A new study by Lifeway Research found that more than half (54%) of the 1,005 Americans surveyed believe that religious freedom is eroding in the United States. Even more, 59%, said that the treatment of Christians and intolerance for their beliefs is getting worse.
What does one make of these statistics? Relevant Magazine—a Christian publication the tagline of which is “God, lifestyle, and progressive culture”—is a good place to start. Responding to these findings in a recent article, it gets it right by arguing that, whatever Christians in America may be experiencing, they are certainly not being persecuted the way their counterparts are in other nations around the world:
[C]onservative Christian groups [in America] have a lot to celebrate. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and delivered a big win to Christians who want to pray in public schools. These are big, historic decisions and they don’t square with a narrative of diminishing religious liberty for Christians. This is especially true on the global scale. Open Doors USA’ World Watch List keeps track of the countries where it’s most dangerous to be a Christian, and the stories on their meticulously detailed database are heartbreaking. Christians in places like Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia can be imprisoned, tortured and even killed for their faith…. Persecution against Christians is real and we should be talking more about it. But it’s not what the American Church is facing, and conflating what’s happening in other countries with online backlash and political spats in the U.S. does a disservice to that conversation.
It is, indeed, nonsense to argue that Christians in America have it anywhere near as bad as Christians in, say, the Muslim world, where the overwhelming majority of persecution against Christians take place. The same World Watch List referenced above found that the “extreme persecution” meted out to Christians in nine of the absolute 11 worst nations in the world comes from Islamic oppression, or is occurring in Muslim majority nations. Similarly, the persecution Christians experience in 39 of the 50 nations on the World Watch List is also either from Islamic oppression or is occurring in Muslim majority nations.
That said, the Relevant article gets it wrong, very wrong, by minimizing what is happening in America. It argues that what Christians in the U.S. are experiencing
isn’t so much about actually losing religious freedom as it is losing the war for vibes…. Christians may not like being confronted with different opinions or having to make space for others in a diverse environment, but that does not necessarily mean they’re being met with outright intolerance. It simply means giving others the same freedom you want them to give you.
Such reasoning only makes sense in a vacuum; for it fails to take into account that—unlike all of those other non-Christian nations around the world where Christian minorities are being persecuted—America was founded as a Christian nation. The fact that it is where it is today— where Christians, who still form the majority of the citizenry, are experiencing any kind of intolerance, harassment, or discrimination—is suggestive of a gradual but slippery slope that bodes ill for the future.
It is, for example, rather silly to argue, as Relevant does, that it is a “big win to Christians” that Roe v. Wade was overturned, or that Christians can pray in public schools. Actually, that Roe v. Wade was ever a thing, or that there was ever any question about Christians praying in public, is indicative of the big loss Christians have experienced in this nation.
Put differently, if American Christianity was as influential as the Relevant article implies, there never would have been a Roe v. Wade, questions over public prayer—or any of those many other cultural “values” that currently supersede and directly contradict Christian principles—in the first place; just as principles that directly contradict Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist values have little impact on Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist nations, where their values reign supreme and uncontested.
Imagine a line, a continuum, from 1 to 10. The number 1 represents nations that prioritize their religious principles, and 10 represents nations that have completely abandoned their faith. Most of the non-Western—especially Muslim—world is, I would argue, probably between 1 and 3. Where is the U.S. on this scale in regards to its founding faith? Somewhere between 6 and 8? Maybe worse?
Such a placement is hardly a “big win” for Christianity in America, nor does it suggest that “conservative Christian groups have a lot to celebrate,” as Relevant claims. Rather, it shows just how irrelevant Christianity has become.
More to the point, as America gets closer to 10—and as the number of actual Christians continues to dwindle—prepare to see a concomitant rise in real and actual persecution, the sort experienced in the non-Western world.
The story of America is, as I fear history will eventually record, the story of one long slippery slope—the individual bumps of which are subtle, gradual, and thus imperceptible—into destruction.
It is, in short, the story of the Boiling Frog.
If “the U.S. on this scale in regards to its founding faith? Somewhere between 6 and 8..” Western Europe is definitely 10!
I’m reading your book Adel, “A Sword Over the Nile”. Excellent
Yes. And. There is so much more. Christians developed and instituted public education in America. This ‘public’ in that it allowed any child to go, but it was ‘privately’ funded and/or received small subsidies from local communities. The government controlled ‘schools’ not only fail to teach basics, and refuse to teach the truth about America, the West, white people (ask your blue-haired neighbor where the word ‘slave’ comes from), but these ‘schools’ also teach Big Lies about Christianity, Christian churches, and Christians. And some of these whoppers are tales of omission.
How many Americans even remember the ‘bad’ old days when the hospitals, orphanages, schools, Tuberculosis sanatoriums, and other non-profits were almost entirely run by churches? … And these were the best of the time anywhere on the planet. All forgotten – memory-holed. When remembered at all – it is with reference to terrible places that were taken over by the state and fell into disrepair and poor management during the Great Depression. And that’s just one point.
The government has established a religion of Atheism. This is a terrible persecution of Christianity. Our doctors, scientists, government bureaucrats, and many others must be Atheists or they must bend the knee to Atheism. And – to be clear – I don’t mean agnostics or mere unbelievers – I mean religious lunatics who think their Religion of Atheism is the one, true, and ONLY faith.
We got a preview of how bad this persecution can be during Covid 1984. What? Collins claims to be a Christian and Fauci claims to be Catholic? That’s like Ted Bundy claiming to be a choir boy. The Bible is very clear … if you conspire with genocidal maniacs to make bio-weapons to murder millions of people to destroy your political enemies for fun and profit … you’re gonna burn in Hell. You don’t have to believe in Jesus or any ‘supernatural’ force or being to know that this is what the Bible teaches. Just read the book! If you kill for money, revenge, hatred, or any other reason and have no excuse, Christianity teaches that you will be punished for all eternity.
Yet … our government is a fascist state that falsifies data, falsifies science, lies, kills, cheats, steals, and promotes crime, sexual perversion, slavery, and endless wars – all on our dime and our time.
All of this is ‘persecution’ of Christianity.
And I haven’t even gotten to the Bush-Obama war in Iraq. How many Christians did Bush let ‘our’ Muslim allies kill, rape, or ethnically cleanse? And Obama doubled-down – funding ISIS – arming ISIS – refusing to stop ISIS – and allowing hundreds of thousands to be murdered.
When I was Big Oil … it was common knowledge that over half of Iraq’s tech people were Christian. Iraq had about 2.5MM Christians. – and to be fair – they were Saddam’s allies because the Baathists protected them from Muslim lunatics. Where are they now? No one even mentions the 2.5MM number. Hundreds of thousands are missing.
Yes, that’s in Iraq, but OUR government PAID for it, GAVE the Muslims the weapons, and turned a blind eye to the slaughter.
God bless everyone here.
Strong words Dan. Food for thought. Thx
And it’s worse in Europe, Dan. Teenage white girls are being prostituted by these barbarian monsters for years now and it goes on and on without repercussions by the powers that be. And only Mark Steyn of GBNews has the courage to bring it up time and time again on TV (GBNews Monday to Thursday 8 to 9 pm). They deserve the death penalty even if it has been abolished in our countries. Some sins are unforgivable and deserve death. I don’t care if it’s allowed in the Koran. It’s not allowed by law in the UK.
Good article, thank you Mr. Ibrahim for being a ‘defender of the faith’.
Simply put, we have seen in our lifetime a steady decline in the West, including America and Canada, of belief in God and Christ and the moral law as taught in the Bible. The consequence of this rejection has led to the present societal chaos and lawlessness.
In Canada the present totalitarian and dictatorial Prime Minister has publicly declared that the Bible is a myth, and has legalised every abomination mentioned in Scripture.
The whole education and medical bureaucracy is based on Marxist ideology and any criticism from Christians is immediately condemned.
Persecution of Christians in Canada became very evident during Covid-19 pandemic, when churches were ordered to shut their doors and obey Caesar. There were some pastors who choose to obey God instead and continue preaching. They were persecuted in various ways; some were arrested, often in front of their young children, put in solitary confinement, their churches locked and fenced off by the police, were repeatedly arrested, charged for speaking freely and harassed in many different ways.
Because of an unsubstantiated event involving the Catholic Church, about 50 churches from different denominations were burned down, statues defaced or toppled. There was not a word of condemnation from Trudeau and his Liberal government. Canadians are now a divided people, and people are fearful because Trudeau has shown that he is a law unto himself with the RCMP at his bidding and will brutally squash any dissent.
Americans can decide for themselves where and what persecution feels like for them, based on their own experiences and politicians’ actions, and not on the general opinion of some journalists.
Well said, Tershia. Canada is today a disgraceful excuse for as democracy, led by a first -rate liar and leader with the mentality and mindset of an over-indulged adolescent.
Weel, there is Andrew Torba now
Connecticut Public School Asst. Principal Admits Discrimination Against Catholic Candidates
https://gloria.tv/post/yETpiG7gk3Dz2TgJAPfqrJngc
Persecution is commonplace where atheism breeds, and America is filled with it, as their STATE religion is SECULAR HUMANISM.
Catholics, and other Christians survive because they pay their way but not always, as Biden (and others) want to control them (and their vote), by lifting this Secular Humanism into a higher spot, through nefarious means of LAW. Biden is a lawyer primarily, and knows with law he can rule more easily, and so uses it against pro-lifers- so as to contain their objections. Yet Biden is an Irish Catholic himself.
Moreover, Biden has been to Rome to seek higher moral ground, and plays into the hands of Rome which believes in willy-nilly immigration. Saint Thomas Aquinas has some choice words on the matter of immigration, which TFP have circulated, for good reason.
People who are natives or the original inhabitants have priority not those who migrate who should make it their aim to assimilate- but this is not the case with Islam, which has “jihad”.
The ONLY country able to contain Islam is China with their “re-education” programme. Sad that other countries don’t follow suit.
America (and Canada) have been duped into allowing Islam to gain strength, and of course Islam seeks to persecute when that happens, to hasten Muslim saturation. CAIR should be redefined as a TERRORIST organisation.
“Yet Biden is an Irish Catholic himself.”
We have had fundamental problems with the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council. Before, Muslims were “Mohammedans”, or simply pagans. At the Council, false ecumenism began to be applied, which is a betrayal of the Catholic faith. Etc.