Early Persecution
It is my perception that the majority of Christians in America are not aware of how prevalent Christian persecution is today. We read about it in scripture. In the Old Testament even though they were Christians there were godly men persecuted for their faith in the one true God. I am reminded of the prophet Daniel, thrown into a den of lions and the three young Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul described some of the difficulties he endured some of which were for his faith and the preaching of the gospel.
2 Corinthians 11: 23-27 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Tradition tells us that all of the apostles except John were Martyred. In school we were told of the Romans of the first century Christians how they were made sport of by gladiators and fed to the lions in public arenas.
It Continues Today
In 2008, the AP reported in one month alone, after the liberation of the Iraqi people by the U.S. led coalition, that there were over 13,000 Christians that fled their home because of threats and reported murders. The persecution of the Coptic Christians in Egypt has been an ongoing happening for some time but has increased since the overthrow of the Hosni Mubarak government. In the Catholic Online in an article just dated May 14, 2011 reports an attack on a church in which 12 were killed and 200 injured. In the Sudan there is a decade old ongoing war on Christians.
The above mentioned occurances are by Muslim extremists but persecution is not limited to them. In India some Hindu also practice attacks and persecution of Christians. One of the videos below is of such an incident. It is not just a war of religions. In China the government frequently arrests and imprison Christians.
It Is Coming Here
Under the guise of tolerance and political correctness, fuel by a constant threat of law suits by the ACLU, and a push to make us a county that has not a freedom of religion but a freedom from religion we are inching closer to outright persecution here in America. I know some will say I'm making a big leap by that statement but look at the history of some other countries around the world, perhaps most recently Lebanon. It happened in one generation there and given how far we have slipped in that direction here in my generation. I don't think I'm making a big leap at all.
