Who are the world’s worst religious freedom violators?

Who are the world’s worst religious freedom violators? According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the following nations are “countries of particular concern,” or CPCs: Burma, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

“It’s no coincidence that many of the nations we recommend to be designated as CPCs are among the most dangerous and destabilizing places on earth,” said USCIRF Chair Leonard Leo. “Nations that trample upon basic rights, including freedom of religion, provide fertile ground for poverty and insecurity, war and terror, and violent, radical movements and activities.”

“In addition, some of the countries we recommend for CPC designation maintain intricate webs of discriminatory rules, requirements and edicts that can impose tremendous burdens for members of religious minority communities, making it difficult for them to function and grow from one generation to the next, potentially threatening their existence,” added Leo.

In Egypt, the transitional government has failed to protect religious minorities, especially Coptic Christians, from violent attacks at a time when minority communities have been increasingly vulnerable.

“These governments too often stand idly by in the face of violent attacks against religious minorities and dissenting members of majority faiths,” says Leo. “Inseparable from freedom of expression and association, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief often is the first human right threatened by tyranny.”

Iran and China remain gross abusers of human rights and among the world’s worst religious freedom violators. Iran continues to detain, torture, and execute its citizens, and in the past year, Baha’is, Christians, and Sufi Muslims have been subjected to intensified attacks, harassment, detention, and imprisonment.

In China – the only CPC designee with a seat on the United Nations Security Council – conditions for Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur Muslims are the worst in decades and in the past year, and Beijing has stepped up its crackdown on Christians.

To read the full report, click here.

Do you agree with the countries included in this list? Are there any nations you might add?

Rising restrictions on religion

Rising Restrictions on Religion, a recent report by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, has discovered that restrictions on religious beliefs and practices:

• rose between mid-2006 and mid-2009 in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%),
• decreased in 12 countries (6%),
• and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%).

Because several countries with increasing restrictions on religion are very populous, however, the increases affect a much larger share of people than of states.

More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third (32%) of the world’s total population – live in countries where either government restrictions on religion or social hostilities involving religion rose substantially over the three-year period studied.

Which restricted country will you pray for today?

To see the full report from the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public life, click here.

Story from church history: R.J. Thomas' deadly mission in Korea

The following was excerpted from an article by Dan Graves for www.Christianity.com.

Robert J. Thomas was haunted by the thought of Korea. A Welsh missionary to China, he knew that the people of the "Hermit Kingdom" needed the gospel. But Korea, observing how westerners had mistreated China, closed its doors to foreigners. Burning with evangelistic zeal, Robert felt he must do something about the people's ignorance of eternal life.

On September 13, 1865, he arrived on the coast of Korea and began to learn what he could about the people and their language. By his action, Robert became the first Protestant missionary to the ancient land, whose name means "chosen."

Lacking Korean language material, Robert handed out tracts and New Testaments in Chinese. He soon had to return to China, where, the following year, his wife died.

In 1866, Robert learned that an American boat, the General Sherman, was going to try to establish trade relations between Korea and the United States. He offered to accompany the boat as an interpreter in exchange for a chance to spread the gospel.

That August, the General Sherman sailed up the Taedong River toward Pyongyang. Robert tossed gospel tracts onto the river bank as the ship proceeded.

Korean officials ordered the American boat to leave at once. The Americans defied the warning. They paid for their arrogance with their lives. The schooner ran aground and stuck fast in the muddy bottom.

The Governor of the province, Pak Kyu Su, attacked the ship. When the Koreans tried to board, waving machetes, the Americans opened fire. Over the next two weeks, the Americans held the Koreans off, killing twenty and wounding many more. By September 3, the Koreans were fed up. They launched a burning boat down river at the General Sherman to set it afire. Now the Americans had to dash ashore or burn to death.

As the sailors fled from the boat, the Koreans killed them. Robert had to flee with the rest. True to his mission, he leaped from the boat carrying a Bible. "Jesus, Jesus!" he cried in Korean to the attackers, offering them the Bible. His head was whacked off with a stroke of a machete according to one account, but others think he pleaded for his life and was beaten to death.

But God worked in the heart of the man who killed Robert. Convinced by Robert's beaming face that he had killed a good man, he kept one of the Bibles, wallpapering his house with it. People came from far and near to read its words. A church grew. A nephew of Robert's killer became a pastor.

Today 40% of South Koreans are Christians and the nation has some of the largest congregations in the world but the North remains largely closed to the gospel.

To learn more about the struggles Christians in North Korea endure, check out Restricted Nations: North Korea. This book shares a brief overview of North Korea’s rich spiritual heritage and what the steadfast faith of believers costs them. You can order a copy from our online catalogue.

Colombia today: Meet Pastor Manuel

The following is excerpted from Restricted Nations: Colombia, one of the latest books in the Restricted Nations series.

Pastor Manuel and his wife pastored a congregation in Chopal village, south of San Jose del Guaviare, for about eight years. They faced numerous challenges, and many churches in the area had been closed by FARC guerrillas.

Pastor Manuel decided to open a church building regardless of the threats and risks. The pastor was part of an evangelistic event at which three FARC guerrillas and seven members of the paramilitary surrendered their lives to Christ.

But on September 21, 2009, Pastor Manuel was shot and killed by FARC guerrillas. The guerrillas had made an appointment with Pastor Manuel and his family.

“He thought they were going to authorize him to have a church officially, which he had discussed and asked for before,” said a VOM contact. “One of them came in the house with the pastor’s wife, Gloria, and his daughter while the pastor was outside. He was shot five times.”

One FARC guerrilla, referring to the pastor, yelled, “Make sure that dog stays dead.” They then shot the pastor again, this time in the neck. Pastor Manuel’s wife ran outside and wiped the blood off his face. With the help of their children, she dragged his body under a tree.

“She ran and got her Bible, and shaking with tears, preached to all those who got near,” the VOM contact said. “Their ten-year-old son said, ‘Mom, don’t worry, Dad died for Christ and now he is with Christ.’”

Want to read more about persecution and stories of Christians in Colombia? Click here to order your copy of Restricted Nations: Colombia today.