Christians face persecution for living out their faith in theocracies (religious rather than democratic rule), military and communist dictatorships and democracies around the world. Here are some examples:

• Catholic priests, nuns and brothers imprisoned in the USA for peacefully protesting against the US Administration providing training to members of the armed forces in the use of torture;

• Christians facing the death penalty on charges of blasphemy brought by Islamic extremists in Pakistan;

• Christians imprisoned in Vietnam for speaking out against human rights abuses by the communist regime;

• Christians in China imprisoned and tortured for worshipping together without the approval of the communist regime;

• Christians murdered by members of the army in Sri Lanka for standing up for human rights in the civil war in that country;

• Evangelical Christians imprisoned for their faith in the African country of Eritrea; and,

• members and ministers of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines murdered and made to ‘disappear’ or arbitrarily imprisoned by the police and army for speaking out on behalf of those in poverty or for opposing corruption.

The persecution of Christians often takes place in a context of wider religious persecution. For example, both Christians and Muslims face persecution under blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Christians, Fulan Gong members and Muslims are persecuted in China. While parts of the Indonesian military have been responsible for the murders of Christians in East Timor, West Papua and the Maluku Islands, they have also been responsible for the murder and torture of Muslims in Aceh.