Increasing persecution of Christians worldwide

Compass Direct, an agency that monitors persecution of Christians worldwide, reports that several countries are stepping up pressure on churches and individual Christians. The group identifies four factors that contribute to this growing trend.

The increasing influence of Muslim extremists

In Iran, four pastors have been murdered during the last three years, including Mohammad Yusefi, 34, whose body was discovered hanging from a tree on Sept. 28.

Muslim extremism is also seen in Sudan, which was declared an Islamic Republic in 1983. The Sudanese government, located in the Arab Muslim north of the country, has attempted to force Islamic law on the primarily Christian and animist South. The result has been a civil war costing thousands of lives.

While Algeria has tried to maintain a relatively secular state, militant Islamic groups continue to use terrorist tactics in their attempt to destabilize the government and gain control. Nineteen Catholic clergy have been murdered since 1992.

In upper Egypt, Christians are often forced to pay protection money or risk being killed by Muslim extremists. And many Egyptians, both Muslim and Christian, believe the extremists heavily influence the government.

Turkey elected the Islamist Welfare Party July 9, though the effect on the Christian church remains to be seen.

Move toward religious nationalism

The dominance of the Orthodox church in several eastern European countries is leading to growing restrictions against non-Orthodox groups. With its historic ties to national culture and tradition, loyalty to the Orthodox church is encouraged by Orthodox leaders. The Russian national Duma (parliament) continues to debate a bill that would limit the ability of non-Orthodox groups to operate in the country.

Evangelical Christians in Romania have reported that a number of official and unofficial militia-like groups have been set up at the initiative of Orthodox leaders to terrorize religious minority groups, particularly newly organized evangelical groups.

Church attrition in the Middle East

Unlike Christian believers in communist-dominated areas, Christians living in Islamic-dominated areas have much more freedom to leave. In Israel, for example, the number of Palestinian Christians has dropped from 27 percent of the population in 1948, to less than two percent today. A related problem is the large numbers of Christians converting to Islam. One Middle East pastor estimates that as many as 12,000 Christians a year convert to Islam in Egypt, primarily due to economic reasons. It is easier to get a job as a Muslim.

Tighter control in the communist world

In China, a massive ongoing campaign to force the rapidly growing house churches to register with the government has intensified. This is in large part due to the powerful influence Christianity is having on the youth of China. The Cuban government has also intensified its effort to control the burgeoning house church movement that began in 1992, with at least one pastor arrested for refusing to close his church.

Churches in Vietnam are also reporting an intense crackdown from the government after dramatic church growth among tribal groups.

In other countries:

  • Somalia and Saudi Arabia are the two most notorious countries for persecuting Christians. Eight of the ten most abusive countries are Islamic-dominated.
  • Hussein Qambar Ali, now known as Robert Hussein, was declared an official "apostate" from Islam, the first known case of religious apostasy in the Arab Gulf state. Hussein declared that the ruling put his life at risk.
  • Ten Protestant churches were attacked and destroyed in the southern Indonesian city of Surabaya on June 9. An estimated 5,000 Muslims took part in the riots.
  • Twenty years of war between Muslims and Christians on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao was declared at an end at a peace-signing ceremony in August. Yet Christians harboured fears that Muslims may be receiving too much power in the deal.
  • Five Christians were burned to death as 3,000 Muslims rampaged through Situbondo, East Java, burning or vandalizing over 25 churches. The riots were triggered by the blasphemy trial of a Muslim sect leader who was sentenced to five years; the crowd had called for the death penalty.

    KH, from Compass Direct reports

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