“From verbal harassment to hanging, persecution for professing faith in Christ is as old as Christianity itself, often co-mingling with ethnic violence and geo-political conflict. In the 20th century, Christians in formerly Communist countries went underground with their faith, eventually gaining support and advocacy from missionary Brother Andrew and his Open Doors USA. Today the nonprofit compiles an annual list of the world’s worst persecutors of Christians; Muslim countries with stringent Shari’ah law comprise 8 of the top 10 worst.” Christianity Today 

Persecution of Christians is on the rise in the United States as well. While it is not yet as violent as it is in Muslim dominated countries, it is on the rise.

The Texas-based Liberty Institute Founder, Kelly Shackleford explains that some key court cases may have accelerated the trend.

“The seeds for these attacks were dropped in a Supreme Court opinions in the ’40s, and it really began to take off in the 1960s. The thing that is shocking now, and different, is that the attacks have dramatically picked up speed,” Shackleford says. “There can be as many as 100 new attacks in a month. While Liberty Institute has the highest win rate of any group in the country at over 99 percent, we just can’t currently cover all these with our current resources.”

Among the violations listed in the joint report:(Read more at World Net Daily Persecution of Christians on the Rise)

• A federal judge threatened “incarceration” to a high school valedictorian unless she removed references to Jesus from her graduation speech.
• City officials prohibited senior citizens from praying over their meals, listening to religious messages or singing gospel songs at a senior activities center.
• A public school official physically lifted an elementary school student from his seat and reprimanded him in front of his classmates for praying over his lunch.
• Following U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ policies, a federal government official sought to censor a pastor’s prayer, eliminating references to Jesus, during a Memorial Day ceremony honoring veterans at a national cemetery.
• Public school officials prohibited students from handing out gifts because they contained religious messages.
• A public school official prevented a student from handing out flyers inviting her classmates to an event at her church.
• A public university’s law school banned a Christian organization because it required its officers to adhere to a statement of faith that the university disagreed with.
• The U.S. Department of Justice argued before the Supreme Court that the federal government can tell churches and synagogues which pastors and rabbis it can hire and fire.
• The State of Texas sought to approve and regulate what religious seminaries can teach.
• Through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, the federal government is forcing religious organizations to provide insurance for birth control and abortion-inducing drugs in direct violation of their religious beliefs.
• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs banned the mention of God from veterans’ funerals, overriding the wishes of the deceased’s families.
• A federal judge held that prayers before a state House of Representatives could be to Allah but not to Jesus.

Bowing to Islam in American Schools

Under the current Administration, Muslims are flocking to this country, some for nefarious reasons but, some because of the freedoms we have enjoyed in this country. Sadly, they have not understood that our freedoms were based on the Bible and the truths it contains. Our history is unanimous in recognizing that the United States was founded as a Christian country. (See Founding Father’s Quotes). But then, it seems our leaders, including many pastors, also do not understand these truths as we witness the Episcopalian National Cathedral turned over to Muslims for their services. In many public schools children are taught Islamic principles, even bowing in worship to Allah (Islamic Indoctrination in American Schools) but, they dare not mention Jesus or God, not even to celebrate Christmas or Easter because it might offend Muslims or atheists! One school in Maryland recently banned Christmas to appease Muslims. This is ‘political correctness’ out of control! Let’s get back to our roots and proclaim that we a re a Christian nation. This doctrine of “Separation of State and Religion” is completely un-American and a bad interpretation of the Constitution.

while Christians are told to expect persecution, we are to resist it whenever we can, as Peter told the High Priest of Israel when told to stop preaching about Jesus, “We must obey God rather than man!”. In a nation like the United States that was founded on Biblical principles we cannot stand by and let them be stripped away from us without a fight. As England and other European nations that were one Christian have fallen to secularism and false religions, we are the last great hope of the world – if we remain steadfast to our Christian roots.