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Anti-Catholic

Anti-Catholic

Anti-Catholicism is religious or political opposition to the Roman Catholic Church, often employing mischaracterizations, stereotypes and negative prejudices. Anti-Catholicism typically applies only to those instances in which Roman Catholics are persecuted or discriminated against for their beliefs by other Christians; Roman Catholics may also be the target of persecution of Christians in general.

Religious anti-Catholicism

On the Internet anti-Catholic sites are reportedly rampant. A check on the words "Catholicism is evil" yields some examples.[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22Catholicism+is+evil%22&btnG=Search] The Southern Poverty Law Center specifically cites groups like the New Black Panthers, as an anti-Catholic group with an Internet presence. Other groups deemed to be Anti-Catholic who have an online presence include Reaching Catholics for Christ[http://www.reachingcatholics.org/], Good News For Catholics[http://www.gnfc.org/], and Chick Publications. Further when a Christian humor site called "Ship of Fools" recently asked for offensive religious jokes, as a rebuke of proposed religious anti-defamation laws, the jokes they received to be deemed to be "too far" generally concerned Catholicism or Catholic priests. [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/08/14/2003267725 see story] By "too far" what was normally meant is that the jokes were essentially about expressing hatred rather then trying for any kind of humor. Traditional anti-Catholic works include Charles Chiniquy's 50 Years In The Church of Rome and The Priest,the Woman and the Confessional in which he accuses Catholicism of being pagan. Such sentiments are common among some Protestant fundamentalists Christians, specifically those that deny the Catholic Church's standing as a Christian church. Proponents often cite Scripture, such as the Book of Revelation, chapters 17 and 18, which they claim depict the Pope as the Antichrist and the Catholic Church as being the "Whore of Babylon". Proponents of anti-Catholicism also claim that the Mass is an abomination in the eyes of Jesus Christ. Many anti-Catholics also claim that Catholics worship the Blessed Virgin Mary. Curiously in recent times this idea of Marian Goddess worship has arisen in some Neo-Pagan or New Age circles who view it more as a positive or ambiguous trait. One high-profile example of anti-Catholicism is the series of tracts produced by noted anti-Catholic and comic book evangelist Jack Chick, in particular his Alberto series. These tracts accuse the papacy of using the Jesuits to incite revolutions all over the world, and claim that the papacy was the driving force behind Muhammad and helped both Communism and National Socialism come to power. Chick's works also claim that "Catholic Germany" was responsible for the Holocaust. One of the most famous tracts is titled Are Roman Catholics Christians?, in which the reader is told that the Catholic Church's doctrines are against God and inspired by Satan. While these views are not widely held, several Roman Catholic organizations continue to battle anti-Catholic sentiment fed by, or explicitly formed by, such materials. Jack Chick's chief source of Anti-Catholicism is Alberto Rivera who claims that he was a Jesuit and that he infiltrated many Protestant churches. Neither Jack Chick nor Alberto Rivera have substantiated his claims. Christianity Today published a repudiation of all claims that Alberto was a true story, and proved that Rivera was never a Jesuit, never graduated High School, never graduated any Seminary or receved Holy orders. Evidence provided by Chick failed to give any date where Holy Orders was given, and consisted of secondary documents stating Rivera was claiming to be a Priest.[http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ343.HTM] Christianity Today Other Anti-Catholic works in the religious domain include John Foxe's Book of Martyrs in which he chronicles the Church persecution of Protestants. During the 19th century, Rebecca Reed's Six Months in a Convent sold 200,000 copies in a month within publication in 1835. Reed was a nun who alleged she had been held captive in an Ursuline convent near Boston. Though the Mother Superior of that convent denied Reed had been a nun, an angry mob burned the convent. Reed's story led to other anti-Catholics publishing tales. One was told by a Canadian girl named Maria Monk and became an even larger best-seller called Awful Disclosures of the Hotel-Dieu Nunnery. In the book it was claimed that nuns served as a harem for Catholic priests, and any children born to such unions were murdered after baptism. Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons claims that the Catholic Church originated from a Babylonian mystery religion and that its practices are pagan. Outside of Protestantism, Russian Orthodoxy has expressed anti-Catholicism at times. This was strongly influenced by their rivalry of, and then rule, of Poland. In many cases their Anti-Polonism and Anti-Catholicism went hand in hand.[http://www.yale.edu/ycias/europeanstudies/empire/Paper-Weeks.pdf]. Some objected on theological grounds and felt special antipathy to the "Uniates." Those who spoke Russian and belonged to a "Uniate" church were often encouraged (or pressured) to "return to the fold." The most noteworthy Russian writer to have religious antipathy to Catholicism is Fyodor Dostoevsky. In the chapter of The Brothers Karamazov called The Grand Inquisitor, the Catholic Church is alleged to have become a servant of Satan some time in the eighth century. This date is not arbitrary, as it coincides with the last Ecumenical Council recognized by both faiths. Curiously the book is said to be well-liked by Pope Benedict XVI, perhaps because he sees it only as a criticism of the Inquisition. However, such an interpretation is flawed as it ignores the consistent anti-Catholicism in his writing and thought. In Notes from Underground the main character fantasizes about making the world a better place by eliminating or overthrowing the Pope, even his characters who defend Catholics believed in Jesuit conspiracies. In more modern times the Center for Religious Freedom states that Russia currently restricts the travel of Catholic priests and other former Soviet states restrict Catholic seminaries as threats to Russian Orthodoxy. Sedevacantists, such as the Palmarian Church, condemn the succession of Roman Popes as illegitimate and Antipopes, pleading for other Popes. Former Catholics like Sinead O'Connor have also been known for anti-Catholic spectacles.

Historical anti-Catholicism

Many countries have had a long history of sectarianism between Catholics and Protestants, or less commonly, Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Political anti-Catholicism has existed in various Protestant countries, and in particular the English speaking countries. Protestantism was firmly established in England with the accession of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1570, Pope Pius V sought to depose her with the Regnans in Excelsis ("Ruling on high"), which purported to declare Elizabeth deposed and to acquit her Roman Catholic subjects of further allegiance to her. This added a political dimension to what was a purely religious conflict, and rendered Elizabeth's subjects who persisted in allegiance to the Catholic Church politically suspect. The failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada has been cited as an attempt by Philip II of Spain to put into effect the Pope's decree, and to enforce a claim to the throne of England he held as a result of being the widower of Mary I of England. Later episodes that deepened anti-Catholicism in England include the Gunpowder Plot, in which Guy Fawkes and other Catholic conspirators are alleged to have attempted to blow up the English Parliament while it was in session. Later, the "Popish Plot" involving Titus Oates was used by anti-Catholics to make Roman Catholicism seem a renewed political menace by means of a fictitious assassination scheme. In the context of long-standing attitudes among many British people to Catholicism, the beliefs that underlie this sort of anti-Catholicism were summarized by William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England: :As to papists, what has been said of the Protestant dissenters would hold equally strong for a general toleration of them; provided their separation was founded only upon difference of opinion in religion, and their principles did not also extend to a subversion of the civil government. If once they could be brought to renounce the supremacy of the pope, they might quietly enjoy their seven sacraments, their purgatory, and auricular confession; their worship of reliques and images; nay even their transubstantiation. But while they acknowledge a foreign power, superior to the sovereignty of the kingdom, they cannot complain if the laws of that kingdom will not treat them upon the footing of good subjects. ::— Bl. Comm. IV, c.4 ss. iii.2, p.
- 54 The gravamen of this charge, then, is that Catholics constitute an imperium in imperio, a sort of a fifth column of persons who owe a greater allegiance to the Pope than they do to the civil government, a charge very similar to that repeatedly leveled at Jews. Accordingly, a large body of British laws, collectively known as the penal laws, imposed various civil disabilities and legal penalties on recusant Catholics. These laws were gradually repealed over the course of the nineteenth century with laws such as the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829; however, the law of succession to the British throne continues to bar Catholics, and anyone married to a "papist", from the line of succession. Although on that it should be noted that British royalty are still considered to have a religious role as the head of the Church of England. A Catholic Cardinal who converts to Anglicanism also loses any right to become Pope. These accusations had to some extent been exported to the United States. John Jay in 1788 promoted the New York legislature to require officeholders to renounce foreign authorities "in all matters ecclesiastical as well as civil."[http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/annotation/march-2002/religion-founding-fathers.html]. More significant anti-Catholicism has historically been conspicuous among the beliefs of various nativist organisations from the Know-Nothing Party to the Ku Klux Klan. Within more recent years, suspicion of the political aims and agenda of the Catholic Church have been revived several times. In 1949, Paul Blanshard's book American Freedom and Catholic Power portrayed the Catholic Church as an anti-democratic force hostile to freedom of speech and religion, eager to impose itself on the United States by boycott and subterfuge. These accusations continue to have some currency because of the Catholic hierarchy's alliance with the anti-abortion movement and their periodic threats to use excommunication to compel Catholic elected officials to vote in accordance with the hierarchy's wishes.

Anti-Catholicism in modern times

excommunication The submission to the Roman Pope has led to several governments to try to separate their local Catholics from the Roman Church. Thus, the juror priests of the First French Republic and the Catholic Patriotic Association in Communist China. Avro Manhattan's books, The Vatican's Holocaust, The Vatican Billions and Vatican, Washington, Moscow Alliance proposed that the Church engineers wars and tries to rule the world; and Dan Brown's best-selling The Da Vinci Code depicts the Catholic Church as an organization determined to hide the truth about Jesus Christ. The Duvalier dynasty of Haitian dictators wanted to weaken or control the Catholic Church by bringing Voudoun "openly into the political process", according to Michel S LaGuerre in Voodoo and Politics in Haiti, and nominating the bishops. In the USSR, they persecuted the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church just for its religious role in the community, but at other times they used Russian Orthodoxy to combat it because it was more "Russian". Finally, in Mexico, Plutarco Elías Calles caused priests to lose basic rights and the people's religious practices were harmed. Although to an extent he had been able to do this because of the Mexican Constitution. His enforcement of anti-Catholics aspects of that led to the Cristero War of 1926-1929. That war caused numerous priests to be killed and deemed Saints of the Cristero War. Events relating to all this were famously portrayed in the novel The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene.

Contemporary anti-Catholicism

Religious

Anti-Catholicism is a term applied by some Catholics to those they believe to be prejudiced towards or unfairly critical of the Church or its actions, leadership, or beliefs. It differs from religious discrimination or religious persecution where individuals are treated negatively because of their Catholic beliefs. Many Christian Fundamentalists, for example Bob Jones, Sr., have frequently been labeled as anti-Catholic because of their statements against the Catholic Church.

Failures acknowledged by Catholicism

In recent years the Catholic Church's historical treatment of Jews and religious dissenters has been acknowledged as unfair by the Church. Among some Traditionalist Catholics this acknowledgement is seen as a betrayal of Church tradition, but even as early as 1911 the Catholic Encyclopedia conceded the Medieval Inquisition was at times excessive and corrupt. Further for centuries Popes have criticized excessive actions of bishops or even previous Popes. Nevertheless events concerning those eras still cause some anger toward Catholicism. Although conservative Catholics would feel that Anglicans, Lutherans, and other groups who committed similar persecutions have not received the same criticism.

Abuse of the term

There are some who feel the term has been overused, even abused, in modern times. An important element being accusations that during the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal members of the Catholic hierarchy dismissed or denigrated the issue by indicating it was exaggerated or even fabricated by Anti-Catholic forces. Perhaps as troubling is accusations of Anti-Semitism in the Catholic League itself, particularly its leader William A. Donohue. Also some feel those who talk most on this issue essentially want blasphemy laws, see Rudy Giuliani#Opposition to Brooklyn Museum art exhibit. Others feel the term is meant to silence anyone critical of any element of Catholicism as being a bigot. An example being those who, mostly Traditionalist Catholicism adherents, feel that all Protestantism is also Anti-Catholicism because Protestantism began with rejecting Catholicism. Although others go further and state that if based solely on verified information Anti-Catholicism is a valid position, but that it is offense to call this brand of Anti-Catholicism that name. In any event the term has at times been used too broadly or in an exaggerated way. Because of difficulties the term is perhaps only truly appropriate to those who truly hate Catholicism and mistreat Catholics. Especially if they do so based on unverifiable or irrational reasons.

Actions frequently labeled anti-Catholic

- Claiming that Roman Catholics are not Christians and are possibly polytheists, or refering to the institution as a cult
- Committing hate crimes against Catholics
- Incorrectly characterizing Catholic beliefs with the intent to insult or disparage
- Claiming Catholic involvement in various conspiracies, for example the theory that the Vatican created or secretly ruled the Fascist or Communist nations, or that the Vatican hides secret or distressing knowledge, treasure, valuables, or even magical artifacts from the public. See Myths and legends surrounding the Papacy.
- Horror at past actions of the Catholic Church (like the Inquisition) without placing such actions in historical context. For instance, the Black Legend, which is thought by many historians to be a myth, portraying the heavily-Catholic Spanish as cruel, bloodthirsty religious fanatics in excess of their historical actions, whilst giving less attention to Protestant and Orthodox persecutions of Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Baptists, Copts and other religious groupings.
- Ascribing sinister motivations to the Pope or others in Church leadership without evidence to support such claims
- Equating all or most Catholic priests with pedophiles or other sexual criminals.
- Some Roman Catholics also find the use of the term "Roman Catholic Church" or "Roman Catholicism" to be offensive, as they believe there to be "one holy, catholic and apostolic Church". As Catholicism has several rites recognized by the Popes they believe the term "Roman Catholic Church" falsely implies a separation from those where they believe none to exist. They prefer that their Church be referred to by the name it uses most often for itself, the "Catholic Church."
- Playing up the Church's historical suppressions of science, as in its conflict with Galileo Galilei, while playing down the Church's scientific contributions (from followers such as Christopher Clavius, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Gregor Mendel, and Georges Lemaitre. Also ignoring the organized church's role in the rise of the Medieval university system, the Vatican Observatory, and the Jesuit missionaries' introduction of Western science to China.)

Additional reading

- Philip Jenkins, The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice (Oxford University Press, New ed. 2004). ISBN 0195176049
- Karl Keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism — The Attack on "Romanism" by "Bible Christians" (Ignatius Press, 1988). ISBN 0898701775

External links

Anti-Catholic websites

- [http://www.ccir.ed.ac.uk/~jad/glb_sola.html Is Sola Scriptura a Protestant Concoction? by Dr. Greg Bahnsen ]
- [http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9508/opinion/leithart.html Why Protestants Still Protest by Peter J. Leithart]
- [http://lionofjudah.tribulationforces.com/world_religions/catholic.html Protestant criticisms of Roman Catholicism]
- [http://www.apologeticsinfo.org/resource.html Apologetics Information Ministry]
- [http://www.chick.com/ Chick Publications website]
- [http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/ Jesus Is Lord]
- [http://www.biblebelievers.net/ Bible Believers Homepage]
- [http://www.reformation.org/ Reformation Online]
- [http://www.aomin.org/ Alpha and Omega Ministries]
- [http://sd.znet.com/~bart/ Mission of Protestant Studies]

Catholic responses

- [http://www.catholic.com/library/sr_chick_tracts_p1.asp Catholic Answers' Response to Anti-Catholicism]
- [http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ343.HTM Another expose on Jack Chick and anti-catholic sayings in his tracts.]
- [http://mafg.home.isp-direct.com/jtchick/jtc02r.html Don't Be Fooled By Chick Tracts]
- [http://www.catholicleague.org/ Catholic League's website]
- [http://www.geocities.com/chiniquy/ Who was Charles Chiniquy?]
- [http://www.stblogsparish.com/bloglist.html Catholic Blogs and Resources] Category:Christian fundamentalism
- Category:Religious persecution Category:Religious NPOV disputes

Persecution of Christians

Many Christians have experienced persecution from both non-Christians and from other Christians during the history of Christianity. Persecution may refer to unwarranted arrest, imprisonment, beating, torture, or execution. It also may refer to the confiscation or destruction of property, or incitement to hate Christians.

Persecutions by "the Jews" as narrated in the New Testament

The New Testament reports that the earliest Christians suffered persecution at the hands of the Jewish leadership of the day, commencing with Jesus himself. It also reports the beginning of persecutions by the Romans (see below). The term "the Jews" is frequently used in an undiscriminating way that has been the cause of later controversy. For details see Jews in the New Testament. The first Christians were Jews, as Christianity began as a sect of Judaism. Thus, the earliest examples of "Jewish persecution of Christians" are really examples of "Jewish persecution of other Jews," that is, sectarian conflict. According to the New Testament accounts, persecution of Jesus' followers continued after his death. Peter and John were imprisoned by the Jewish leadership, including high priest Ananias, who however later released them (Acts 4:1-21). Another time, all the apostles were imprisoned by the high priest and other Sadducees, only to be freed by an angel (Acts 5:17-18). The apostles, after having escaped, were then taken before the Sanhedrin again, but this time Gamaliel (a Pharisee well known from Rabbinic literature) convinced the Sanhedrin to free them (Acts 5:27-40), which the Sanhedrin did, after having flogged them. The New Testament recounts the stoning of Stephen (Acts 6:8-7:60) by the members of the Sanhedrin. Stephen is remembered in Christianity as the first martyr (derived from the Greek word "martyros" which means "witness"). Stephen's execution was followed by a major persecution of Christians (Acts 8:1-3), led by a Pharisee named Paul of Tarsus (also called Saul), throwing many Christians into prison. According to the New Testament, this persecution continued until Paul converted to Christianity, after reportedly seeing a bright light and hearing the voice of Jesus on the road to Damascus, where he was travelling to carry out more imprisonment of Christians (Acts 9:1-22). Acts 9:23-25 reports that "the Jews" in Damascus then tried to kill Paul. They were waiting for him at the town gates, but he evaded them by being lowered over the city wall in a basket by other Christians and then escaped to Jerusalem. Understandably, he had difficulty at first convincing the Christians in Jerusalem that he, their persecutor, had truly converted and was now being persecuted himself (Acts 9:26-27). Another attempt on his life was made, this time by "the Grecians" (KJV), referring to a group of Hellenistic Jews (Acts 9:29), whom he debated while in or around Jerusalem. There is some debate over why Paul, before his conversion, and other Pharisees persecuted Christians. According to Paula Fredriksen, in From Jesus to Christ, the most likely reason was that Christian Jews were preaching the imminent return of the King of the Jews and the establishment of his kingdom. To Roman ears, such talk was seditious. Romans gave Jews at that time limited self-rule; the main obligations of Jewish leaders were to collect taxes for Rome, and to maintain civil order. Thus, Jewish leaders would have to supress any seditious talk. In cases where Jewish leaders did not supress seditious talk, Jewish leaders were often sent to Rome for trial and execution.

Later Jewish persecution of Christians

During the famous Bar Kochba Rebellion of AD 135, Christians refused to fight, as a result of which, according to Justin Martyr, they were "commanded to be punished severely, if they did not deny Jesus as the Messiah and blaspheme him."[http://www.livius.org/ja-jn/jewish_wars/jwar07.html] In pre-Islamic Yemen, a Jewish king called Dhu Nuwas came to power and persecuted Christians in his realm, and massacred Christian communities in Najran in about 524; apparently this was intended as retaliation for Byzantine persecutions of the Jews.[http://www.gospelcom.net/dacb/stories/ethiopia/kaleb_.html] According to Muslim tradition, he was the person cursed in the Quran for burning believers alive (Quran 85:4-8.) In the early sixth century, Khosrau II, King of Persia from 591 to 628, 'invaded Asia Minor and Syria at the head of a large army. The Jews joined the Persians in great numbers under the leadership of Benjamin of Tiberias, a man of immense wealth, by whom they were enlisted and armed. The Tiberian Jews, with those of Nazareth and the mountain cities of Galilee, marched on Jerusalem with the Persian division commanded by Shahrbaraz. Later they were joined by the Jews of southern Palestine; and supported by a band of Arabs, the united forces took Jerusalem by storm (July, 614). Ninety thousand Christians are said to have perished. ... In conjunction with the Persians, the Jews swept through Palestine, destroyed the monasteries which abounded in the country, and expelled or killed the monks. Bands of Jews from Jerusalem, Tiberias, Galilee, Damascus, and even from Cyprus, united and undertook an incursion against Tyre, having been invited by the 4,000 Jewish inhabitants of that city to surprise and massacre the Christians on Easter night. The Jewish army is said to have consisted of 20,000 men. The expedition, however, miscarried, as the Christians of Tyre learned of the impending danger, and seized the 4,000 Tyrian Jews as hostages. The Jewish invaders destroyed the churches around Tyre, an act which the Christians avenged by killing two thousand of their Jewish prisoners. The besiegers, to save the remaining prisoners, withdrew.' According to the "Jewish Encyclopedia", 'The immediate results of these wars filled the Jews with joy. Many Christians became Jews through fear. A Sinaitic monk embraced Judaism of his own free will, and became a vehement assailant of his former belief.'[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=479&letter=C] According to modern day Jewish revisionists, the Jews may not have been responsible for these atrocities. They dimiss accusations against the Jews as Christian propaganda which needs to be read with an eye to its intended audience and its intended effect. However, the episodes they seek to explain away are as well-attested as any events in ancient history, and probably better attested that many stories about the Holocaust.
- [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/strategos1.html Antiochus Strategos, The Sack of Jerusalem]: e-text excerpt of the Persian sack of Jerusalem, 614. In Ethiopia, Queen Gudit, who persecuted Christians around 970 AD and helped bring down the Kingdom of Aksum, is said in Ethiopian chronicles to have been Jewish, though some modern scholars have cast doubt on this, suggesting that she may have been a pagan[http://www.gospelcom.net/dacb/stories/ethiopia/gudit_.html]. In contemporary Israel, conservative Jewish residents of Jerusalem's Meit Sharim district have been accused of spitting and otherwise molesting Christians (especially Armenian or Palestinian ones) who pass through their neighborhood. The Israeli government has been accused of intentionally denying residence visas to Christian clergy, owing to its dissatisfaction with the influence of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Persecution of early Christians by Romans

Persecutions narrated in the New Testament

According to the New Testament, Jesus' crucifixion was authorized by Roman authorities and carried out by Roman soldiers. The NT also records that Paul on his missions was imprisoned on several occasions by the Roman authorities. Once he was stoned and left for dead. Finally he was taken as a prisoner to Rome. The New Testament account does not say what then became of Paul, but Christian tradition reports that he was executed in Rome by being beheaded. Christian tradition reports that Peter was likewise executed in Rome, by crucifixion (upside down, at his request because he did not feel he deserved the 'honor' of dying in the same way as Christ died).

Rise of Persecution in the Roman Empire

Persecution under Nero, 64-68 A.D.

The first documented case of imperially-supervised persecution of the Christians in the Roman Empire begins with Nero (37-68). In 64 A.D., a great fire broke out in Rome which destroyed vast portions of the city and economically devastated the Roman population. Nero, whose sanity had long been in question, was widely suspected of having intentionally set the fire himself. In his Annals, Tacitus states that "to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace" (Tacit. Annals XV). By implicating the Christians for this massive act of arson, Nero successfully capitalized on the already-existing public suspicion of this religious sect and, it could be argued, exacerbated the hostilities held toward them throughout the Roman Empire.

Persecution in the 2nd Century

By the mid 2nd century, mobs could be found willing to throw stones at Christians, and they might be mobilized by rival sects. Lucian tells of an elaborate and successful hoax perpretrated by a "prophet" of Asclepius, using a tame snake, in Pontus and Paphlygonia. When rumor seemed about to expose his fraud, the witty essayist reports in his scathing essay [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm Alexander the false prophet], :he issued a promulgation designed to scare them, saying that Pontus was full of atheists and Christians who had the hardihood to utter the vilest abuse of him; these he bade them drive away with stones if they wanted to have the god gracious. Further state persecutions were desultory until the persecution under Diocletian and more so Galerius that began in 303 AD. The persecution under Decius from the winter of 250 to the following spring of 251 martyred Pope Fabian, Bishop of Rome, involved Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, in controversy, and figures large in the founding myths of the seven bishops sent to Christianize Gaul, but finds no confirmation outside the vita of Cyprian composed by Pontius the deacon and writings in the hagiographic tradition. Gregory of Tours glosses the persecutions in his "History of the Franks" written in the decade before 594: :"Under the emperor Decius many persecutions arose against the name of Christ, and there was such a slaughter of believers that they could not be numbered. Babillas, bishop of Antioch, with his three little sons, Urban, Prilidan and Epolon, and Xystus, bishop of Rome, Laurentius, an archdeacon, and Hyppolitus, were made perfect by martyrdom because they confessed the name of the Lord. Valentinian and Novatian were then the chief heretics and were active against our faith, the enemy urging them on. At this time seven men were ordained as bishops and sent into the Gauls to preach, as the history of the martyrdom of the holy martyr Saturninus relates. For it says: " In the consulship of Decius and Gratus, as faithful memory recalls, the city of Toulouse received the holy Saturninus as its first and greatest bishop." These bishops were sent: bishop Catianus to Tours; bishop Trophimus to Arles; bishop Paul to Narbonne; bishop Saturninus to Toulouse; bishop Dionisius to Paris; bishop Stremonius to Clermont, bishop Martial to Limoges." ([http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html#book3 Book i.30-31]) Christian sources aver that a decree was issued requiring public sacrifice, a formality equivalent to a testimonial of allegiance to the Emperor and the established order. Decius authorized roving commissions visiting the cities and villages to supervise the execution of the sacrifices and to deliver written certificates to all citizens who performed them. Christians were often given opportunities to avoid further punishment by publicly offering sacrifices or burning incense to Roman gods, and were accused by the Romans of impiety when they refused. Refusal was punished by arrest, imprisonment, torture, and executions. Christians fled to safe havens in the countryside and some purchased their certificates, called libelli. Several councils held at Carthage debated the extent to which the community should accept these lapsed Christians. It should be noted that today massive numbers of martyrs claimed by the early Church during these persecutions are not generally accepted by scholars. Gibbon, in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, estimates that "the whole might consequently amount to about fifteen hundred ... an annual consumption of 150 martyrs." The Western provinces were little affected, and even in the East where Christianity was recognized as a growing threat, the persecutions were light and sporadic. Claims of martyrdom were exaggerated by the early Church Fathers in order to gain converts. The career and writings of Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, throw light on the aftermath of the Decian persecutions in the Carthaginian Christian community. (Fuller details are at the entry Cyprian.) Some early Christians sought out and welcomed their persecutions: Roman authorities tried hard to avoid Christians because they "goaded, chided, belittled and insulted the crowds until they demanded their death.";¹⁹³; One man shouted to the Roman officials: "I want to die! I am a Christian," leading the officials to respond: "If they wanted to kill themselves, there was plenty of cliffs they could jump off.";¹⁹⁴; But the Christians, following Tertullian's dicta that "martyrdom is required by God," forced their own martyrdom so they could die in an ecstatic trance: "Although their tortures were gruesome, the martyrs did not suffer, enjoying their analgesic state."¹⁹⁵ [http://www.psychohistory.com/htm/eln09_psychesociety.html] The conditions under which martyrdom was an acceptable fate or under which it was suicidally embraced occupied writers of the early Christian Church. Broadly speaking, martyrs were considered uniquely exemplary of the Christian faith, and few early saints were not also martyrs. However, suicide is murder, and is associated with treason to the faith - the very opposite of martyrdom - the way of Judas the traitor, not of Jesus the savior. This confusion of early Christians over the values of martyrdom led to some breakaways from the Church in Rome, most notably the Donatists. Their was one sect, the Circumcellions, AKA the "agonostici", Latin for "fighter", and root of our English word "antagonist", that is of special regard in this matter. The Circumcellions had come to regard martyrdom as the true Christian virtue (as Church Father Tertullian said, a martyr’s death day was actually his birthday), and thus came to disregard chastity, sobriety, humbleness, charity, and most of the other good things we today associate with Christianity. Instead, they focused on bringing about their martyrdom-- by any means possible. Since Jesus had told Peter to put down his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Circumcellions piously avoided bladed weapons and instead opted for the use of blunt clubs, which they called "Isrealites." Using their "Israelites", the Circumcellions would attack random travelers on the road, while shouting "Praise the Lord!" in Latin. The object of these random beatings was the death of the intrepid martyr, who hoped that clobbering someone over the head with an "Israelite" would provoke said person to send the happy Circumcellion straight to Heaven. Since the Circumcellions did not bother themselves with chastity or poverty, they often cavorted with the opposite (or same) sex and would kill and rob those unfortunate travelers who did not assist their "martyrdom" with a sufficiently potent counter-attack. When the "Israelite" method failed, the determined Circumcellion would obtain his martyrdom through a not-so-quick dip in the pool, or a one way ticket off the nearest cliffside. The 2nd century Martyrdom of Polycarp, records the story of Quintus, a Christian who handed himself over to the Roman authorities, but turned coward and sacrificed to the Roman gods when he saw the wild beasts in the colosseum: "For this reason therefore, brothers, we do not praise those who hand themselves over, since the gospel does not so teach." John the Evangelist never accused Jesus of suicide or self-destruction, but rather says that Jesus chose not to resist arrest and crucifixion.

Early persecutions outside the Roman Empire

In 337, a spate in the ongoing hostilities between Sassanid Persia and the Roman Empire led to anti-Christian persecutions by the Persians of Christians who were perceived as potentially treacherous friends to a Christianized Rome under Constantine. Over the next few decades, thousands of Christians died. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, Christian missionaries, most successfully Ulfilas converted the Goths to Arian Christianity, which the Goths saw as an attack on their religion and culture. The Visigoth King Athanaric began persecuting Christians, many of whom were killed. In the 5th and 6th century, Arianism became prevalent among the Goths; during their forays into Italy, Gaul (France) and Spain they destroyed many churches and killed a number of Christian clergy. In 429 the Vandals (who were Arians) conquered Roman Africa. Catholics were discriminated against; Catholic Church property was confiscated. Thousands of Catholics were banished from Vandal held territory. The New Catholic Encyclopedia notes that "Ancient, medieval and early modern hagiographers were inclined to exaggerate the number of martyrs. Since the title of martyr is the highest title to which a Christian can aspire, this tendency is natural". Estimates of Christians killed for religious reasons before the year 313 vary greatly, depending on the scholar quoted, from a high of almost 100,000 to a low of 10,000.

Persecution of Christians by Christians

Upon the establishment of official ties between the state and Christianity, the state and the Church turned their considerable negative attention to those deemed heretics, although who was and was not a heretic could alter with the winds of political change. One specific example of such a situation involved Arianism, which held, against the orthodox tradition, that Jesus was not "one in unity with the Father", but instead was a created being, not on the same level with God, above humans but below God the Father. When high-ranking officials agreed with orthodoxy, the state stopped at no ends to bring down the Arians. The converse was true when high-ranking officials, instead, adhered to Arianism, at which point the power of the state was used to promulgate that particular interpretation. The Germanic Goths and Vandals adhered to Arian Christianity, establishing Arian states in Italy and Spain. Orthodox Christians fought viciously against these foreign Arians. St. Augustine, for example, died while in a town besieged by the Arian Vandals. An increasing number of scholars have claimed that early Christianity had no single agreed-upon tradition, and various sects claimed no limit of things about Jesus, God, and the universe, but the extent of this "proto-Christian" diversity can be a matter of debate. Some scholarly opinion adheres to the picture of a continual line of theological orthodoxy, but the early sources suggest a world of Christianity far more colorful than the post-Nicean fathers painted. In the medieval period the Roman Catholic church moved to suppress the Cathar heresy, the Pope having sanctioned a crusade against the latter. The Crusades in the Middle East also spilled over into conquest of Eastern Orthodox Christians by Roman Catholics and attempted suppression of the Orthodox Church for a time. The Reformation led to a long period of warfare and communal violence between Catholic and Protestant factions, leading to massacres and forced suppression of the alternative views by the dominant faction in many countries. In the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre the French king ordered the murder of Protestants in France. In the modern period, such events include violence between Mormons and Protestants in the United States during the 19th century. That century also saw the martyrdom of St. Peter the Aleut at the hands of Roman Catholic clergy in California. Presently, Northern Ireland is rife with Christian on Christian sectarian violence.

Islamic persecution of Christians

Iconoclasm

Ottoman Empire

Genocide in Turkey

1.5 million Armenian Christians and 750.000 Assyrian Christians were killed by the Young Turk government between 1915 and 1917. The massacre, which became known as the Armenian Genocide and the Assyrian Genocide, is considered the first genocide of the 20th Century, one of the biggest in terms of number of victims, and could have been a direct inspiration for Hitler's Final Solution. However, it was often ignored or given little significance by many Western governments for most of the 20th Century, due to political pressure from Turkey, one of the West's few allies in the Middle-East. And although Western governments have begun recognising the genocide in the past few years, Turkey still officially denies that it took place. However, Turkey has begun to debate the genocide in public as a result of pressure from the EU, recently (September 2005) holding a conference to discuss it.

Persecution of Christians in Sudan

It is estimated that over 1.5 million Christians have been killed by the Sudanese army, the Janjaweed, and even suspected Islamists in northern Sudan since 1984. However, the conflict is not purely a religious one, as many black Muslims, as well as Muslim Arab tribesmen, have also been killed in the conflict. It is difficult to ascertain how many deaths are due to the conflict and how many are due to the numerous famines which have effected Sudan, costing thousands of lives.

Persecution of Assyrian Christians in the Middle East

It is estimated that over 4 million Assyrians have fled from the Middle East during the last 100 years. Over 500,000 Assyrians died in the Assyrian Genocide during the Ottoman Rule.From being a nation of 20 million in the beginning of the 19th century the Assyrian population is well under 4 million today.Daily Assyrian Christians are persecuted in the whole Middle East.On [http://www.aina.org/martyr.html#1980%20to%201988 Assyrian Massacres] you will be able to see a lot of massacres on Assyrians in the past and today.

Attacks on Christians by Islamists in Pakistan

Oct. 28, 2001 - Lahore, Pakistan - Islamic militants killed 15 Christians at a church. On 25 September 2002 two terrorists entered the "Peace and Justice Institute", Karachi. They separated Muslims from the Christians, and then executed eight Christians by shooting them in the head.

Attacks on Christians by Islamists in Indonesia

Religious conflicts have typically occurred in western New Guinea, Maluku (particularly Ambon), and Sulawesi. The presence of Muslims in these regions is largely due to Suharto's transmigrasi plan of population re-distribution. Conflicts have often occurred because of the aims of radical Islamist organisations such as Jemaah Islamiah or Laskar Jihad to impose Sharia. The following list is far from comprehensive: 1998 - 500 Christian churches burned down in Java. November, 1998 - 22 churches in Jakarta are burned down. 13 Christians killed. Christmas Day 1998 - 180 homes and stores owned by Christians are destroyed in Poso, Central Sulawesi. Easter 2000 - 800 homes and stores owned by Christians are destroyed in Poso, Central Sulawesi. May 23, 2000 - Christian fight back against a Muslim mob. 700 people die. June, 2001 - the Laskar Jihad declares Jihad against Christians. Muslim citizens are recruited by the thousands to exterminate Christians. May 28, 2005 - A bomb is exploded in a crowded market in Tentena, killing 28. This marks the highest death toll due to bombing after the devestating attacks in Bali. [http://www.persecution.org/news/press2001-03-09.html] On October 29, 2005 three school girls were found beheaded near Poso. The girls, students at Central Sulawesi Christian Church, were killed by six unidentified assailants while on their way to class.

Discrimination and persecution in other Arab and Muslim nations

In Saudi Arabia, Christians can be arrested and lashed for practicing their faith in public. No non-Muslims are allowed to become Saudi citizens. Prayer services by Christians are broken up by the police, and people who convert to Christianity can officially be executed, although this has not in fact been done in many years. (cf. [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/14012.htm US State Department]) In Egypt, the government does not officially recognise conversions from Islam to Christianity; because certain interfaith marriages are not allowed either, this prevents marriages between converts to Christianity and those born in Christian communities, and also results in the children of Christian converts being classified as Muslims and given a Muslim education. The government also requires permits for repairing churches or building new ones, which are often withheld. Foreign missionaries are allowed in the country only if they restrict their activities to social improvements and refrain from proselytizing ([http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/13994.htm US State Department]). The Coptic Pope Shenouda III was internally exiled in 1981 by President Anwar Sadat, who then chose five Coptic bishops and asked them to choose a new pope. They refused, and in 1985 President Hosni Mubarak restored Pope Shenouda III, who had been accused of fomenting interconfessional strife. Particularly in Upper Egypt, the rise in extremist Islamist groups such as the Gama'at Islamiya during the 1980s was accompanied by attacks on Copts and on Coptic churches; these have since declined with the decline of those organizations, but still continue. The police have been accused of siding with the attackers in some of these cases[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/589977.stm]. Nevertheless, high-ranking government officials in Egypt have included Copts like Boutros Ghali and his grandson, Boutros Boutros-Ghali. There has been a substantial amount of anti-Christian incidents carried out in areas governed by the Palestinian Authority. Many claim that this represents a pattern of deliberate mistreatment by the PA; others hold that these are isolated incidents that reflect the beliefs of the individuals involved, but not the society in general. Two American courts, one in Illinois and the other in North Carolina, accepted the threat of "religious persecution" as grounds for granting asylum to Christians fleeing PA territory. According to some Christian sources, Palestinian Islamists in the West bank are using violence and threats of terror to scare Christians out of Palestinian controlled area. Though Iran recognizes Christians as a religious minority (along with Jews and Zoroastrians) after the Revolution, Muslim converts to Christianity have been arrested and often executed. In Malaysia, proselytisation of Muslims is illegal. [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/13899.htm US State Department] For more information, see Christianity in Malaysia. In the Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf has attacked and killed Christians.[http://persecution.org/Countries/philippines.html]

Persecution in Kosovo

After its territory was conquered by Ottoman Empire, Christians in Kosovo (nearly all of them Serbs) were persecuted, as were other Christian subjects of the empire. However, here, unlike in most of the empire, they were also persecuted by Albanians, who have mostly converted to Islam. This accelerated during late 19th century, continued during most of 20th, especially during wars, and as a result Serbian population is now drastically reduced—from 95% in 15th century and around 60% at the beginning of 19th to less than 10% in 21st (see History of Kosovo and Demographic history of Kosovo for more details). Persecution of christians also resulted in destruction of hundreds of Christian churches, monasteries, graveyards and other religious monuments (over 150 only in five years since the Kosovo War), some of them being of great historical and architectural importance. The latest wave of anti-Christian violence was in March 2004 (see Unrest in Kosovo). However, it should be noted that the majority of Christians in Kosovo are Serbs, and that this conflict may be more related to ethnic tensions following Milosevic's campaign of ethnic cleansing than pure sectarianism unrelated to the political climate.

Nazi-Fascist persecution

Although far less hostile to Christianity than to Judaism, which the Nazis sought to exterminate in the Holocaust throughout the Third Reich and lands that came under Nazi rule, Nazi totalitarianism demanded that all religious activity conform to the desires of Nazi leadership. Christian churches were obliged to accept the racist doctrines of Nazism. The Gestapo monitored Christian clergy and congregations for any semblance of dissent with Nazi policies, and many Christian clergy and laymen ended up in concentration camps when they asserted opposition to the teachings and practices of Nazism or if they acted upon pacifist convictions (like many Jehovah's Witnesses and some Confessing Church members). During the early part of the Nazi rule, the "German Christians" were an important pseudo-protestant tool of the regime to bring about the Gleichschaltung of the churches. The expansion of Nazi Germany and the establishment of Nazi rule in occupied countries brought about persecutions ranging from those characteristic in Germany itself to conditions approaching those of the Soviet Union. Catholic priests in Poland that were opposed to the Nazis were taken to the concentration camps; many were murdered in the liquidation of the Polish intelligentsia. In Italy the Catholic-dominated fascist regime of Mussolini heavily persecuted Pentecostals and Jehovah's Witnesses from 1936 to 1954, when the Persecution Decree, named Circolare Buffarini-Guidi was revoked due Western nations pressure.

Discrimination and persecution in the Soviet Union

After the Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks undertook a massive program to remove the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church from the government and Russian society, and to make the state atheist. Thousands of churches were destroyed or converted to other uses, such as warehouses. Monasteries were closed and often converted to prison camps, most notably the Solovetz monastery becoming Solovki camp. Many members of clergy were imprisoned for anti-government activities. These victims are now recognized as the "New Martyrs" by the Russian Orthodox Church, the old martyrs being the victims of the Roman persecutions. Church property, including the icons and other objects of worship (especially those made of precious metals) was confiscated and put to other uses. Nevertheless, religion was never outlawed in the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Constitution actually guaranteed religious freedom to all Soviet citizens. Persecutions were usually carried out for political, not religious, reasons. The persecution abated during the World War II, at which time Stalin's government actually made some semblance of peace with the Church in order to use it as part of its program to inspire Russian patriotic feeling to fight the German invaders. After that, the Soviet government sought to put the Church under control by appointing loyal men as priests, allegedly ending up with the entire upper ranks of the Church being officers of the KGB. A concerted effort was made to prevent or disrupt the social gatherings of Christians. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s the celebration of Christmas and the traditional Russian holiday of New Year was prohibited (later on New Year was reinstated as a secular holiday and is now the most significant family holiday in Russia). Gatherings and religious processions were initially prohibited and later on strictly limited and regulated. In later years, a more subtle method of disrupting Christian holidays involved broadcasting very popular movies one after the other on the major holidays when believers are expected to participate in religious processions, especially during the Easter celebration. Apparently, this was intended to keep those, whose faith was uncertain or wavering, in their homes and glued to their TVs. An intense ideological anti-Christian and anti-religious campaign was carried out throughout the history of the Soviet Union. An extensive education and propaganda campaign was undertaken to convince people, especially the children and youth, not to become believers. The role of the Christian religion and the Church was painted in black colors in school textbooks. For instance, much emphasis was placed on the role of the Church in such historical horror stories as the Inquisition, persecution of Galileo, Giordano Bruno, and other heretical scientists, and the Crusades. School students were encouraged to taunt and use peer pressure against classmates wearing crosses or otherwise professing their faith. In the 1920s there were many "anti-God" publications and social clubs sponsored by the government, most notably the scathingly satirical "Godless at the Workbench" ("Bezbozhnik u Stanka" in Russian). Later on, these disappeared because a new generation has grown up essentially atheist. A "scientific" perspective was used to attack religion extensively. The Church was portrayed as obscurantist and opposed to the findings of science. Much was made of alleged Christian belief in the literal Creation account in the book of Genesis which the pro-Darwinian textbooks ridiculed. Interestingly, as part of the anti-foreign and anti-capitalist propaganda, an effort was made, especially in the 1920s and 1930s, to imprint in the minds of the people an image of the West as dominated by the anti-scientific ignorance of the Church, as opposed to the scientifically "progressive" atheist Soviet state. In general, Christianity was portrayed as corrupt, hypocritical, a loyal servant of the reactionary czar, obscurantist, "opium for the people" according to Karl Marx, and otherwise evil. This Communist persecution of the Church proved enormously successful. Within the span of one generation, the traditionally highly devout Russian people became overwhelmingly atheist. This transformation was, for the most part, complete by the 1950's. As such, it counted as one of the greatest and the most successful persecutions Christianity had ever experienced, on par only with the destruction of Christianity in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia Minor by the Islamic and Turkish conquests. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the government of Russia openly embraced the Russian Orthodox Church, and there was a reputed renaissance in the number of the faithful in Russia. As of 2004 it is generally noted, however, that whereas a very large percent of Russians today identify themselves as believers and members of the Church (up from a very small group in the Soviet days), still relatively few of them actually attend church regularly, read the Bible, or otherwise take their communion with the Church seriously. For many, it seems, faith has become a matter of personal identification and readiness to baptize their children or have church marriage and burial ceremonies, and not much else. This is a clear testimony to the completeness and the long term success of the Communist persecution of the Christianity in Russia. Richard Wurmbrand, author of Tortured for Christ described the systematic persecution of Christians in one East Bloc nation. Many Christian believers in the Soviet Union have told of being imprisoned for no other reason than believing in God - a fate shared no less by Jewish believers. Many have recently been canonized as saints following their death at the hands of Soviet authorities; they are collectively referred to in the Orthodox Church as the "new martyrs". (See also Enemy of the people, Gulag, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Varlam Shalamov)

Persecution in other Eastern Bloc nations

Enver Hoxha conducted a campaign to extinguish all forms of religion in Albania in 1967, closing all religious buildings and declaring the state atheist. Albania was the only Eastern Bloc nation that actually outlawed religion. See Communist and post-Communist Albania. However, persecution of Christians, especially Protestants, Pentecostals and non-registered minority denominations, has continued after the fall of the Soviet Union, in many countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, notably Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. However, it should be noted that Jews and certain Muslim sects are also frequently subject to similar discrimination, and harsh treatment does not extend to all Christian sects. [http://www.forum18.org]

Persecution of Christians in China

Emperor Tang Wu Zong

Tang Wu Zang (of the Tang dynasty) ruled from 840 to 846. Known as a Taoist zealot, he first suppressed Buddhism in China for its perceived excesses. He then attacked all other "foreign" religions, including Christianity. Nestorianism, the only Chinese Christian branch at that time, was virtually wiped out in China.

Qing Dynasty

When Jiaqing Emperor of China declared the close door policy, Christianity suffered the first drawback. After the Opium War, Christians became a target of hatred and many Christians were killed in the Boxer Rebellion.

People's Republic of China

The Communist government tries to maintain tight control over religions, so the only legal Christian Churches are those under the Communist Party's control (see article on Chinese House Churches).

Persecution in Japan

Arrival of Christianity

Following the arrival in Japan of the Portuguese in the early 1500s, Christianity gained much ground.

Edo Period

As the Sengoku period drew to a close in the late 1500s, the reigning kampaku Hideyoshi Toyotomi became concerned with the popularity of Christianity and thus drove out the missionaries and killed 26 Christians as an example. [http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Japan_martyrs.htm] The trade continued, but the tradition of persecution had begun. With the subsequent rise of the Tokugawa shogunate, the government's anti-Christian sentiment grew. In 1614, mostly to curb the Dutch attempts to make inroads into Japan's economy, Christianity was outlawed. The penalty for following Christianity was death. Thousands of Japanese Christians were killed for maintaining their faith despite the ban. Most Christians were executed by being burnt alive or ironically, crucified. A substantial community of Christians in Nagasaki remained, as well as many smaller groups throughout Japan, despite the persecution.

Meiji Revolution and WWII

During the Meiji era and until the end of World War II, the law banning Christianity remained in effect, even though the Meiji Constitution technically allowed freedom of religion. As a result Christianity was still an illegal religion in Japan that remained punishable by death. With the new reforms, Nagasaki became open to trade, but as the ban on Christianity still remained in effect so did the government persecution. Nevertheless, despite this Christianity continued to grow. During WWII, Shinto became the official religion and all others were made crimes with varying degrees of punishment. The persecution, most especially toward Christians (especially Protestants, who were seen as sympathetic to the Allies), intensified until the end of the war, as non-Shinto were seen as traitors to Japan.

1945 onwards

After the surrender of Japan in 1945, she was forced to enact freedom of religion as part of the surrender, immediately stopping the persecution. After Japan regained her sovereignty, freedom of religion remained as part of the new Constitution of Japan.

Hindu persecution of Christians

23 Jan 1999 - Graham Staines, an Australian Christian missionary aged 55 years, and his two sons, aged 8 and 10, were burned to death in the state of Orissa by members of Hindutva Parivar, a Hindu nationalist group. Staines was accused of making derogatory remarks about Hinduism, fraudulently converting local tribals, sexually assaulting a villager's wife and slaughtering cows, the most sacred animal to Hindus. In Sept. 2002 eight Christian missionaries were beaten during worship services by Hindu fundamentalists. In Oct. 2002 the governor of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu issued an ordinance aimed at preventing people from converting to Christianity, on the pretext that such conversions occur due to fraud. Christians may be sentenced to up to three years in jail if convicted of such a crime. Local Hindus have often criticized missionaries for exploiting the impoverished condition of non-Christians to convert them. In several cases, Christian pastors have publicly made derogatory remarks about Hinduism. In other cases, foreign missionaries have denied medical treatment and food aid to Hindus who refuse to convert to Christianity. It should be noted that the majority of instances of persecutions of Christians in India do not involve the native Saint Thomas Christians, but rather Latin Rite Catholics and Protestants. [http://www.csw.org.uk/Archives/index.htm Christian News Source with several articles on persecution of Christians in India] [http://www.kentaxrecords.com/iaca/index.php Indians Against Christian Aggression]

Recent Christian Persecution in Other Countries

A partial list of countries not already mentioned above where significant recent persecution of Christians exists includes North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Sri Lanka,China Bhutan, Lebanon, Maldives and Afghanistan.

References

- W.H.C. Frend, 1965. Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church Let My People Go: The True Story of Present-Day Persecution and Slavery Cal. R. Bombay, Multnomah Publishers, 1998 Their Blood Cries Out Paul Marshall and Lela Gilbert, World Press, 1997. In the Lion's Den: Persecuted Christians and What the Western Church Can Do About It Nina Shea, Broadman & Holman, 1997. This Holy Seed: Faith, Hope and Love in the Early Churches of North Africa Robin Daniel, Tamarisk Publications, 1993. ISBN 0952043505 Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century: A Comprehensive World History by Robert Royal, Crossroad/Herder & Herder; (April 2000). ISBN 0824518462 The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 (15 volume set)

External links

- [http://www.rotten.com/library/religion/heresy/circumcellions/ Rotten.com on the Circumcellions], and also [http://www.pbministries.org/History/David%20Benedict/donatists_12.htm On the Donatists and Cicumcellions], and also [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01223a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia Entry on the Matter]
- [http://www.persecution.com/ Voice of the Martyrs], and also [http://www.persecution.com.au/ VOM Australia]
- [http://www.persecution.org/ International Christian Concern]
- [http://www.copts.net/index.asp Coptic Christians persecuted in Egypt]
- [http://www.montagnard-foundation.org/ Montagnard Foundation supporting Christians persecuted in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia]
- [http://www.iabolish.com Anti-Slavery organization]
- [http://iupjournals.org/jss/jss4-2.html "The Vengeance of the Jews Was Stronger Than Their Avarice: Modern Historians and the Persian Conquest of Jerusalem in 614"] by Elliott Horowitz (Jewish Social Studies Volume 4, Number 2)
- [http://www.moshiach.com/action/ About the Noahide Laws]
- [http://www.kensmen.com/catholic/jcintro.html On Jewish-Catholic Relations]
- [http://www.sspx.ca/Angelus/2002_January/The_Cristeros.htm On the persecution of Catholics in Mexico]
- [http://www.catholicleague.org/ The Catholic League] Anti-Catholic Bigotry in the United States
- [http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/burns/chroma/saints/Persecution.html Graeme Clark, "Christians and the Roman State 193-324"]
- [http://bhutan4christ.com/persecution-wwl.html Christian Persecution in Bhutan]
- [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0824521293/ref=ase_ontarioconsultanA/104-0570465-6082303?v=glance&s=books Amazon Reviews of Anti-Catholicism in America]
- [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0195154800/ref=ase_ontarioconsultanA/104-0570465-6082303?v=glance&s=books Amazon Reviews of The New Anti-Catholicism]
- [http://www.catholic.com/ Catholic Answers]
- [http://www.churchesforjesus.org/ Christian Persecution in Lebanon] (On Rebuilding the 46 Catholic Churches destroyed in 1985 by extremist militias)
- [http://www.ryanspencerreed.com/ Photojournalist's Account] - Images of Sudan's persecution
- [http://www.persecution.org/Countries/sri_lanka.html Christian Persecution in Sri Lanka]
- [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0824518462/104-0570465-6082303 Amazon Link to Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century : A Comprehensive World History (Hardcover)]
- [http://www.christianpersecution.info/ Christian Persecution Information]
- [http://phoenicia.org/christiansmea.html Persecution of Lebanese Christians]
- [http://www.armenian-genocide.org/ Armenian National Institute]
- [http://www.aina.org/martyr.html#1980%20to%201988 Assyrian Genocide] Category:Christianity in Japan Category:Religious persecution

Southern Poverty Law Center

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American non-profit legal, educational, and intelligence-gathering group for the purposes of advocacy for civil rights and against racism. The center is based in Montgomery, Alabama, in the Southern United States. It was founded in 1971 by Morris Dees and Joe Levin as a civil rights law firm. It is known for its tolerance programs, its legal victories against white supremacist groups, and its investigations of alleged hate groups. The Center publishes a quarterly Intelligence Report which lists groups it accuses of political extremism and hate crimes in the United States. The center also sponsored the creation of a Civil Rights Memorial in downtown Montgomery designed by architect Maya Lin. The Center's activities have long generated controversy pertaining to its political tactics, allegations of financial mismanagement by Dees, and allegations of racial discrimination within the organization itself by former employees.

History

Maya Lin The Southern Poverty Law Center was organized by Dees and Levin in 1971 as a law firm to handle anti-discrimination cases in the United States. The organization's first president was Julian Bond, formerly of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Bond served as president of the SPLC until 1979. The first case the Center took on forced the local YMCA to racially integrate their athletic offerings. In 1979 the Center brought its first of its many cases against the Ku Klux Klan. In 1981 the Center began its "Klanwatch" project to monitor and track the activities of the KKK. In 1983, Klansmen were blamed for the fire that burned the Center's office. The SPLC claims that several other attempts to bomb the center and kill Morris Dees have been thwarted.[http://www.splcenter.org/center/history/] In 1989 the Center unveiled its Civil Rights Memorial designed by Maya Lin. The Center's "teaching tolerance" project was initiated in 1991, and their "Klanwatch" program has gradually expanded to include other "anti-hate" monitoring projects and a list of reported "hate groups" in the United States.

Educational programs

The SPLC's political initiatives include a project entitled "Teaching Tolerance" based at the website [http://www.tolerance.org Tolerance.org]. According to the SPLC the project is "an educational program to help K-12 teachers foster respect and understanding in the classroom." 1983] "Teaching Tolerance" is a multi-pronged program aimed at two different age groups of students with separate materials for teachers and parents. One portion of the project targets elementary school children, providing informational material on the history of the civil rights movement.[http://www.tolerance.org/pt/index.html] The center's material for children include a publication entitled "A fresh look at multicultural 'American English'" that explores the cultural history of common words. A project website designed for elementary school children includes an interactive program that allows users to "explore" political topics such as school mascots with Native American names, the Confederate flag, and popular music and entertainment. It alleges that many of these highlighted events exhibit cases of racial, gender, and sexual orientation insensitivity. A similar educational program aimed at teenagers in the middle and high school age groups includes a "Mix it Up" project urging readers to participate in various school activities that encourage interaction between different social groups.[http://www.tolerance.org/teens/about.jsp] Other features of the teenager educational project include political activism tips and reports highlighting examples of student activism. A monthly SPLC publication to teens promotes a highlighted political movement, normally focusing on minority, feminist, and homosexual youth organizations. The program also provides publications to students such as "Ways to fight hate on campus" suggesting ideas for community activism and diversity education. "Teaching Tolerance" also provides advice and materials for parents aimed at encouraging multiculturalism in the upbringing of their children. [http://www.tolerance.org/101_tools/index.html] A guide published by the project urges parents to "examine the 'diversity profile' for your children's friends," move to "integrated and economically diverse neighborhoods," and discourage children from playing with toys or adopting heroes that "promote violence." The publication also advises parents on the use of culturally sensitive language such as promoting gender-neutral phrasings such as "Someone Special Day" instead of the traditional Mothers Day or Fathers Day and urges them to ensure "cultural diversity reflected in your home's artwork, music and literature."

Documentaries

The SPLC produces documentary films. Two have won Academy Awards for documentary short subject: "Mighty Times: The Children's March," in 2005, and "A Time for Justice, America's Civil Rights Movement" in 1995. Five others have been nominated.

Controversy

The SPLC has a history of attracting controversy surrounding its politics, "hate group" identification and monitoring methods, and financial practices. Some criticisms have focused on its fundraising methods. For example, a 1996 USA Today article claimed that the Southern Poverty Law Center is "the nation's richest civil rights organization", with $68 million in assets at the time (in the fiscal year ending in 2003, its assets totalled $156 million [http://www.guidestar.org/controller/searchResults.gs?action_gsReport=1&npoId=524322]). A 2003 article in the Fairfax Journal (of Fairfax, Virginia) claimed that 89% of income was spent on fundraising and administration.

David Horowitz

Myles Kantor of the anti-Fidel Castro Pureplay Press[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10009] and conservative columnist David Horowitz [http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6989] have both accused the SPLC of exaggerating the threat of racism in order to increase fund-raising revenue and of wrongfully applying the term "hate group" to legitimate organizations. The Southern Poverty Law Center and Morris Dees have engaged in a dispute with Horowitz over material written by Chip Berlet related to Horowitz's campaign against slavery reparations, which the SPLC claims constitutes "hate speech". Horowitz writes: :The effect is to multiply the number of racial hate groups, to scare well-meaning citizens into the belief that mainstream civil rights organizations like the Center for the Study of Popular Culture are really fever swamps of hate that deserve to be lumped alongside the Ku Klux Klan. The purpose of this fear-mongering is transparent. It is to fill the already wealthy coffers of your organization by exploiting unsuspecting donors into helping you promote leftwing agendas under the guise of civil rights. [http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/Readarticle.asp?ID=9830] The SPLC's Mark Potok responded to Horowitz by stating "we believe Mr. Berlet’s article is backed up by the evidence, and we stand by the article as it was published." Potok also forwarded a reply from Berlet in which the latter alleged that Horowitz's Center for the Study of Popular Culture uses "inflammatory, mean-spirited, and divisive language that dismisses the idea that there are serious unresolved issues concerning racism and white supremacy in the United States." [http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=9831] Horowitz subsequently replied in a letter to Dees, asserting that Berlet's attack on the CSPC "applies mutatis mutandis to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which exacerbates societal tensions by exaggerating the number of hate groups in America and by proposing that they come in only one color and one political disposition. It does this by labeling legitimate political differences as racism and bigotry." [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=9830]

Criticism of education program

The Discover the Networks (DSN), a website operated by Horowitz, argues that the "Teaching Tolerance" program is "far from a good-faith effort to instruct schoolchildren in the merits of tolerance." According to DSN, the program is used to promote a left-wing political agenda and "spread the virtues of political correctness" among children and teachers. As an example of this agenda, DSN points to a cover story from a "Teaching Tolerance" publication aimed at students that claimed the popular Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was "little more than a glorified vision of white patriarchy," complained its actors were "whiter than white," and denounced its themes as "Eurocentric." [http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6989]

Montgomery Advertiser investigation

In 1994 The Montgomery Advertiser published an 9-part investigative series alleging financial mismanagement, poor management practices, misleading fundraising, and institutionalized racism at the Center. The newspaper summarized its investigation as producing evidence of "a complex portrait of a wealthy civil rights organization essentially controlled by one man: Morris Dees." (Montgomery Avertisor, Feb. 13-14 1994) Findings from the Advertiser investigation included the following:
- 12 of 13 African-American former employees of the SPLC who were contacted by the newspaper reported experiencing or observing racial discrimination during their employment. Black former employees were quoted stating that the Center was "like a plantation" run by white supervisors.
- The SPLC's legal department is composed primarily of Caucasians and had only employed two African American attorneys on staff over 23 years of operation (as of 1994).
- From 1984 to 1994 the SPLC received almost $62 million in contributions but spent only $20.8 million on its anti-poverty and anti-discrimination programs.
- An SPLC fundraising letter that raised several million dollars for the organization claims the Center's legal team secured a $7 million victim's settlement against the Ku Klux Klan for the lynching of Michael McDonald, however McDonald's mother and heir Beulah Mae received only $51,874.70 from the settlement.
- A "random sampling of donors" to the SPLC, defined as "people who receive a steady stream of fund-raising letters and newsletters," indicated "they had no idea the Law Center was so wealthy" when interviewed. The Advertiser also interviewed several former SPLC affiliates who alleged financial improprieties on the part of the Center. Pamela Summers, formerly a legal fellow with the Center, told the newspaper that the Center's legal department operates "as though the sole, overriding goal is to make money." Summers accused Dees of avoiding "go(ing) to court" on discrimination cases and instead relying upon financial contributions to obtain money. The Center threatened legal action against the newspaper during the publication of the series, and lobbied against its consideration for journalism awards. Nonetheless, the investigative series was a finalist for a 1995 Pulitzer Prize. The Center states that "During its last fiscal year, the Center spent approximately 65% of its total expenses on program services. The Center also placed a portion of its income into a special, board-designated endowment fund to support the Center's future work. At the end of the fiscal year, the endowment stood at $120.6 million." [http://www.splcenter.org/donate/financialinfo/financial.jsp]

Harper's Magazine investigation

In November 2000, Harper's Magazine published an exposé of the SPLC corroborating the Montgomery Advertiser's allegations of financial mismanagement, poor management practices, misleading fundraising, and institutionalized racism at the Center. In "The Church of Morris Dees," Ken Silverstein writes:

Morris Dees doesn't need your financial support. The SPLC is already the wealthiest 'civil rights' group in America... One [sales] pitch, sent out in 1995 -- when the center had more than $60 million in reserves -- informed would-be donors that the "strain on our current operating budget is the greatest in our 25-year history." Back in 1978, when the center had less than $100 million, a sum that, one 1989 newsletter promised, would allow the center "to cease the costly and often unreliable task of fundraising." Today, the SPLC's treasury bulges with $120 million, and it spends twice as much on fund-raising -- $5.76 million last year -- as it does on legal services for victims of civil rights abuses. The [http://www.charitywatch.org/ American Institute of Philanthropy] gives the center one of the worst ratings of any group it monitors, estimating that the SPLC could operate for 4.6 years without making another tax-exempt nickel from its investments or raising another tax-deductible cent from well-meaning "people like you." [http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a3e5cb925c4.htm]

Silverstein adds that most alleged "hate" groups on the SPLC's are non-violent and reports that 95 percent of hate crimes are committed by "lone wolves." Further, he says that the SPLC's "'other important work for justice' consists mainly on spying on private citizens... a practice that, however seemingly justified, should give civil libertarians pause."

Chronicles Magazine article

In a July 2004 article in the paleoconservative Chronicles magazine, Kevin Michael Grace complains that the SPLC joined the drive to remove Alabama State Chief Justice Roy Moore for displaying the Ten Commandments, and that the SPLC has turned its attention to the immigration-reform movement. [http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/Chronicles/July2004/0704Grace.html]

Groups listed as hate groups

A continuing source of controversy is the identification and monitoring of organizations that the SPLC labels hate groups. The SPLC describes their definition of hate group as:

All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics. [...] Listing here does not imply that a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity. [http://www.tolerance.org/maps/hate/index.html]

The SPLC further categorizes these groups as Black Separatism (such as Nation of Islam), Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi, Christian Identity, Racist Skinhead, Neo-Confederate, and Other. Some organizations described by the SPLC as hate groups object strenuously to this characterization of them, particularly those in the Other category. Some have protested that such designations are meaningless political smears, and the SPLC's reports are biased and misrepresent their beliefs. [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=9622] Some have criticized the SPLC's tactics as qualifying it itself to be a hate group, [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=9830] doing more harm to anti-racism than to genuine racism. [http://www.vdare.com/fulford/southern_poverty_center.htm] There are 161 organizations in the U.S. categorized as Other in 2005, including the following: [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp?S=NY&m=3]
- American Renaissance
- Council of Conservative Citizens
- David Duke's [http://www.davidduke.com/index.php?p=84/ European-American Unity and Rights Organization]
- Institute for Historical Review
- Jewish Defense League
- Nationalist Movement
- National Socialist Movement
- Occidental Quarterly
- Pioneer Fund
- Resistance Records
- Stormfront
- VDARE
- Volksfront
- Voz de Aztlan
- Westboro Baptist Church

External links

- [http://www.splcenter.org Southern Poverty Law Center official site]
- [http://www.tolerance.org SPLC Internet-based activism project from Tolerance.org]
- [http://www.learningtogive.org/papers/index.asp?bpid=160 Briefing Paper on SPLC from Learning to Give]

Critical

- [http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a3e5cb925c4.htm 'The Church of Morris Dees'] - A critical look at the SPLC and its founder from Harper's Magazine.
- [http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.Panel%20Discussion:%20Nonprofit%20Organizations%20May%2099 Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism]- Panel discussion with the investigative reporter/editor who helped cover the SPLC for The Montgomery Advertiser
- [http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/Chronicles/July2004/0704Grace.html "Strictly From Hunger: The Morris Dees Story,"] Kevin Michael Grace, 'Chronicles, July 2004 Category:Anti-neo-Nazi activism Category:Legal defence organizations Category:U.S. South

Chick Publications

Chick Publications is an American publishing company run by Jack Chick which produces and markets religious pamphlets, DVDs, VCDs, videos, books, a poster, and (most famously) comic tracts in many languages. The publications promote and seek to win converts to a Protestant fundamentalist view. While some express views that are generally accepted within Christian theology, e.g.[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0039/0039_01.asp], Chick is most famous for his publications on issues that are highly controversial even within Christianity, such as Occultism, Freemasonry [http://www.chick.com/information/religions/masonry], Catholicism [http://www.chick.com/information/religions/catholicism], Islam [http://www.chick.com/information/religions/islam], abortion, and homosexuality, which many fundamentalist American Protestant Christians believe are sinful — together with more mundane activities such as role-playing games and popular music. Defenders of the comics assert all his comics carry the same message — that of salvation through Jesus.

Overview

Jesus The graphics in Chick's tracts are often simple, but striking. Some Christians consider them to be valuable witnessing tools, due to the striking nature of the cartoons and their clear-cut messages. Indeed, many cartoon tracts appear to be designed to appeal mainly to children. Their superficially unsophisticated graphic style, their kitsch nature, scare tactics, and dogmatic messages also make them popular with non-fundamentalists, who find them amusing; the tracts were popularized among this audience through High Weirdness by Mail, a publication of the satiric Church of the SubGenius. Chick Publications also publishes conventional non-graphical books on these same topics, by authors other than Chick. Many of these are also used as sources for Chick's tracts; notable sources include Alberto Rivera, Rebecca Brown, Jeff Godwin, Kent Hovind, Charles Chiniquy, William Schnoebelen, John Todd, Avro Manhattan, and Alexander Hislop. While Chick's tracts are handed out directly (for instance, he encourages Christians to give out anti-Halloween tracts along with Halloween candy[http://www.chick.com/seasonal/halloween/default.asp?FROM=Tracttips]), they are often distributed by leaving them in places where they will be found and read, an appealing witnessing tool for shy Christians[http://www.chick.com/bc/1996/witnessingideas.asp]. This strategy is intended to reach those who are hostile to evangelists and unlikely to accept an offered tract, by appealing instead to their curiosity. [http://www.chick.com/bc/1996/witnessingideas.asp]. Chick Publication's website claims that many people have been converted by encountering Chick Publication's comic tracts[http://www.chick.com/articles/testimonies/]. The company's web site [http://www.chick.com/catalog/tractlist.asp] lists more than 150 comic tracts; all of them can be viewed online, but other materials can generally only be sampled. The site states that several hundred million tracts have been distributed world wide, with some of them translated into almost 100 languages. Copies of Chick's tracts are displayed in the Smithsonian Institution as a part of American culture.

Claims by Chick Publications

Chick's tracts and other publications make many controversial claims. Some are typical of conservative Protestant beliefs — for instance, Chick claims that evolution is a fraud [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055_01.asp], homosexuality is sinful [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/5003/5003_01.asp], and abortion is murder [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1009/1009_01.asp]. Others are controversial even within conservative Protestantism. In particular, Chick's tracts make frequent reference to a vast Satanic conspiracy controlling many of the world's organisations and institutions. Religions other than fundamentalist Protestantism are generally presented as instruments of Satanism; Chick claims that the King James Version of the Bible is the only recorded word of God, and all other editions are corrupt[http://www.chick.com/information/bibleversions]. Christian ecumenism is rejected as a ploy to corrupt true Christianity by encouraging acceptance of corrupted beliefs.

Catholicism

A recurring theme in Chick's tracts is the role of the Roman Catholic Church, which he presents as one of the most powerful and insidious branches of this conspiracy. According to Chick the Catholic Church is the 'Great Whore' referred to in the Book of Revelation, and will bring about a Satanic New World Order [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0094/0094_01.asp][http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0030/0030_01.asp] before it is destroyed by Jesus Christ. Drawing on the dubious claims of Alberto Rivera, Chick claims that the Catholic Church helped to mold Islam as a tool to lure people away from Christianity [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0062/0062_01.asp], that it infiltrates and attempts to destroy or corrupt all other religions and churches [http://www.chick.com/reading/comics/0112/0112_fourpages.asp?PG=17], and that it uses various means including seduction, framing, and murder to silence its critics [http://www.chick.com/reading/comics/0112/0112_fourpages.asp?pg=21]. He accuses Catholicism of supporting ideologies such as Nazism and Communism, and using the Holocaust to persecute opponents of the Catholic Church [http://www.chick.com/bc/1989/holocaustorinquisition.asp?FROM=Catholicpage][http://www.chick.com/reading/books/153/153_06.asp].

Occultism

Various forms of occultism are also presented as part of a Satanic conspiracy. Most forms of fantasy and presentations of magic — including Harry Potter [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/5012/5012_01.asp], Dungeons and Dragons [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp], and Halloween celebrations [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0011/0011_01.asp] — are portrayed as an attempt to draw children into Witchcraft, represented as a tool of Satan.

Criticisms of Chick Publications

Some people consider the claims made by Chick's publications – and especially the cartoon tracts – to be offensive and even absurd. All of these claims are found in other Christian publications, but the tracts' blunt - many would say threatening - language and wide distribution make them particularly prominent as targets for criticism. His critics also accuse Chick of misrepresentation — for instance, Chick's tract [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055_01.asp Big Daddy] accuses evolutionary scientists of circular reasoning in dating geological strata by the fossils they contain, with nothing in the tract to inform its readers that the usual technique is in fact radiometric dating. (This technique is mentioned elsewhere on Chick's site[http://www.chick.com/bc/1987/evolution.asp], but not in that tract.) Chick's claims about Catholic, Masonic, Satanic, etc., conspiracies are based in large part on the testimony of people who claim to have been members of these groups before converting to Evangelical Christianity, most prominently Rivera and Schnoebelen. Many of Chick's critics consider these sources to be frauds or fantasists, yet many Christian supporters acknowledge these claims as legitimate. Further discussion of these controversies may be found in the articles on Alberto Rivera, William Schnoebelen, and John Todd. Many Christians, including many mainstream Protestants and evangelicals, consider Chick Publications' views to be misrepresentations or distortions of general Christian or evangelical views, and as such find them offensive and embarrassing. Among other issues, many Protestants reject Chick's King James Only stance and hence do not support those of Chick's assertions that rely on the King James Version being the only 'true Bible'.

Response to criticisms of Chick Publications

Many fundamentalist Protestants, both past [http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/gesu.htm] and present, agree with at least some of Chick Publications's more controversial claims [http://www.chick.com/information/general/statementoffaith.asp]. Some reject Chick's Roman Catholic conspiracy theories but accept other claims promoted in his tracts (e.g. 'turn or burn'), and so offer qualified agreement with Chick's beliefs. Some anti-cult organizations view Chick's website and publications as a valuable source of material on groups they see as cults[http://www.missionresources.com/cult.html]. Jack Chick claims that cartoons are a more effective medium for witnessing than conventional text based tracts. Some of the characteristics often seen as failings of his tracts - for instance, their simplistic messages - can also be viewed as strengths, making them more appealing to readers who are unsympathetic to more conventional forms of evangelicism. There seems to be an interest in reading Chick Publications's cartoon tracts among those who would never hold his views, making them an effective medium for transmitting the Gospel. Chick Publications are used by apologetics ministries [http://www.spreadhisword.org/jil/] and for witnessing. Chick's more controversial claims are usually accompanied by supporting references to the Bible, other books (often also published by Chick), and historical facts; debate commonly focuses on the