Raymond Ibrahim: 'The Never Ending ‘Pandemic’: 360 Million Christians Persecuted Worldwide'

 "Perhaps the most disturbing trend is that, since the inception of the World Watch List, the persecution of Christians has nearly doubled..."

The Never Ending ‘Pandemic’: 360 Million Christians Persecuted Worldwide

by Raymond Ibrahim, 2/8/2023

originally published at Gatestone Institute

In 2022, 5,621 Christian around the world were “killed for faith related reasons.”  Another 4,542 Christians were illegally detained or arrested, and 2,110 churches were attacked, many destroyed.  Over all, the global persecution of Christians remains higher than ever, with 360 million believers suffering high levels of discrimination and violence.

These are among some of the findings of the World Watch List-2023, which was recently published by the international humanitarian organization, Open Doors. Each year the report ranks the top 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted for their faith by using data from approximately 4,000 field workers and external experts to quantify and analyze persecution worldwide.

Crunching some numbers, the report finds that, on average, one in seven Christians (14%) are persecuted around the world. In Africa, that number grows to one in five (20%), while in Asia it is as much as two in five—meaning a whopping 40% of all Christians are persecuted there.

Christians suffer “extreme levels of persecution” in the top 11 of the 50 nations.  This ranges from being assaulted, raped, imprisoned or slaughtered on being identified as a Christian or attending (usually underground) churches.

Those nations and their respective rankings are: 1)      North Korea, 2) Somalia, 3) Yemen, 4) Eritrea, 5) Libya, 6) Nigeria, 7) Pakistan, 8) Iran, 9) Afghanistan, 10) Sudan, 11) India.

Coming in at #1, the absolute worst nation is North Korea, “with the highest levels of persecution ever seen,” says the report:

If discovered by the authorities, believers are either sent to labour camps as political prisoners where the conditions are atrocious, or killed on the spot—and their families will share their fate as well. Christians have absolutely no freedom….  A new ‘anti-reactionary thought law’ makes it amply clear that being a Christian or possessing a Bible is a serious crime and will be severely punished.

Most of the “extreme persecution” meted out to Christians in nine of the top 11 worst nations continues, however, to come either from Islamic oppression, or takes place in Muslim-majority nations. This means that approximately 80% of the absolute worst persecution around the globe takes place in the name of Islam.

Announcing a New Book on Islam from an Orthodox Christian Perspective

Respected writer and Orthodox Christian priest, Fr. Lawrence Farley, has announced his new book on Islam: Exploring Islam: A Christian Perspective on the Life of Muhammad and the Qur'an, available now from Sebastian Press.

Regular readers of this blog may remember Fr Lawrence from previous posts:

• Worshipping with Muslims? - "Our ultimate goal and divine mandate is not co-existence with Muslims but their conversion—as it is for all the children of men." 
• Saying 'AMEN' to the Canonization of the 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya

In the article below, Fr Lawrence presents an introduction to his book, at one point stating his purpose: 

Scholarly research and impartial detailed examination of the history of Muhammad and his movement, and of the sayings he transmitted (eventually collected and published as “the Qur’an”) prove that the claims Islam makes for itself cannot be sustained. Wherever the truth about God lies, it is not here.

I have ordered a copy, and plan to provide a review after reading it. Given Fr Lawrence's previous articles, and his stated purpose in the below article, I look forward to what may be a helpful resource for Christians in presenting the Saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to our Muslim neighbors. 

Exploring Islam

February 16, 2023 | Fr. Lawrence Farley | No Other Foundation

I would like you all to meet a young woman, raised a devout Roman Catholic, who converted to Islam. Her online story reads in part as follows:

“I’m one of the many western converts out there… I grew up in a very traditional orthodox Christian household. My family was going to church and respecting all traditions, but it was mostly something they did out of habit, not something they actually felt… I could never agree with many concepts Christianity supports. I did try to accept it, I did want to be firm in my convictions, but it never happened…I had the best intentions in the world for any religion that came to me, but the one and only that stuck in my heart was Islam…The moment I started reading the Qur’an, I felt this incredible wave of love surrounding me and all the weight from my shoulders was lifted off. I will never be able to put it in words…Here I am after years, still a Muslim, and an incredibly grateful one. I was 18 when I converted.”

One can only feel for this young woman who by her own testimony never managed to find Christ. And one does wonder about the paths she trod as a Roman Catholic, especially since she also said that when she converted to Islam it was her priest who gave her a copy of the Qur’an. But I share her story in order to focus upon the need for the Church to deal with Islam here in the West. Though perhaps not typical, her story is hardly unique, and includes some big name converts such as Cat Stevens, who converted to Islam in 1976.

Islam is, to say the least, a very controversial religion. For some people, especially since the tragedy of 9-11, all Muslims are either terrorists or potential terrorists. For others, Islam is a religion of peace, and is unjustly slandered by Neanderthal “Islamophobes”. Obviously Islam, like any large religion, contains of number of very diverse people, and sweeping generalizations make things difficult. Where does the truth lie?

William Kilpatrick and Raymond Ibrahim: 'Defenders of Faith and Family'

William Kilpatrick's stirring, in-depth review of Raymond Ibrahim's newest book, is itself a vigorous rallying cry to defenders of Western Christian Culture against not merely Islamic supremacy or terrorism, but against the anti-Christian, anti-family and anti-human Progressive, Leftist agenda.

Defenders of Faith and Family

Like today’s leftists, the Ottoman Turks wanted to turn Christian children against their parents; but one man turned the tables on them.

by William Kilpatrick, Crisis Magazine

Christianity was saved in Europe solely because the peoples of Europe fought. If [Europeans]…had not possessed a military equality with, and gradually a growing superiority over the Mohammedans who invaded Europe, Europe would at this moment be Mohammedan and the Christian religion would be exterminated. 

—Theodore Roosevelt

I came across Roosevelt’s observation in Raymond Ibrahim’s recent book, Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes who stood against Islam. At a time when Islam once again seems poised to conquer Europe—this time by dint of immigration and higher birthrates—Ibrahim’s book serves as a timely reminder that this clash of civilizations is far from over.

Defenders of the West focuses on eight individuals who fought against Islamic armies at various times in past centuries. Interestingly, Ibrahim himself can be considered a modern-day “defender of the West” or, more accurately, “defender of the faith.”

I say this because the faith can’t be effectively defended unless Christians first realize that it needs defending. Much of Ibrahim’s work concerns the oppression of Christians by Muslims all over the world but particularly in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—a story that relatively few Western Christians are familiar with.

Ibrahim, of course, also writes about the continuing threat to the West—to Europe and the Americas. 

Links to provide Relief Aid to Victims of the Earthquakes in Turkey & Syria

From the Communication Office of the Assembly of Canonical Bishops,

h/t Monomakhos

The Assembly of Bishops’ international humanitarian relief agency, International Orthodox Christian Charities (“IOCC”), is mobilizing direct relief on the ground. They have set a goal of $250,000 to provide immediate emergency relief. Here are their direct links:

IOCC Main Website - Donation Portal

https://www.facebook.com/IOCCRelief/

https://www.instagram.com/ioccrelief/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/IOCCRelief/status/1622701679731679232?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet.

Raymond Ibrahim: 'Pope Benedict Told the Grim Truth about Islam'

"As if to validate the claim that Muhammad had only taught “evil and inhuman” things, when Benedict quoted this assertion, anti-Christian riots erupted around the Muslim world, churches were set aflame, and an Italian nun who had devoted her life to serving the sick and needy of Somalia was murdered there."

Pope Benedict Told the Grim Truth about Islam

01/16/2023 by Raymond Ibrahim

Originally published by The Stream

“Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

In certain respects, this is the sentence that Pope Benedict XVI will be most remembered for. And while those who cite it do so to disparage and dishonor his memory—to portray him as an “Islamophobe”—that notorious assertion is of profound significance, and in more ways than one.

Pope Benedict read the above assertion on Sept. 12, 2006, during his Regensburg address on faith and reason. He was quoting Eastern Roman (or “Byzantine”) Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (b. 1350-1425). An erudite and pious man, Manuel knew much about Islam, both abstractly and experientially.

In 1390, Manuel’s father, John V, submitted to becoming a vassal to, and sent his son, Manuel, as a hostage of, the Ottoman sultan, Bayezid I (1360-1403), whom the contemporary chronicler Doukas described as

"a feared man, precipitate in deeds of war, a persecutor of Christians as no other around him, and in the religion of the Arabs [Islam] a most ardent disciple of Muhammad, whose unlawful commandments were observed to the utmost, never sleeping, spending his nights contriving intrigues and machinations against the rational flock of Christ. . . . His purpose was to increase the nation of the Prophet and to decrease that of the Romans. Many cities and provinces did he add to the dominion of the Muslims."

Unsurprisingly, the sultan never seemed to miss an opportunity to humiliate the heir apparent of Constantinople. Bayezid even sadistically forced Manuel to accompany the Turks and witness the final destruction of Philadelphia, the last Christian bastion in Asia Minor. The “sight of destroyed Christian cities” produced much “intense suffering” and even “sickened” the prince, writes one historian.

One year later, in 1391, Emperor John V died, and his son, Manuel, became emperor—after escaping from the sultan’s court to Constantinople. It was not long before Bayezid declared a fresh jihad, put Constantinople to siege (1394-1402), and once again began slaughtering Christians.

Earlier, during his time with the Turks, Manuel had regularly debated religion with Muslims. It was then that he said to a learned Muslim, “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

William Kilkpatrick: 'See No Islam, Hear No Islam'

New Catholic title on Apologetics omits any consideration of Christian witness to Muslims, or the impact of Islam on Christians.

See No Islam, Hear No Islam

by William Kilkpatrick, Turning Point Project, November 15, 2022

A significant omission in an otherwise good book.

The New Apologetics is a collection of 41 essays by noted Catholic apologists.

It’s a valuable book for those who are interested in spreading the Christian faith in a time of secularism and relativism, as well as for those who merely wish to deepen their own faith.

However, I do have one large caveat. None of the 41 essays deals with Islam. And that, to my mind, is a major omission. Although, The New Apologetics begins with a discussion of threats to Christianity—such as atheism, moral relativism, and scientific materialism—one of the biggest threats is ignored.

For example, the first essay discusses the “nones”—those who claim no religious affiliation. This group is expanding rapidly and it is pulling most of its membership away from Christian Churches. As their numbers increase, the number of those who identify as Christians declines.

I agree that the problem of the “nones” needs to be urgently addressed, but there is another category of “nones” that is equally important, but is absent from the pages of The New Apologetics. I am referring to all those Christians who are “nones” in the sense that none of them is any longer among the living because they have been killed by Muslims in the name of Allah. For example, in Nigeria alone, 18,000 people have been killed by Islamic terrorists in just the last two years (2020-2022). If the rest of Africa is added on, it’s now possible to speak of a Christian genocide in that continent.

Presumably, [Catholic apologists] don’t want to be put in a position where they might have to contradict the notion that Islam is a fellow Abrahamic religion that reveres Jesus and embraces the same values that Christians do.

The spread of Islam is not just a threat to Africans. Many other parts of the world are under the same threat. Because of the rapid increase in the Muslim population, even Europeans are now at risk of violence.

The essay on the “nones” makes much of the fact that in the U.S. between 1970 and the present, the number of “nones” has increased from three percent to twenty-five percent. But during an even shorter time frame, the percentage of Muslims in numerous European cities has increased by approximately the same amount. In Marseille, the second largest city in France, the percentage of Muslims is closer to 40 percent.

The essay points out that almost 40 percent of those under thirty in the U.S. are “nones”. But the same holds true in many of Europe’s major cities in regard to the Muslim population. According to Giulio Meotti, Islam is now the dominant religion among children in Birmingham, Leicester, Bradford, Luton, Slough and the London boroughs of Newham, Redbridge and Tower Hamlets.

Meanwhile, “Mohamed” has been one of the most popular names for baby boys in Europe for many years. Due to the high birth rate, there are now more Muslims at Friday services than Catholics at Sunday Mass in many cities in France and England.

If Islam really were the religion of peace that Catholic prelates and professors make it out to be, then the discrepancy in birth rates between Muslims and Christians might be no great cause for alarm. But rising crime rates among Muslims in Europe suggest that Islam is not a religion of peace but of aggression.

Raymond Ibrahim: 'Christmas Time: When the West Appeases and Islam Slaughters'

For the Christmas Season, and as we turn towards the New Year, it is time to review some recent posts to remind ourselves of 'inalienable truths' about Islam. First up, this sobering piece by Raymond Ibrahim:

Decapitated Santa — typical image disseminated by “extremists” around the Christmas season

Christmas Time: When the West Appeases and Islam Slaughters

by Raymond Ibrahim, 12/20/22, originally posted at The Stream

One of the most odious aspects of the so-called War on Christmas is Western appeasement of Muslim sensibilities.

Consider recent events in Sweden, where St. Lucia’s Day has been celebrated for centuries. According to Britannica: 

St. Lucia’s Day [is a] festival of lights celebrated in Sweden, Norway, and the Swedish-speaking areas of Finland on December 13 in honour of St. Lucia (St. Lucy). …The festival begins with a procession led by the St. Lucia designee, who is followed by young girls dressed in white and wearing lighted wreaths on their heads and boys dressed in white pajama-like costume singing traditional songs. The festival marks the beginning of the Christmas season in Scandinavia, and it is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year.

Not anymore. At least one school in Sweden has compromised the celebration in order to appease its Muslim students. According to a Dec. 10, 2022 Swedish report (English translation here),

Do you expect Santas, caroler and gingerbread men in the Lucia parade? Not at St Mary’s School (Mariehemsskolan) in Umeå. There it has been decided that the 40 or so children aged 7 to 10 who will take part in the Lucia procession will do so without the traditional elements of a Lucia celebration. The reason for this is Muslim children who dropped out of last year’s celebration because their parents were uncomfortable with the connection between the celebration and Christmas….  The children will also not sing the traditional Lucia songs. The choir director says that many children have been excluded over the years because Swedish schools focused so much on the Lucia festival and it was “so incredibly traditionally Christian.”

Note how the choir director makes it seem that Muslim children were “excluded,” when in fact they, or rather their parents, were the ones who chose exclusion.

Now rid of any distinctly Christmas/Christian trappings, St. Mary’s school posted a picture of one of its recent and highly “watered-down” Lucia rehearsals—boasting a very young Muslim girl dressed in full black hijab.

Such is Islam’s ongoing “contribution” to Sweden.  Since that Scandinavian nation opened its door to multiculturalism and migration—the overwhelming majority of which has been Muslim—violent crimes have increased by 300% and rapes by 1,472%.  (These figures are based on a 2015 report; as Muslim migration has continued to soar over the last nearly eight years, these stats have likely gotten worse.)

Aside from bringing an exponential rise in mayhem, the growing Muslim population is, as this recent development attests, also slowly but surely erasing—“canceling”—Sweden’s indigenous culture and former Christian heritage.  In this case, however, their success is entirely predicated on Sweden’s willing cooperation.

Sweden, of course, is symbolic of the West in general. Expressions of Christmas, particularly the Nativity scene, are being suppressed all throughout the West to appease Muslims. A few examples come from the UK (here and here), Italy (here and here), Germany (here and here), and Belgium (here and here).

In New York City, beginning as far back as 2002, public schools were allowed to display the religious symbols of all religions—including the star and crescent of Islam—except for Christianity, with a particular emphasis on banning the Nativity scene.

New Blog & Website on the Veneration of Fr. Seraphim Rose

At Blessed Father Seraphim's monastic cell, 2018.

For many years I have been maintaining here on the Facing Islam blog a resource page on Father Seraphim Rose of blessed memory. 

Growing out of that longstanding labor of love, for the past few years it has been my desire to create a new platform solely dedicated to advancing The Veneration of Blessed Father Seraphim, and gathering materials on his life, teachings, legacy, and significance for us today. This year being the 40th anniversary of his repose in the Lord on September 2, 1982, it seemed like the perfect time to launch this new website.

To begin with, I have posted an original article of mine titled, 'The Veneration of Father Seraphim Rose', which I originally wrote several years ago and updated recently, which tracks the global veneration of Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim from his death up to the present day.

In addition, there are three main pages on this new site:

• Akathist - which presents info on and link to order in booklet form an Akathist to Blessed Father Seraphim. This Akathist was retrieved online in 2006, but the site was subsequently taken down, and rather than just repost the Akathist, I took it upon myself to edit the text for spelling, grammar, and consistent use of pronouns, and offer it in booklet form. This is the 3rd edition, newly updated for 2022.

• Videos - A growing list of links to online videos about Father Seraphim, or presenting his writings and teachings. Many of these are recordings of him delivering his talks.

• Resources & Links - A growing list of resources which I intend to update regularly.

I invite you to explore this new site, and to share it widely. 

It is my strongly held opinion that Father Seraphim Rose is a true saint for our age. His battle against the passions (including sexual passions, and even same-sex desires), his deep repentance and strict asceticism, his warnings against lukewarm Christianity, relativism, ecumenism, and what he called "the religion of the future, the religion of Antichrist," makes him a prophetic voice and a towering figure for our time. His emphasis on learning about and entering into the mystery of "suffering Orthodoxy," acquiring the warmth of "Orthodoxy of the Heart," on preserving the true "savor of Orthodoxy," and his example as a dedicated and self-sacrificing monastic of these last days, always interceding for and helping others with "pain of heart," reveal him as a true and trustworthy witness of authentic, kenotic Orthodoxy, one who followed Christ by picking up and carrying his own cross, and by loving Christ and his neighbor unto the very end.

Let us turn to him even and especially now in this late hour, and ask his intercessions for us. And let us strive with whatever strength, mercy and grace the good Lord gives us to persevere through these trials which are coming upon the entire world.

O Holy Father Seraphim, pray to God for us!

Amen!

NEW BOOK BY RAYMOND IBRAHIM: Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam

New title by scholar and historian Raymond Ibrahim presents "vivid and dramatic profiles of eight extraordinary warriors—some saints, some sinners—who defended the Christian West against Islamic invasions."

"Discover the real Count Dracula, Spain’s El Cid, England’s Richard Lionheart, and many other historical figures, whose true and original claim to fame revolved around their defiant stance against jihadist aggression. An instructive and inspiring read; whereas Sword and Scimitar revolved around decisive battles, Defenders of the West revolves around decisive men." (From the publisher's description.)

I saw the announcement of this title (just published in late July) while traveling earlier this year, and have just now purchased the Kindle edition and begun to read it. The publisher's blurb and the solid but reserved Foreword by Victor Davis Hanson don't even begin to do it justice. 

Ibrahim's Introduction positively crackles with intelligence and energy, and advances with a certain intensity — even ferocity — his warnings about Islam, as well as his warnings concerning the ever weakening postmodern, post-Christian West, which in spite of its superiority in force over the Islamic world, nevertheless is feeble in its belief in and defense of its own heritage, purpose and future. This is a major book with many lessons for us, won at great cost by valiant figures of our culture's past.

The below review by Mark Tapson frames this important new work in vigorous and appropriate terms.

Order Raymond Ibrahim’s Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam HERE.

Learn more about Raymond Ibrahim's writing and sign up for his regular posts HERE.

Defenders of the West

Raymond Ibrahim profiles eight heroes in the clash of civilizations.

by Mark Tapson, FrontPage Mag, July 28, 2022

Historiography has been dominated in recent decades almost exclusively by leftists determined to take a wrecking ball to the glorious edifice of Western civilization in the name of social justice and multiculturalism. New York Times propagandist Nikole Hannah-Jones of the widely-debunked but nonetheless influential 1619 Project comes to mind. The coordinated mission of such activists has been to pervert and subvert the grand narrative of our culture into a sordid tale of oppression, exploitation, and white supremacy, and to brand all our flawed heroes as racists and knock them off their pedestals, both figuratively and literally.

This is one reason why the new book Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam, by historian Raymond Ibrahim... is such a refreshing, even thrilling read. As if the title alone weren’t guaranteed to inflame Progressive sensibilities, the book is unabashedly dedicated to “all the Past, Present, and Future Defenders of that which is Good, Right, and True.” Standing up for the Good, the Right, and the True (capitalized, no less) in our postmodern, post-Christian era? That’s a bold, increasingly rare position for any historian and publisher (Bombardier Books, in this case) to take today.

Defenders is a sort of follow-up to Ibrahim’s essential 2018 book Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West. That book centered on decisive battles in the clash of civilizations, while the newer one zeroes in on the profiles of eight decisive men in that ongoing conflict, between the 11^th and 15^th centuries, from Spain’s El Cid and England’s Richard Lionheart to lesser-known but no less heroic figures such as France’s Saint Louis and the “Albanian Braveheart” Skanderbeg.

Announcing a New Book from Robert Spencer

 

NEW! From Uncut Mountain Press

Available in paperback and eBook formats

The Church and the Pope

The Case for Orthodoxy

by Robert Spencer

OVERVIEW

Today, the place and authority of the bishop of Rome in the first millennium has become a matter of great interest and importance not only for the official dialogue but for all serious seekers of the true Church. One such seeker is the prolific New York Times Bestselling Author Robert Spencer, who applied his analytical acumen to a thorough examination of The Church & The Pope.

From the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers through the Oecumenical Councils and the filioque controversy in the time of St. Photios the Great, on up to the Great Schism, all of the “flash points” of church history indicate the same conciliar nature of the Church as witnessed in Acts: “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”

The whole “cloud of witnesses” give testimony to the truth of the Church vis-a-vis the post-schism papal claims: the Apostle Peter himself and the choir of the Apostles, St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Cyprian of Carthage, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Athanasius the Great, St. John Chrysostom, Blessed Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, St. Photios the Great and others.

Viewing the life and nature of the Church throughout the first millennium through the spiritual vision of these great saints, Spencer first walked, and now walks us, out of the weeds of innovation and division and back into the garden of the Church Fathers where unity and continuity shine.

Full info and online ordering...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is the author of twenty-three books including two New York Times bestsellers. Spencer is a regular columnist for PJ Media and FrontPage Magazine and has written hundreds of articles about Islam and other issues. He is also a regular on major news media outlets and speaker at universities across America.

DETAILS

First published: July 2022

Length (softcover): 112 pages

Size (softcover): 6 x 9 inches

ISBN (softcover): 978-1-63941-005-7