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Persecution of Christians in the post–Cold War era

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Anti-Christian sentiment is an opposition to some or all Christians, the Christian religion, or the practice of Christianity. Christophobia or Christianophobia are also names for "every form of discrimination and intolerance against Christians" according to Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE).[1]

Anti-Christian expressions

Vandalism

The vandalism or defacement of Christian symbols or property is one form of the expression of anti-Christian sentiment. If the defaced or vandalized object is considered holy by Christians, such as the Bible, the Cross, or an image of Christ or a saint, the case becomes that of desecration. Such destruction may also be illegal if it violates property rights or hate crime laws. Arson directed at Christian meeting places or churches is often considered a hate crime.[2] However, churches may also be targeted for reasons unrelated to anti-Christian sentiment, especially racism(against the congregants).[3]

An aggravating factor in the burning of a church in Minnedosa, Manitoba was that two of the arsonists were fans of National Socialist black metal music with anti-Christian themes, according to the Crown.[4] Vandals stole a wooden statue of Virgin Mary, from the Saint Albert the Great Parish of Calgary, Canada in August 2008 detached her hands, tried to incinerate it, and threw into a ditch along the nearby 22x Highway.[5] In 2010, vandals daubed graffiti and attempted to burn down the White Church of Baildon, West Yorkshire, marking the church with the sign of the pentagram and scrawling anti-Christian graffiti upon it.[6][7]

Music

Some fans of black metal and witch house music declare open hatred of Christianity. Headliners of the black metal genre have claimed responsibility for inspiring (if not necessarily perpetrating) over fifty arsons directed at Christian churches in Norway from 1992 to 1996.[8] The most notable church was Norway's Fantoft Stave Church, which the police believed was destroyed by the one-man band Burzum, Varg Vikernes, also known as "Count Grishnackh".[8]

Examples of anti-Christian sentiment in politics and culture

Europe

Norway

On 6 June 1992, the Fantoft Stave Church, a wooden structure originally built in 1150 in Fortun, when the Vikings converted to Christianity, and moved to Bergen in 1883, was burnt down.[9] At first the fire was attributed to lightning and electrical failure. In January 1993 Varg Vikernes, also known as "Count Grishnackh", was interviewed by a local journalist in his apartment decorated with 'Nazi paraphernalia, weapons and Satanic symbols'. According to Vikernes, black metal fans had declared war on Christianity and Norwegian society and was responsible for eight church burnings as part of an ongoing terror campaign. He used a photo of the charred remnants of the church taken soon after the fire on his band Burzum's album entitled Aske (Norwegian for ashes). Following his statement the Norwegian authorities began to clamp down on black metal fanatics.[10]

In 1994 Vikernes was found guilty of murder, arson and possession of illegal weapons (including explosives) and given the maximum sentence under Norwegian law of 21 years in prison.[10] He was released in 2009.[11]

The following is a partial list of Norwegian Christian church arsons in 1992 by anti-Christian groups reported by English-language media sources:

Sweden

On 7 February 1993, the Lundby New Church in Gothenburg, Sweden was burnt down.[17]

United Kingdom

Mark Pritchard, the Member of Parliament representing the English constituency of The Wrekin, instigated a debate in the House of Commons on 5 December 2007 on the issue of Anti-Christian sentiment, describing the phenomenon as 'Christianophobia'.[18] Introducing the debate, he said it was about "how anti-Christian sentiment is increasing, not decreasing; why many Christians feel they are not getting a fair hearing when it comes to Christianity in the public square; and what many people of all faiths and no faith see as the increasing marginalisation of Britain’s Christian history, heritage and traditions through the actions of Whitehall Departments, Government agencies, local authorities, the charity commissioners, or other sectors of society."[19] One example where anti-Christian sentiment was evident was when a church building was wrecked by squatters which included the adding of anti-Christian graffiti to the walls.[20]

Middle East

Fiorello Provera of the European Parliament called the Middle East "the most dangerous place for Christians to live" and cited Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who blamed the international community for failing to deal with what she considers a war against Christians in the Muslim world.[21]

Former Lebanese president Amine Gemayel stated in 2011 that Christians had become the target of genocide after dozens of Christians were killed in deadly attacks in Egypt and Iraq.[22]

According Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, in the hundred years leading up to 2010 the Middle East's Christian population dwindled from 20% to less than 5%. Oren argues that with the the exception of Israel, where Christian communities have been flourishing since the state's founding in 1948, Christians in the Middle East have endured severe political and cultural hardships: in Egypt, Muslim extremists have subjected Coptic Christians to beatings and massacres, resulting in the exodus of 200,000 Copts from their homes; in Iraq, 1,000 Christians were killed in Baghdad between the years 2003 and 2012 and 70 churches in the country were burned; in Iran, converts to Christianity face the death penalty and in 2012 Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani was sentenced to death; in Saudi Arabia, private Christian prayer is against the law; in the Gaza Strip, half of the Palestinian Christian population has fled since Hamas seized power in 2007 and Gazan law forbids public displays of crucifixes; in the West Bank, the Christian population has been reduced from 15% to less than 2%.[23]

Egypt

See also: Kosheh Massacres, Nag Hammadi massacre, Maspero demonstrations, 2011 Alexandria bombing, and 2011 Imbaba church attacks

Iraq

The consolidation of power in the hands of Shiite Islamists in Iraq since the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime has been to the detriment of Iraq's Christian communities. Friction between rival sects in Iraq has frequently resulted in violence being directed against Christians in the country. Consequently, there has been a flight of Christians from some areas to Europe and to the United States. Since 2003, hundreds of thousand of Christians have fled Iraq, such that the Christian population, which may have been as high as 1.4 million prior to the Iraq War, has dropped to 500,000, with numbers continuing to decline. In 2007 Al Qaeda militants killed a young priest in Mosul.[24][25][26]

Israel

For years, there have been incidents of Haredi youths spitting at Christian clergymen in the Old City and near the Mea She'arim neighborhood, according to several Jewish and Christian residents of Jerusalem.[27] Ultra-Orthodox young men curse and spit at Christian clergymen in the streets of Jerusalem's Old City as a matter of routine. Clergymen in the Armenian Church in Jerusalem say they are all victims of harassment, from the senior cardinals to the priesthood students.[28]

In 2008, Orthodox Jewish students burned hundreds of copies of the New Testament in Or Yehuda, a suburb of Tel Aviv. The campaign was organized by the town's deputy mayor, Uzi Aharon.[29] [30]

Christian churches in Jerusalem have been vandalized by spray-painted death threats and vulgar remarks against Christianity.[31] Vandals in Jerusalem spray painted “Death to Christians” and “We’ll crucify you” on the Baptist Church in Jerusalem and similar hate graffiti on a Greek Orthodox monastery in the city. The pope’s custodian in Israel, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, wrote to Israel’s president Shimon Peres, warning that “red lines have been crossed and we cannot remain silent,” and asked him to put an end to the attacks.[32]

Palestinian territories

Further information: Islamization of the Gaza Strip and The Teacher's Bookshop

The Gaza Strip has a tiny Christian minority of 2,500–3,000, as of 2007. The Hamas overthrow of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza during that year was accompanied by violent attacks against Christians and Christian holy sites by Islamic militants. A Catholic convent and Rosary Sisters school were ransacked, with some Christians blaming Hamas for the attack. In September 2007 Christian anxiety grew after an 80-year-old Christian women was attacked in her Gaza home by a masked man who robbed her and called her an infidel.[33][34] That attack was followed less than a month later by a deadly assault on the owner of the only Christian bookstore in Gaza City. Muslim extremists were implicated as being behind the incident.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bishops condemn Christianphobia" Religious Intelligence; October 1, 2008[dead link]
  2. ^ Time Magazine
  3. ^ Washington Post article
  4. ^ CBC: Minnedosa Fire, June 28, 2006
  5. ^ "2 arrested in Virgin Mary statue theft". CBC News. August 15, 2009.
  6. ^ Church is ‘focus of Satanic attack’[dead link]
  7. ^ Shock at 'satanic' attack on historic church
  8. ^ a b Grude, Torstein (Director) (January 1, 1998). Satan rir Media (motion picture). Norway: Grude, Torstein.
  9. ^ In Cod We Trust, By Eric Dregni. p.185
  10. ^ a b c In the face of death
  11. ^ "Ute av fengsel". Dagbladet.no (in Norwegian). May 22, 2009. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Lords of Chaos (1998): Hellhammer interview[dead link]
  13. ^ a b c Lords of Chaos (1998): 78
  14. ^ a b c d Lords of Chaos (1998): 79
  15. ^ a b c Satan rides the Media (1998)
  16. ^ Satan rides the Media
  17. ^ Lords of Chaos (1998): 113, 269
  18. ^ Christianophobia warning from MP BBC News 4 December 2007
  19. ^ Christianophobia markpritchard.com. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  20. ^ Anger as squatters wreck church BBC News, 31 May 2007
  21. ^ Provera, Fiorello (9 April 2012). "Fiorello Provera: Christianity's Via Dolorosa". The Straits Times. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  22. ^ "Ex-Lebanon Leader: Christians Target of Genocide". CBS News. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  23. ^ Oren, Michael (9 March 2012). "Israel and the Plight of Mideast Christians". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  24. ^ "Pope marks Easter with call for end to violence in Syria". Fox News. Associated Press. 8 April 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  25. ^ "Christians fleeing Iraq". Watertown Daily Times. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  26. ^ Arraf, Jane (8 April 2012). "A northern Iraqi Easter". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  27. ^ Ahren, Raphael (5 March 2010). "Capital Anglos mobilize against practice of spitting at Christians". Haaretz. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  28. ^ Rosenberg, Oz (4 November 2011). "Ultra-Orthodox spitting attacks on Old City clergymen becoming daily". Haaretz. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  29. ^ Bixler, Mark (28 May 2008). "Hundreds of New Testaments torched in Israel". CNN. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  30. ^ Schwartz, Daniel (22 June 2011). "The books have been burning". CBC News. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  31. ^ Zaimov, Stoyan (21 February 2012). "Christianity in Jerusalem Under Attack? Extremists Hit Another Church". The Christian Post. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  32. ^ Elgot, Jessica. "Rabbis condemn attacks on Israel's Christian sites". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  33. ^ Hadid, Diaa (27 June 2007). "For Gaza's Christians, new reality unsettling". The Houston Chronicle. Associated Press. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  34. ^ Abu Toameh, Khaled (25 April 2007). "Christian-Muslim tensions heat up". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  35. ^ Silver, Eric (8 October 2007). "Gaza's Christian bookseller killed". The Independent. Retrieved 7 June 2012.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anti-Christianity.
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