibitions on the publication, distribution, or sales of religious literature and/or paraphernalia, etc. Most of this persecution happens in the Islamic World, South Asia, and China. Unfortunately, many Non-Christians do not take the claims of Christian persecution seriously because of (1) Christianity's history of being a persecutorial religion and (2) Christians in Anglo-America and Western Europe claim that they are being persecuted whenever they are unable to perform religious activities with state sanction.

However, the real persecution that Christians are suffering should be opposed just like all other religious persecution.