Christian Attacks

From the BBC:

“Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'”

The persecution of Christians in parts of the world is at near "genocide" levels, according to a report ordered by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The review, led by the Bishop of Truro the Right Reverend Philip Mounstephen, estimated that one in three people suffer from religious persecution.  Christians were the most persecuted religious group, it found. Mr Hunt said he felt that "political correctness" had played a part in the issue not being confronted. The interim report said the main impact of "genocidal acts against Christians is exodus" and that Christianity faced being "wiped out" from parts of the Middle East. It warned the religion "is at risk of disappearing" in some parts of the world, pointing to figures which claimed Christians in Palestine represent less than 1.5% of the population, while in Iraq they had fallen from 1.5 million before 2003 to less than 120,000. "Evidence shows not only the geographic spread of anti-Christian persecution, but also its increasing severity," the Bishop wrote. Prince Charles: "It is an indescribable tragedy that Christianity is now under such threat in the Middle East'' "In some regions, the level and nature of persecution is arguably coming close to meeting the international definition of genocide, according to that adopted by the UN." The foreign secretary commissioned the review on Boxing Day 2018 amid an outcry over the treatment of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who faced death threats after being acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan. Its findings come after more than 250 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in attacks at hotels and churches in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. Mr Hunt, who is on a week-long tour of Africa, said he thought governments had been "asleep" over the persecution of Christians but that this report and the attacks in Sri Lanka had "woken everyone up with an enormous shock". He added: "I think there is a misplaced worry that it is somehow colonialist to talk about a religion that was associated with colonial powers rather than the countries that we marched into as colonisers.

'Atmosphere of political correctness'

"That has perhaps created an awkwardness in talking about this issue - the role of missionaries was always a controversial one and that has, I think, also led some people to shy away from this topic. "What we have forgotten in that atmosphere of political correctness is actually the Christians that are being persecuted are some of the poorest people on the planet." In response to the report, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie van der Zyl, said Jews had often been the targets of persecution and felt for Christians who were discriminated against on the basis of their faith. "Whether it is in authoritarian regimes, or bigotry masked in the mistaken guise of religion, reports like the one launched today remind us that there are many places in which Christians face appalling levels of violence, abuse and harassment," she said.

^ I have long been against being PC. While I believe there are certain words that should never be said about a group of people (based on their race, religion, etc.) I have never cared for the forced, obsessed craze of verbally attacking people who say words like “Christmas” instead of “Holidays” and things of that nature. The PC craze was at its height in the 1990s and then suddenly disappeared until recently. Now you get verbally attacked if you say men and women instead of people, etc. All of this extends to religious groups. For centuries people have discriminated against the Jews. They were/are the one main group of people that have been scapegoated and blamed for the worlds problems. As this report shows, Christians are now also being discriminated against around the world. I am curious to see if the report states which Christian sects (Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, etc.) are the most discriminated against. I am Roman Catholic and have seen examples of Catholics around the world have been discriminated against. Catholics in Northern Ireland didn’t have equal rights until 1998. Catholics in Canada (especially in Quebec) were second-class citizens for centuries. Even today, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries have laws that state that the Monarch can only be a Protestant (thus officially stating that a person who is Protestant is better than a Catholic or any other religion.) . Even in the United States Catholics were seen as second-class citizens by the WASP (White Anglo-Saxan Protestants) elite. While I believe Christian religions are being discriminated against around the world – by different, non-Christian religions  - there is still a major problem within the Christian world of Protestants discriminating against Catholics that needs to be addressed. It isn't lost on me that this report was commissioned by the British Government. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48146305