As Christmas approaches, billions of Christians around the world are preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. More than 2,000 years after the child born in a manger began his extraordinary journey to teach peace, love and the power of God in all of us, his followers remain persecuted for living his message.

Most of us are busy running to the mall or online shopping. We’re decorating trees, attending Christmas parties and likely overeating. In more than 100 countries, however, communist rule, Islamic oppression, and religious nationalism mean the followers of Christ live in fear this holiday season. Even in the United States, recent times have seen an anti-Christian undercurrent threatening true religious liberty, and it’s getting more aggressive.

Christians continue to be one of the most oppressed and threatened groups around the world. According to Open Doors USA, last year more than 245 million Christians, or 1 in 9 worldwide, were persecuted for their faith. Aid for the Church in Need places the number at 300 million, with 75 percent of religion-motivated persecution directed at Christians.

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In China, more than a thousand Christians were imprisoned without trial in 2018. Churches are routinely subject to government monitoring and raids by security forces.

On the Nineveh Plain in Northern Iraq, where ISIS committed horrific atrocities against the Chaldean Catholic population, whole communities still face systemic oppression. The patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Cardinal Louis Sako, just recently called for a renewed effort globally to help Christians in the greater Middle East.

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Islamic terror groups like Boko Haram are killing Christians by the thousands in Africa. In Nigeria, where the population is half Christian, followers of Christ have borne the brunt of the atrocities from the terror group, with some calling it a genocide.

Even in India, home to some 65 million Christians, extremist Hindu nationalists are regularly threatening the population. In 2018, churches were burned, Christian performers were abducted, and even Christmas carolers were detained by police.

These people are our modern-day SS. Peter, Stephen and Paul.

In our almost singular focus on all things Trump and the Washington political circus, issues like Christian persecution receive little to no press coverage. As a nation, freedom of religion is core to our DNA, despite the Left’s efforts to strip faith from society. We need to work to protect it here and abroad.

It’s time we made religious freedom a strong component of our foreign aid and diplomatic strategy. Americans of all faiths should demand it. This country cannot be a beacon of freedom if it is silent on religious liberty.

We also can’t be truly free here at home unless each of us is willing to be accepting of religious expression. Sadly, the United States has joined the ranks of countries that have seen anti-Christian animus through government action and influential anti-faith movements.

The fear many Americans feel related to expressing their faith in the media, Hollywood, corporate America, public schools and other points of interaction is real.

The secular left, with the assistance of tech, entertainment, higher education and the news media, continues to drive negative messages about faith generally, leading to the normalization of outright derision against Christians. Government intervention, also driven by the left, in the name of inclusion and freedom of choice, has sought to prevent individuals, businesses and religious institutions from openly practicing aspects of their faith.

A culture of fear is developing here that was once thought unimaginable. It goes far beyond not feeling comfortable saying Merry Christmas. The insidious nature of the Left’s efforts to cast people of faith, particularly Christian institutions, as hate groups cannot be overstated. The fear many Americans feel related to expressing their faith in the media, Hollywood, corporate America, public schools and other points of interaction is real.

Yes, churches in the United States are failing to carry the message of Christ to a new generation of followers in a way that makes the message of Christ relevant for younger people. They are buckling under the massive influence of information sources that are dominated by secularists.

They are playing defense. But as individuals and families, we don’t have to.

This Christmas, we would do well to not only pray for all persecuted Christians but resolve to act to help ensure the followers of Christ here and around the world are able to openly worship without fear. Donating to well-established organizations providing relief to Christians in need is vital. While the Trump administration has rolled back Obama-era intrusions on freedom of religion, much more still needs to be done to activate Americans to protect our “First Freedom.”

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Amid all the packages and bows, this Christmas the best gift we can give is our ability to worship the God who gave us the real reason for the season. Harnessing the power of the Holy Spirit inside each one of us, we can in our own ways be open, confident and joyful believers.

If we do that, Americans’ efforts here will help raise the volume on this critical issue of our time and bring the Light of the World to all nations.

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