Sitting in a comfortable chair in a warm home makes it easy to forget how close religious persecution really is. The 20th century saw the most martyrs in recorded history, and the 21st century is off to a bloody beginning. As I write this, the world mourns the deaths of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya at the hands of the Islamic State group.
The remarkable writer, Flannery Oâ??Connor, once said in a personal correspondence, â??What people donâ??t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe.â? Unfortunately, far too many in our world today know exactly how much faith costs. From the current persecution of Jews in Europe, to the slaughter of Christians by Islamic terrorists, to those who struggle to bring faith to nations with dangerous regimes, our world is sadly skewed against people of faith.
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