Countries with the Worst Persecution of Christians

The report in Christianity Today makes fascinating, though depressing reading. Thank you.

Isn't it odd, though, that a few of the countries on the list are majority Christian (for example #6 most severe and #12 most violent)?

Nigeria isn't majority Christian (it has more Muslims), but Colombia surprised me.

The process of cultural homogenization is quite old. The Chinese have been at it for centuries. Eastern Europe used to be a multicultural mosaic with Jews, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Poles, Belarussians, etc all living in the same area. Now Poland is one of the most unitary nations in Europe. In the last century, the process has sped up - first by nationalism and then by modern mass media. The Ottoman Empire was both tolerant and perpetuators of genocide but they did leave the Middle East as a diverse place of Jews, Christians, Muslims and other religous groups. As nation states replaced empire the same process that occurred in Eastern Europe occurer in the Middle East. Its unfortunate as the various groups contributed to human history (eg Assyrians) but its not unique to the Middle East nor to our lifetimes.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention in our own era the triggering events leading to cultural and religious cleasing in the Middle East is outside interference. In Iraq especially when the West attacked, Iraqi Christians were often viewed as part of the Christian West which was attacking Iraq; the same propagadna was used in Syria where both the West and Russian interferred.

Are you a Christian living in Pakistan? Should I take your word for it?

Look up Asia Bibi and Pakistani blasphemy laws... people get sentenced to death for the most minor infractions. Pakistan is easily one of the most intolerant countries in the world, not just to Christians but also to Hindus and non-Sunni Muslims.

Every list I've ever seen regarding religious persecution, Pakistan is near the top.

I've always had the impression Pakistan was not a very tolerant place especially given the blasphemy laws. However, my Pakistani students claim there are quite a few churches operating freely "back home". Similar to many nations, people's experiences will vary depending on the area.

While I agree very much with the sentiment of the quiz, I'm not sure I agree with the first part of the description... gun violence is a real problem in America and while the media covers mass shootings frequently it fails to talk about the thousands that die due to many minor shootings. There are many things that the news media emphasizes that are completely unimportant (like news channels talking about Trump 24/7), but gun violence is not one of them. Otherwise though, I agree with QuizMaster and HinesBrothers that the way Christians (and indeed all religious and ethnic minorities) are treated in some Asian and African countries is horrific and needs more attention in the West.

Just to be clear, the point I'm trying to make is that anything that results in thousands of deaths every year deserves attention, regardless of whether it is gun violence, religious/ethnic intolerance, natural disasters/climate change, or something else. The news media spends way too much time talking about things that are of little to no consequence for anyone and they could definitely focus less on "first world" problems and more on actual issues that affect people globally.

Why Colombia? I just guessed countries near KSA, worked for me. Can someone explain why colombia is on his list

Possible FARC/leftist rebels attacking churches. Latin America still has both significant Catholic church influence on society and significant anti-clericalism in left-wing movements.

On the other hand, Catholic clerics who practise Liberation Theology are often victims of right wing death squads

Thank you for this somber and important quiz.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me."

I'm struck by the absence of Israel. Perhaps the list is based on incident numbers for the violence category but Isrealis don't differiate between Christian and Muslim Palestines.

As I read the linked article, I wondered if in some cases people were persecuted not necessarily for their faith. Apparently, Mexico was just outside the top 10 for violence against Christians but wouldn't this be more the case of communities fighting against the cartels? Similarly, in the CAR both Christians and Muslims kill each other but in many cases the motivation is tribal or war lordism and not religion.

Pray for these people, things will get worse...