Religious persecution, including the persecution of Christian and Muslim minorities in North Africa and the Middle East, has received considerable media coverage and is a topic of deep concern to many people of faith. These resources examine the issue of religious persecution and help us to explore the various contexts in which people suffer for their faith today.
An Overview of Religious Persecution
Religious persecution can be defined as the systematic hostility or ill-treatment encountered by an individual or group because of their religious beliefs. It may be manifest in a variety of forms. Laws may discriminate against those who subscribe, or fail to subscribe, to a particular religion, resulting in minority traditions experiencing harsher punishments for breaching the law. “Personal status laws” that control marriage, divorce, inheritance and child rearing, may also be used to discriminate against particular faith groups.
In the most severe cases, persecution may take a violent form, with minorities facing physical attacks and threats from the government or wider community. The Holocaust, during which six million Jews were killed under a Nazi regime, is one of the worst examples of widespread and systemic religious persecution known to humankind.
Aside from legal discrimination, minority groups may find themselves socially excluded from communities, forced to worship in secret for fear of public criticism
Religious freedom
The principle of the freedom of religion and belief asserts that individuals should be free to believe in any faith system according to their conscience. This principle also supports the rights of atheists and agnostics not to subscribe to a particular religion. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines freedom of religion, belief and conscience as a right for all peoples. This right includes freedom to change your religion or belief, and freedom to manifest your religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
For further background on the freedom of religion and belief see the “Quick guide to Religious Freedom”
published by Swedish Mission Council.
What are its causes?
It is sometimes tempting to assume that it is differences of faith that drive persecution against other faiths. This is broadly known as the ‘clash of civilisations’ thesis; the idea that religious identities are the prime motivator for conflict in the post cold-war decade. However, there is little evidence to point toward such a direct correlation between religious beliefs and persecution. What proves far more significant are the legal and social restrictions placed on religious freedom within a country. These are shaped both by governments and social groupings, and are informed by a broader range of socio-political factors.
Religious regulation
There is a direct correlation between attempts by a state to control, regulate or restrict religious activity and religious persecution. Social pressures from competing religions, social movements and institutions can prompt increased regulation; social groups and governments often have a reciprocal relationship in terms of encouraging and enforcing regulation. Conversely in countries where there is less regulation of religion, the ability of any single religion to wield undue political power is diminished.
The historical background of a particular religion, and its relationship with the state, is vital in understanding how religious persecution comes about.
Nationalism
People who have differing religious beliefs can sometimes be perceived as a threat to a national or cultural identity.
Religion is usually one aspect of the social and cultural identity of a nation. Consequently religious identity can be a factor in contributing to a form of nationalism that is exclusive. Religious authorities often pre-date the emergence of a state and so the governance structures that emerge often have close ties to particular faiths. People who have differing religious beliefs can sometimes be perceived as a threat to a national or cultural identity. Religion often becomes used as a marker of difference between majority and minority groups.
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism can be defined as “a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles.” It often arises within groups who feel marginalised and wish to assert a strong sense of identity over another group. As such, fundamentalism can often be one of the key factors contributing to restrictions on religious freedoms within a society, although these stem predominantly from dissenting groups rather than governments.
Referencing the growth of Islamic extremism at an international level, the former Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, suggests that fundamentalists in the Middle East and parts of Asia and Africa are responding to the failings of secular nationalist governments –
“They feel betrayed by secular nationalist governments that failed to deliver prosperity and national pride…they are uninspired by the secular culture of the West with its maximum of choice and minimum meaning….religious radicals are offering young people the chance to fight and die for their faith, winning glory on earth and immortality in heaven.”
Christianity in the Middle East
Less than one per cent of Christians worldwide live in the Middle East-North Africa region, where Christianity began. In recent years, the numbers have significantly fallen. The percentage of Christians in the area has more than halved from 14% to 4% in the last 100 years. Although fertility and age structure have had some impact on these numbers the greatest contributory factor has been the persecution of Christians in the region.
Following Western intervention in the Middle East recently the attacks have proliferated. Long established Christian communities have become targets for those exhibiting anger against the West.
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Quotes on religious persecution in the Middle East
Fuad Nahdi – Founding editor of Q News, and runs the Radical Middle Way
“For centuries the two faith communities have managed to co-exist peacefully in almost all countries in the Middle East and elsewhere. Islam has recognised Christianity as a sister Abrahamic faith. Places of worship have been respected, freedom of worship accorded and lives and property protected. The oldest known Christian community that speaks the language Jesus allegedly spoke has co-existed with Muslim neighbours until the recent troubles.”
“Both Christianity and Islam need to be detribalised in the global village. Our efforts should focus on finding areas of convergence, not conversion.”
Faith McDonnell, Director of Religious Liberty Program at the Institute on Religion and Democracy
“There have been other communities throughout time that have totally disappeared, and [the Middle Eastern Christian community] could be another one.”
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
“The horrific events in Iraq rightly call our attention and sorrow yet again. Christians and other religious minorities are being killed and face terrible suffering.”
Iyad Ameen Madani, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
“The Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS)” is committing crimes against innocent Christian Iraqi citizens in Mosul and Nineveh including forced deportation under the threat of execution; thus further tearing apart the social fabric of the Iraqi people. This forced displacement is a crime that cannot be tolerated; and that the practices of ISIS have nothing to do with Islam and its principles that call for justice, kindness, fairness, freedom of faith and coexistence.”
Statement by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem
“We, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, are horrified and shocked by the persecution of Christians in Syria and Iraq by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a militant Islamic group. We strongly condemn this horrendous behaviour and call upon all governments, religious leaders, and peoples of the region to denounce such crimes against humanity.”
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
“It is our wholehearted hope and fervent prayer that the God of love – worshipped by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike – may prevail over the false idols of fanaticism and prejudice. May the compassionate Lord grant peace to all.”