Raymond Ibrahim is a widely published author who specializes in the Middle East and Islam. He describes Christian persecution as “the world’s ignored pandemic.” He tells American Family News that the persecution of Christians is consistently on the rise, increasing by nearly 70% over the last five years. In fact, Breitbart recently reported that more than 360 million Christians are facing high levels of persecution.
In light of the report from Breitbart, Ibrahim accuses the mainstream media of largely failing the public by neglecting to report how frequently acts of persecution actually occur.
“The [mainstream] media talks about spectacular incidents, like the one that took place in 2015 when 21 Coptic Christians had their heads carved off by ISIS on a seashore in Libya,” he observes, “[but] rarely mentions the ongoing, slow-motion bleeding type of persecution that’s occurring almost daily.”
But outside of incidents like that one seven years ago, Ibrahim points out, much of the persecution that occurs around the world isn’t mentioned. The banning of churches by governments, as well as attacks on blasphemers and apostates, is constant, he explains – adding that persecution is also on the rise in non-Muslim countries.