Source: Patriot Post | VIEW ORIGINAL POST ==>
Jesus said, “You can expect to be persecuted, even killed; for you will be hated by all the nations because of your love for me.”
These words are as relevant today as they’ve been over the past two millennia of Christianity.
In recent decades, religion has come under attack not only in America but also around the globe. The mocking of faith and the attack on spirituality can be found in music, movies, television, the Internet, and most certainly in government policies.
In particular, dictatorial regimes often utilize their unchecked power to oppress those who worship God instead of their political leaders, as evidenced in many other countries around the globe. Without the protections of free speech and freedom of religion like we have in our country, there would be nothing stopping the government from punishing dissenters.
The 2025 Global Persecution Index, published by International Christian Concern, has some troubling findings that should give pause to anyone professing faith in a higher power. That’s specifically true for Christians, of course, who are more likely to find their beliefs demeaned or even outlawed by authoritarian governments.
This year’s GPI found that “Persecution in Nicaragua has worsened dramatically, with increased government hostility toward Christians.” Furthermore, in India, “Hindu nationalism has intensified, stripping away the rights of Christians and religious minorities through anti-conversion laws and mob violence.” Also, “Across Africa, regions like the Sahel, Nigeria, and DRC face brutal violence against Christians, including weekly attacks and displacement.”
The report continues, “The greatest concentration of ‘Red Zone’ nations, countries with the most severe actions taken against Christians, including torture and death, were found in a strip of land in Africa known as the Sahel, which includes places like Mali, Niger and Chad. However, other significantly dangerous nations for the Christian faith were identified as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Korea. There is a mounting trend that shows authoritarian policies are on the rise globally, particularly as geopolitics enter an increasingly fragile period, and has meant more nations are clamping down on religion.”
Some of these nations are dominated by faiths other than Christianity, and cracking down on followers of Jesus is one way to keep people subservient to the official state religion. In other places, following any religion is perceived as a threat to state power.
A second study, The Global Christian Relief Red List, discovered that Nigeria, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo lead the world in killings of Christians. In India, Hindu extremists have attacked homes and churches. China currently leads the world in the arrests of Christians. And in Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, more than 100,000 Christians have been forced to leave their homes.
Clearly, there’s a movement around the world in which these dictatorial regimes are singling out Christians. While we battle anti-Christian propaganda and anti-faith cultural forces here in the West, there are people of faith in other places who must worry about losing their jobs, their homes, and even their lives.
Another troubling report titled The World Watch List 2025, published by the organization known as Open Doors, found that “more than 380 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination in their faith,” including one in seven Christians worldwide, one in 15 in Africa, and two in five throughout Asia. It also highlights some of the hot spots for Christian persecution, including North Korea, where “Several groups of Christians were arrested and brought to labour camps.” Nigeria “remains disproportionately deadly for Christians, with 3,100 paying the ultimate price for their faith.” Worldwide, Open Doors discovered that “Christians continue to be detained without trial, arrested, sentenced and imprisoned for following Jesus.” In India alone, “1,629 Christians were detained without trial and another 547 were sentenced to prison.”
Awareness of what is happening to Christians worldwide reminds us of our freedom to worship here at home.
Reverend Johnnie More, appointed by Donald Trump and Joe Biden to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and coauthor of The New Book of Christian Martyrs, explains that “particularly those of us that live in countries where the country is majority Christian or where there is mainly religious freedom, where we don’t fear for our lives by going to church on the weekends, those are great blessings that we thank God for.”
Moore adds, “The foremost persecutors of Christians still in our world are communist cases. So this ideology is the ideology that has persecuted more Christians on scale than any ideology in history.”
In particular, China remains one of the nations most hostile to Christians.
As Azeem Ibrahim writes at Foreign Policy, “Between 5,000 and 10,000 Christian churchgoers have been arrested, some prominent Protestant clergy have been given long prison sentences, and around two-thirds of China’s Protestants have resorted to underground churches in an attempt to avoid police harassment. Government officials have been asked to compile more details of worshippers, feeding into discrimination in employment, especially in official posts. All children under age 18 have been strictly prohibited from attending any kind of religious education.”
Christians around the world need to take note of what is happening to — and pray for — our fellow followers of Jesus, but also to people of all religious faiths who face discrimination and persecution. By keeping the spotlight on the persecutors, there is hope we can find solutions to this increasing global issue.
