Christianity in danger of extinction: U.K. minister
Christianity is in danger of becoming extinct in its ancient homelands because of a rising tide of sectarian attacks, says a British cabinet minister.
Violence against Christian worshippers by religious fanatics has become a “global crisis” and is the most grave challenge facing the world this century, says Sayeeda Warsi, the minister for faith in Prime Minister David Cameron’s government, in an advance copy of a speech she is due to give Friday at Georgetown University in Washington.
“A mass exodus is taking place, on a Biblical scale. In some places, there is a real danger that Christianity will become extinct,” Ms. Warsi argues.
She is planning to hold a summit next year in London with judges, politicians and religious leaders from around the world to draw up a plan to end the violence against Christians, particularly in the countries where the faith was born. In an article on The Daily
Telegraph’s website, Ms. Warsi highlights the bombing in September of a church in Pakistan, which killed 85 congregants, and the gun attack on a Coptic wedding party in Egypt as the latest outrages by militants who have turned “religion upon religion, sect upon sect.”
“There are parts of the world today where to be a Christian is to put your life in danger. From continent to continent, Christians are facing discrimination, ostracism, torture, even murder, simply for the faith they follow,” she writes.
“Christian populations are plummeting and the religion is being driven out of some of its historic heartlands. In Iraq,
A mass exodus is taking place
the Christian community has fallen from 1.2 million in 1990 to 200,000 today. In Syria, the horrific bloodshed has masked the haemorrhaging of its Christian population.”
Terrorists are subjecting Christians in the Middle East to “collective punishment” for U.S. foreign policy. Worshippers are now regarded as newcomers and agents of the West despite living there for centuries, she warns.
Although the attacks come against a background of political upheaval, turf wars and social unrest, they share the common trait of Christians becoming a “scapegoat” for extremists who are insecure in their own religious identity. It is the same mindset that motivated the Nazis to persecute the Jews and the Communists to suppress the Russian church, she says.
Ms. Warsi will be the first senior British politician to draw attention to the plight of Christians in the Arab world. She will also call on other Muslims to defend Christians.