Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. In a speech before the UN General Assembly on September 23, President Trump said to world leaders, quote, let us protect religious liberty, including for the most persecuted religion on the planet today, it's called Christianity.
Well, just like the one in seven Christians around the world who face severe persecution today, this part of Trump's speech was also largely ignored by mainstream news outlets. That's now to be expected. The West has largely turned away from one of the most significant human rights crises of the day. Prioritizing others instead. Christian persecution is intensifying, especially in places like Nigeria and other countries in Africa.
For the last decade or more, almost like clockwork, Muslim extremists in Nigeria have attacked Christians who are attending church every Christmas, every Easter. In more recent years, those attacks spread to other days and other places. This year, the slaughter of Nigerian Christians has hit an unprecedented level. On June 13th, at least 200 Christians were killed in a single day in the village of Yawata before their homes were then burned. And according to a Newsweek report, over 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria during the first 220 days of 2025.
That's an average of 35 Christians killed each and every day. Reacting to these horrific killings, Dr. Anthony Bradley posted on X, quote, where is the Free Nigeria campaign? And why are the Free Palestine protesters also not passionately protesting Muslims in Nigeria? It's a great question.
Even avowed atheist and liberal Bill Maher recently questioned the lack of global interest about Christian persecution in Nigeria recently on his show, Real Time. Here's what he said: quote, this is so much more of a genocide attempt than what's going on in Gaza. They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. The corporate media isn't covering it because the Jews aren't involved. That's why.
End quote. The scale of this persecution is only rivalled by how long it has been going on. According to the Nigerian NGO Intersociety, quote, jihad has killed over 185,000 defenseless Nigerians since 2009, 16 years. Including 125,000 Christians and 60,000 liberal Muslims, during which 19,000 churches were razed, more than 1,100 Christian communities sacked, their 20,000 square miles of land taken, and over 600 Christian clerics abducted, including the abduction of 250 Catholic priests and 350 pastors. Dozens of them were killed.
Now, even if this is the wrong persecuted group for the professional protesting class to care, any persecution of Christians should drive us. To our knees. It should also drive us to ask hard questions, especially about the cause of this surge of spiritual terror. Recently, historian and Colson Center Senior Fellow Dr. Glenn Sunshine pointed out.
That in his book The Next Christendom, Philip Jenkins predicted that the center of gravity in the church would move from the west to the global south. He especially identified Nigeria.
Now that shift he predicted has largely happened, at least in terms of overall numbers. Nigeria is the sixth or seventh largest populated nation in the world, with about 46% of the country identifying as Christian. Perhaps a reason the church in Nigeria faces so much persecution is that the enemy knows just how important it is for the future of the church. Muslim extremists clearly seem to know this. In addition to Nigeria, Christians are also being targeted in other African countries.
The most important thing we can do for these brothers and sisters in peril is to appeal to heaven on their behalf. Pray for justice. Pray for mercy. Pray for the grace these brothers and sisters need to endure this suffering. We should also learn more about it.
Global Christian Relief provides a red list on Christian persecution worldwide. There's also groups like Open Doors and Voice of the Martyrs, who provide aid for suffering Christians and lots of information about what's going on. Also, most denominations are present in these nations and they offer support through their mission agencies. At the very least, we have to break the silence about the targeting of Christians in Nigeria. Talk about it with friends at church to elected officials.
I've joined a group of religious leaders appealing that Nigeria be identified by the United States as a country of particular concern. Back in July, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended this to the State Department. because it makes additional international pressure possible.
So please contact your elected official. ask them to pressure the State Department to take this important step. for the Colson Center. I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr.
Timothy Padgett. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And for a version of this commentary that you can download or share with others, go to breakpoint.org. In a culture that's facing a crisis of mental illness and suicide, Christians of all people should be able to point people to hope. But you have to learn how to bring Christ's hope to those who are around you and are suffering.
In the free online course, Hope Always, Dr. Matthew Sleeth equips Christians to understand this current epidemic of mental illness and suicide and learn what the scripture says to those who are suffering and to those helping those who are suffering. Especially if you're a parent, a pastor, a teacher, or a friend working with the next generation, hope always will help you break the silence. And offer real help to those who need it most. Sign up today at colsoneducators.org.
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