Why Are Christians the Most Persecuted Minority in The World? – Dialectic Two Step

The image displayed shows the results of an Open Doors 2016 study of the top 50 nations where Christian’s face persecution. It should be noted that the study is in the context of an organization whose goal is to evangelize. Evangelism takes as its foundation the idea the Christianity is a superior religion to the local majority religion.

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To begin, I want to call out what facts I consider to be solid.

Christianity is the largest religion. A larger population is subject to a larger variety of phenomena; including acceptance, rejection, and persecution. People who adhere to Mithraism do not get persecuted. But that’s because their population is 0.

One point of contention I have is with the casting Christians as a persecuted minority. Christianity is the largest religion in the world. Even if we ignore 1600 years of post-Constantine history and look at the last century, persecution by Christians on non-Christian states and between Christian states have been highly lethal. There’s a certain “pot calling the kettle black” element to this rhetoric.


Christianity claims the following “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. Apostasy is contentious. It seems like a perfect recipe for conflict.

But in the same way that a woman never deserves to be raped, a Christian, by virtue of their religious choice, should not be persecuted. Disapproval, dissent, and disagreement are all on the table. But harming another on the basis of religious affiliation is fundamentally wrong.

I feel compelled to note that the majority of states on this list are Muslim. This is not surprising given the competition between Islam and Christianity for the hearts and minds of humanity.

The next group is Marxists states. And last, there are states where Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity intersect.

Viewing the data in this light, it seems that a vast majority of persecution arises out of interreligious conflict.

I think we have to call out the role that Islam is playing in inter-religious conflict.
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I think we have to call out and protest the role that Islam is playing in exacerbating inter-religious conflict. But the list above is the view from the Christian side. There is also a view from the other side that needs to be acknowledged. There’s a lesson there.

Who’s Right?

I think there is a reasonable argument to be made that religions can’t all be right. In fact, I personally feel that none of them are right; not simply because there are no logical proofs for any supernatural religious claims, but because being right is not what religion is about.

The word religion means to reconnect with the divine. God, by definition is incomprehensible, indescribable, and beyond our senses. Flying in the face of that meaning, religious institutions offer dogma; claims of certainty about the divine. Conflict between religions on points of dogma seems contradictory to its purposes.

Conflict between religions on points of dogma seems contradictory to its purposes.
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Within the Christian community the value of eccumenacle engagement is immense. Communities are strengthened where differences are set aside. If that isn’t God weighing in on the argument, I don’t know what to think.

As the world gets smaller and global religions begin to share the same crowded spaces, there are more differences to be set aside. There are larger communities to foster and there are more opportunities to reconnect with the divine.

If there is a God, I see her waiting, ever patiently, for us to grow up and understand that we are all part of creation. We each have our own divine connection that needs to be fostered, respected, and held to the standard of the golden rule. There are many dogma that need retiring. These are not failing of a God, but of the fragile and fleeting wills and minds of men.

Religions appear, thrive, and go extinct. The divine remains.
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History moves forward; progress continues. Religions appear, thrive, and go extinct. The divine remains. There is a lesson there, we have a short time to learn it. Peace be with you.

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Dialectic Two-Step  is an ongoing series of my thoughts on questions that come my way.

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two. - Octavio

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