ICC Note: The UK Parliament has acknowledged the severity of Christian persecution globally, and the need for a more significant response around the world. The discussion focused on both the severity and the pervasiveness of the attacks. One member highlighted that today Jesus would not be safe in Egypt today. Another noted the duplicity that Christian persecution receives. He said, “If this were happening to almost any other religious group it would be something of a national scandal.”
By Michael Trimmer
12/04/2013 Egypt (Christian Today) – A three hour debate in Parliament yesterday resulted in broad spectrum of agreement on the severity of the global persecution of Christians and the need for the issue to receive wider attention worldwide.
Countries of concern mentioned during the debate were Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, China, North Korea, Burma, Eritrea and Iran.
The issue of persecution against Christians was brought forward by the Democratic Unionist MP for Strangford, Jim Shannon, who opened the discussion with some harrowing statistics, stating that a hundred thousand Christians will have been killed in 2013 for their faith, while 200 million will have experienced persecution.
“One and a half billion Christians live in what can be termed as dangerous neighbourhoods. That shows the magnitude of the problem of persecuted Christians,” he said.
The House was united over party lines, with Church Commissioner and Tory MP, Sir Tony Baldry saying, “There is now practically no country — from Morocco to Pakistan — in which Christians can freely practise their religion. That must be a matter of real concern to this House.”
Noting the arrival of the Christmas season, Mr Baldry said that not only would the celebration be virtually non-existent in many of the traditionally Biblical lands, but also that “Joseph would not now be advised to take Mary to Egypt to avoid the dangers of Herod, because Jesus would just not have been safe there today”.
Christians in Egypt have experienced a wave of deadly attacks following the revolution in 2011 and the recent overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, with members of the Muslim Brotherhood accusing them of colluding in his removal.
Parliament heard from Democratic Unionist David Simpson that in India there had been “kidnappings, forced marriages, 18,000 people injured, 6,000 houses and 296 churches and small places of Christian worship burned and pastors murdered”.
Tory MP for London and Westminster, Mark Field suggested the persecution of Christians was tolerated in a way that attacks on other faiths are not.
“If this were happening to almost any other religious group it would be something of a national scandal,” he said.
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