Posts Tagged ‘Christian persecution’

Persecution a global threat to Christianity

Friday, October 16th, 2015

Christianity is in danger of ceasing to be a truly global faith as increasing numbers of its followers flee violence and persecution across swaths of the Middle East and Africa, according to a new report. “Christians are fast disappearing from entire regions – most notably a huge chunk of the Middle East but also whole Read more

One in ten Christians face persecution, discrimination

Friday, July 31st, 2015

One in ten of the 2.2 billion Christians in the world face some degree of restriction, discrimination or outright persecution. British peer David Alton said this amounts to 200 million people in 60 countries. Persecution ranged from murder, rape and torture to repressive laws, discrimination and social exclusion, he said in a Guardian article. One Read more

Cracks in the atheist edifice: religion in China

Friday, November 14th, 2014

The coastal city of Wenzhou is sometimes called China’s Jerusalem. Ringed by mountains and far from the capital, Beijing, it has long been a haven for a religion that China’s Communist leaders view with deep unease: Christianity. Most cities of its size, with about 9m people, have no more than a dozen or so visibly Read more

The suffering of Christians in Syria

Tuesday, November 4th, 2014

The persecution of Christians by radical Islamic groups in Syria over the past two years has been appalling—and largely ignored. I suppose I should wear it as a badge of honour. My first death threat over my new book, Hatred: Islam’s War on Christianity (Signal, 2014)—was sent to me a couple of weeks ago. Apparently Read more

A modern Inquisition: from Spain to Syria

Tuesday, August 5th, 2014

My family name, “Maron,” is a vestige of and a testament to the human capacity to hate. My family tradition tells the story of my ancestors’ expulsion — along with hundreds of thousands of other Jews — from the Iberian Peninsula by royal Spanish decree in 1492 following an era of great success and coexistence Read more

Indonesian Islamic extremists attack Catholics saying rosary

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014

A group of Islamic extremists in the area of Besi have attacked a meeting of Catholics in the parish of the Holy Family of Banteng , in an area north of Yogyakarta (island of Java). It has been alleged that dozens of armed people wearing robes assaulted a group while saying the rosary at a Read more

Top Ten worst places to be a Christain

Friday, February 28th, 2014

The top ten countries for persecuting Christians over the last year were ranked: North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Pakistan, Iran and Yemen, according to Open Doors USA, an organisation that monitors and exposes Christian persecution around the globe. Particularly, the “2014 World Watch List”, a rather nuanced report, has highlighted these Read more

Drinking Communion wine gets four Iranians 80 lashes each

Tuesday, October 29th, 2013

Four Iranian men are due to get 80 lashes each for drinking communion wine during a “house church” service. House churches are a way for Iranian Christians to gather in unofficial buildings to conduct Church services. The Independent reports the four men, Behzad Taalipasand, Mehdi Reza Omidi, Mehdi Dadkakh and Amir Hatemi, were originally arrested Read more

John Allen: War against Christians is global

Friday, October 11th, 2013

War against Christians is being waged on a global scale, involving direct physical violence, harassment, and imprisonment, according to veteran Vatican journalist John Allen. In a new book, The Global War on Christians, he says 100,000 Christians were killed each year throughout the first decade of the 21st century — 11 new martyrs every hour. “I Read more

Arab Spring turns to Islamic Winter of Christian persecution

Friday, February 8th, 2013

The countries where Christians are worst off are those where the Arab Spring revolts took place, according to a survey by an American human rights organization. After mapping the religious freedom situation around the world, Open Doors said as many as eight out of 10 states that have adopted repressive measures against Christians are Islamic. Read more