Pence: Christians Are Most Persecuted Faith In The World
Image by Getty Images
By Nathan Guttman May 15, 2017
Are Christians the most persecuted religion in the World?
A claim to this effect made by Vice President Mike Pence is creating a stir.
Speaking at the first ever World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians, convened in Washington DC last Thursday, Pence told the audience of Christian activists that “Christian faith is under siege” and that throughout the world “no people of faith today face greater hostility and hatred than followers of Christ.”
The Huffington Post, reporting on Pence’s speech, questioned the accuracy of this claim, referring to a Pew report on religious freedom. This report confirmed that there is an increase in persecution of the Christian minorities in Muslim Middle Eastern countries, but also noted a rise in persecution of Muslims in Europe.
The conservative Washington Examiner took issue with this analysis of Pence’s speech, calling it a “particularly gross hit” on Pence and noting that in his speech, he did mention other religions being under attack. Pence, however, did not discuss the increase in anti-Muslim violence in Europe.
Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
