Sri Lanka Attack On Easter

On Easter Sunday, a series of terrorist attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka killed more than 200 people and more than 500 were injured. Aside from the sadness and the appropriate condemnation from leaders around the world, you might have noticed a bit of a contrast to the coverage of this horrible event relative to what recently played out in New Zealand. 

Following the horrific attack on Mosques killing 50 in New Zealand, there was extensive world-wide coverage, quick calls for gun control in New Zealand and input sought from religious leaders around the world. The outrage was appropriate. My question is why haven’t we been as outraged and demanding of reforms when it’s Christians under attack? In the wake of the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, I brought you the information that in France alone we have had over 1,000 attacks on churches and Christian monuments across the country. That's a stunning average of nearly 3 per day. Yet, where was the coverage and outrage? In the wake of the Notre Dame fire, ISIS called on all of its followers to attack churches around the world. On Wednesday, a man was arrested at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York with lighter fluid and tools to carry out arson. It was little more than a footnote in the news. 

According to World Watch International, there are approximately 200 million Christians at risk of religious persecution worldwide right now. In Sri Lanka, for example, Christians are only 10% of the population. But clearly, anyone anywhere in the world could be a potential target/victim. To that end here’s the most alarming information to consider. Speaking specifically of Christians since 2001, the lowest annual number of Christians killed due to their religious affiliation in a year is 8,000 while the highest is 100,000. To put it another way, we average 22 to 274 Christians being murdered per day worldwide. It’s just that you rarely hear about it. Just as has been the case of the churches and monuments that are being targeted at alarming rates. 

The world is quick to denounce and condemn any targeted violence against those who practice Islam, which again is appropriate, but often remain deadly silent when Christians are the targets. Once again, the most pervasive form of bias in news media remains omitting information.

Photo by: Stringer/Getty Images


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