Canaries

Here are some countries in the world that are consistent in their persecution of Christians. These countries are almost anticipated as being hostile to Christians because of their religious context and the nature of scapegoating Christians living within that context. Nearly all of those listed in the following report on the rising Christian persecution in 18 countries are unsurprising: https://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-persecution-rising-in-18-countries-report.html. According to the article:

These countries include Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Mali, Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Russia, North Korea, China, Vietnam, India and Qatar, according to the report titled “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2020-22.”

Around the world, more than 360 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution just for following Jesus — that’s one in seven believers worldwide, according to Open Doors USA’s World Watch List, which ranks the top 50 countries where Christians experience the worst persecution for their faith. (Kumar, Nov. 20, 2022)

Our hearts should break for anyone suffering simply for following Jesus. But in terms of expectations, and perhaps with the exception of places like Nigeria, most Christians anticipate persecution, particularly in Muslim contexts. In some countries, the Church is literally being killed off. And though we romanticize persecution (i.e., the Church thriving in underground forms despite it), we should not forget that sometimes persecution simply wipes out witness, however temporary or long-term. There's a real war happening among allegiances to deities.

But when it comes to harbingers, though many view such persecution as a possibility, few acknowledge it as a reality for a whole host of reasons. As it applies to the development of nations, few look to under or poorly developed countries for informing future directions. It is for that reason, that one must seek out canaries in coal mines elsewhere.

Here I would gently turn the astute reader's attention to a small report on 500 anti-Christian hate crimes in 2021 in Europe: https://www.christianpost.com/world/europe-sees-over-500-anti-christian-hate-crimes-in-2021-report.html. There are roughly 746 million residents of Europe, so 500 seems miniscule. But it is the nature and rationale behind the hate crimes that are worth attention. The nature ranges from small (vandalism) to mid (robbery) to large (Finnish Parliament (see article)). Europe is the home of Roman Catholicism, the Protestant Reformation, and a formalized missions movement of missions to the world. Most concerning is not the actual persecution, but the lack of outrage over such persecution from liberal sectors in Europe. In the 20th Century, though there was a robust undermining of Christianity in universities, pop culture, and philosophy, there was also a robust open dialogue regarding that undermining. Christians are open to debate. A bedrock of society in the past was the creation and protection of such debate to take place. This has, historically, been reciprocated. G.W. Truett (a prominent pastor in Dallas) championed the rights of atheists to practice atheism because he understood that the right to practice should be extended across the spectrum of society. Liberal papers may mock Christianity, but they would (in the past) defend the Christian position from extreme, ignorant biases if only to protect their own right to continue to critique it.

The report on Europe, though small, is a canary worth paying attention to for several reasons: 1) it sends a signal to the rest of the world that such behavior, though frowned upon, may be acceptable given the right rationale and at the right heights of power, 2) that liberal causes can be expressed in immoral actions, and 3) that the perception of Christians is either that they rubber-stamp the wants of society or that they hate society. There is little nuance. In the past, though some disagreed with Christianity, they acknowledged its positive impact on society as well. Moral boundaries exist to help us flourish, while hedonism simply invites destruction (for proof of this one needn't look to Christianity, simply ask any seasoned rockstar how a lack of limitations impacted their decision-making regrets, which are legendary). 

Do I think this has hit "mainstream" Europe yet? No. Most neighbors in Europe view with indifference the oddball who attends church. But it doesn't take much for indifference to turn to outrage. Behold the canary. And beware.