(Writer’s personal note- for the past several months I have dealt with various health issues. I appreciate all the prayers many of you made on my behalf. I am now doing much better. –Tal)
For the past sixty years or so the Democratic Peoples Republic of (North) Korea has been at the top of Christian persecutor nations around the world. Though persecution of Christian believers has not lessened at all in North Korea, a new, even worse leader has emerged among the oppressors. In The 2022 World Watch List report by Open Doors, an organization that carefully monitors and documents persecution, Afghanistan is now the most determined country to eliminate any vestige of Christianity from inside its borders. Each year Open Doors releases the results its list of the 50 worst persecutors worldwide. (obtain the complete 2022 report here: https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/ )
As was widely reported, in August of 2021, the United States and other United Nations countries withdrew all of their military forces from Afghanistan after ten years of supporting an anti-Taliban government resistance. The Taliban then quickly took control of the government and its 40 million citizens. It then instituted Islamic sharia law which includes essentially outlawing Christianity and all other non-Muslim faiths. Churches throughout the country have been destroyed and believers imprisoned or executed. According to the Open Doors report the sources of the repression include clan oppression, communist elements, religious protectionism, dictatorial paranoia, Islamic oppression, organized crime and corruption, and religious nationalism.
According to the Open Doors report, the top ten places for persecution of Christians and their sources of it include: (1) Afghanistan (Islamic oppression); (2) North Korea (communist oppression); (3) Somalia (clan oppression); (4) Libya (Islamic oppression); (5) Yemen (Islamic oppression); (6) Eritrea (dictatorial paranoia); (7) Nigeria (Islamic oppression- though most of the people are professing Christians); (8) Pakistan (Islamic oppression); (9) Iran (Islamic oppression); and India (Hindu religious nationalism).
The other forty countries on the list (in order) include Saudi Arabia; Myanmar; Sudan; Iraq; Syria; China; Qatar; Vietnam; Egypt; Uzbekistan; Algeria; Mauritania; Mali; Turkmenistan; Laos; Morocco; Indonesia; Bangladesh; Colombia; Central African Republic; Burkina Faso; Niger; Bhutan; Tunisia; Oman; Cuba (which was not on the list for several decades but has now returned); Ethiopia; Jordan; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Mozambique; Turkey; Mexico (organized crime and political corruption); Cameroon; Tajikistan; Kazakhstan; Nepal; Kuwait; and Malaysia.
You may notice that most of the worst offenders are Muslim dominated nations. Others are either communist (egs.; North Korea; China; Cuba; Vietnam; Laos), religious nationalists, or paranoid dictatorships.
As American Christians, we must pray for our fellow believers who suffer daily for their faith. We often fail to remember that, while we experience little or no opposition for our faith, as many as 360 million of our brothers and sisters are now under persecution (about 14% of all 2.5 billion professing Christians worldwide). We should also support organizations like Open Doors which keep watch on what is happening and are working to alleviate the suffering of believers. We should also encourage our government to do everything possible to change the policies of oppressor nations. As Open Doors quotes the Apostle Paul: “So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it (1 Cor. 12:26).”