Some think Christianity’s flawed past and modern emphasis on grace and forgiveness make it an easy (perhaps deserving) target for criticism, and even reverse discrimination. Scathing rhetoric is part of any healthy debate, but should it go so far as to turn a blind eye?
Christianity may have become one of the world’s predominant religions, but there are still many places where Christians are persecuted, dispossessed, tortured and even killed for their faith. Often this occurs as part of governmental or religious policy. Western media frequently under-report these incidents, fearing to offend cultural sensibilities. As a result, much of this news must be culled from secular human rights publications and religious watchdog groups. Submitted for your approval are the Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries for Christians, as ranked by the Open Doors World Watch List.
Population: 6.4 million; 200,000 Christians
Main Religion: Buddhism
Government: Communist State
The Laotian government’s attitude towards Christians is openly hostile. Lao authorities, along with many in Lao society, view Protestant Christianity (and Hmong Christians in particular) as an American threat to Communist rule. Christian churches cannot operate freely, and Christians are restricted in their family and community roles. Many Laotian believers endure extreme physical and emotional pressure to abandon their faith.
Case in point: in 2010, 29 Christians were killed, and at least 20 were arrested and held without trial, while several churches were destroyed. In January of that same year, 11 Christian families in Laos’ Saravan province were driven out of their villages and into the forest, after refusing to deny their faith.
Population: 27.5 million; 208,600 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Pressure on Uzbek Christians increased last year. The number of raids on churches spiked, and fines for illegal religious activities now exceed 100 times the minimum monthly wage. Short-term prison sentences (3-15 days) are frequently meted out as a punishment for Christian religious activities, and 27 year-old Baptist missionary Tohar Haydarov has been sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on (likely trumped up) drugs charges. An appeal is being prepared for his release.
Many churches have also lost their registration and some of their buildings in 2010 as well. Recent Christian converts also experience job loss, beatings, social rejection and often expulsion from the family home.
Population: 30.7 million; 334,000 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Parliamentary democracy
Don’t be fooled by all those American soldiers: violence against Christians in Iraq is on the rise, with large numbers of believers killed and injured. ‘Targeted killings’ of Christians in Mosul during the run-up to the March 2010 election, led many Christians to flee their villages and settle in the Nineveh plains. Fears of a ‘Christian ghetto’ in Baghdad were born that day. Pope Benedict XVI even made an appeal for the safety of Iraqi Christians during this time.
Attacks on church buildings and Christian institutions also increased in the latter half of 2010, and at least 58 Christians were killed in a bomb attack on a Baghdad church during an evening Mass, in October of that year.
Population: 23.6 million; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Yemen’s state religion is Islam, and sharia law is the source of all legal matters. Foreigners do have limited religious freedom, but evangelism of any kind is strictly prohibited. Case in point: several expatriate workers were deported, in 2010, for discussing Christianity with (well-meaning) Muslims who asked about it.
Moreover, Yemenis are not allowed to leave Islam; those who convert to Christianity face persecution from family, authorities and extremist groups. Worse, terrorist movements and separatists made Yemen very unstable recently. Christian aid worker Johannes Hentschel, his wife Sabine and their young children Lydia, Anna and Simon, along with married British engineer Anthony Saunders were among nine foreigners abducted in in the north-western Yemeni province of Saada.
Last year Anna and Lydia (3 and 5 years old respectively) were rescued by security forces from neighboring Saudi Arabia. But the Saudis also found the bodies of three other abducted Christians, German Bible students Rita Stumpp, Anita Gruenwald, and South Korean teacher, Eom Young Sun. German and British investigators have since ended their active search for the other hostages.
Population: 311,000; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
All citizens must be Muslims in Maldives, as sharia law forbids practicing of any religion except Islam. Christian churches are forbidden, and importing Christian literature into the country is strictly prohibited.
New regulations governing religious practice were unveiled by the government in 2010, and stricter policies have been imposed on tourists after some were discovered with Bibles. The few indigenous believers in Maldives are isolated from one other and are closely monitored by the law enforcement , religious authorities, and locals.
Population: 9.1 million; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Charitably described as ‘Transitional’
Somalia as a “country” has been without an effective central government since 1991. It’s dangerous for anyone to live there, but doubly dangerous to be a Christian.
At least fifteen Christians were killed by Islamist insurgents Al-Shabaab, in 2009, and they killed at least another eight Christians, in 2010. So it’s no wonder a quarter of all Christians have already fled the country. The few believers remaining are heavily persecuted and must practice their faith in secret, lest they be murdered in front of their children, like Christian convert Osman Abdullah Fataho.
Al-Shabaab has taken control of most of southern Somalia, and they have a stated goal to wipe out Christianity from all of Somalia. However, recent indications hint they may be losing popularity.
Population: 25.7 million; 565,400 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Monarchy
There is no religious freedom in the Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Public non-Muslim worship is absolutely forbidden, and conversion to Christianity – perceived apostasy – is punishable by death. Most Christians there are monitored foreign workers who are allowed to worship privately within isolated ‘foreigner’ compounds, and even then they sometimes face difficulty.
For example, twelve Filipino Christians and a priest were arrested while attending a service in a private home, in October 2010. They were verbally charged with ‘blaspheming against Islam” and cordially banned for life from Saudi Arabia (quiet deportations are a new tactic of the religious police – it avoids the media scrutiny that heavy-handed arrests generate).
Saudi believers fear being open about their faith, even with their family. There have also been reports of several Christians being physically harmed for their faith, in 2010.
Population: 28.15 million; few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
Open Christians in Afghanistan face constant pressure from family, society and government agents. Believers usually keep a very low profile, and never meet together publicly. In June 2010, the deputy secretary of Parliament called for the execution of Christian converts, after seeing baptisms of Afghan Christians on an Afghan television (correction—THE Afghan television).
As a result, many Christians have gone into hiding, and, in August 2010, the Taliban shot and killed ten members of a Christian medical team that had been providing eye treatment and other health care in remote villages of northern Afghanistan.
Population: 74.2 million; 450,000 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
There was a sharp increase in the number of Christians arrested in Iran during 2010. Although some were later released, pressure on the Christian church remains very high. Many of the approximately 450,000 believers from Muslim backgrounds live in fear of harassment by the government.
Even worse, the regime has lost a great deal of credibility following the social upheaval of the 2009 elections, and subsequent demonstrations. In a transparent effort to distract attention from continuing protests, the Iranian government has been lashing out against Christians with even greater fervor.
Population: 20 million; 400,000 Christians
Main Religion: Atheism
Government: Dynastic Communist Dictatorship
North Korea’s persecution of Christians knows no equal, and being a Christian there is considered one of the worst crimes possible. North Korean communist dogma considers religion an ‘opiate’ of the people, unless of course that religion is the personality cult of ‘Great Leader’ Kim Il Sung or his son, ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong Il.
North Korean Christians must hide their faith at all times, and Christian parents can’t teach their faith to their children until the kids are old enough to understand the dangers (and for parents to be sure their kids won’t turn them in). Just owning a Bible in North Korea is grounds for execution or deportment to a harsh labor camp (essentially a gulag).
In 2010, hundreds of Christians were arrested: some were publicly executed, while others were sentenced to labor camps. Despite the risks, the Christian church is growing: an estimated 400,000 believers now sing silent hymns in cramped basements of crumbling buildings.
Prophet SAW said, meaning: “The world is a prison for the believers and paradise for the unbelievers. ‘” (Narrated by Ahmad, Muslim, and At-Tirmidhi from Abu Huraira. Sahih Al-Jami’ – 3412)
Prophet SAW said, meaning: “The world is a prison for the believers(Muslim) and paradise for the unbelievers. ‘”
I think Islam is quite a stupid religion that teaches people to kill for revenge. The only reason why any of the are friendly and non-violent is because they have rejected these extremes
Why the hell, you composed the list of the countries where Christians are in danger, what about the countries, I every European country including US and Israel where Muslims are in Dangers.
What about India where Muslims being massacred in thousands every other year or so.
This is total bull*****.
Read some history and you would know that Christianity is the most violent religion of the world, basically Christian invented the word massacre.
North Korea isn’t really atheist since the personality cult of Kim Jong Il was pretty much a religion.
North Korea isn’t Atheist. It has a state religion that worships their leader as their god.
F****** Americans and F******** the person who made this list
frndzz , pls just think… all religions’s views r good and never say tht to do wrng with other religions or destroy to other religions.. we knw well tht all religions control by humens..there being prblms …bcs all pples behaves is different… some peoples are good and sme pples r bad… bd pples alwyz trying to make violence and how to destroy others…here we all should identify such cruel pples …:)
I hate *****ing Christian bastards.
Lets keep it simple people… Religion was first created to CONTROLL people. If you disagree I suggest you take your ignorant self onto google and LOOK IT UP.
The words “Christians” and “western arrogant, aggressive, warmongering white people” are not the same. Christianity was born in the Middle East, and the Bible is believed to be the word of God in Islam. The West bomb and kill millions, spread lies about intolerance, steal other countries’ resources, destroy everything they touch and then complain under the pretext of discrimination against Christianity. Unbelievable.
The author is either ignorant of history and culture, or is a shamelessly lying.
This list was clearly comprised by someone with an agenda against Muslims and clearly uninformed of the religion of Islam. Jews and Christians are considered people of the book and Muslims do not hate them.
When did atheism become a religion?
peoples are the same..whatever their religion..the good, the bad, angels or evils are always there…
you should add Egypt as a BONUS ….. prophet mohammed who claimed da prophecy from his god gathered followers by enticing them with money , women and power dats all wat islam runs about …. islam allows killing (aljihad ) , ***** ( by marring 4 and other types of marriage) , slavery (undercovered bcz of humanrights) and alot miserable teachings that even muslims doesn’t know about it and that wat makes a muslim still good…
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Sigh, as I read these comments, I think of some of the few things I know for sure at 26 years of age. Never be rude or unkind to someone you dont know, hold on to the friends you have, and cut off the people who hold you back. This is because at least 60% of the people you meet will be completely unworthy of getting to know. Therefore, you want to make sure to be on good terms with that 40%(and some will call me an optimist) of people, who are generous, kind and generally of a good nature. Otherwise, you’ll either be a loner, or forced to join the 60+% (probably by hitting yourself in the head with a hammer) Seriously, 60% of these comments are a direct result of cuts in public education, leading to a lack of understanding about the world and other cultures. Same thing in Yemen, why they are killing and chastising the christians is that they lack a worldly education, same as why so many blue collar americans think that immigration is why there are work shortages, when in reality, there are many greater causes of unemployment. Get to know somebody of a different faith or background than you, it may just blow your mind how many things you have in common with them, and if not, at least you will learn something
“If these Americans and those like them ever fully understand just how much of their suffering — and the suffering we (“jews” – the founders of communism) have inflicted on others — is properly laid on the doorsteps of Israel and its advocates in America, they will sweep aside those in politics, the press and the pulpits alike whose lies and disloyalty brought this about and concealed it from them. They may well leave Israel looking like Carthage after the Romans finished with it. It will be Israel’s own great fault.”
- Dr Alan Zabrosky, Jewish former Director of Studies at the US Army War College
https://wikispooks.com/wiki/9/11:Israel_did_it
You forgot Nigeria!
lol @ the amount of born-and-raised, brainwashed at birth christians incapable of proper logic and reasoning
Now make a list of the countries most dangerous to be an atheist in, or to be homo*****ual, or to be democratic.
Also, North Korea isn’t Athiest. Last time I checked Richard Dawkins didn’t believe in the Eternal President. Juchism (What is actually practiced in North Korea) is not Athiesm. It’s Athiesm in the same way Islamic extremists are Lutheran.
Nope its Atheist. If Richard Dawkins actualy believes it not, then he deserves even less credit then i currently give him, which is zero.
We always hear about the bad in our world, but why do we never hear the good? Its simple, people are more interested in reading a story about how a Muslim, Christian, Jew, etc. attacked and killed a person rather than reading one on how a christian church built a new house for a homeless man and raised funds to buy food for the needy. Don’t blame the religion, blame the person, do i blame a persons father for his sons crimes? I’m a christian but have no problem with the Muslim or Jewish faith, Jews are just Christians older brothers and Muslims are our…distant cousins lol
All religion should be done away with. Man is not inherently evil, no matter what your Bible, Torah, Qur’an, etc.. may say. The worst imaginable acts in our history have been done in God’s name. When we stop holding ourselves and others to a single set of moral codes, and stop competing for religious dominance, we will see true peace and prosperity. I’m sure all the religious fanatics are going to read this and flame me for saying so, but it really just proves my point further.. religion breeds violence and hate.
Another little dumbass who thinks he a philosopher for preaching Atheism.
If religion never existed then our world would still be a terrible place, in fact it might be worse. *GASP* hes implying that morals came form judeo christianity, quickly someone call the Atheist brigade! Well it certainly isn,t as far fetched as some would make it seem. Israel was certainly an improvement from the other countries around that period countries such as Egypt, Greece, or the even farther long ago Babylon. The ten commandments may not have been uphelp very right for a long time, but they are the basis for most of our laws, and ethics today, and anyone who denies that is kidding themselves, and for once I can say without feeling to vulnerable on the Internets that I am an Evangelical Christian, whom believes that our world would be and is better with religion.
With all the things they are doing to their people, I seriously ask why don”t we throw 2 nuclear bombs on North Korea ? And nuke that scum country off the earth.
I say we bomb every single one of them sonsa*****es then drop pig remains on um’
Roll America
Wow, these people are being persecuted and even killed for their beliefs, and what does everyone do in the comment section? We strike up an argument about whose beliefs are more violent/hypocritical/destructive. Last I checked, most of us agreed that people aren’t supposed to be mistreated based on their religious beliefs, so how about we stop bickering about whose holy book is the worst inciter of evil in the world and do something to stop innocent people from being tortured and executed?
ITS FLAME WAR TIME!
Also let me sum up all the comments below so you dont have to read them
Lol islam is dumb
Noooo its not!
the christians did stuff toooo
lol all religion is dumb
thats a dumb comment ur dumb, and you should feel dumb
all religion is neutral
noooo, not all religions are equal you butt poop
?
Profit
This is highly inaccurate. Iran? Are you serious? Iran is one of the few ME countries where Christians have some rights and can practice their religion freely along with Jews(don’t believe me? Look it up.)