A Global Calamity: 340,000,000 Christians Persecuted

by Raymond Ibrahim • January 17, 2021 at 5:00 am

The "extreme persecution" that Christians experience in 10 of the absolute 12 worst nations comes from "Islamic oppression" or is occurring in Muslim majority nations. These include: Afghanistan (#2), Somalia (#3), Libya (#4), Pakistan (#5), Yemen (#7), Iran (#8), Nigeria (#9), Iraq (#11), and Syria (#12).
"80% of Indian Christians helped by Open Doors say they were passed over for food distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic." — Open Doors, World Watch List.
Considering that for the first time in over a decade, China has made it among the top 20 persecutors in the Open Doors World Watch List — up to #17 from #23 last year — this does not bode well for Christians, who are already "intensely monitored by the state."
Similarly, in Turkey, which rose to #25 from #36 last year, every citizen's "religious affiliation is recorded on the electronic chip of identity cards, making it easy to discriminate against Christians." — Open Doors, World Watch List.
"More Christians are murdered for their faith in Nigeria than in any other country." — Open Doors, World Watch List.

(Image source: iStock)

Every day around the world, 13 Christians are killed for their faith; 12 are illegally arrested or imprisoned; 5 are abducted; and 12 churches or other Christian buildings are attacked.

These are among some of the disturbing findings of the recently released Open Doors' 2021 World Watch List (WWL-2021). This annual report ranks the top 50 nations in which Christians are most persecuted for their religion.

All in all, "More than 340 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith." About 309 million of these Christians "suffer very high or extreme levels. That's one in 8 worldwide, 1 in 6 in Africa, 2 out of 5 in Asia, and 1 in 12 in Latin America." (Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes in this article are from the 2021 Open Doors World Watch List.)

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Washington Riot and 'End of America' Crowd

by Amir Taheri • January 17, 2021 at 4:00 am

But, what if all the talk about "end of America and "death of the American dream" is based on partial or even total misreading and mis-description of the mini-riot in Washington?
What happened, however, seems to have been less dramatic than what the hate-America had wished.
However, for reasons not yet known, most of the over 2,200 members of the Capitol Police were told to stay home for the day.
The best way to probe that is for the Capitol Police to demand that the District Attorney in DC opens an inquest, collects evidence, hears witnesses....
In other words, American democracy is alive and well, with robust institutions capable of dealing with any political crisis within a constitutional framework.

Pictured: National Guard soldiers clear a street of protestors outside the Capitol building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

This month's mob assault on the Capitol in Washington DC has injected new vigor in the "end of America" crowd across the globe. In China and Russia, the talk is centered on the claim that American democracy is no longer a model for nations seeking a global profile. For Khomeinists in the Islamic Republic in Iran and Chavista in Venezuela, the event marked "the beginning of the end" for the "Great Satan". Some chattering circles in Europe relaunched speculation about the end of America as leader in the international arena.

In the US itself, too, some commentators presented the incident as an historic turning point. Richard Haas of the Council on Foreign Relations, hailed by the Tehran daily Kayhan as "America's greatest strategist", saw the riot as the starting point of the "post-America" world order.

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