Do you know which countries are considered the worst for religious persecution? The reports on the Internet often come from Christian sources, but many religious groups are persecuted, not just Christians.

Buddhists and Sikhs, Jews, and many others are persecuted. There is a report, from centuries ago, when the Mongols invaded the Middle East, that they favored the Assyrian Christians there. When many of those Assyrian Christians converted to Islam, they were persecuted by the Mongol conquerors.

Where I live, people who did not get vaccinated for COVID have been described as a persecuted minority. In Canada, a highly tolerant country, the government of the largest province, Quebec, once restricted or banned the religion of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

And I know, from history, that many people of my ancestral family, fought in a war, for a cause, and lost. In the final battle, they were the largest part of their army, they advanced the farthest, and they took the greatest losses. The order was given to find the injured soldiers with my family name, “Kill them where they lie.” and “Take no prisoners.” I don’t like that history, which is mostly forgotten by the modern world.

Persecution can be a complicated topic, and you might be surprised to find examples in your family history, on either side.

You might be surprised to learn that some countries known for tolerance and inclusion, are now experiencing dangerous religious persecution. Did you know, the two most populous countries in the world are listed as some of the worst offenders?

China has a Communist government, and they have strict policies about controlling religious groups. That is not surprising, since Communists are officially Atheists.

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You might be more surprised to learn that India is now listed as a worse offender than China. There is a long history of religious factions fighting in South Asia, which is historically India.

Many Muslims and Buddhists have separated into smaller countries, including Pakistan (Muslim) and Sri Lanka (Buddhist). The histories are complicated, and I won’t pretend to be an expert, but there is a long history of religious strife, in and near India.

If you want a modern example, from this year, you could search for information on a recent movie “The Kerala Story.” Be warned, if you go to a theater to watch it, some people in the audience may start shouting and become disruptive.

Governments today are anxious to keep those problems from the past and to progress to more tolerance and democracy. They deserve credit for their efforts. One of the heroes of enlightened humanity is Mahatma Gandhi, and he led the creation of the modern nation.

So, how is a modern democratic nation on the list of nations that persecute religious minorities? This is a warning for all of us. We have two problems in the modern world:

1. No one wants to lose, and
2. Everyone plays by their own rules.

1) Every human community or belief system wants to thrive, and possibly grow. I was raised in a church-going Christian family, and my mother would have reacted severely if any of us had dropped out and stopped believing. In India, the majority religion is Hinduism, and Hindus naturally want their faith to prosper.

In the modern world, many Hindus feel threatened:

Threat of Christian missionaries in India.

Some of the most interesting arguments are in the readers’ comments that follow.

2) There is a common tradition in Asia, that your family’s religion is your religion, and you will pass that on to your children. Some groups, like Christians and Muslims, are more persuasive and “evangelical.”

Some preserve and some persuade.

When values clash, the trouble starts. In some states in India, there are laws restricting religious conversion. Believers are required to stay with the religion that their family gave them.

On the other side are people who learn new ideas, and make personal decisions. Jesus gave all Christians these instructions “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28: 19 and 20).

Those are inspiring words for a Christian, but we should know that other people do not agree.

It’s a classic case of the unstoppable force and the immovable object.

In the country of Nepal, a close neighbor of India with a similar culture, the number of Christians is growing rapidly, possibly faster than any other country in the world. The result is a radical change in the society:

I hope the people in India will find a peaceful solution to the stress in their society. I’m sure they have the ability.

I also hope we can see the world that we live in. Changes are coming, and we will all feel threatened. That is a picture of our modern world.

Jesus also told his followers about the future of our history:

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24: 6 and 7)