Current Events & Trends: Persecution of Christians in Britain
The persecution of Christians in the developing world has increased rapidly during the last decade.
A graph accompanying a recent Newsweek article bore the notation, "Terrorist attacks on Christians in Africa, the Middle East and Asia increased 309% from 2003 to 2010"—a mere seven years (Ayaan Hirsi Ali, "The Global War on Christians in the Muslim World," Feb. 13, 2012). But one wouldn't normally expect religious mistreatment in the English-speaking, democratic Western world. Nonetheless, raw persecution is now rearing its ugly head in Britain.
Most realize that the secular establishment has not been friendly to Christianity, and church attendance in Britain has been in decline for decades. Based on recent statistics, an article in The Sunday Telegraph's Seven magazine titled "What's Next for This Year's Child?" presents a metaphorical baby exclaiming, "By the time I'm an adult, there's a 70 per cent chance that I'll be a non-believer" (Paul Kendall and John Hind, Feb. 18-19, 2012).
The current climate in Britain becomes more evident from statements by political leaders, such as Baroness Warsi, Conservative Party co-chairman. A Muslim herself, she wrote prior to leading a British delegation to the Vatican: "Faith has been neglected, undermined—and yes, even attacked—by governments . . . My fear today is that a militant secularism is taking hold of our societies. We see it in any number of things . . . religion is sidelined, marginalised and downgraded in the public sphere. It seems astonishing to me that those who wrote the European Constitution made no mention of God or Christianity" ("We Stand Side by Side With the Pope in Fighting for Faith," The Daily Telegraph, Feb. 13, 2012).
Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey warned in a forthright Daily Mail feature article: "For the Christian faith is now being increasingly marginalised in this country—as a shocking court case this week has illustrated . . . Since the September 11 attacks, we seem to have become obsessed with not upsetting British Muslims, while successive pieces of legislation means the rights of homosexuals now seem to trump those of everyone else . . .
"Sadly, I could take you to many countries in the world where brave Christian minorities are facing dreadful persecution. What's happening here is that Christians are being pushed into the background by a secular establishment that seems to be embarrassed by the fact that Britain is a Christian country" ("As a Judge Bans Prayer at Council Meetings, a Former Archbishop of Canterbury Warns That Our Faith Is Under Siege," Feb. 10, 2012, emphasis added throughout). (Sources: Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Newsweek.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2012
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
