The Awkwardness of The Global Persecution of Christians
10 May, 2019 // in The Coffeehouse Cleric // by Alex Rowe
We in England woke on Easter Sunday a couple weeks ago to the awful news of the Sri Lanka attacks; eight suicide bombs, targeting Christians and westerners. At the time of writing, the number reported dead stands at two-hundred and fifty-three, including thirty-eight foreigners, and more than five-hundred injured.
What follows is not a piece of special pleading for Christians. We must still mourn the tragic and fatal mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, that took place only weeks ago. But I do want to point out how the events of Sri Lanka suggest that we need to learn to think differently about Christianity, whether or not we believe.
Theresa May’s tweet might reflect this country’s awkward feelings toward Christianity: “The acts of violence against churches and hotels in Sri Lanka are truly appalling, and my sympathies go out to all of those affected at this tragic time.” But as Allison Pearson rightly pointed out, in her column for the Telegraph, the targets of these bombings were not buildings but bodies, not churches but Christians.
It seems odd for us to think of Christians as persecuted, as some papers have recently reported (here and here, for example). One version of Western history would have them in the reverse role, as the true persecutors. There is no denying that all manner of horrors have been perpetrated in the name of their God. But presently in secular England, Christianity is treated little more than a system of belief outmoded and irrelevant and from whose historic shackles we must shake ourselves free. Annoying, but mostly innocuous.
Christianity, a matter of life or death? Surely, this is only the hyperbole of the street-preacher whom we pity and mock as we stroll silently by? You’d think that way, in this country. Especially when the image of church leaders broadcast to the nation is The Vicar of Dibley’s bumbling Geraldine Granger. But Christians do die for their faith. Christianity, at least globally, is persecuted. The results are in: Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world, according to figures reported from the Pew Research Centre.
Though Christianity in England is in decline, in many countries and nations around the world the faith is simultaneous flourishing whilst facing discrimination and persecution. We must keep this global perspective in mind. If you want to ignore Christianity as an irrelevance, the global church phenomenon should cause you to pause and think again before discounting it. If you call yourself a Christian, you would do well to remember that while you might fear the raised eyebrow, our brothers and sisters around the world fear the raised fist.
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