It may come as a surprise to many that the persecution of Christians did not end during the reign of the Roman empire when Christians were fed by the thousands to the lions in the Roman Coliseum. According to the Voice of the Martyrs, "an evangelical, non-denominational faith mission committed to serving the Persecuted church worldwide,'' more Christians were killed for their faith in the 20th Century than in all the previous nineteen centuries combined.

Today as you read these words, untold thousands of Christians are being denied gainful employment, imprisoned, tortured, sold into slavery and even crucified simply because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Published reports from Christian and international human rights organisations, that are working on the front lines in such countries as China, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the Sudan, paint a grim and gruesome picture of Christians who daily face the threat of imprisonment, torture and even death for their faith.

In China, house church leaders continue to be sentenced to long prison terms in harsh labour camps; in Egypt, Christian girls are being kidnapped, raped and then forced to marry their abductors; in Pakistan, Christians are being tortured imprison, attacked on the streets and have their homes and churches destroyed; in the Sudan, Christians are being sold into slavery, physically mutilated, deliberately starved and even crucified.

Just last week, the Baptist Press News Service reported that attacks against Christians in India are escalating. The terror has reached such proportions that the Indian president, K.R. Narayanan has called on state governors to act as moral leaders to defend India's heritage of tolerance against an "emerging cult of violence'' against Christians. Since 1998, there have been more than 100 attacks against Christians in India, culminating with the death last October of Australian missionary, Graham Stains, who was burned to death, along with his two sons, in his car in Orissa state.

And a few weeks ago in Yemen, Mohammed Omer Haji, a twenty-seven year old Somalian and recent convert to Christianity, was given a one week ultimatum by the Adenrmations Tawahi Court to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ and return to Islam, or face execution under Islamic law for committing apostasy. At press time, Haji's fate was unclear, but his is not an isolated case in the Muslim world. As Paul Marshall, one of the world's leading authorities on religious persecution, writes in his gripping saga Their Blood Cries Out: The Worldwide Tragedy of Modern Christians Who Are Dying For Their Faith: "People who want to leave Islam can face death. In some situations, if they refuse to return to the fold, they may be killed with impunity. This is true in Afghanistan and many Persian Gulf states.

In Mauritania, the Comoros Islands and Qatar, this is not only a threat from Muslim vigilantes, but part of the legal code itself. Let us be clear about this: In several Islamic countries -- in the 1990's -- people who seek to change from Islam face legally sanctioned execution''.

In light of these atrocities, why is there an almost "deafening silence'' from Christians and major media sources in western countries? Michael Horowitz, in the introduction to Marshall's book, offers this explanation.

"There is a powerful reason why today's anti-Christians persecutions might continue to be denied, appeased and silently endured by the world at large...

The reason is ignorance'' Horowitz contends, "and it is fostered by preconceptions and conventional wisdoms that lead many in the West to dismiss the fact of anti-Christians persecution as improbable, untrue, impossible.'' Horowitz goes on to say: "Having for so many centuries been the West's majority religionists, today's Western Christians are more likely to regard threats to their faith as coming from impolite hostility,not outright oppression. Tales of Christian martyrdom may in the comfortable worlds of Western Christians seem more suited to biblical texts and ancient Roman history than to evening newscasts, more a product of mission-board puffery than hard fact.'' On the other hand, Horowitz states that government and media elites operate from an entirely different set of perceptions. "To them, the notion of Christians as victims doesn't compute. Armed with the knowledge of sins committed in the name of Christianity and horridly unaware of Christianity's affirmative role in Western history, modern-day elites are conditioned to think of Christian believers as the ones who do the persecuting, not its victims'' Horowitz maintains.

Marshall further offers this insightful explanation. "A refusal to take religion seriously, a disdain for those for whom faith is the central fact of human existence, a blank incomprehension of those who will die rather than forsake the peaceful expression of their beliefs - all these contribute to indifference which turns a blind eye and a deaf ear to the pain and cries of suffering believers. In a world awash with attention to ethnic and racial conflict, it produces a generation that can say "I don't know'' or, more chillingly, "I don't care'' to one of the most pervasive problems in contemporary human existence,'' Marshall remarks.

Christians still face persecution Peter Marshall also contends that there are a number of cultural factors that have rendered the evangelical response of Christians in America to the persecution negligible. The primary cause, he maintains, is "a popular form of success theology which stresses prosperity and inner peace as results of spiritual virtue. There are countless books and articles on the shelves of Christian bookstores that articulate this self-absorbed world-view, covering subjects a world apart from overseas Christians whose lives are on the line for their faith,'' he points out.

"It is difficult to imagine Christians immersed solely in this perspective being able to get their noses out of their navels long enough to consider whether their peace should be tied to the fate of suffering sisters and brothers around the world,'' he writes.

However, there are Christian observers in America who have been warning believers that they had better awaken from their complacency and take a serious look at the rising tide of persecution that is subtly creeping into their own country.

Noted researcher, Don McAlvany in his book Storm Warning: The Coming Persecution of Christians and Traditionalists in America records these poignant remarks: "Even as the anti-Christian.. sentiment builds in America, the average American, including a great number of evangelical Christians (and pastors) bask in a comfort zone -spoiled and softened by over fifty years of uninterrupted prosperity...convinced that the good life will go on forever. As the black cloud of persecution grows ever closer, a small remnant see it (and are preparing for it), but the vast majority of Americans (and American Christians) remain in a deep sleep - as if they were blinded by some spirit of deception, confusion or delusion. Persecution of Christians is presently accelerating all over the world,'' McAlvany explains "and Christians in America will not be immune to it. The signs of the coming persecution are multiplying all around us for those who have eyes to see.'' Martha Kenney, administrative coordinator in the Canadian office of the Voice of the Martyrs, agrees. In an interview earlier this week, Ms Kenney admitted that Christians in North America suffer from a serious case of complacency.

"We have it so good here and we don't believe that type of persecution can happen here,'' she explained. "Could it happen here? Definitely! Those of us who are involved with the Persecuted church in other countries don't have a timetable, but we are already seeing signs here in North America.'' Possibly a sign of what is on the horizon can be observed in France, where the government there has recently proposed legislation that would imprison religious "proselytizers'' for up to two years for what it terms "mental manipulation'' of the public. As to what could be termed the "mental manipulation'' of the public, N.J.L'Heureux, a member of the religious liberty panel of the National Council of Churches, while testifying before the House of Representatives Committee in International Relations on June 14, offers this insightful explanation.

"Overtly aggressive evangelical preaching could be interpreted by some as mental manipulation.'' And French Justice Minister, Elizabeth Guigou has referred to the bill "as a significant advance giving a democratic state the legal tool to efficiently fight groups abusing its CORE VALUES.'' (emphasis mine) Dwayne Hastings, a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, pointed out in an interview with the Baptist Press that the proposed action by the French government is not surprising.

"It isn't surprising given the climate of increased repression and persecution of Christians in many countries around the world,'' he noted. And Hastings went on to say that the French proposal should serve as a wake-up call for Christians in America.

"The mere fact that such a proposal is being seriously considered in France should cause us to reflect upon the preciousness of the liberties guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. The cost of maintaining these freedoms remains unfailing vigilance to threats at home and overseas.''