{"id":2778,"date":"2013-03-29T10:03:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-29T10:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/"},"modified":"2013-03-29T10:03:00","modified_gmt":"2013-03-29T10:03:00","slug":"panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/","title":{"rendered":"Panel urges awareness of global Christian oppression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Mar 29, 2013 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Authors of\u00a0a new book on the global persecution of Christians warned that Americans must recognize the grave threat that is facing the faithful throughout the world.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhen religious freedom is beginning to be eclipsed, it leads inevitably to genuine persecution,\u201d said panel moderator Eric Metaxas in at a talk in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

\tMetaxas is known for his books on Christians William Wilberforce and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who worked to fight the oppressions of slavery and the Nazi regime, respectively. He has also spoken on religious persecution at the National Prayer Breakfast and other venues.<\/p>\n

\tOther participants in the March 27 panel were Hudson Institute religious freedom advocates Nina Shea, Paul Marshall and Lela Gilbert, co-authors of the new book \u201cPersecuted: The Global Assault on Christians.\u201d Metaxas authored the forward to the new book.<\/p>\n

\tThe authors mentioned that a wide variety of research organizations and nonprofit institutions have found that Christians face persecution across the globe.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cChristians are the most widely persecuted group in the world,\u201d said Shea, explaining that evangelization and many other activities central to the Christian faith are prohibited in a number of countries.<\/p>\n

\tShea, an international human rights lawyer, also asserted that \u201cNorth Korea is the worst place to be Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tMarshall elaborated upon this claim, saying that while there are human rights abuses committed against many within the country and \u201cNorth Korea is the worst place to be a person\u201d in general, Christians within the country face particularly harsh treatment.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere is not a Christian in North Korea that is not persecuted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tMarshall also explained that the persecution of Christians affects those of other faiths as well \u2013 particularly in the Muslim world.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cMuslims who were not radicalized are becoming so,\u201d he said, at the pressure of \u201cIslamist and extremist groups.\u201d Because of these pressures, \u201cfreedom-loving Muslims are the ones who are silenced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tDespite the grave human rights offenses facing Christians around the globe, \u201cthere\u2019s very little awareness of what\u2019s happening around the world,\u201d Marshall continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tIn United States foreign policy, he said, there\u2019s a tendency to use the term \u201cfreedom of worship\u201d and \u201ctoleration\u201d of belief instead of \u201cfreedom of religion.\u201d This change in language, the panelists explained, weakens the ability of American officials to criticize restriction of religious expression.<\/p>\n

\tFurthermore, \u201cthe U.S. does not want to be seen as a \u2018Christian Nation,\u2019\u201d Marshall observed. Therefore, the United States does not intervene in a number of cases where Christians are persecuted for their beliefs.<\/p>\n

\tIn addition, U.S. diplomats and policy makers often fail to mention the Christian faith of those who are imprisoned for their beliefs around the world, even though they do mention the faiths of persecuted persons of other religions.<\/p>\n

\tGilbert said that Christians are so widely persecuted because \u201cChristians bow to a higher authority,\u201d and this allegiance to God over a secular authority poses a threat to regimes and governments both religious and secular.<\/p>\n

\tMetaxas explained that these offenses ought to concern Americans as well, and that American Christians \u201caren\u2019t talking about this enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn addition, he added that it seems that the international community does not recognize this persecution of Christians as a real problem.<\/p>\n

\tEven though freedom of belief and expression is a fundamental human right, policy issues such as access to contraception and abortion are seen as a more pressing human rights situation, and \u201csome rights are more equal than others,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington D.C., Mar 29, 2013 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Authors of a new book on the global persecution of Christians warned that Americans must recognize the grave threat that is facing the faithful throughout the world.<\/p>\n

\t“When religiou…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nPanel urges awareness of global Christian oppression<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Mar 29, 2013 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Authors of a new book on the global persecution of Christians warned that Americans must recognize the grave threat that is facing the faithful throughout the world. “When religiou...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Panel urges awareness of global Christian oppression\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Mar 29, 2013 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Authors of a new book on the global persecution of Christians warned that Americans must recognize the grave threat that is facing the faithful throughout the world. “When religiou...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-29T10:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/\",\"name\":\"Panel urges awareness of global Christian oppression\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-29T10:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-29T10:03:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Washington D.C., Mar 29, 2013 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Authors of a new book on the global persecution of Christians warned that Americans must recognize the grave threat that is facing the faithful throughout the world. “When religiou...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Panel urges awareness of global Christian oppression\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Panel urges awareness of global Christian oppression","description":"Washington D.C., Mar 29, 2013 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Authors of a new book on the global persecution of Christians warned that Americans must recognize the grave threat that is facing the faithful throughout the world. “When religiou...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Panel urges awareness of global Christian oppression","og_description":"Washington D.C., Mar 29, 2013 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Authors of a new book on the global persecution of Christians warned that Americans must recognize the grave threat that is facing the faithful throughout the world. “When religiou...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2013-03-29T10:03:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/","name":"Panel urges awareness of global Christian oppression","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-29T10:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-29T10:03:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Washington D.C., Mar 29, 2013 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Authors of a new book on the global persecution of Christians warned that Americans must recognize the grave threat that is facing the faithful throughout the world. “When religiou...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/03\/panel-urges-awareness-of-global-christian-oppression\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Panel urges awareness of global Christian oppression"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}