Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians

337 Pages·2013·2.42 MB·English

by  Paul Marshall

PRAISE FOR PERSECUTED
“This powerful and timely text shines a light into dark corners of the world
where men and women face intimidation, persecution, and even death for their
religious beliefs. Its authors have used their freedom of expression to uphold the
liberties of others. Their book is both a challenge and a rebuke to those of us
who fail to raise our own voices on behalf of the persecuted.”
—DAVID ALTON, PROFESSOR LORD ALTON OF LIVERPOOL
HAS SERVED FOR 18 YEARS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, IS AN
INDEPENDENT PEER AND ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF JUBILEE
CAMPAIGN FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, WWW.DAVIDALTON.NET.
“Christians are under attack to an unimaginable degree in the modern age, and,
indeed, Christianity may become nearly extinct in some parts of the world
because of religious extremism and despotism. Persecuted is a crucial primer on
the threats and a clarion call to action. It is extraordinarily well-documented,
tells a gripping story, and offers real solutions for reversing the alarming trend.”
—LEONARD A. LEO, CHAIRMAN, US COMMISSION ON
INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM (2009–2012)
“For over two millenia Christians have made enormous contributions to the
societies in which they live. It therefore is a great irony, and a great tragedy, that
Christian minorities are today under siege in so many spots around the globe,
including countries with objectives that Christians can help achieve—including
economic growth, social harmony, and stable democracy. Marshall, Gilbert, and
Shea have written the definitive work on an issue that will come to haunt the
21st century: the central place of Christian persecution in the global crisis of
religious liberty.”
—THOMAS F. FARR, DIRECTOR, THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PROJECT,
THE BERKLEY CENTER AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
“This authoritative, well-researched, formidable book should be required reading
for all Christians who have the privilege of living in freedom and do not have to
make any sacrifice for their faith. This deeply disturbing catalogue of escalating
persecution must challenge us to respond with prayer, advocacy, practical help
and political pressure on our governments to promote religious freedom more
robustly wherever it is denied or diminished. Otherwise, ‘comfortable
Christianity’ will be guilty not only of failing to fulfill the biblical mandate to
speak for the oppressed but of betraying the spiritual, cultural, and political
heritage which it is our duty to pass on undiminished to our children and
grandchildren. Reading this book may help ‘comfortable Christians’ to wake up,
stand up, speak out and act in support of our brothers and sisters suffering
persecution. There is an urgent need to prevent further assaults on religious
freedom in our world where more than 70 percent of people suffer persecution
ranging from harassment and discrimination to imprisonment, torture and
martyrdom.”
—THE BARONESS (CAROLINE) COX.
“When historians look back at this era, they will wonder why more wasn’t done
to stop the mass persecution of Christians in many parts of the world. Among
those who will not be faulted are the three gifted authors of Persecuted. Make no
mistake about it, this is most authoritative account to date on this subject.”
—WILLIAM A. DONOHUE, PH.D., PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC
LEAGUE FOR RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL RIGHTS
“As shocking as the brutal murders of Christians is the silence of U.S. leadership
and media that seems to embolden perpetrators of atrocity. Further, among many
American Christians, we hear the unwise if not apathetic assumption that “the
Church grows during persecution”—this is likely untrue as we think of the
history of the Church in Japan and now the Middle East where Christians,
present there for millennia are now often either dying or fleeing. Speak. Stand.
Act on behalf of our siblings in Christ. They are bearers of blessing and peace.
They are the Body of Christ, so intervene for Christ and the Kingdom. And let’s
spread the news of this book so necessary to bring justice, sanity and hope to the
time which is ours.”
—KELLY MONROE KULLBERG, AUTHOR OF FINDING GOD BEYOND
HARVARD: THE QUEST FOR VERITAS AND FOUNDER OF THE VERITAS FORUM
PERSECUTED
THE GLOBAL ASSAULT ON CHRISTIANS
PAUL MARSHALL, LELA GILBERT,
NINA SHEA
© 2013 by Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert, and Nina Shea All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic,
mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or
articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
[Marshall, Paul A., 1948-
Persecuted : the global assault on Christians / Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert, Nina Shea.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages ) and index.
ISBN 978-1-4002-0441-0 (alk. paper)
1. Persecution--History--21st century. 2. Martyrdom--Christianity--History--21st century. 3. Christian
martyrs--History--21st century. I. Gilbert, Lela. II. Shea, Nina, 1953-III. Title.
BR1601.3.M23 2013
272’.9--dc23
13 14 15 16 17 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1
We dedicate this book to the great principle of religious freedom, known to
Americans as the “first freedom,” both because of its placement as the first
clause of the First Amendment in the US Constitution, and because it is the core
freedom, essential to the fulfillment of other rights and freedoms, as well as to
the preservation of human dignity and the flourishing of the person. This
freedom, in all its fullness, includes, but is not limited to, the freedom to worship.
It encompasses the freedom to choose one’s religion, and the freedom to manifest
one’s religion—either alone or in community with others, and in public or
private—in teaching, practice, worship, and observation.
CONTENTS
Foreword by Eric Metaxas
1. The Current State of Affairs
2. Caesar and God: The Remaining Communist Powers
China · Vietnam · Laos · Cuba · North Korea
3. Post-Communist Countries: Register, Restrict, and Ruin
Russia · Uzbekistan · Turkmenistan · Azerbaijan · Tajikistan · Belarus ·
Kazakhstan · Kyrgyzstan · Armenia and Georgia
4. South Asia’s Christian Outcastes
India · Nepal · Sri Lanka · Bhutan
5. The Muslim World: A Weight of Repression
Malaysia · Turkey · Area Administered by Turkish Cypriots or Turkish
Military in Cyprus · Morocco · Algeria · Jordan · Yemen · Palestinian
Territories
6. The Muslim World: Policies of Persecution
Saudi Arabia · Iran
7. The Muslim World: Spreading Repression
Egypt · Pakistan · Afghanistan · Sudan
8. The Muslim World: War and Terrorism
Iraq · Nigeria · Indonesia · Bangladesh · Somalia
9. Cruel and Usual Abuse
Burma · Ethiopia · Eritrea
10. A Call to Action
Afterword by Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput,
Archbishop of Philadelphia
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the Authors
FOREWORD
WHEN IMPRISONED BY THE NAZIS AT TEGEL PRISON, DIETRICH
Bonhoeffer wrote extraordinary and now famous letters. In one of them he
wrote, “I’m now reading Tertullian, Cyprian, and others of the church fathers
with great interest. In some ways they are more relevant to our time than the
Reformers. . . .”
That’s quite a statement for a German Lutheran. I can’t read Bonhoeffer’s
mind, but I believe his connection to the church fathers wasn’t so much
theological as it was practical. Cyprian was beheaded by the Roman
government. Bonhoeffer himself was soon to be hanged by the Nazis. To be a
serious believer in the early days of Christianity was to be a marked man, and I
think Bonhoeffer saw in Cyprian and the others a passion and a commitment that
seems only to come from religious persecution—something that he personally
knew and experienced.
Those of us who live in the modern West don’t experience anything along
these lines, and most of us are deeply ignorant of the sufferings of our brethren
around the world. Indeed, as we read these words now, millions suffer. And we
have been blessed with such a bounty of religious freedom that we can hardly
imagine what such suffering must be like. We are relatively safe from
government interference. We can say what we like and can worship where we
want without legal repercussions. The current administration’s much-contested
HHS mandate, as well as other laws, are encroaching on our religious liberties in
very real and disturbing ways, and these encroachments must be seen and must
be strongly resisted. But we actually have religious liberties to encroach in the
first place.
This is certainly not the case for millions around the world. We’re often told,
for example, that China is modernizing and becoming more open, but the reality
is still very grim. Can we imagine a world where women in their third trimesters
are “legally” forced to undergo the murder of the children in their wombs,
children they very much want to raise and love? Why isn’t the media telling us
more about this? Chinese government policies today actually prohibit the
gathering and worship of millions of Christians. One house church leader in
China told Radio Free Asia that “the authorities have asked us to end our family
church congregations, calling our gatherings ‘illegal.’” House church may have a