Are Christians Being Persecuted?
SIGNS OF THE END TIMES PART 4
BY GINA DETWILER
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” Matthew 24:9
The “Forbidden” of my novel Forbidden, are those who cast out of society for worshipping God rather than the Grigori. Some reviewers called the novel a “Christian Fever Dream” and maybe it is. On the other hand, Jesus did tell us that in the last days, his followers would be persecuted and even put to death because of him.
Of course, Christians have been persecuted since day one. All but one of the disciples were martyred. Christians throughout history have chosen death rather than renouncing their faith in Christ. But is the persecution of Christians on the rise in our world today?
You might think it isn’t because it’s rarely reported in the news. Yet according to Open Doors, USA, the number of Christian martyrs rose by over 60% in 2020 alone. Attacks on Christian schools and churches skyrocketed in 2023, and the number of Christians forced to flee their homes more than doubled.
Nigeria is the biggest killing ground, where estimates range from 50,000-70,000 Christians killed in the previous decade, according to International Christian Concern. The Islamist regime in Nigeria has carried out a decades-long genocide against Christians that resulted in 8000 dead last year alone. Moderate Muslims and other religious groups also find themselves in the crosshairs of the bloodthirsty Boko Haram and related factions, all state-supported.
The same is true for many Islamic nations, where Christianity is often illegal. Some two million Armenian Christians were killed in a genocide in Turkey in the early 20th century. Sudan has killed over a million Christians. China is cracking down on home churches—nearly 10,000 have closed.
Attacks against Christians are also on the rise in India, which has instituted “anti-conversion” laws and laws that make it impossible for Christian organizations to receive donations. Five hundred churches were burned, thousands of Christians displaced, and many more attacked and intimidated by extremist Hindu organizations.
Below is a map of the hotspots of persecution against Christians, according to Open Doors, USA.
In short, there were more Christians martyred in the 20th century than in all the other centuries combined.
But we aren’t suffering from persecution in America, right? I mean, look at this map. The USA is in gray. No problem!
It’s true that we in America are not being fed to the lions yet. But that doesn’t mean Christians are not targets for persecution in other ways. You’ve certainly heard of some of these stories in the news:
A cake baker was sued three times for declining to bake cakes that went against his religious views.
A high school football coach was fired for practicing his First Amendment right to pray before a game.
Churches were forced to close during the pandemic while liquor stores, strip clubs, casinos, and gay bathhouses remained open.
A restaurant in Virginia refused service to a Christian group because of their Christian values.
The IRS discriminated against Christian organizations applying for non-profit status by claiming they were “political,” while never applying the same standard to left-leaning non-profits.
After the overturning of Roe v Wade, Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill to shut down Crisis Pregnancy Centers, calling them “deceptive” because they don’t offer abortions. “With Roe gone, it’s more important than ever to crack down on so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ that mislead and deceive patients seeking abortion care. My bill with @SenatorMenendez would stop these harmful practices.” Yes, she really said that.
After the Dobbs verdict, there were 122 attacks against Crisis Pregnancy Centers, including the firebombing of CompassCare in Buffalo, New York by the radical pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge. No one was arrested, and the FBI and the Department of Justice took little interest in pursuing investigations of the attacks. Yet attacks against abortion clinics are rigorously pursued, and the attackers are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Kamala Harris, as DA of San Francisco, ruthlessly prosecuted pro-life investigator David Daleiden for his undercover work in exposing Planned Parenthood’s illegal selling of fetal tissue. She never investigated Planned Parenthood at all.
In 2022, a Christian family from Germany was threatened with deportation. They had emigrated to the US because they wanted to homeschool their children, which was illegal in Germany, due to a Nazi-era law. The Biden administration decided, fourteen years after they had been granted asylum, that their case did not amount to actual persecution, and they would have to go back to Germany. This was at a time when the Biden administration was allowing hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter the country illegally. Eventually, the ruling was overturned, after the case gained widespread publicity.
The Little Sisters of the Poor were threatened with hefty fines if they refused to offer the abortion pill as part of their health insurance package, even though it went against their religious vows.
During his Presidency, Obama changed the DoD rules for military chaplains, forbidding them from “Religious Proselytization,” and forcing them to perform same sex marriages.
Two Christians artists in Arizona served six months in jail for refusing to paint for a same sex wedding.
Gordon College nearly lost its accreditation after a sustained attack by left-wing “social justice” organizations over its Christian values.
Several colleges and airports banned Chick Fil-A due to its Christian values.
In New Jersey, a teacher was fired for giving a student a Bible. He was later reinstated.
The Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics featured a mockery of the Last Supper with drag queens. When thousands of Christians expressed outrage, the organizers responded with a half-apology and claimed they never intended to insult any religion, even though the literal title of the show was “The Last Supper on a Stage on the Seine.”
Nick Vujicic, a Christian motivational speaker who has no arms or legs, was cancelled by his bank for being pro-life. He has since launched his own faith-friendly banking service.
In his book Compromising Scholarship, George Yancy found that among academics, “more than half would be less willing to hire a fundamentalist, and almost two in five would be less willing to hire an evangelical.” Academics “explicitly stated they would discriminate against a job candidate who is a conservative Protestant.”
There are many more examples, but I’ll stop there. We live in a post-Christian society where Christianity is no longer looked upon favorably. In fact, George Yancy in his book So Many Christians, So Few Lions, found that Americans generally look upon Christians with just as much disfavor as they do Muslims. Yet our society, particularly our government, is always much more concerned about anti-Muslim or anti-Jewish sentiment than anti-Christian sentiment.
In social media and public discourse, it’s still perfectly okay to mock and ridicule Christians. Can you imagine what would have happened if the Paris Olympics had mocked Islam?
In social media and public discourse, it’s still perfectly okay to mock and ridicule Christians. Can you imagine what would have happened if the Paris Olympics had mocked Islam?
I don’t think we’ve reached the point Jesus spoke of in the Olivet discourse, at least not in America. But the trend is going in that direction and will likely continue.
What should Christians be doing? Exactly what Jesus told us to do. Be watchful. Be ready. Love each other. And stand firm.
“For the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matt 24:13
