Christian Persecution Project
For the past weeks we have been working on a project on Christian persecution in Syria. Here is a little bit of what we made. This first bit is a video by an organization called Voice of the Martyrs, a group of people fighting Christian persecution all around the world.
This is a link to a slideshow we made on Christian persecution.
Here is a paragraph on an introduction to Christian persecution in Syria and how you can help:
Syria has been locked up in a civil war since 2011, with neither side really appearing as ‘good’ at least not in the classical definition(although most people will probably take the side of the existing Government). The demographic is overwhelmingly Muslim, around 87 percent, many of them with extremist tendencies. Over 700,000 Christians have left Syria since 2011. The strategy that the Christians are fighting the persecution with is simply leaving. Radical Muslim groups have taken control of parts of Syria, and for many of them, killing and plundering Christians is not considered bad or immoral, nor contrary to their faith, in fact many see these murders as ethical and things that they will be rewarded for in the after life. For example the radical group Isis has abducted 240 Christians and is threatening to kill them(at the time of this publication). Things like this are happening more and more. About 1.5 million Christians(roughly six percent of the population) reside in Syria. Many of them have fallen into financial crisis because they are afraid of getting killed while they go to work. Christianity has much worse of a name than before in Syria, as Christianity is now a sign of the existing government for many rebels. The Government, which has become increasingly stable over the past few years but still lacks true political stability as the Syrian civil war is ongoing. The state remains(even after a rewritten constitution and a new Government) largely under Muslim influence, many court cases are determined by Muslim law rather than law of the state. Slightly under half of Syria is controlled by the Syrian Government, the majority is controlled by rebels or the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. This lack of political stability allows for large scale persecution of Christians and other minorities with very little backlash from an organized Government, individuals can execute their will without fear of consequences. Aside from the Governmental troubles, the country’s religious monopoly brings forth a troubling issue, if so many Christians flee Syria then the Muslims will have complete control of the country and would likely turn over to extremist practices, not to say that all Syrians are extremists but without a strong Government or any diversity of religion or beliefs we could see an increasingly dangerous state.
One of the ways you can help without leaving your living room is through the ministry of Open Doors, a non-profit Christian organization, estimates that roughly 100 million Christians(4.58 percent of Christians) face some sort of persecution, most of this persecution comes from Muslim dominated countries, mainly in the Middle East. In fact, one in 3.97 countries have some form of religious persecution. Religious persecution is now four times as common as racial persecution, because of this staggering number the fight against persecution has shifted from racial persecution(not that this is all conquered) to religious persecution. Think of a country like South Africa, who was brutally exiled from world trade and lost all of its political allies all because of religious reasons, should we not be just as appalled by deteriorating religious acceptance? Is not all persecution, real or perceived on equal grounds? They all do the same thing to us, they distort our vision of reality which is of course inherently bad. I ask not just that we fight for Christians(although Christians have received the bulk of the hits as of now), but also that we fight for Muslims and Hindus and atheists to be free from persecution, religious or otherwise as well. God has given us equal rights among men and the right to live in God-given autonomy, let us not squander it with our feeble minds and childish prejudices. I am asking the world powers of the world to fight for the freedom of religion and ideology. Even though the major Governments of the world have largely ignored religious persecution, many individuals and organizations have done their part here are several of their stories. Many Christians here in America are giving large donations to many persecuted Christians, Bibles are being shipped in large quantities and many Americans are donating their lives to traveling to remote countries to spread the faith.
