Why Persecution?

Religious persecution can be defined as the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group simply because of their belief. In other words, the persecution is unwarranted. Christians have been persecuted from earliest times e.g. Acts 8.1 and believers were told to expect it:

'If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you ...' (Jn 15.20)

'All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted' (2 Tim 3.12)

Why persecution? The root cause of persecution is spiritual, not ideological. Satan hates both national Israel (the Jews) and spiritual Israel, the church. In fact, he wages war upon both Jew and believer in Christ (Rev 12.17), and since he is still ruler of this world (until Christ comes, Jn 12.31) he uses the world e.g. humanistic law in Europe, or extremists of other faiths, to carry out his aims.

Some see Satan's trump card against Jew and believer alike to be the inability to buy or sell without his mark (see the cashless society. But Jesus saw such hatred as an opportunity. Just as His undeserved death on the cross is still a powerful witness of love truth and grace today, so it will be when believers are persecuted. Jesus said:

"It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony." (Lk 21.13)

Like Christ, a person who suffers unwarranted mistreatment for their faith gives a powerful message that their belief is worth suffering for. It is solid. It is true. It is reality. This will be evidenced when believers are brought before Councils and Courts; at these times they will be given supernatural speech and wisdom which will confound their accusers (Lk 21.15).

EU Law Leads to Persecution

Persecution is happening by stealth through EU Equality Law. The EU Council Directive 2000/78/EC established a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation. This stated: "... any direct or indirect discrimination based on religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation as regards the areas covered by this Directive should be prohibited throughout the Community". In a 2008 Directive the European Commission proposed extending protection from discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services to cover disability, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief.

Harassment was also deemed to be a form of discrimination: namely, "when unwanted conduct takes place with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person and of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment".

In 2009, the European Commission took legal action against the UK on non-compliance with EU equality rules. Compliance is legally enforced! So now we have the UK Equality Act 2010.

The Effect

The concept of equal treatment and anti-discrimination is enshrined in the Bible. God loves justice and equality. So what's the problem? The problem is that humanistic EU law is replacing biblical morality, ethics and truth in Europe. France in particular maintains that "the EU had to remain a secular construction respective of its different traditions and religions" [Michel Barnier, French Foreign Minister 2004-2005]. Correspondingly, it is stated that there will be no reference to Europe's Christian roots in any revised EU Treaty. German chancellor Angela Merkel has said "there is not much of a chance on the prospects of God appearing in a preamble to the EU text".

This makes it difficult for Christians to work in certain occupations, such as social work, health care or B&B, where their biblical beliefs could be compromised (see examples opposite). Invariably, anti-discimination law stemming from EU Directives takes precedence over personal belief and ethics. The bishops of England, Wales and Scotland denounced the European Commission's planned Equal Treatment Directive as "wholly unacceptable" because, they said, it would force Christians to act against their consciences.

Even free speech between faiths is challenged by laws on harassment. Here it does not necessarily have to be that the harasser has a motive or an intention to harass. So it is still harassment even if the harasser does not know there is harm caused by their actions! For example, a Muslim might claim harassment (take offense, claim intimidation, feel humiliated...) by simply hearing quotes from the Bible.

Law v Love

EU Directives aim to eliminate discrimination and to promote equality through the sole mechanism of humanistic law. No reference is made to the absolute and transcendent moral and ethical standards found in the Bible. The result is to silence free speech, especially in the areas of sexuality and religion. In attempting to protect and improve social cohesion, these laws have enslaved and divided, and introduced persecution by stealth.

A better way is to replace the EU objective of equality with courtesy and tolerance. This will replace a destructive atmosphere with a creative one, and would come close to the ideal biblical ethos of love and care for others.

• More Christians were martyred in the 20th century than in all previous centuries combined
• 171,000 Christians were martyred in 2005 [Int. Journal of Missionary Research]
• Currently over 200 million Christians are being persecuted worldwide
• Nigeria: In 2010 Christians suffered terror from Muslim extremists. Whole village massacred
• Iran: Its parliament believes Muslims who change their faith should be put to death
• India: up to 70,000 in Orissa have been forced to flee their homes in riots against Christians
• Indonesia: Between 2000-2002 Muslims slaughtered 10,000 Christians
• Iraq: half of Iraq's Christians have fled the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein
• THE VIDEO BELOW SHOWS ISLAM IN ITS TRUE LIGHT! (Courtesy: The Martyrs' Cry)

• See Video

• Most of the apostles (Philip, Matthew, Mark, Peter, Paul ...) were martyred
• Many were martyred in the Middle Ages (Huss, Jerome, Joan of Arc ...)
• Between 1540 and 1570 some one million Protestants were publicly put to death in various countries in Europe
• Overall, some 50 million were martyred by the Roman Catholic Inquisition for 'heresy' between 606 AD and the middle of the 19th century (Martyr Statistics)
• Protestant reformers (More, Tyndale, Latimer, Cranmer ...) were martyred
• Some 20 million were martyred during the 70 years of Russian atheism and communism

• Video 1

• Video 2

• A Christian counsellor has been dismissed from Relate because he felt his obligation to give sex therapy to homosexual couples contradicted his Christian ethics.
• A Christian minister has been removed from a community radio talk show because his statement that ‘Jesus is the only way’ offended some Muslim listeners.
• A Christian policeman provoked unjustified anger in his local police force when he made a stand on his Christian beliefs regarding homosexuality. He was threatend with dismissal.
• A Christian couple had to turn their hotel into a community center after they lost their income following a conversation with a Muslim woman. The Muslim accused the couple of criticizing Islam. A court found them not guilty of any offense but their bussiness suffered.
• A teacher was suspended after offering to pray for a student. "I am amazed that a country with such a strong Christian tradition has become a country where it is hard to speak about your faith."
• A UK court ruled against a Christian employee of British Airways after she challenged the decision by her employer to ban her from wearing a visible cross at work.
• A judge declared it was unlawful for two Christian guesthouse owners to deny a double room to a couple in a civil partnership. The judge ruled that under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, civil partnerships must be treated in the same way as marriage.

• Margaret Forrester, a Christian mental health worker was restored to work and even offered a better job, following her suspension from her NHS job for expressing her private views on abortion to colleagues.
• a Christian nurse who was prevented from wearing her cross at work has been allowed to return to work without having to remove her cross.

• False Christs (v5)
• False prophets (v11)
• Wars (v6)
• Famines and earthquakes (v7)
• Apostasy (v10)
• Increased lawlessness (v12)
• Worldwide preaching of the gospel (v14)
• AND HATRED OF CHRISTIANS BY ALL NATIONS (v9)