Persecution because of one’s faith is wrong. We all have a right to belong to whatever faith we choose and have a right to worship however we want to. The United Nations developed the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that focuses on four elements of religious freedom:
- Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others, and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.
- No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.
- Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
- The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.
Yet despite this Christians all over the world are being persecuted simply for believing in Jesus Christ. According to the International Society for Human Rights, a secular group with members in 38 states worldwide, 80 per cent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed at Christians. Christians are now the most persecuted group in the world.
Every month 322 Christians are killed for their faith, 214 Christian churches and properties are destroyed and 772 forms of violence are committed against Christians. Christians in areas with severe religious restrictions pay a heavy price for their faith. Beatings, physical torture, confinement, isolation, rape, severe punishment, imprisonment, slavery, discrimination in education and employment, and even death are just a few examples of the persecution they experience on a daily basis.
The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity in the United States estimates that 100,000 Christians now die every year, targeted simply because of their faith – that is 11 every hour.
The Pew Research Centre reports that hostility to religion reached a new high in 2012, when Christians faced some form of discrimination in 139 countries, almost three-quarters of the world's nations.
All this seems counter-intuitive here in the West where the history of Christianity has been one of cultural dominance and control ever since the Emperor Constantine converted and made the Roman Empire Christian in the 4th century AD.
Yet the plain fact is that Christians are languishing in jail for blasphemy in Pakistan, and churches are burned and worshippers regularly slaughtered in Nigeria and Egypt, which has recently seen its worst anti-Christian violence in seven centuries.
The most violent anti-Christian pogrom of the early 21st century saw as many as 500 Christians hacked to death by machete-wielding Hindu radicals in Orissa, India, with thousands more injured and 50,000 made homeless. In Burma, Chin and Karen Christians are routinely subjected to imprisonment, torture, forced labour and murder.
Persecution is increasing in China; and in North Korea a quarter of the country's Christians live in forced labour camps after refusing to join the national cult of the state's founder, Kim Il-Sung. Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Maldives all feature in the 10 worst places to be a Christian.
If I am elected as the Member of Parliament for Coventry South this is an issue that I will take seriously and that will be close to my heart. I will make a point of joining groups such as the The All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief exists to raise awareness and profile of international freedom of religion or belief as a human right among Parliamentarians, media, government and the general public in the UK, and to increase the effectiveness of the UK’s contribution to international institutions charged with enforcing this human right.
They have recommended that the UK Parliament pressures regimes and highlight the fact that their people are undergoing persecution. The group monitors persecution around the world and recommends various interventions the British government can make on behalf of persecuted Christians and others.
Theresa May has raised the issue of persecuted Christians on many occasions and she is determined to stand up for the freedom of people of all religions to practice their beliefs in peace and safety as part of our foreign policy. I know, that as the MP for Coventry South, I would have the full support of the Prime Minister in our endeavours to help and protect fellow Christians all around the world who need us.
