Radical Islam. Whether through the strict application of a worldview rooted in Sharia law or the supremacist culture born of it, a systematic and unified religious persecution is alive and well in most of the world…
Let’s be clear…we should start calling things by their real names. This is not ideological “religious persecution and intolerance,” and the culprits are not disorganized “fundamentalist groups” or “some random terrorists” with a cause celebre. It is the entire radical Islamic world that is persecuting Christians, Jews, and any other non-Muslim faiths with such hatred and fanaticism that is well on its way to reaching epidemic proportions.
There are countless examples of this sort of persecution and intolerance all over the world: massacres, burnings, stonings, beheadings, expulsions, forced conversions, kidnapping and raping of women and children, politically correct enhancement of Islam at the expense of Christianity, and acts of vandalism on churches.
This is not a problem that is confined to the Middle East. Persecution on this scale spans ethnicities, languages, and locations – from Africa to the United Kingdom, throughout Central and Eastern Europe, and India to Indonesia – with one thing binds these abhorrent actions: Radical Islam. Whether through the strict application of a worldview rooted in Sharia law or the supremacist culture born of it, a systematic and unified religious persecution is alive and well in most of the world.
Consider the resurgence of blasphemy laws and prosecutions. When was the last time you heard someone was prosecuted for blasphemy? A barbaric practice of the Middle Ages has once again raised its head in several European countries. Nine EU countries still have blasphemy on their statute books: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, and Poland.
For the most part, these laws were rarely applied. However, Denmark is on the verge of reviving prosecutions for blasphemy. Dutch courts, under the guise of hate-speech or politically incorrect statements, are trying to regulate religious public expression and opinion. Criminalizing something as subjective as the giving of offense encourages more people to say they are offended so they can use the law to suppress views they dislike.
Though many Christians in the United States say they know there are places in the world where Christians and other religions suffer persecution, it is kept at a psychological distance, something “over there.” It isn’t something people in the US have much experience with except for what is in the news, but even mainstream media outlets do not accurately document and report religious persecution.
We in the United States need to wake up and understand that persecution and intolerance are happening here.
The facts are before us, though they might be difficult to face; however, as Aldous Huxley said, “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
Dr. Katherine (Kat) Harris is an OpsLens contributor, a veteran spouse, expat, and former military contractor with over 20 years of expertise in military/family transition, career counseling, higher education, organizational strategic planning, and international relations. She has conducted seminars and workshops for many Department of Army commands, plus many non-profit and community associations. She served as a translator and liaison for American, British, French, and German civilian/military communities in Berlin and Helmstedt, Germany.
Academically, Dr. Harris holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Studies from The University of Maryland European Division, a Master of Arts in International Relations from Boston University, and a Doctorate in Education from Rowan University with an emphasis in leadership and higher education in a global context.
