Log In | Register
It is not generally appreciated that over 100,000 Christians a year are murdered because of their faith. Because Christianity is, by a wide margin, the world’s largest religion, the leading religion in the traditionally most advanced areas of the world, and, despite its many fissures, the best organized, largely because of the relatively tight and authoritarian structure of the Roman Catholic Church, the West is not accustomed to thinking of Christians as a minority, much less a persecuted one.
Global Persecution of Christians - Over 100,000 killed per year
Seeded on Thu Feb 9, 2012 9:58 AM EST
Article Source: National Review Online
- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (23)
A comprehensive Pew Forum study last year found that Christians are persecuted in 131 countries containing 70 percent of the world’s population, out of 197 countries in the world (if Palestine, Taiwan, South Sudan, and the Vatican are included). Best estimates are that about 200 million Christians are in communities where they are persecuted. There is not the slightest question of the scale and barbarity of this persecution, and a little of it is adequately publicized. But this highlights the second half of the atrocity: the passivity and blasé indifference of most of the West’s media and governments.
- 2 votes
#1 - Thu Feb 9, 2012 10:09 AM EST
While all true persecution is wrong Christians do and have done their fair share of it. It is increasingly difficult for me to come to the defense of the offensively religious. Empower any of them and they just put another group down.
All religion is evil all of the time.
- 5 votes
#2 - Thu Feb 9, 2012 10:40 AM ESTThe margin isn't THAT large only about 12% over Islam. You also can account a good amount of those christian deaths/murders on how the push their faith on others. Sorry but when you send people to an impoverished African country with food as the vice they use to push their christian teachings there might be some backlash. Holding food until someone lets Christ into their life will lead to violence if the person who it's being held above is dedicated to another faith.
Honestly, I think that any religion is silly when you get to the bottom of it. All the inter-religion disputes are unnecessary when you figure it's all over who picked the correct invisible man in the sky to worship.
- 1 vote
Holding food until someone lets Christ into their life
evidence please.
- 5 votes
evidence please.
Sorry I don't have a link to prove my point but I did work with a Kenyan man named Azeem who told us that the village he was from had missionaries that had resources but only would give them to them if they attended their "services". What is that too much of a stretch? Would you switch to another religion on your own? How about if you were starving and the way you got food was to accept Islam? Of course you'll say no now because you know you won't starve if you don't. They didn't have that choice. It's not like Christianity has an untarnished past of accepting others regardless of religious affiliation.
- 1 vote
I'm sorry but I would never get away with using alleged anecdotal evidence in any rebuttal here on the vine. Nor shall you.
- 3 votes
Sorry I don't have a link to prove my point but I did work with a Kenyan man
so in other words, all you have is hearsay, presumably from a source who's a member of the religion committing most of the persecution in the world today, so it doesn't sound very reliable. so what about the documented instances of the Pakistani government refusing aid to non-Muslim flood victims? we still don't see Christians in this country killing their Muslim neighbors over that. the biggest problem with this victim blaming is that there's no justification for killing Christians in another part of the world just because you find some Christians in this country annoying.
- 5 votes
Well then I guess you guys can continue living in this fantasyland where Christians are always good and every other religion is bad.
We still don't see Christians in this country killing their Muslim neighbors over that.
No but we see Christians rallying around keeping Mosques out of neighborhoods and the full on demonization of Islam in general in this country. Not to mention Christians that are against gay people because of the book they worship tells them to be. With all that happening out in the open in this country is it really that far of a stretch to believe Christians in a remote village are using resources to convert villagers? Must be nice thinking nothing your religion has done is bad.
BTW mrsrachelm, you never answered my question? If you had to denounce your faith for food would you?
- 2 votes
Well then I guess you guys can continue living in this fantasyland where Christians are always good and every other religion is bad.
Please provide a quote where I have stated this.
BTW mrsrachelm, you never answered my question? If you had to denounce your faith for food would you?
Not for food, not for medicine, not for shelter, not to save my life, not by torture, not by persecution, not by any means will I denounce my Lord. I hope that answers it clearly enough for you.
- 7 votes
No but we see Christians rallying around keeping Mosques out of neighborhoods and the full on demonization of Islam in general in this country.
why should people have to have a favorable opinion of Islam when it's had thousands of terror attacks since 9/11 alone? but it's nice that you equate peaceful protests with the systematic killing of non-Muslims.
Not to mention Christians that are against gay people because of the book they worship tells them to be.
if you dislike Christianity for that (when the reality is gays receive some of the most tolerance in Christian-majority nations), then how can you defend Islam? homosexuality is still illegal throughout the Muslim world, with harsh penalties up to and including death.
With all that happening out in the open in this country is it really that far of a stretch to believe Christians in a remote village are using resources to convert villagers?
it's the height of logical fallacy to conclude that a rumor must be true because it sounds believable (to you) when compared to unrelated incidents. if you don't like Christians, that's fine, but at least base your reasons on verifiable facts.
Must be nice thinking nothing your religion has done is bad.
nobody is denying that Christians can do bad things too, but at least provide actual evidence of Christians behaving badly, otherwise it's just irrational prejudice. you need to understand that the anti-Islamic sentiment in the world today is based on real evidents like the daily terrorist attacks and human rights violations, not hearsay and rumors.
- 5 votes
I hope that answers it clearly enough for you.
It's a dishonest answer, but yeah that's fine.
Maybe you can just pray for that food to show up? That always works./s
- 2 votes
Nope, it was utterly honest. If you aren't going to accept my personal answer to a personal question directed solely at me, why bother asking?
- 4 votes
For the poor Christians here at home, persecuted and constantly harassed by the homosexuals, I give you the worlds saddest song on the worlds tinniest violin.
First, I hate it when there are opinion pieces that throw facts around without linking to the source. Here is a link to the Pew Research report the National Review is talking about
http://www.pewforum.org/Government/Global-Restrictions-on-Religion.aspx
People should read it, very interesting info on the state of the world's religions conflicts.
The report grades countries on two scales "Religious Restrictions" (laws and such restricting religious groups) and "Social Hostilities" (where actual violence is used against religious groups). Should be noted that North Korea, which should be in the top of both scales was not included because of lack of *any* data.
Here are the top 5% with "Religious Restrictions"
Saudi Arabia
Iran
Uzbekistan
China
Egypt
Burma (Myanmar)
Maldives
Eritrea
Malaysia
Brunei
Not a surprising list, remember that this isn't where *violence* is necessarily occurring, only laws against some religions (or in the case of China, all religions).
The top 5% for "Social Hostilities" is
Iraq
India
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Indonesia
Bangladesh
Somalia
Israel
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Saudi Arabia
Again this list if where there is actually violence against religions. In most cases this is sectarian violence (fighting *within* religions"). Interesting note that on the top "Hostilities" list appear two of American's allies, Saudi Arabia and Israel (the Saudis making *both* top 5% lists).
While the claim of 100,000 Christians killed in religious violence may be true, no where in the Pew Research is any number given, so it may just be pulled out of his ass.
His statement of
A comprehensive Pew Forum study last year found that Christians are persecuted in 131 countries containing 70 percent of the world’s population, out of 197 countries in the world (if Palestine, Taiwan, South Sudan, and the Vatican are included).
is also bull@!$%# and not from the Pew Research which only says
But because some of the most restrictive countries are very populous, nearly 70 percent of the world’s 6.8 billion people live in countries with high restrictions on religion, the brunt of which often falls on religious minorities.
The study does not differentiate between religions. The restrictions and violence may be Internecine (Sunni-Sufi, dominate Christians vs. minority Christians) or inter-religious (Christian vs. Muslim, Hindu vs. Buddhist, Government vs. any religion). But nowhere does it state that *only* Christians are persecuted, or that *all* Christians are persecuted in these countries.
.
So yes, Christians get picked on in the big bad world, sometimes by other Christians, sometimes by other religions, sometimes by governments. But so does *every other religion* and some have much higher levels of violence against them then Christians.
None of which justifies starting new Crusades to "Save Christendom" of whatever the frack the author would suggest we do.
- 4 votes
#3 - Thu Feb 9, 2012 11:25 AM ESTWhile the claim of 100,000 Christians killed in religious violence may be true, no where in the Pew Research is any number given, so it may just be pulled out of his ass.
"Pulled out of his ass"? Looks like a good chunk of them are in South Sudan, according to the article:
South Sudan was the scene of perhaps the vilest and most widespread abuse, as the Muslim Sudanese government killed approximately a million South Sudanese Christians and animists over the last decade or so.
One million divided by ten years makes 100,000. And that's just one area.
- 2 votes
See, that's what I mean about "pulled out of his ass". Where did he get that stat from? South Sudan only has 8 million people in it.
Sudan, and South Sudan is a cesspool of violence. There have been civil wars (hence South Sudan) and military coups, and tribal/ethnic violence there for decades. Most of the killings in South Sudan are more because of tribal/ethnic conflicts rather than Muslim/Christian conflicts. Just because a "Christian" was killed *doesn't* mean they were killed *because* they were a "Christian". Also note that he phrased it "South Sudanese Christians and animists", again it's a free-for-all of violence in that region.
Unless, of course you are counting the members of the Joesph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, which is a "Christian" militia and is part of the fighting in Sudan and South Sudan. And frankly the more of those "Christians" wiped out the better.
- 1 vote
The ratings of offending countries always put North Korea as the worst, followed by Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Maldives, Yemen, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Laos, Pakistan, Sudan, and, farther back but still prominently odious, Libya, Syria, Oman, Egypt, Kuwait, the Palestinian Authority, Vietnam, Cuba, and China. While there is no shortage of incidents in India, where there is serious religious friction between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs as well, most offending countries are Islamic or Communist.
- 2 votes
#4 - Thu Feb 9, 2012 11:26 AM ESTmost offending countries are Islamic or Communist.
Yep, and in most of the Muslim countries the primary victims are *other Muslims*, and in the Communist countries it's *all* religions.
- 3 votes
Egypt -
Since Mubarak’s ouster last year, escalating persecution against Copts has led to what one refugee calls a mass Christian “exodus” from Egypt. Forty Copts died in 22 separate incidents in the first half of 2011, compared to just 15 in all of 2010. For the first time ever, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended that Egypt be designated a “Country of Particular Concern,” placing it on par with the likes of North Korea, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia with respect to religious freedom. Human rights groups estimate that approximately 100,000 Christians have fled Egypt since the revolution, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service reports that the number of Copts seeking asylum in America more than doubled in 2011. [source]
Nigeria -
(Reuters) - Hundreds of Christians have begun to flee northern Nigeria after dozens were killed in a series of attacks by Islamist militants who issued an ultimatum to Christians to leave the mainly Muslim region or be killed, witnesses said Saturday.
Iraq:
only the most spectacular of terrorist attacks on Christians—such as the 2010 Baghdad church attack which left some 60 dead—ever receive mainstream media attention [source]
China:
Getting reliable numbers about the number of Christians in China is notoriously difficult. Estimates vary between 40m to 70m Protestants, only 10 million of whom are registered members of government churches.
The situation is similar for Catholics. Of the estimated 15 to 20 million Catholics in China, less than half belong to state-approved churches, which put authority to Beijing before authority to Rome.
Those Christians who want to avoid the state-controlled religious movements meet in unofficial buildings or even each others' homes - hence their description as "house churches" - risking fines, imprisonment, torture and even, in some cases, death. [Source]
- 4 votes
Very interesting stuff: now that I've read about how "persecuted" christians are, and how many are killed each year, I can come to only one conclusion; god must really dislike them!
- 3 votes
#5 - Thu Feb 9, 2012 2:05 PM ESTVery interesting stuff: now that I've read about how "persecuted" christians are, and how many are killed each year, I can come to only one conclusion; god must really dislike them!
The worst thing is that the frakkers have been responsible for so many atrocities worldwide and while I'm not justifying any loss of life, they call Muslims evil while denying their own part in things.
- 1 vote
Of course, they "deflect" their "evil" on other groups: women, gays, other religions, while sheltering child molesters, nazi sympathisers, racist, and megalomaniacs. They do evil in the name of "good"
You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
