According to a British advocacy group, millions of people will be persecuted around in 2008 will take place in four "zones" - Islam, Communism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Harassment may originate from governments or their agents-such as the secret police, military, and judiciary-or from non-governmental movements, such as militant Islamic groups.
Consider the following headlines for stories currently running:
I have mentioned four zones of persecution. In the Islam zone, Saudi Arabia stands out not only for its extremely harsh laws against all religion other than the Wahhabi branch of Islam, but also because it spends millions each year disseminating Islamic teachings around the world. There are no greater hypocrites on earth than the Saudi royal family. I recently read a report from a female writer who described her interview with one of the Saudi rulers. They met in a large office with a huge glass wall. That was so that their meeting would be observable. The Muslim view is that where a male and a female meet behind closed doors, Satan is the third member of the group. So they met in a room with a glass wall. But as soon as the interview was finished, the prince asked if his guest would like to meet some friends and ushered her into a room where he and his colleagues watched filthy displays of sensuality and drank Johnny Walker whisky at $130 a bottle. Of course, in Saudi Arabia anybody else drinking alcohol anywhere else in the land would be severely punished. The way these hypocrites guard their tenuous hold on power is by underwriting radical Islam and by persecuting non-Muslims, especially Christians.
This is the country that the United States has supported and upheld for years. We have treated the Saudis as friends whereas they are more like enemies. They are certainly among the worst persecutors in the world.
In India, radical Hindus have entered 2008 with their lust for Christian blood unabated. Burnings and intimidation have become regular and more are expected. In Communist regimes such as China, Cuba, and North Korea, believers face a more systemic form of persecution that involves house arrest, interrogation, fines, and imprisonment. North Korea remains probably the world's worst persecutor of Christians. Believers are imprisoned in special labor camps, brutally tortured and even publicly executed. Christians are forbidden to pray or to or read a Bible, either publicly or at home and are banned from evangelizing even their own children.
This is the real axis of evil in the world.
