What Constitutes Christian Persecution?

In recent months the persecution of Christians worldwide has become more publicly known. 

There are some who would even say there is persecution of Christians in the United States.  Those claims are largely laughed off as the self-righteous equivocations of pampered Christians bemoaning the loss of cultural dominance. 

But could there be any validity to those assertions?  What exactly constitutes persecution? 





A Matter of Intentions:

Suppose a Christian minister was walking down a dark alley, and wound up getting beat up and robbed.  That might be a crime and a tragedy, but we wouldn’t call it persecution. 

Why?

Because part of what constitutes persecution is the intention of the transgressors.  In the case of the muggers it was money – whether the victim was a pastor was irrelevant. 


In Odium Fedei:

But now suppose they robbed him BECAUSE he was a Christian pastor.  In other words - they knew this man taught the Christian faith, hated him because of it, and beat him up. 

Now the situation more closely resembles the stoning of Saint Paul in Acts 14:19.  The motivation of the attackers in these cases is the hatred of the faith -  “In Odium Fedei”. 

In this instance we would recognize an instance of persecution.

 In Odium Virtutis et Lex Dei:

There is another motivation we could identify as proper for persecution. 

In Matthew 14 we learn that John the Baptist was calling out the local magistrate, Herod, for his sin of adultery.  Long story short, he was imprisoned and executed for this.

Now, Herod’s mistress did not have John killed on account of his profession of the Jewish faith.  Rather, it was because of her hatred for his witness to virtue and God’s law -  “In Odium Virtutis et Lex Dei”.

Into this category we may also put Father Pino Puglisi, who was killed in 1993 for preaching against the Italian mob.  The assassins weren’t out to stifle the proclamation of the Resurrection, but to stop a priest from condemning their crimes.

Another instance could be anyone who is made to suffer for refusing to do what they know to be wrong in the sight of God.  Here I’d point to Saint Maria Goretti, who was stabbed 14 times (leading to her death) after refusing to have sex with a male acquaintance.  In this case too, the assailant acted out of hatred of virtue.

Different Degrees:

I’ve referenced instances of people enduring beatings and death for the sake of the faith.  This is a form of persecution that was clearly anticipated by Jesus, who told his followers to be prepared to die:

 “Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name.” - Matthew 24:9

But does it need to get to that level before it can rightly be called persecution?

I would refer you to the final beatitude pronounced in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus said:

“Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you because of me.”  - Matthew 5:11

 In this passage Jesus identifies a far less violent form of persecution.  Namely, a Christian may endure lies, insults, and false accusations made by persons who are motivated by hatred of the faith, or hatred of virtue, or both. 

So one needn’t equate all forms of persecution.  Indeed, a person who has only endured insults would be foolish to proclaim himself equal to the Christians of Mosul.  

But insofar as a person in made to suffer for the faith, it can rightly be said the he is somewhere on a spectrum of persecution.  In fact, I think it can be plotted:

 As I look at this, I know I’d be shoved somewhere down into the bottom left corner.  So it is good for me to be personally challenged by the suffering I see Christians going through – past and present. 

If I am supposed to be ready and willing to endure all that suffering, why do I run away from minor inconveniences?

Thank you for joining me.