An estimated 90,000 Christians died for their faith last year, and an additional 500 to 600 million were blocked from practicing their religion, according to the Center for Studies on New Religions.
In 2015, the same Italy-based organization put the Christian death toll at 105,000.
Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world, and things are particularly brutal in areas where radical terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, have a foothold.
Yet, because hatred for the Trump administration has turned some writers into imbeciles, the Huffington Post decided this week to cast aspersions on Vice President Mike Pence's factually accurate reference to Christianity's tragic honorific.
"Pence Tells Room Full Of Christians In D.C. Their Faith Is The Most Persecuted," the Huffington Post said in a snarky headline.
The article's title, which is both nasty and misleading, gives readers the distinct impression that the vice president played the victim this week before an audience of privileged, and protected, American Christians.
This is not accurate, and there's more to the story.
Pence spoke Thursday at the first-ever World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians in Washington, D.C., which runs through Saturday. It aims to bring, "together church leaders, victims of persecution and advocates to help raise global awareness about the plight of persecuted Christians," according to the group's site.
Organized by the Billy Graham Evangelist Association, the event is also meant to "show solidarity with those who suffer because of their faith and look for solutions to the unprecedented persecution of Christians happening today around the world."
To that end, the three-day summit is hosting Christian speakers, including Reverend Sami Dagher, Father Douglas Bazi and Rashin Soodmand, and delegates who either have directly experienced religious persecution or hail from areas of the world that have been afflicted by it. Churches represented at the summit include the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Assyrian Church of the East.
Pence said Thursday, "[T]hose of you gathered here today are emblematic of millions across the world. You've persevered through the crucible of persecution. You refused to be conformed to this world. You have chosen instead to be counted with those outside the city gate for your faith. And by your life, you bear witness to the truth that brings us together here at this summit."
"The reality is, across the wider world, the Christian faith is under siege. Throughout the world, no people of faith today face greater hostility or hatred than the followers of Christ," he added, speaking to an audience that included Christians from all around the world. "And nowhere is this onslaught against our faith more evident than in the very ancient land where Christianity was born."
The event is aimed specifically at addressing the plight of Christians who are being persecuted overseas. Pence's speech was addressed to both the afflicted abroad, as well as victims who came all the way to the nation's capital to bear witness.
Astonishingly enough, this is how the Huffington Post covered his speech: "Pence reiterated a common belief among conservative Christians in the U.S. that they are among the most persecuted people of faith in the world."
Though the article conceded there's "an element of truth" to Pence's claim that Christians in the Middle East "have experienced high levels of violence and harassment," it downplayed these figures to point out other world religions also experience persecution.
And missing also from the report is the fact that Pence said exactly this in his address.
"[R]est assured, in the Middle East and North Africa, anywhere terror strikes, America stands with those who are targeted and tormented for their belief, whether they're Christian, Yazidi, Druzes, Shia, Sunni, or any other creed," the vice president said.
He added, "to be clear, adherents of other religions across the world have not been spared. And we will speak for them and pray for them as well. For as history attests, persecution of one faith is ultimately the persecution of all faiths."
The Huffington Post report then segued into explaining Christians aren't really persecuted in the United States, which is interesting considering Pence's address didn't quite touch on any of that in his address. His remarks focused on event's chief message, which is Christian persecution overseas. The story went on to talk about tensions between Christian lawmakers in the U.S. and the LGBT community, but by then the author and her editor had already lost the plot.
Religious persecution is real, and every major group experiences it, as the vice president's address this week noted. The Huffington Post would do well to take a few notes from the man it sought to slight with its needlessly nasty and misleading coverage. You'd think it'd let up just a little bit, if for no other reason than to honor the thousands who've died in the last few years for their faith.
It's a bad look, hoisting oneself atop the shoulders of the victims of genocide in order to score a supposed point against a political opponent.
Read the rest here:
Huffington Post with a particularly gross hit on Mike Pence - Washington Examiner