Back in November, I wrote a blog post about German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which it was noted that Merkel was taking a great deal of heat for claiming that Christians are the most persecuted group in the world. That is not a headline that sells in America, as many folks still love to decry the “moral majority” of America’s past.
Nonetheless, time is proving Merkel right. Studies have shown that Christians are harassed more than any religion in the 
world. A new collaborative work by Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert, and Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute covers the worldwide persecution of Christians in great detail. The Book, Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians, is now in print.
The book demonstrates just how bad the problem is and how, particularly, Christians in the Middle East are being targeted for extinction with little concern from Americans in general and American Christians in particular. Kirsten Powers has written an article for USA Today which calls on Americans to speak out against the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Lebanon was once a majority Christian country but no longer, as Christians flee the hostility. CBS News reported in 2011 that the former president of Lebanon, Amin Gemayel complained of a “genocide” against Christians in the Middle East. “Massacres are taking place for no reason and without any justification against Christians. It is only because they are Christians.”
Christians are the most ill-treated religious minority in the world. Without a doubt, Merkel, Powers, Shea, Gilbert, and Marshall are all speaking truth. The question for each of us is whether we will speak up with them on behalf of our brothers and sisters. Will we do as the Lord commanded and “remember those who are ill-treated since we ourselves are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3)?
Take a prayerful look at the article from Kirsten Powers; the book from Shea, Gilbert, and Marshall; and the teachings of the New Testament and decide if you need to become an advocate for the persecuted church.
Related articles
- Middle East Christians need our protection (iranaware.com)
- Global Assault on Christians (juicyecumenism.com)
- U.S. AWOL when Christians in cross-hairs (wnd.com)
Gregory C. Cochran 
It is especially troubling to see that U.S. foriegn policy is aiding the effort of extinguishing Christianity from its birthplace. Kyrie eleison…
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Amen, it is particularly troubling, It may be that the persecution is so intense because this area is the recognized birthplace of the Christ of God.
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Lets take Hollywood. Growing we went to the drive in to see movies like the ten commandment, Lord of Lords, the Bible and many others. These moveies were made by big name studios and big name stars. Then came the supreme court. All of a suudden, these same people attacks us and call us crazy
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I agree with where I think Mr Chappell is going with his comment. However, we as Christians have done a terrible job in defending ourselves and for calling out those who attack us. We have allowed ungodliness to take over our culture, because we have allowed it in our homes. And unless some live in a bubble, we are all to blame for this. The 10 Commandments are no longer in our schools, because they are not in our homes.
Greg preached a sermon many months back about Christians needing to be guard dogs for our culture, and if a dog doesn’t bark, what good is he. I agree, we need to speak up and be loud and bold against any ungodliness. We need to look at ourselves and try and work within our churches. The church in this country is NOT united. It it were we wouldn’t be living with RoevWade, or engaged in a battle now with the definition of marriage being between one man and one woman. This problem will continue to grow until we try to solve the problems we create in our churches. We have allowed Politics and rules to become unnecessary burdens in our churches. Maybe that is why 3500-4000 churches a year in America shut their doors.
When we as Christians take our homes back and put Christ at the head, we can then try and fix some of these problems and persecutions as we are confronted with. I am focusing on doing that now. Yes, I fail from time to time, but I have the Bible to guide my way. We could all use a little grace and mercy in our lives like our Christ displays.
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Reblogged this on Gregory C. Cochran and commented:
I am teaching a college course today on the scope of the persecution problem around the world. Naturally, I found this little post to be a helpful reminder.
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