The IDOP estimates that about 200 million Christians around the world face actual persecution, and another 350 million face discrimination and restrictions. Their web site cites a number of countries as particular offenders:

	China: The two state-sanctioned churches (Catholic Patriotic Assoc., Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement) are tightly controlled by the Religious Affairs Bureau of the Chinese government. Members of unregistered house churches are being prosecuted. Hundreds of Chinese Christians are in "re-education through labor" camps.
	Egypt: Attacks by Muslim fundamentalists against Coptic Christian are common and not being effectively countered by the government. The government restricts expansion and even repair of Christian facilities by withholding building permits.
	Iran: To convert from Islam to another faith is a criminal offense in this country. Christians are routinely threatened, arrested, imprisoned and tortured because of their faith.
	Nigeria: This is a religiously divided country; Christians are mainly located in the south; the north is largely Muslim. The government appears to be conducting a campaign to eradicate all evidence of Christianity in the northern part of the country. Church burning is common.
	North Korea: The entire country is suffering from a devastating famine; starvation and near starvation is common. Christians are persecuted and imprisoned.
	Pakistan: Christians have been the target of trumped up charges of blasphemy. They are often the target of mobs and fundamentalist Muslims. A high court judge who had the courage to acquit Christians in a blasphemy case was assassinated.
	Saudi Arabia: All Christian worship is forbidden in the country - even within the U.S. embassy. Saudi Muslim citizens who convert to Christianity are subject to the death penalty.
	Sudan: This country probably has the worse human rights record in the world. It is another religiously divided country, with many Muslims in the north and many Christians in the south. Horrendous civil rights violations are conducted against the Christians. Crucifixion and slavery have been reported from reliable sources.
	Vietnam: The government requires all religious groups to register. But since the civil war ended in the mid 1970's, no Protestant group has been granted official recognition. The government rigidly controls the Catholic church by reductions in the numbers of seminary entrants, restricting the number of ordinations, etc.

	Saudia Arabia as the world's worst persecutor of Christians "Despite the fact that there are 600,000 ex-patriate Christians living there, Saudi Arabia still has the unsavory title of the world's worst persecutor of Christians. The kingdom does not permit any practice of the Christian faith."
	Afghanistan's 2,500 Christians are heavily oppressed.
	China's House Church Christians are being harassed, arrested, imprisoned, and sent to labor camps.
	Chechnya's non-indigenous Christians have left the country; the fate of the rest is unknown.,
	Sudan's civil war continues "in the south continues with all the atrocities connected."
	Yemen, North Korea, Maldives, Iran and Morocco complete the top ten countries in the Hall of Shame.

	The situation in  Indonesia is seen as rapidly getting out of control. "Since the war erupted 18 months ago, more than 2,500 people are reported to have died. These are official figures; the actual number of dead may be higher. In the first six months of this year, nearly a thousand people were killed. Most of the victims are Christians."
	In Nigeria, the introduction of Sharia law has triggered riots between Christians and Muslims. "In clear signs of ignoring the regime's decrees, several northern states have by now implemented Shariah law. Many Nigerians give nothing for the chances of the Obasanjo regime, and it seems likely that the country will either split up, or that the army will take power again in another coup d'etat."
	The situation in India, long known for its religious tolerance, is degenerating. "In the first half of 2000 the number of attacks continued at a high level. At least two priests died at the hands of Hindu fanatics, four churches were bombed, and there were numberless cases of harassment, destruction and attempts at 're-conversion' of Christians to Hinduism."

Religious persecution and harassment is of worldwide concern. But these American-based agencies are targeting only a sub-set of the total problem. The core problem is not Muslims and Communists attacking Christians. Rather, it is intolerance by followers of majority religions or communist governments violating the human rights of followers of  minority religions.  Such intolerance is found in many countries of the world. For example:

	In Northern Ireland, Roman Catholics and Protestant Christians have been committing terrorist acts against each other for decades. Fortunately, the mass murders seem to be winding down.
	In many the sections of the former USSR (including Russia), serious state persecution is directed at many minority religions and small Christian faith groups.
	Even some governments in western Europe, panicked by fear of sects and cults, are withdrawing basic freedoms from small religious groups.
	In the U.S., attacks by the counter-cult movement, anti-cult movement, neo-Nazi groups, antisemites etc. continue to victimize Jews, Neopagans and followers of other small faith groups.

None of us is truly free if someone, somewhere is being persecuted.

Response by the American public to persecutions of Christians

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