'Push for Secularization': Watchdog Says Hate Crimes Against Christians Rising In Western Europe
December 20, 2021
A new report says hate crimes against Christians in Europe rose 70 percent between 2019 and 2020.
The study by the Observatory On Intolerance Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC), a watchdog group based in Vienna, focused on five Western European countries, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom because they have been most troublesome to Christians.
"These countries were selected because, according to our observations, Christians face the most difficulties in them," the OIDAC report explained. "The findings of the report are based on a variety of data we collected. The majority of our data is based on descriptive cases, an extensive questionnaire, and in-depth interviews with experts and afflicted Christians."
Last July, the OIDAC found that anti-Christian incidents such as vandalism against churches to personal attacks because of anti-Christian bias rose by about 285 percent in France alone over the past 12 years, Christian Headlines reported.
The latest research cites two main sources of attacks on Christians: increasing secular intolerance, particularly of conservative moral beliefs on marriage and identity, enforced through prosecution of so-called "hate speech" crimes, and cultural pressure not to speak opposing opinions for fear of a kind of public shunning or loss of job or status.
The other source, Islamic oppression particularly affects Christian converts from that community.
The UK had the highest number of prosecuted "hate speech" cases. Also putting Christians in jeopardy, a weakening of conscience clauses in some western European countries threatens to relegate faith to the private sphere alone and stifle any public expression of Christian beliefs.
Story by Deborah Bunting for CBN News.
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