Jeremy hunt is right: persecuted christians have been neglected for too long | thearticle

While I am supporting Boris Johnson to be our next Prime Minister, the contest has been positive, as his rival, Jeremy Hunt, has raised some very worthwhile issues. None more so than the

persecution of Christians around the world. Hunt says: “The sense of misguided political correctness that has stopped us standing up for Christians overseas must end. It is a sad fact that

Christians are the most persecuted religious group in modern times. I am determined to show that we are on their side.” Language is a very powerful tool in all this. At present, there is not

a term for anti-Christian hatred to provide an equivalent to Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Anba Angaelos, the Coptic Archbishop of London, who has said that Christians faced ethnic

cleansing in parts of the Middle East, suggests the term “Christophobia” be adopted. Equal treatment would make sense. The cause that should be championed is freedom of worship. Atheists and

others should be entitled to be as rude as they like about religious belief. Comedians should be allowed to make jokes – however unfunny or offensive they might be. So any legal sanctions

should not infringe free speech. The distinction is important between inciting hatred against Christians or Muslims – and robust criticism of Christianity or Islam. Often it is the same

countries that persecute Christians and homosexuals. Brendan O’Neill writing in the _Spectator_ about the Gay Pride march reflected on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall protests: “The

riotous counter culturalists of the Sixties and Seventies demanded freedom. They didn’t give a damn what the ‘moral majority’ thought of them  — they just wanted the moral majority to leave

them alone.” But he adds: “It’s no longer enough to leave homosexuals alone to live however they choose and to inflict on them no persecution or discrimination or any ill-will whatsoever on

the basis of their sexuality, which is absolutely the right thing for a civilised liberal society to do. No, now you have to validate their identity and cheer their life choices. You must

doff your cap to that omnipresent bloody rainbow.” That is the balance. Christians do not seek to impose their beliefs on anyone – but they do pursue their right to practice and proclaim

their faith. The monitoring group Open Doors estimates than 100 million Christians around the world face persecution. The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity in the United States

estimated that 100,000 of them are killed each year for their beliefs. Christian martyrdom is not merely a distant barbarism from the Roman Empire and Middle Ages, long since consigned to

the history books. It is happening today on a terrifying scale across the globe. More Christians are being killed for their beliefs than ever before. Often it is the Christians in refugee

camps who are most at risk – but this additional peril they face is generally ignored. That leads us on to what we can do about it. Our refugee policy should give preference to Christians in

recognition of realities that are taking place. The Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram, continues its campaign of murder and displacement against Nigerians Christians. A priority for our

Overseas Aid funding should be that it goes to governments that are effective in upholding religious freedom. The United States has an Ambassador at Large for International Religious

Freedom, Sam Brownback. His office publishes a report on some of the worst offenders. He says: “Iran has one of the worst records on religious freedom in the world and continues to show a

blatant disregard for protecting individuals’ religious freedom”. Brownback adds that the Chinese authorities have “increased their repression of Christians, shutting down churches and

arresting adherents for their peaceful religious practices. And to this we say to China: Do not be mistaken, you will not win your war on faith. This will have consequences on your standing

at home and around the world”. While in Eritrea the “authorities continue to confine Eritrean Orthodox Church Patriarch Antonios, who has been under house arrest since 2006. He along with

hundreds of other prisoners of conscience should be free.” It is welcome that the US Government is officially monitoring these offences. The former Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper,

established an Ambassador for Religious Freedom and an Office of Religious Freedom in Canada. Under his Government it was made a priority. In 2016 the Office of Religious Freedom was closed

by the newly elected government of Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. But it is needed more than ever. I hope it will be restored in Canada. We should also establish a British equivalent. There

are 7.3 billion people on our plant and nearly a third of us, 2.2 billion, are Christians. The number is growing at the rate of millions a year. Yet many pay at terribly high price for

practising that faith. Hunt is right to have raised this issue. But whether he or Johnson becomes our next PM, the British Government could and should be doing far more to fight this

horrific oppression.