A Time to Speak Out

More Christians were martyred in the 20th Century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined. As the persecution of Christians continues and even increases, the 21st Century may exceed the 20th in total martyrdoms.

Consider the following tragedies:

• Two young Iranian women have spent the past year in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. MARYAM ROSTAMPOUR AND MARZIEH AMIRIZADEH converted from Islam to Christianity. Though a court acquitted them of anti-state crimes, they are still charged with “apostasy against Islam and proselytizing.” In August, 2009, a judge pressured them to recant their faith and return to Islam. They refused, saying, “We love Jesus. We will not deny our faith.” Back in prison their health gradually deteriorated. Finally, on May 22, 2010, all charges against the two women were dropped and they were freed. They had spent 259 days in prison.

• In April, 2010, in the Egyptian coastal city of Marsa Matrouh, an enraged mob of 3000 Muslims gathered after Friday prayers. Their imam had exhorted them to cleanse the city of its infidel Christians, called COPTS. The toll was heavy: 18 homes, 23 shops, and 16 cars were destroyed, while the Coptic Christians barricaded themselves inside their church. Over a dozen similar attacks have occurred across Egypt during the past year. On January 6, 2010, a drive-by shooter fired at random into Christians leaving a Coptic Christmas service. Seven were killed and 26 seriously wounded.

Christians in the West Bank and the Palestinian territories are leaving the area because of widespread persecution by Muslims. Christians represented about 80 percent of Bethlehem’s population sixty years ago, but now their numbers are down to 20 percent.

Often we are reminded that the majority of Muslims are non-violent, peace-loving people. The problem is that the extremists intimidate the majority into silence. In Egypt, for example, the majority of Muslims do not hate Christians but their fear of the extremists causes them to tolerate the intolerable. Al-Azhar, the world’s preeminent Sunni Islamic institution, has published a pamphlet declaring the Bible a corrupted document and Christianity a pagan religion. Al-Azhar’s textbook for its high school students states that if a Muslim kills a non-Muslim he is not subject to capital punishment since the superior cannot be punished for killing the inferior (P. 146). Though Egypt’s Christian Copts constitute 12 percent of the population, they are excluded from the intelligence and security services because they are deemed to be security risks. The Copts are treated as “dhimmis”—the age-old inferior status of Christian and Jewish minorities in Muslim lands.

One is reminded of the plight of Jews in Germany prior to World War II. The majority of Germans did not persecute Jews. But the Nazis intimidated the majority into silence and complicity. Most German pastors were afraid to disagree with the Nazis. However, some 800 courageous clergy, led by Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, dared to defy the Nazis and were sent to concentration camps.

The danger of this tolerance of evil was spelled out famously by Martin Niemoller in his 1946 speech to the Confessing Church in Frankfurt:

“When the Nazis came for the Communists, I remained silent;

I was not a Communist.

When they locked up the social democrats, I did not speak out;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews, I remained silent;

I wasn’t a Jew.

When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.”

Most American mainline churches have been remarkably silent about the persecuted church. Some leaders are afraid to state publicly that Islamic extremists are the primary persecutors for fear of antagonizing mainstream, peaceful Muslims. Some liberals believe that it is politically incorrect to criticize any religious group, except evangelical Christians. But the time for timidity has passed. The plight of persecuted Christians must move to the top of everyone’s agenda, including the Council of Bishops, the Connectional Table, and the General Conference. We must pray daily for these front-line citizens of the Kingdom, and we must demand that the governments of the world take all necessary steps to stop the persecution of any and all persons because of their faith.