This article was first published in The
Universe
The Persecuted Minority
By Dwight Longenecker
Just last week another headline reminded
me that there have been more Christian martyrs in the
twentieth century than in all the other centuries combined.
The news from charities like the Jubilee Campaign,
Aid to the Church in Need, Keston College and Open
Doors remind us that, around the world today, Christians
are being viciously persecuted. Whether it is in India
or Pakistan, in China or Sudan, the forces of evil
attack Christians, burn their churches, sell their
children into slavery and force them to conform to
brutal regimes. In many Islamic countries Christians
are granted no religious freedom, and converts face
the death penalty.
Jesus promised
that the gates of hell would never prevail against
the church. In saying that,
he was also saying that the powers of hell would never
cease to attack. We should be aware that terrorists
and violent tyrants are openly persecuting the church. But
we should also remind ourselves that the Church is
being persecuted here in Western Europe and the United
States.
You might disagree that the church
is under attack in our own country where we prize religious
freedom, but think about it: in some countries the
persecution of the church is clear and open. So, for
example, the communist regime attacked churches, locked
up priests, closed monasteries and convents and forbade
religious education. But in our country the persecution
is subtler. Pope John Paul II has recognised that there
are two atheistic, materialistic systems in the world.
One was communism. The other is unbridled capitalism.
What he meant by this is that both communism and unbridled
capitalism worship the gods of wealth and power. Because
they do, both systems are atheistic, and therefore
opposed to the faith.
If
this is so, we might ask where and how the church is
persecuted in Europe
and the United States. We only have to look at the
recent sex abuse scandals. First Satan was successful
in tempting a few priests to give in to their darker
sides. Then Bishops and superiors were been tempted
to take the easy way out and sweep the problem under
the carpet. Satan was hard at work, tempting these
men to behave in the way they did. Then, when the horrific
stories of abuse emerged, the powers ranged against
the church used the deeds of a few bad priests to do
as much damage to the church as possible. People were
encouraged to sue for millions. Anti-Catholic forces
in the media have pumped up the story to smear all
priests, bishops and even the Pope. With innuendo,
biased reporting and half-truths the media have sown
seeds of distrust and disbelief amongst all Christians.
Persecution isn’t
limited to the use of guns, prisons, church burning
and physical
martyrdom. Everyday we are tempted to give up the faith
by a whole range of more subtle weapons of persecution.
The materialistic and atheistic, anti-Church media
crank out a steady stream of pornography and cynical
comments about the Church. With great subtlety they
ignore all the good things going on in the name of
Christ, while at the same time they magnify the bad
things. Those who hate the church work overtime to
portray anything Christian as ridiculous, stupid and
irrelevant. At the same time the advertising industry
continually stokes up our greed and lust with more
and more images of materialistic pleasures which are
on offer. The campaign is increasingly aimed at young
people, and these most vulnerable ones in our society
are having their faith eaten away by the continual
propaganda of unbelief.
Saint Paul reminded
the early Christians that they were engaged in spiritual
warfare. He said, ‘We
do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
the powers of wickedness in high places.’ What he meant
was that behind all the physical machines of power
lie spiritual forces that are pitted against God and
his Church. It is easy to see these forces in parts
of the world where Christians are being killed and
imprisoned for their faith. It is not so easy to see
these same forces in our society since they work undercover.
Nevertheless, they are there and we must face them
realistically.
This doesn’t mean we should excuse
sinfully sick priests. The fact of persecution doesn’t
mean we should become paranoid and fearful. We mustn’t
retreat into a suspicious and angry ghetto. The enemy
is out there, but sometimes the Christian reaction
is a sour kind of old-fogey Christianity. We all know
the grumpy old Christians who do nothing but complain
about ‘the younger generation.’ We all know those bitter
Catholics who do nothing but grumble about the terrible
state of the Church. These Christians have understood
one aspect of the truth that many of us have forgotten.
They are very aware that there is a battle to be fought.
They realise that we are called to a battle against
lust, greed, violence and despair. However, they have
become joyless in battle, and have too often forgotten
the victorious promises of Christ.
The best way
to fight the powers ranged against the church is with
a joyfully militant spirit.
Joy is God’s greatest weapon against despair. Spirit-filled
confidence battles best against cynicism. Purity is
God’s greatest weapon against lust, and poverty of
Spirit is God’s strongest weapon against materialistic
greed. In a wonderful paradox, we find the best example
of this joyfully militant spirit not in a great hero
of the faith, but in a little child. Many people know
Thérèse of Lisieux as ‘the little flower’ but they
are not aware of her thrill at being a spiritual warrior.
She knew there was a war going on. In her writings
Thérèse says, ‘God has granted me the grace
of being totally unafraid of war; I must do my duty,
whatever the cost.’ Thérèse would have us remember
that each day both the church, and each of us as individual
Christians are under attack. Let us be on our guard
and adopt the enthusiasm and joy in battle shown by
Thérèse, who said, ‘I long to accomplish the most
heroic deeds, I feel within me the courage of the crusader.
I would die on the battlefield in defense of the Church!’ And
let us heed her own words to her novices, ‘Let us
fight without ceasing… Let us keep going, however exhausting
the struggle may be!’
Dwight Longenecker’s
latest book, St Benedict
and St Thérèse—the Little Rule and the Little Way, is
published by Gracewing.
