Religious Persecution

By Maria MacNeill

What is it? 105,000 Christians die for their faith each year, which is about one death every 5

minutes

"Around Christmas, pastors were rounded up and jailed and churches bulldozed. Hundreds of churches have been closed over the past few years. A few thousand Christians have tried to flee across the border to Cambodia, but the government there sends the refugees back to imprisonment in Vietnam." ("Southeast Asia's Persecuted Christians")

"Murders, kidnappings, intimidation and expulsions, impelled by a mixture of greed and fanaticism, have reduced that ancient, venerable community to total ruin. Of some 1.4 million Christians living in Iraq before the war, perhaps 400,000--mostly the poor and the old--remain." (Harris,Robin)

Where is it? Religious persecution most prevalent in

North Korea, followed by Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, China, and Vietnam

"Thanks to North Korea's self-imposed isolation and success in making Christianity look as though it has disappeared from its land. As a result, its Christians are left invisible, voiceless, nonexistent." (Aikman, David)

Why is it important? "A Pew Forum study in 2011 estimated that Christians are persecuted, either by

government or hostile social forces, in an incredible 131 of the world's 193 countries, and they constitute 70 percent of the world's population." (Aikman)

Persecuted Christians not getting help from outside countries due to the common belief that Christianity is dominant

Killing in Egypt Coptic Christian church burned down in Aswan, Egypt and the

authorities took no action A group of young Christians then marched through Muslim

neighborhoods in an act of protest, mobs of Muslims threw rocks The military ran over the Christian marchers with army vehicles,

twenty-five people dead

The Effects "Even wearing a cross necklace- a simple sign of faith - was dangerous"

(Devincenzo, Angelina). 27 people killed in a church bombing in Alexandria, Egypt - 3 hours from

the home of Lilian Kobrossy

The Kobrossy family in particular were forced to leave their home - many threats

Overall…Thousands of deaths every day throughout the

worldMass destruction of our worldAffects all people