With all the focus on racism lately, the increase in hate geared toward Christians is flying under the radar. Unfortunately, Christianity has somewhat quietly become the latest victim of hate, with religious symbols and institutions increasingly coming under attack by antifa and Black Lives Matters vandals across the nation.
Although the mainstream media isn’t devoting much air time to the stories, the truth is that statues of Jesus and churches are being vandalized across the country as vandals direct their hate toward religion.
In one of the more horrifying recent incidents, a man rammed his vehicle into the Queen of Peace Catholic Sanctuary in Ocala, Florida, pouring gasoline into the church's foyer and lighting it on fire while parishioners were setting up for the morning mass. The man, 24-year-old Steven Shields, said he targeted the Catholic Church because he was on a "mission." He's been charged with attempted murder, arson, burglary and felony fleeing.
He reportedly referred to his actions as “awesome" and laughed while admitting to police that he started the fire. Fortunately, the parishioners were able to escape without injury.
It’s not the only Church to be set on fire recently. A 249-year-old catholic church in Los Angeles recently caught fire just as a statue dedicated to Father Junipero Serra had been moved away from it in light of other monuments to Serra being destroyed in other cities.
Activists calling for destruction of symbols of Jesus
There have also been calls from far left activists to destroy images depicting Jesus. Shaun King, for example, wrote on Twitter that images depicting Jesus as a "white European" need to be torn down because he considers them a form of white supremacy. He added that we should also take down imagery such as “murals and stained-glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends,” seemingly ignoring the fact that most cultures depict Jesus and other religious figures in a manner that represents their local community. For example, Jesus is depicted as black in Ethiopia and Asian in the Far East.
In a string of religious statue vandalism, a statue of Jesus Christ was found decapitated and knocked off its pedestal at a Catholic Church in Miami. In a different incident, a statue of the Virgin Mary was found decapitated with its head missing at the St. Stephen Catholic Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), called the incident a "disturbing attack on Catholicism and religion.” Statues of the Virgin Mary have also been vandalized recently in New York City and Boston.
Christians persecuted around the world
According to the Big Wobble, nearly 250 million Christians around the world are living in countries where they are subjected to high levels of persecution.
In North Korea, for example, at least 200,000 Christians have gone missing in the years since 1953. Although the country’s Constitution guarantees “freedom of religious beliefs," Christians in North Korea are believed to be among the most persecuted in the world. People found in possession of Christian Bibles can be tortured or executed there.
In Afghanistan, being a Christian is illegal. No faith other than Islam is allowed to exist there, and converting to a different faith is considered treason.
It’s also happening online, where Instagram recently removed a conservative Christian leader’s worship video on the grounds that it contained "harmful or false information.” This caught the attention of Senator Josh Hawley, the former Missouri Attorney General, who called out Instagram for censoring the video.
While the mainstream media is focusing on trying to find racism everywhere, it’s interesting to note that it doesn’t seem too bothered by the fact that Christianity is under attack around the world.
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