Persecuted post-western Christianity and the postchristian west

Abstract

The startlingly rapid growth of Christianity outside the West (particularly Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity, which is naturally prone to enthusiastic evangelism) has been met with significant religious persecution for reasons that are many and as deeply puzzling. The conversions to Christianity are not caused by colonial or post-colonial machinations or manipulated by nefarious outside forces. Nor is this resurgence tied to any project of political establishment. Yet large numbers of people are falling victim to religious violence, while discrimination and legal penalties have blighted the lives of millions more. In all of this, radical Islam figures prominently; in many (though not all) cases, it is the forces of radicalized Islam which are persecuting Christians, in part because of a belief that such Christians are the product of a Western conspiracy to undermine Islam. These beliefs also help motivate radical Islamist terrorism against the West, such as the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. and the 7/7 bombings in the London subway.