The persecution of Christians

by Gunther Simmermacher · June 28, 2013

CHRISTIANOPHOBIA: A Faith Under Attack, by Rupert Shortt. Random House (2013). 298pp

Reviewed by G�nther Simmermacher

Such is the warped perception of Christianity in the West that the notion of Christians being persecuted more than any other group in the world seems fanciful, even a bit hysterical. Christianophobia, by the British journalist Rupert Shortt, suggests that the persecution of Christians is worse than even most fellow believers realise.

Over 13 chapters Shortt outlines the extent and the details of religious and political persecution, describing the historical background to the often shocking violence experienced by Christians in places where they are a minority. In some cases we hear from the victims directly.

The usual suspects appear. There is Islamic fanaticism, often state-aided, in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria, and Hindu fundamentalism in India.

There are the political oppressors in China, Burma, Vietnam and North Korea (Laos, Belarus, Cuba and Venezuela are namechecked too). And then there is the double-whammy of persecution in the Holy Land, from Israel and from Muslims, which has led to extensive emigration from the land of Christ and his apostles.

Some of the persecution is highly coordinated and systemic, and where it is more random, its perpetrators tend to enjoy at least some bureaucratic protection. And when a government is considering steps to protect minorities, as it did in Pakistan, it may be met with the kind of violent opposition, even assassinations, which tends to weaken the political will.

In each chapter Shortt provides a background of the Christian communities in the areas he surveys, and how their histories impact on relations today. In the process one may learn new things, such as how the death of Genghis Khan and the defeat of the Mongols by the Mamluks was bad news for Christians.

Shortt also emphasises the reality that the Christian presence in the Middle East and the Maghreb goes back almost 2,000 years, preceding the rise of Islam by six centuries. That is important to keep in mind when extremists try to present local Christians as outsiders or missionary agents of the West.

So when US president George W Bush described his invasion of Iraq as a �crusade�, he might as well have declared as fatwa on every Christian in the Middle East. Very many have paid the price for that foolishness.

In some areas the activities of one group of Christians can impact on all others. For example, the aggressive missionary activities of mostly American evangelical and pentecostal churches can provoke repression and even violence against other Christians because the denominational structure of Christianity isn�t understood.

A few headline cases apart � blasphemy cases in Pakistan or church bombings by the jihadist Boko Haram group in Nigeria � the persecution of Christians takes place out of the media spotlight. Shortt points an accusing finger at the Western governments and media who do little to bring the persecution out of the shadows.

Shortt�s elegant, and very fair, introduction makes a necessary distinction between the persecution of Christians which he describes � the murders, assaults, rapes, dispossession, arrests, torture, intimidation, legal and informal discrimination, scapegoating,� judicial and extra-judicial execution of converts and so on � and the violations of religious rights in Western democracies, such as the dismissals of people for wearing crosses. �None of the opinions, insults or laws judged offensive by many Western Christians,� he writes, �amount to persecution as chronicled in the pages ahead�.

Without diminishing the seriousness of violations of religious freedom in the West, it is inappropriate and hysterical to speak, as some do, of persecution when the problem concerns a problematic clause in health care legislation or the refusal to allow the display of a Nativity scene in a public space.

Christianphobia counsels those of us who exercise our faith in liberal democracies to be cautious in the way we articulate our protests when we feel our religious rights have been infringed upon. It is disrespectful to those of our brothers and sisters in Christ who heroically continue to live their faith under the perpetual cloud of persecution when our rhetoric places comparatively minor gripes on one level with their suffering.

Shortt does not pretend to have a solution. His job is to highlight injustice, not to fix it.

He does, however, quote the Catholic Church�s discussion document for the 2910 Synod of Bishops on the Middle East, which pointed out that �Muslims make no distinction between religion and politics, thereby relegating Christians to the precarious position of being considered non-citizens […] The key to harmonious living between Christians and Muslims is to recognise religious freedom and human rights.� And that cuts both ways.

Inevitably, Christianophobia makes for relentlessly bleak, distressing reading. It is also a very, very important book.