Christianophobia – The issue that the media doesn’t talk about 

When you think of the world’s most persecuted religious group, you probably think of Jews or Muslims. Hate towards Muslims and Jews is called Islamophobia and antisemitism, but what about hate towards Christians? Well, it’s called ‘Christianophobia,’ and it is a growing global problem. Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. Here in the West, Christianophobia consists of a constant disrespect of Christianity and its values by secular culture. The recent remarks by BLM organizer Shaun King on Jesus are contributing to our society’s growing Christianophobia problem. 

So how bad is Christian persecution, you may ask? 1 in 8 Christians around the world are currently being persecuted to varying degrees of severity. Just this year, almost 3000 Christians have been killed for their faith, and over 9400 churches have been attacked. 

Christians are the followers of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came down over 2000 years ago. He came to teach the world what was right, to die for our sins, and to be resurrected. Jesus brought to our world a message of love, acceptance, and obedience. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out to get those who follow Jesus and God’s teachings in the Bible. 

Christians have a long history of persecutions, but this article will focus on the more recent persecutions and attacks. Christians are most frequently persecuted in Islamic countries that are run under Sharia law. The state of Christian persecution in Islamic countries has gotten so bad that reports are citing that it has been labelled ‘genocidal’ in certain cases. Christians living in socialist states also face persecution for their faith, as the very idea of religion is not compatible with Marxist principles. In China, the communist government has burned churches and openly persecutes those who preach the Gospel.

Here in the West, Christianity does not face direct persecution, but it does not receive much respect either.  There is a vast anti-Christian sentiment espoused by the left, as the Word of God diametrically opposes elements of their ‘woke’ ideology. They often claim that Christians are hateful and bigoted people, even though that is the opposite of what Christianity is. This same hateful sentiment also exists within the LGBT community, and consequently, within LGBT culture and media by extension. Members of the LGBT community are twice as likely as heterosexual people to be atheist.

Unfortunately, progressive politicians haven’t made the problem any better. Our own Prime Minister notably remarked in 2018 that evangelical Christians were the worst part of Canadian society. On this same note, the government has introduced Bill C-8, which could potentially put pastors and parents in jail for teaching to their kids the biblical perspective of sexuality. In the United States, former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke promised that he would revoke the charity status of churches that refused to perform same-sex marriages. 

With the rise in anti-racism activism, one would imagine that there would be a decrease in Christianophobia, as the civil rights movement was indeed a Gospel-led movement. Rather, it has instead paved the way for more increased hatred of Christianity. BLM organizer Shaun King has called for statues, stained glass, and anything else that portrays “Jesus as white” to be taken down. He claims that since Jesus was of Middle-Eastern heritage, it is wrong to portray him as Caucasian. However, he has said that black statues of Jesus can remain up—a questionable volte-face on his part.

Shaun King’s remarks have unfortunately led to Christian monuments being vandalized. In Northern Ontario, half a dozen Christian statues at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes were beheaded. Across America, statues of white Jesus are stating to be vandalized. In San Francisco, a statue of Saint Junipero Serra was toppled by thugs. 

“Cancel Christianity” was also trending on Twitter a few days ago. Could you just imagine if “cancel Islam” or “cancel Judaism” was trending? Everyone would surely denounce it and Twitter would issue an apology for allowing it to trend. Not the case for Christianity. Complaints are either dismissed or praised. This double standard is dangerous and brings every follower of Christ a step closer to persecution. 

This is unfortunate, as the Gospel is the perfect answer to racism. The Bible tells us that “we are all one in Christ Jesus” in Galatians 3:28. If we started teaching people the unifying message of our faith, racism would likely decline. Instead, BLM and other leftist groups have pivoted to race-baiting and shaming people for their race. Many worry that these divisive tactics will lead to a rise in white supremacy, which would be very counterproductive to the BLM’s alleged goal of eliminating racism altogether.

If you see any Christianophobia, call it out. Just like you would racism and other forms of bigotry. We have an opportunity to lead by example and end all hate. Let’s work towards achieving this goal in Christ.