Afrikaner refugees

The Left Just Found A Type Of Refugee They Actually Hate

Apartheid

Donald Trump

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Persecution

Racism

Refugees

South Africa

Trump Administration

Amid all the talk about tariffs with China, and how they steal America&#8217;s intellectual property and establish all kinds of trade barriers with this country, you might have missed this story. It&#8217;s not about economics, but at the same time, it tells you a lot about what authoritarian countries like China fear the most.
Beginning on May 1, China will accelerate its crackdown on religion, and Christianity in particular. Foreign missionaries will be banned from preaching unless they obtain formal approval from the government.
According to Chinese <a href="https://www.persecution.org/2025/04/04/china-moves-to-formally-ban-missionary-activity/">state media</a>, the goal of the new regulation is to protect &#8220;national security&#8221; and &#8220;political stability&#8221; by forcing people to attend official, state-run religious services with pre-approved messaging. Additionally, Chinese state media has recently boasted about the fact that religious groups — which the government calls &#8220;cult organizations&#8221; — have been increasingly shut down in China. At this point, one of the fastest ways to disappear in China is to deliver a sermon that upsets the ruling party.
Of course, this is the exact opposite of the result we were promised when the United States normalized free trade with China several decades ago. As Bill Clinton put it, “Membership in the W.T.O. will not create a free society in China overnight or guarantee that China will play by global rules. &#8230; But over time, I believe it will move China faster and further in the right direction.”
That hasn&#8217;t happened. Instead, China is now aggressively moving to crush Christians, for the simple reason that Christians believe in a higher power than their government. We have not introduced Western norms to China. We have not exported our values to them. Instead, despite the promises of free trade, China has successfully exported its totalitarian impulses to the West. One by one, Western countries are adopting anti-Christian crackdowns, to the point that they&#8217;re making it illegal for Christians to practice their faith.
What&#8217;s happening right now in New South Wales, which is a state on the east coast of Australia, makes this very clear. Earlier this month, something called the &#8220;Conversion Practices Ban Act of 2024&#8221; became law in New South Wales. This law, by its own terms, allows the authorities to arrest Christians for praying. That is not an exaggeration or an overstatement. It&#8217;s actually <a href="https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2024-019">written</a> into the legislation. From <a href="https://antidiscrimination.nsw.gov.au/discrimination/conversion-practices/frequently-asked-questions.html#What4">the government</a> of New South Wales: &#8220;Praying with or over a person with the intent to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity is unlawful. It is unlawful even if that person has asked you to pray for them to be able to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity.&#8221;
This again is in Australia, a western nation. Not China. Praying with someone who wants you to pray with them could land you in jail. That&#8217;s happening right now, in a supposed western democracy.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1573-member-exclusive?elementPosition=2&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
In other words, if someone wants to pray to God so that he can overcome his gender dysphoria — a condition that, by definition, causes significant mental distress — then his pastor cannot pray with him. In fact, his own family members cannot pray with him. If the police discover that any unapproved prayers have been occurring, they can kick down the doors of the church, or the family home, and haul away the violators. And then they&#8217;ll spend up to five years in prison for their crimes against the state: The crime of praying.
Just to emphasize this point, the government of New South Wales published the single most Orwellian video you&#8217;ll ever see. No matter how many times you&#8217;ve heard the word &#8220;Orwellian,&#8221; believe me, this qualifies. This is the government&#8217;s attempt to intimidate the millions of people who live in New South Wales, with their new law that bans prayer. 
Here&#8217;s how the video begins:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 prayer can be deeply harmful" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L09nr4CszAY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
First of all, by the terms of this legislation, every single gender activist in Australia is a criminal. They all believe, without exception, that you can choose to be &#8220;LGBTQA&#8221; (which is apparently the acronym now). There&#8217;s no other way to explain people who ping-pong between genders at will, or people who de-transition. In fact the concept of “fluidity” is now dogma in the LGBT religion. Fluidity — sexual fluidity, gender fluidity — means that you can change at will from one sexuality or gender to another. If someone identifies as a Bi-gender Toasterkin, and then a few weeks later decides he&#8217;s really a Demi-gender, half-humanoid alpaca, or whatever, then at some point, we can conclude that this person made a choice to identify in some arbitrary way. And every step of the way, gender activists — according to the tenets of their ideology — have no choice but to affirm everything. This is one of the reasons trans activists keep losing in court, by the way. They have to admit that, under their logic, so-called &#8220;Trans people&#8221; can choose, at any time, to be trans or not trans. And therefore, because &#8220;trans status&#8221; is malleable — again, malleable by definition, by THEIR definition —  they&#8217;re not entitled to civil rights protections, which only apply to immutable, unchanging traits.
As the video continues, things become even more dystopian.
There&#8217;s this line for example: &#8220;All people should feel welcome and valued and be able to live authentically and with PRIDE.&#8221; 
Yes, all people — every single one of them — should feel welcome and valued. They should all be able to &#8220;live authentically.&#8221; But this promise apparently does not apply to Christians who believe (as all of humanity did until 15 minutes ago) that men are men and women are women. Those Christians do not have the right to live authentically or &#8220;feel welcomed.&#8221; Instead, they can go straight to prison. Here&#8217;s more of the video, because again, as it goes along, things get worse and worse:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 introducing law" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/INw4m7qR-CI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is where they casually establish that &#8220;family members&#8221; — including a mother and father — can be incarcerated if they don&#8217;t affirm their child&#8217;s imagined gender identity. And of course they do it with a sing-songy, HR lady reading the voiceover. Scratch an HR lady and you will find a power-mad despot, every single time.
We&#8217;ve <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conversion-therapy-bans-are-an-outrageous-attack-on-free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">talked</a> about so-called &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; before, and how efforts to ban the practice are both unconstitutional and incoherent. In this country, the Supreme Court is about to hear a case concerning whether Colorado&#8217;s ban on conversion therapy violates the First Amendment. The problem is that bans on &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; in every case, are premised on the idea that sexual orientation cannot be changed. But in the same breath, the government of New South Wales will tell you that sex is extremely changeable. In fact, you can go to the doctor and change it tomorrow. See the problem? If you&#8217;re changing your sex, then you&#8217;re also changing your sexual orientation, under their logic. A man who supposedly &#8220;becomes&#8221; a woman, but retains his attraction to men, would become a lesbian, in their view. This is the logical problem with these conversion therapy bans that they simply have no answer for. It&#8217;s like dividing by zero. 
But now they&#8217;re using this phony logic to justify throwing parents and priests in prison. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="003 report , can lead to prison" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cq0cqMeI-IY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The scope of this law is so broad that you could probably claim I&#8217;m violating it, if my show is broadcast in New South Wales. They want Australians to snitch on each other if they get a whiff of anyone who dares to suggest that gender ideology isn&#8217;t real. In a lot of ways, it&#8217;s like the COVID lockdowns all over again. You might remember that, at the height of the &#8220;pandemic,&#8221; there was a nationwide manhunt in Australia when some guy sneezed in an empty elevator without a mask on. Now they&#8217;re going to have manhunts over unauthorized prayers.
If you don&#8217;t believe that, consider what just happened a few weeks ago to Billboard Chris. He was peacefully standing in a market in Brisbane, wearing a sign that expressed his opposition to the castration of children in the name of gender ideology. He only spoke to people who spoke to him first. He didn&#8217;t obstruct anyone&#8217;s movement or anything like that. People were walking around him the whole time. There&#8217;s no dispute about any of this; it&#8217;s all on video. Nevertheless, Brisbane police arrested Billboard Chris, on camera. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="004 billboard chris" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MUv1IlzyT-M?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
They arrested him for standing in a public place with a sign. There&#8217;s no doubt that, if the sign had been pro-gay marriage or whatever, then none of this would have happened. If you watch the full video, the police can&#8217;t name a single other instance where they&#8217;ve jailed someone for peacefully protesting at that location. But Billboard Chris blasphemed Australia&#8217;s state religion, so they took him away in handcuffs. And now they&#8217;re planning to do the same thing to the clergy.
The other day, an Australian commentator named Evelyn Rae outlined exactly what&#8217;s happening here. Here was her assessment, which is worth playing — not only because she&#8217;s right, but also because it&#8217;s good to know that Australia hasn&#8217;t been completely captured yet. Here it is:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="005 Evelyn Rae On China" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2--leJmbBx4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Everything Evelyn Rae just said also applies to many other countries. This is not a problem that&#8217;s limited to Australia. 
Here&#8217;s a <a href="https://reason.com/2024/10/17/british-man-convicted-of-criminal-charges-for-praying-silently-near-abortion-clinic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report from Reason</a> late last year, for example. This is the kind of story that JD Vance mentioned in his recent address to European leaders.
<blockquote>A British man was convicted of criminal charges for praying silently near an abortion clinic. The man, Adam Smith-Connor, did not attempt to harass, intimidate, or interact in any way with those entering the clinic. Instead, he wordlessly prayed with his head bowed slightly. He wasn&#8217;t even on clinic property—he was outside the sightline of the clinic itself. &#8230; As a result, Smith-Connor was questioned by police and later charged with violating a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), a broad censorship order enabled by the 2014 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. Under this law, local authorities can obtain special status for some public places, allowing them to ban a huge range of conduct. In the name of limiting &#8216;anti-social behavior.&#8217;</blockquote>
Yes, prayer is considered &#8220;anti-social behavior&#8221; in England. These kinds of arrests are happening because — from Britain to Colorado to Canada to Australia to China — authoritarians in government detest any challenge to their authority. These government officials know that they&#8217;re not impressive people. Australia&#8217;s prime minister has barely held a real job in his life. Most of the country is represented by people like this. They&#8217;re petrified that their subjects might worship someone other than themselves. As a result, they&#8217;re now throwing Christians in prison for practicing their faith. This trend has accelerated in China, and it&#8217;s now spreading throughout the West. Christians are being forcibly silenced, at scale. They are being vilified and incarcerated for what they believe.
I began by saying this isn&#8217;t a monologue about economics or trade wars. That&#8217;s true. But as we consider how we&#8217;ll work with these countries in the future — as we negotiate trade deals and so on — the assaults on Christians simply cannot be ignored. These attacks are as unlawful and immoral as they are systematic. They are becoming a fundamental part of the culture of both our allies and our adversaries. For the benefit of billions of Christians, and to preserve basic constitutional rights like the freedom of speech, this coordinated assault on religion must end before it progresses any further.

Top view of group of people on therapy, praying and counselling concept.

This Might Be The Most Orwellian Law I’ve Ever Heard Of

Australia

Bible

China

Christians

Conversion Therapy

Gender

LGBTQ

Prayer

Sexual Orientation

Transgender

Seventy Christians were found dead in a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week — reportedly beheaded at the hands of radical Islamic terrorists.
Christian group <a href="https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/drc-attack-church/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Open Doors</a>, which supports persecuted Christians around the world, said that terrorists from the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which has ties to the Islamic State, surrounded a village in Mayba in the territory of Lubero last Thursday, taking 20 men and women captive. The Islamic terrorists later returned and kidnapped 50 more Christians in the village and took them to a Protestant church in Kasanga, where they were brutally killed.
Open Doors said that, according to &#8220;field sources,&#8221; families were still waiting to bury their dead loved ones as of Tuesday while many Christians fled the area for safety.
“We don’t know what to do or how to pray; we’ve had enough of massacres,” said an elder of the CECA20 church in DRC. “May God’s will alone be done.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the massacre of Christians in DRC has received <a href="https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=9632110e93a89f4a&amp;rlz=1C5GCCM_en&amp;q=christians+beheaded+in+congo&amp;tbm=nws&amp;source=lnms&amp;fbs=ABzOT_CWdhQLP1FcmU5B0fn3xuWpmDtIGL1r84kuKz6yAcD_ip1RA3L6hbNpnjK_ML6MGeWIjTgL-AggqGM1Cmh_nFz65pNoy-s_-K4mDlh0UYPmc51dskRoyMlHnnoQayAcVZIQA7FJxW6z8vr8kXee0hJpia28bFX3oRF-0O_2ZWncGbHM2fCiLdt-OXXk7GcYUpr1D88gLj6PmUjaaV5otdKkMHQdzw&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjkhtjNktOLAxWY4skDHQoPL9YQ0pQJegQIERAB&amp;biw=1440&amp;bih=778&amp;dpr=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no coverage</a> in the legacy media. Tristan Azbej, the Hungarian State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians, <a href="https://x.com/tristan_azbej/status/1892297095165403601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1892297095165403601%7Ctwgr%5Ef9bf07ab4a1f0f2cf72505f70236ce200f1984df%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fchristians-beheaded-congo-drc-2033864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledged</a> the mass killing of Christians in DRC and urged world leaders to &#8220;recognize and act against Christian persecution.&#8221;
&#8220;Horrified to learn about the 70 Christian martyrs beheaded by terrorists in a church in Kasanga, DRC,&#8221; Azbej wrote on X. &#8220;Hungary stands in solidarity with the persecuted Christians BUT we need more &#8230; the world needs to recognize and act against Christian persecution.&#8221;
Jeff King, the president of persecution watchdog International Christian Concern, told <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/70-christians-beheaded-in-drc-church-attack.html">The Christian Post</a>, “This recent massacre, where 70 Christians lost their lives, is not an isolated incident but part of a grim tapestry of violence that has claimed over 6 million lives in the DRC over two decades of on-and-off war.&#8221;
&#8220;The vast majority of the DRC’s residents are Christian, so this is a religious genocide carried out by radical Islamic terrorists (the ADF),&#8221; King added.
DRC has long faced instability and war as factions and rebel groups wrestle for control of multiple regions. Another rebel group, M23, has recently captured key cities in DRC as the Congolese government struggles to push back. Over 100,000 people have been displaced in the recent fighting, according to the <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1160006" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Nations</a>.
According to Open Doors, 355 Christians in DRC were killed in 2024 for their faith, an increase from 261 in 2023.

Congo

70 Christians Beheaded In Congo Church

Africa

Christianity

Radical Islam

Christians around the world are facing increased violence and threats because of their faith, according to a new watchdog report shared with The Daily Wire. 
<a href="https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Open Doors</a>, an organization dedicated to aiding persecuted Christians, released its annual report on persecution on Wednesday, finding that 380 million believers worldwide face high levels of persecution or discrimination for their faith. This was a steep increase from its 2024 report, which found that 365 million Christians faced intense levels of persecution. 
The report found that in 2024, 4,476 Christians were killed for their faith, including 3,100 in Nigeria; 3,944 were sexually assaulted, or forcibly married; 54,780 Christians were physically or mentally abused; 209,771 were forced to leave their homes; and 4,744 were sentenced to prison for their beliefs.  
For the last 32 years, the organization has ranked the top 50 worst countries for persecution of Christians. The top offender this year was again communist North Korea, where the state aggressively cracks down on religious expression. The other countries rounding out the top ten include Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. 
“At one level, it shouldn’t be a surprise at all there is persecution,” Open Doors President Ryan Brown told The Daily Wire. “When you take a look at the very birth of the church, if you read the New Testament, you see that the majority of the New Testament was written to those experiencing persecution or written by those experiencing persecution.”
Brown said that while persecution in Malaysia increased in the last year, it still fell out of the top 50 because the targeting of Christians had increased even more in other countries. 
“The things that, even just a year ago, were severe enough to have a country on that list on top 50, this year it wasn’t enough,” Brown said. “That global picture actually worsened.” 
When ranking countries, Open Doors considers a number of factors including government policies, community practices, and whether Christians are able to do things like go to church and own a Bible.
The two countries that were new to the top 50 this year were Chad and Kyrgyzstan, which saw the most dramatic increase in persecution of any country. 
Brown also noted that violence against Christians is trending upward in sub-Saharan Africa, where Christians are often targeted by Islamic extremists. He urged people to join the “<a href="https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/getinvolved/arise-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arise Africa</a>” campaign, which seeks to bring awareness to the widespread persecution in the region. 
In Mexico, Brown said the situation for Christians had worsened because of cartel violence directed at churches upset they were undermining their illicit activities. 
“As folks move away from drugs and become engaged in the church, it&#8217;s bad for their business,” he said. “So the church has come under direct attack from the cartels in Mexico.” 
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
Brown said the situation for Christians in Yemen has been “bleak” due to the country&#8217;s ongoing civil war. 
“Civil war obviously creates all sorts of instability in these areas,” he said. “We have seen some of the Islamic militants, specifically the Houthi rebels, that have been more than willing to step into some of those vacuums and perpetuate the instability. One of the ways that they can do that most effectively is targeting Christians. They are often able to do so with impunity.” 
The report features anecdotes from Christians around the world, including in Burkino Faso, where a man referred to as Pastor Sore said he had to flee with his family because of attacks from Islamic militants.
“When the terrorists come to churches and find Christians, they tell them that Christianity’s time is over, and they should turn to Islam,” he said. “They warn Christians to stop conducting services. After warning, when they come back later and find you in the church, they kill you.”
“I do believe that we are displaced, but Jesus is not and will never be displaced from our lives,” he added. “He is always with us.&#8221;
With the incoming Trump administration, Brown said he saw a “tremendous opportunity” to advance religious freedom abroad. He said that religious freedom helps create stability in countries and can aid in other foreign policy objectives.
&#8220;During Trump’s first term he articulated, and I think in many ways, demonstrated that freedom of religious belief would be central to a lot of their approaches to foreign policy,” he said, adding he hoped that policy would continue into his second term. 
When running for president, Trump promised to protect persecuted Christians, specifically Armenians.
“Kamala Harris did NOTHING as 120,000 Armenian Christians were horrifically persecuted and forcibly displaced in Artsakh,&#8221; Trump posted on Truth Social in October. &#8220;Christians around the World will not be safe if Kamala Harris is President of the United States. When I am President, I will protect persecuted Christians, I will work to stop the violence and ethnic cleansing, and we will restore PEACE between Armenia and Azerbaijan.&#8221;

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Watchdog Finds Global Increase In Violence And Discrimination Against Christians

Radical Islamic Terror

State Department

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World

The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom on a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/colorado-s-cakeshop-case-crumbles-a-free-speech-victory-saturday-extra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saturday Extra Edition of Morning Wire</a>.
For 12 years, Colorado cake shop owner Jack Phillips has been embroiled in bruising legal battles with the state and an activist attorney to uphold his First Amendment right to not create messages that violate his religious beliefs. A recent ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court in Phillips’ favor may be the end of that lengthy legal saga. In this episode, we sit down with Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been representing Phillips, to discuss the conclusion and implications of the free speech case.
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JOHN: Joining us now is Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been representing Jack Phillips during his lengthy legal saga, which many are hoping has now come to an end. Jim, thanks so much for coming on.
JIM: Thank you.
JOHN: Jack has been in courts fighting for his freedom of speech for twelve years now, during which time he’s faced several lawsuits. First, can you give us a brief history of those lawsuits – who filed them and what were their motivations?
JIM: So, the first lawsuit was filed back in 2012. It was filed by two gentlemen who went into Jack Phillips’ shop and asked for a custom wedding cake celebrating a same sex union. He declined that request because he couldn&#8217;t do it in good conscience, celebrate that message, and they filed a discrimination complaint with the State of Colorado. The State of Colorado then brought charges against Jack and that case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court back in 2018, when the court issued a ruling that found that the state acted with hostility towards Jack&#8217;s faith and it threw out the case that was brought against him. So that was the first case. The second case actually started the first day that the Supreme Court announced it was going to hear that first case. There was an attorney in Colorado who had heard the news and called Jack&#8217;s shop and asked him to create a custom pink and blue cake to symbolize and celebrate a gender transition. Jack declined to make that cake because, again, that message celebrating a gender transition was something he couldn&#8217;t in good conscience do. So then that attorney who made that phone call filed another discrimination complaint against Jack. That case then started when the state of Colorado picked it up and brought charges against Jack. Rather than sit back and allow that to happen, Jack filed a lawsuit against the state in federal court for, again, acting with hostility towards his faith. And then after a few months, the state agreed to settle that case. And that case was settled. And then the third case started, which was another lawsuit by that same attorney who requested the cake celebrating the gender transition. And that was the case that was just decided recently by the Colorado Supreme Court.
<div id="attachment_815231" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-815231" class="size-large wp-image-815231" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921-864x576.jpg" alt="Jack Phillips. Alliance Defending Freedom." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921.jpg 1040w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jack Phillips. Alliance Defending Freedom.</div>
JOHN: What do we know about this activist lawyer who brought these two cases against him?
JIM: Well, this activist lawyer first called Jack&#8217;s shop back in 2012 when news first broke about his decision not to create the cake celebrating a same sex wedding. This individual called Jack a “hypocrite” and referred to Jack as a “bigot.” And then you fast forward six years later and the request is then brought asking for a pink and blue cake celebrating a gender transition. Right around that same time, that attorney made another request for a cake depicting Satan smoking marijuana. So, one thing that&#8217;s very clear is this attorney does not like Jack Phillips and is trying to harass Jack Phillips and make his life difficult.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/colorado-s-cakeshop-case-crumbles-a-free-speech-victory-saturday-extra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full interview on Morning Wire.</a></h3>
JOHN: So there&#8217;s evidence that at least this attorney specifically is targeting Jack, and the state was also deemed to be acting in a hostile way against him. Can you unpack that for us a bit more?
JIM: Yes, so the U. S. Supreme Court back in 2018 found that the State of Colorado is acting with hostility towards Jack&#8217;s faith. And it pointed to a couple different things. The first is that when the state was reviewing Jack&#8217;s case, there were a number of government officials that disparaged his beliefs and compared his beliefs to the beliefs of people that basically instituted the Holocaust. And the Supreme Court also found that Jack was being treated differently than other cake artists in the state. So there were other cake shops that were asked to create cakes that were either denigrating LGBT messages, and they declined to do so, and the state didn&#8217;t punish them. But when Jack declined to create a cake celebrating a same sex wedding, he was punished. So the Supreme Court said that this unequal treatment and these disparaging comments about Jack&#8217;s faith showed that the State of Colorado was acting with hostility towards his beliefs.
JOHN: All right, so now all these years later, we have this Colorado Supreme Court ruling. And many people are saying, look, this is the end of the legal battle against Jack Phillips. What exactly did the Supreme Court rule, and is it really the end?
JIM: The Colorado Supreme Court found that this attorney that brought the lawsuit did so using the wrong procedure, so they kicked the case out for that procedural reason. We&#8217;re hopeful this is the end of the road for Jack – that people will leave him alone, that the government of Colorado will leave him alone, that activists in the state will stop harassing him with requests simply to gin up lawsuits to be able to bring against him. But ultimately we have to wait and see. I mean, our position is: Enough is enough – let&#8217;s leave Jack alone and let him live his life consistent with his religious beliefs. And the other thing that a lot of people miss about Jack is that Jack serves everyone. He serves all customers, he serves all people, but he can&#8217;t create a cake that expresses all messages. If a message conflicts with his religious beliefs, he can&#8217;t do that, but he&#8217;ll serve everyone. He serves people from the LGBT community, that&#8217;s not an issue for him. It&#8217;s only when someone — anyone — asks for something expressing a message that he disagrees with.
<div id="attachment_815233" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-815233" class="wp-image-815233 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-865x576.jpg" alt="pawel.gaul. Getty Images." width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />pawel.gaul. Getty Images.</div>
JOHN: Is there any chance that this ruling is appealed?
JIM: This ruling cannot be appealed because it is a question of Colorado state law and the Colorado Supreme Court is the highest authority on that issue. So this case is final, and Jack hopefully can now put behind him 12 years of non-stop litigation against him.
JOHN: Now you guys have obviously worked closely with Jack over these years. How has this impacted him personally? Has this done a lot of damage financially, professionally?
JIM: It has undermined his business in many ways. He was forced to give up his wedding business as a result of the first case, and he still hasn&#8217;t brought that back. So it has been difficult from a financial perspective because the wedding aspect of his business was a significant part. It&#8217;s also been hard on him and his family personally because they&#8217;ve experienced death threats, hostility, people coming into their shop and yelling very, very hateful messages at them. So that&#8217;s been difficult. But in the end, one thing that Jack always talks about is that this has really drawn his family closer and it has given them an appreciation in their faith, in their faith in a way that they didn&#8217;t have before. So there certainly has been some good that has come of it. But 12 years of your life just absolutely devoured by litigation and activists coming after you and state officials acting with hostility towards your faith is sure to take its toll.
JOHN: The legacy media has covered these cases at times over the course of the years. Do you feel that there’s anything that’s been missing from their coverage? What has been not emphasized enough about the nature of these cases?
JIM: They want to make this a story about Jack not serving people, when it&#8217;s really a story about Jack not wanting to express and celebrate certain messages. That&#8217;s something that is absolutely lost, when many in the media talk about Jack&#8217;s case. And that&#8217;s something that we try to be very, very clear about. Jack serves everyone. Doesn&#8217;t matter who you are. The question is: what are you asking him to communicate through that custom cake? And if it&#8217;s a message that conflicts with his beliefs, then it&#8217;s not something he&#8217;s able to do.
JOHN: Does this string of cases impact precedent in terms of legal expectations for people across the country in any way?
JIM: I think one of the cases that&#8217;s in the background in all of these matters is one that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court just last year, called 303 Creative. And the 303 Creative case involved a graphic designer, and in that case the graphic designer objected to creating a custom web page celebrating a same sex wedding. And the Supreme Court said that the state of Colorado couldn&#8217;t force her to do that. That principle is very, very important, and it&#8217;s a principle that provides lasting protection, not only for graphic designers, like the one in that case, but also for custom cake artists like Jack Phillips, as well as wedding photographers – and many others. So, I think that that case, 303 Creative, provides significant ongoing protection for creative professionals that want to operate consistent with their beliefs and don&#8217;t want to be forced to express messages that they disagree with. But in terms of this decision from the Colorado Supreme Court in Jack&#8217;s most recent case, it really just decides a question of Colorado state procedure. But it&#8217;s the 303 Creative decision that provides that lasting protection.
JOHN: Now that 303 Creative was another one of the cases you guys were involved with. Do you have other cases in the works now that are similar to Jack Phillips’ cases?
JIM: In terms of others ongoing we have another one right now where we represent a wedding photographer in New York State. She&#8217;s a wedding photographer who doesn&#8217;t want to be forced to create images that celebrate events or express messages that conflict with her beliefs – and that case is ongoing there. We represent a wedding photographer in Louisville, Kentucky, who has a similar case, where she raises similar arguments that she doesn&#8217;t want to be forced to express messages that she disagrees with. So, this is an ongoing issue. There is more for federal courts to decide. And we&#8217;re hopeful that they will follow what the U.S. Supreme Court said in 303 Creative, which is these creative professionals can&#8217;t be forced to express messages that they disagree with.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/colorado-s-cakeshop-case-crumbles-a-free-speech-victory-saturday-extra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full interview on Morning Wire.</a></h3>
JOHN: Final question, stepping back a bit here. What is the larger takeaway, in your view, from this string of cases against Jack Phillips and their results?
JIM: I think it shows that there&#8217;s a lot of hostility towards people of faith. The government didn&#8217;t need to pick up this first case and treat it, Jack differently than it was treating other cake artists, but it did. And the only reason that we can come up with for why they would do that is the hostility towards his beliefs. The reason why this activist attorney concocted this request to ask for a custom cake celebrating a gender transition was because of hostility towards Jack&#8217;s faith. So at the end of the day, I believe what these cases show is that there&#8217;s a lot of hostility for people that simply want to quietly live their life consistent with their beliefs, and that&#8217;s unfortunate. And we hope that this is the end of the road for people doing that to Jack Phillips. And we hope more broadly that people throughout our society see that we should be allowing people to live according to their beliefs, and we don&#8217;t need to be harassing them and discriminating against them when they do it.
JOHN: Well, Jim, thank you so much for coming on to discuss these important cases.
JIM: Thank you.
JOHN: That was Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom – and this has been a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/colorado-s-cakeshop-case-crumbles-a-free-speech-victory-saturday-extra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saturday Extra edition of Morning Wire</a>.

Denver State Capitol Building with Mountain View

How One Cake Shop Owner Prevailed In Colorado’s Supreme Court

Cake

Colorado

Courts

Morning Wire

Supreme Court

Christian communities throughout <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nigeria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nigeria</a> have been completely destroyed by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/radical-islam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Islamic terrorists</a>, according to interviews with persecuted Christians conducted by religious liberty advocates.
The interviews were included in a <a href="https://media.opendoorsuk.org/document/pdf/No-Road-Home-Advocacy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> released Sunday by Open Doors International, a religious freedom advocacy group, which found that thousands of Christians have been killed and displaced in Nigeria in increasing numbers since 2020. Open Doors interviewed hundreds of persecuted Christians, many of whom were sheltering in camps throughout the country.
“Extremist violence across parts of Nigeria over the last decade has resulted in mass displacement of Christian communities, amongst others,” the report said. “They have been singled out for violence, face harsh living conditions and experience faith-based challenges throughout their displacement journey. Nigerian state security personnel regularly failed to respond in a timely or effective manner to violent attacks against Christians.”
The violence has been primarily taking place in the northern states of Borno and Plateau, where there are lots of Islamic militants and violent Fulani herdsmen. About 2.7 times more Christians are killed in violent attacks than Muslims with at least 16,769 Christians being killed from October 2019 to September 2023. Christians are also the disproportionate victims of kidnappings.
For the report, Open Doors interviewed 292 Christians and humanitarian workers from January to April 2024 about their experiences with the persecution. Interviewees were primarily Christians who had been displaced within the country, with some workers from humanitarian agencies also interviewed.
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One Christian displaced from Borno said that all the churches in the area of Gwoza were burned to the ground.
“Now, all the churches in Gwoza have been destroyed by Boko Haram, and many of the Christians have fled and are living as IDPs in different locations,” the interviewee said. “Since the attacks and the destruction of churches in Gwoza, I have not returned, and the churches are still in their deplorable state since their destruction.”
Another Christian said that the Christian population of another area in Borno had been completely replaced.
“I think for Goshe even during the time of displacement most of the community members were Christians,” the interviewee said. “But now the resettled members are almost ninety percent Muslims in the place I went to. It used to be a Christian community, but now it is a Muslim community.”
Other interviewees said that they struggled to defend themselves from attacks because they were armed with only a few small guns while their attackers had more sophisticated weaponry.
One of the main groups behind the attacks is Boko Haram, a radical Islamic group that has targeted Christians for years.
“Boko Haram target people that are working with the church, maybe you have a position like Secretary or you have any position in church, you are a target. In every community they have a list of people they are looking for,” an interviewee said.
If they survive the attacks on their villages, then the Christians also face struggles finding food and shelter. Many of the camps for displaced people discriminate against Christians and do not give aid to those with Christian names. Many people also refuse to rent out property to Christians.
Open Doors CEO Ryan Brown <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/thousands-christians-deliberately-targeted-killed-nigeria-new-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News on Tuesday that much of the world was ignoring the violence against Christians in Nigeria.
&#8220;The rest of the world seems to be turning a blind eye,&#8221; he said. &#8220;People are not talking about it. People are not aware of the realities, and therefore people aren&#8217;t doing anything about it.&#8221;

NIGERIA-RELIGION-UNREST

Whole Christian Communities Have Been Wiped Out In Nigeria, New Report Says

Nigeria

Terrorism

A 14-year-old boy who was kidnapped from a Christian school in Africa by a group of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/radical-islam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">radical Islamic</a> Fulani herdsmen returned home last week, more than two years after his captivity began.
Treasure Ayuba, one of 121 students who were kidnapped from the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna, Nigeria, finally escaped, according to a local pastor.
“Glory be to God! Glory be to God!! Glory be to God!!!” Pastor Israel Akanji, the President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, wrote on social media. “Treasure Ayuba, the last boy who was still with the bandits who kidnapped the 121 students of Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna, on July 5, 2021, has just returned home!”
Ayuba had been captured by Islamic Fulani herdsmen just days after his 12th birthday and forced to march hours away where he was held hostage, <a href="https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/treasure-nigeria/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Open Doors, an organization that monitors Christian persecution around the world.
“Christians from the Nigerian Baptist Convention, which runs Bethel High School, were forced to negotiate with the terrorists over ransom demands,” local pastor Winyadebi Rolis said. “When the convention first started negotiating with the extremists over ransom payments, they thought that all the children would be released. However, to the anguish of the parents, the children were only released in batches with extremists then demanding more money to release the next batch of students.”
Some of the payments demanded by the kidnappers exceeded $300,000. Ayuba’s captors reportedly planned to hold him until he converted to Islam. Ayuba did not and was able to slip away, making it back home where he showed up at his mom’s house, according to Open Doors.
“Treasure somehow managed to sneak away and escape from the extremists,” Winyadebi said. “He walked at night and hid during the day. Eventually he found hunters who took him to his hometown and from there he was able to find his way home.&#8221;
He was the last student to make it home and is expected to receive trauma counseling.
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Nigeria is one the worst countries in the world for Christian persecution, with thousands being killed every year. Christians in the African nation have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46-nigerian-christians-killed-in-terrorists-attacks-as-government-accused-of-negligence-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> the government of negligence and asked them to take stronger steps to counter the violence.

NIGERIA-UNREST-KIDNAPPING-CRIME

14-Year-Old Returns Home 2 Years After Being Captured From Christian School In Nigeria

14-Year-Old Returns Home Two Years After Being Captured From Christian School In Nigeria

Forty-six <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/persecution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christians were killed</a> over two days after terrorists in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nigeria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nigeria</a> targeted Christian villages, according to a new report. 
The killings happened on June 3 and 4 in the southern Nigerian villages of Michihe, Achamegh and Mbagene Kpav, and Imande Mbakange, Morning Star News <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/46-christians-killed-amid-2-days-of-attacks-in-nigeria.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. In the wake of the killings, local leaders have accused Nigeria&#8217;s government of turning a blind eye to the violence. 
“Altogether, 46 Christians were killed by the terrorists in the two days of attacks on our communities,” a statement from the Shitile Development Association (SDA) said. “Most disturbing also is the fact that the identity of the perpetrators is known to security agencies and the Nigerian government, and yet nothing has been done to end this carnage.”
Militant Islamic Fulani herdsmen, a nomadic group that is known to frequently attack Christians in the African country, have been accused of orchestrating the attacks. The recent attack comes as some religious freedom advocates have said that the persecution of Christians in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">African</a> nation should be seen as genocide.
“As our people are fleeing, herders are occupying these areas and grazing freely on our farms,” the statement from the SDA said. “Though due to the fear of general insecurity, it is difficult to move from village to village to gather exact statistics, hordes of lives have been horrendously eliminated in several villages across the land, such that the whole land is thrown into wailing and mourning.”
Local council official Alfred Atera condemned the attacks, calling on the security agencies to end the violence. 
“These senseless killings by the terrorists are inhuman and barbaric. I call on all security agencies to double their efforts in combating these renewed attacks as a matter of urgency,” Atera said. 
Police in Benue, the state where the attacks took place, said that they had sent police and security personnel to the area to stop the violence. 
The attack in Benue follows weeks of recent attacks in the Plateau state, where 28 Christian churches were destroyed and a reported 300 Christians killed. The destruction <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/hundreds-of-christians-killed-in-3-weeks-of-attacks-in-nigeria.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> led to the displacement of about 30,000 Christians in the state.
A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-report-estimates-that-over-8000-nigerian-christians-killed-kidnapped-last-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent report put ou</a>t by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) estimated that over 5,000 Nigerian Christians were killed in 2022 while over 3,000 were kidnapped.
The perpetrators are believed to be members of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/radical-islam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">radical Islamic</a> terror groups, including Fulani herdsmen groups, Boko Haram, and ISAWP (Islamic State West Africa Province).

NIGERIA-FULANI-CONFLICT

46 Nigerian Christians Killed In Terrorist Attacks As Government Accused Of Negligence: Report

Crime

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/north-korea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North Korean</a> authorities sentenced an entire family, including a two-year-old child, to life in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/persecution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prison</a> after one of the family members was found to be in possession of a <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/bible" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bible</a>.
The incident, which occurred in 2009 but surfaced in a recent <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/north-korea/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> on worldwide religious freedom from the State Department, is one of several harrowing punitive measures levied against Christians and other minority groups in North Korea. The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">communist</a> hereditary dictatorship sent the two-year-old child and the rest of the family to political prison camps, where inmates routinely experience harsh physical mistreatment and dire conditions.
There are estimated to be between 50,000 and 70,000 citizens in prison camps for their Christian faith, according to a report from nonprofit ministry Open Doors referenced by the State Department. North Korean officials prompt all citizens to “report anyone engaged in unauthorized religious activity or in possession of religious material,” while those deemed to be guilty of maintaining Christian beliefs undergo secret prosecutions and can face life sentences “imposed on up to three generations of the immediate family of the person found guilty.”
Korea Future, another nonprofit organization, has shared credible reports of Christians who received the death penalty for their faith: one woman and her grandchild were allegedly executed via firing squad in 2011, while a group of six were executed four years later.
North Korea, while famous across the world for the dire poverty and the restrictions on religious freedom which followed the founding of the Kim regime, was once a bulwark of the Christian faith in Asia. Pyongyang, the nation’s capital city, was once called the “Jerusalem of the East” and was home to a number of Christian schools, as well as a Presbyterian seminary.
“Pyongyang once stood as a symbol of faith, evangelical fervor, and theological fidelity,” Joel Kim, the president of Westminster Seminary California, wrote in an <a href="https://www.challies.com/articles/what-city-was-once-the-jerusalem-of-the-east/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> five years ago. “Perhaps naïve, but I join many around the world in praying for Pyongyang that it will once again become the shining light on a hill where Christ is known and proclaimed.”
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Pyongyang has five state-sanctioned churches, three of which are Protestant, one of which is Roman Catholic, and one of which is Russian Orthodox. “One defector said that when he lived in Pyongyang, authorities arrested individuals whom they believed lingered too long outside these churches to listen to the music or consistently drove past them each week when services were being held, on suspicion of being secret Christians,” the report from the State Department noted. “This defector also said authorities quickly realized one unintended consequence of allowing music at the services and permitting persons to attend church was that many attendees converted to Christianity, and therefore authorities took steps to mitigate that outcome.”
North Korea is still estimated to have between 100,000 and 400,000 adherents to the Christian faith, even as spiritual practices like consulting fortune-tellers or participating in shamanistic rituals are “reportedly widespread but difficult to quantify.” Practitioners of the superstitions also face crackdowns from North Korean authorities but are subjected to a separate legal process.

Kim Jong-Un

North Korea Sentenced Two-Year-Old To Life In Prison After Family Caught With Bible: State Department

Global Politics

North Korea

Religion

Religious Freedom

A new report has estimated that over 5,000 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nigeria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nigerian</a> Christians were killed in 2022 while over 3,000 were kidnapped.
The <a href="https://intersociety-ng.org/5068-citizens-massacred-for-being-christians-in-nigeria-in-2022-1041-slaughtered-in-first-100-days-of-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>, put out by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), comes as some religious freedom advocates have said that the persecution of Christians in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">African</a> nation should be seen as genocide.
&#8220;[Intersociety] is emotionally dedicating this special investigative Report to 1,041 slain and disappeared victims of the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and other Jihadists&#8217; genocidal attacks carried out across Nigeria in the first 100 days of 2023,&#8221; the report says. &#8220;The under-listed slain and wounded victims also represent 5,068 others slain or caused to disappear without traces till date by Nigerian Jihadists in 2022.&#8221;
The estimates were based on reports from a variety of sources, including media outlets, government reports, nongovernmental organizations statistics, and estimates from diplomats. The report also said that over 1,000 Christians have been killed in 2023.
Intersociety said that the violence was most prevalent in the states of Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Taraba, Niger, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Kebbi, <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/over-5000-christians-killed-in-nigeria-in-2022-ngo.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> The Christian Post. Violence has long plagued the African country, with the northern part being more Islamic and the southern region more Christian.
The perpetrators are believed to be members of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/radical-islam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">radical Islamic</a> terror groups, including Fulani herdsmen groups, Boko Haram, and ISAWP (Islamic State West Africa Province). According to the report, the Nigerian military is also responsible for some of the killings. Many Nigerian Christians have long asked for the government to do more to stop the killings and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nigerian-pastor-says-government-fully-supports-killings-of-christians-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have accused them</a> of encouraging the violence.
The report, which was compiled by criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi, is also critical of Christian leaders in the country. “The dry material quest and lackadaisical attitudes of the Nigerian Christian leaders are also forcing Christian converts to leave the Church in droves to embrace other non-Christian denominations,” the report says. “It must be warned that if extreme care is not taken to rescue the Christendom and the Church, the churches or church buildings in Nigeria will become the present day Turkish church monuments in fifty years time or less than that.”
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The news comes just months after the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> kept Nigeria off of a religious liberty watchlist for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/victory-for-the-terrorists-blinken-faces-backlash-after-taking-nigeria-off-of-religious-violence-list" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second year</a> in a row. In December, the State Department drew the ire of religious liberty advocates for leaving Nigeria off its <a href="https://www.state.gov/religious-freedom-designations-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">list</a> of “Countries of Particular Concern list,” a government watch list for countries that endorse or allow religious violence.

NIGERIA-UNREST-FUNERAL

New Report Estimates That Over 8,000 Nigerian Christians Killed, Kidnapped Last Year

Religious Liberty

Sixty-three Chinese <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christianity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christians</a> who were facing expulsion back to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> have been given shelter in the United States after being detained in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/thailand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thailand</a>.
The Christians are members of the Shenzhen Holy Reform Church, also known as the “Mayflower Church,” and left China due to religious persecution in November 2019. They had hoped to be granted refugee status in Thailand by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-nations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Nations</a>, but instead they faced immigration-related charges. 
After negotiations with the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.N, Thailand agreed to let the U.S. take in the Christians, who hope to become permanent residents of the U.S. 
“ChinaAid welcomes the landing of the persecuted Chinese ‘Mayflower Church’ to freedom in America, and welcomes them to Texas,” ChinaAid Founder Bo Fu <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/04/05/us_steps_up_efforts_to_help_chinese_christians__149072.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a Friday statement, according to RealClearPolitics. “This is truly a Good Friday. Barely a week ago, members of the Mayflower Church were still incarcerated in a jail facing imminent danger of [Chinese Communist Party] kidnapping threats. Now they are safe and free.”
The group, led by Pastor Pan Yongguang, a minister ordained by the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA), landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Friday. It had been a tumultuous three years for the group, who initially had attempted to stay in South Korea before moving to Thailand. 
&#8220;This is a successful example of nonpartisan, international cooperation,&#8221; ChinaAid CEO Chad Bullard <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/chinas-mayflower-church-members-resettled-in-us-after-3-years.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;We are thankful to all parties including various U.S. government agencies, particularly the State Department&#8217;s International Religious Freedom Office led by Ambassador Rashad Hussain, the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, USCIRF, and a number of congressional offices including Chairman Mike McCaul and Chairman Chris Smith.&#8221; 
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Smith, a New Jersey Republican who is chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, was pleased with the news. “It is a very Good Friday indeed, and a perfect Easter gift to see these persecuted Chinese Christians arrive and be allowed to practice their faith freely in the United States,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Had they been forcibly repatriated to China, they would have been jailed and severely persecuted.&#8221;
Other lawmakers who asked the State Department to intervene on behalf of the Chinese Christians included Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). 
“I was proud to assist in the effort to get them to safety alongside many others, including Ambassador Godec and the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, the State Department’s legislative team, key members of Congress, the Royal Thai Government, and Ambassador Tanee and the Royal Thai Embassy,&#8221; Cruz said in a statement. &#8220;I am especially grateful for ChinaAid and Freedom Seekers International, and for the people of Tyler, Texas who have welcomed the congregation into their homes. Because of their generosity and diligence, the Mayflower Church can now share in the freedoms that we enjoy every day in America.”

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63 Chinese Christians Find Refuge In America On Good Friday After Fleeing Persecution

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The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> has kept <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nigeria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nigeria</a> off of a religious liberty watchlist for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/victory-for-the-terrorists-blinken-faces-backlash-after-taking-nigeria-off-of-religious-violence-list" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second year</a> in a row even as thousands of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christianity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christians</a> have been reportedly killed in the African nation. 
On Friday, the State Department drew the ire of religious liberty advocates for leaving Nigeria off its <a href="https://www.state.gov/religious-freedom-designations-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">list</a> of “Countries of Particular Concern list,” a government watch list for countries that endorse or allow religious violence. 
“Secretary Blinken&#8217;s continued refusal to place Nigeria on the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) when the Biden administration should be confronting President Buhari is appalling,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/dec/2/religious-liberty-panel-others-blast-blinken-omitt/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_source=socialnetwork" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Washington Times. 
Smith, the ranking member of the Africa subcommittee for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, added that there would be oversight over the decision with the new Congress in January. 
“The deterioration of human rights in Nigeria — the topic of congressional hearings I have chaired — and the Biden administration’s totally unjustified retreat from the fight to protect victims of religious persecution means there will be an oversight item in the new Congress,” he said. 
A spokesperson for the State Department told the Times that Secretary of State <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/antony-blinken" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Antony Blinken</a> “determined that the status of religious freedom in Nigeria did not meet the legal threshold” to be included on the list.” The spokesperson added that Nigeria was still a “concern” and that the State Department would “press” the country’s government to address religious liberty concerns. 
United States Commissioner on International Religious Freedom Chair Nury Turkel disagreed with Blinken’s decision, saying that conditions in Nigeria “clearly” merited its inclusion on the list. 
The decision to keep Nigeria off the list came following <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/nigeria-4000-christians-killed-over-2300-abducted-this-year.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that thousands of Christians have been killed or abducted this year in the West African nation. According to a report put out last month by the International Society for Civil Liberty and Rule of Law, over 4,000 Christians have been killed and 2,000 kidnapped by Islamic jihadist groups. 
The group accused Nigeria’s government of being being “friendly” to some of the terrorist groups, while others have demanded the government take more action to crack down on Christian persecution. 
Before the State Department&#8217;s decision, the Alliance Defending Freedom and Established By Revelation Media put out a <a href="https://stopkillingchristians.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petition</a> urging the Biden administration to put Nigeria back on the CPC list.
“We cannot remain silent while our brothers and sisters are being persecuted and martyred for their faith. The killings must stop. The torture must stop. The least we can do as Americans is take a stand by acknowledging the very real evil taking place in Nigeria at this time,” the petition said. 
Nigeria is ranked as the seventh most difficult country in the world to be a Christian, <a href="https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/nigeria/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Open Doors, a group that monitors Christian persecution around the world.

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‘Appalling’: Biden Admin Blasted For Leaving Nigeria Off Religious Violence List After Reportedly Thousands Of Killings

'Appalling': Biden Admin Blasted For Leaving Nigeria Off Religious Violence List After Reportedly Thousands Of Killings

Antony Blinken

Biden Admin

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