Why November 3rd Matters

By Steve Stockman
(November 3, 2019 – International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church)

Persecution of Christians around the world is exploding. The greater tragedy is the sounds of silence
from the world. After six million Jews were murdered by the European Axis of Evil, we heard the
clarion call of “never again!”- never again will there be a genocide of those who practice their faith.
However, from China to Burkina Faso, Christians are being cut down without a whimper from the
world. Lessons of yesterday seem to be forgotten today as people of faith continue to be persecuted.

Europe is seeing a rise of religious intolerance. On average, France has three churches a day
vandalized, burned, robbed, destroyed, or defaced
(https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/03/30/macrons-france-average-of-three-church-attacks- per-
day/). In Sweden, Christians walk in fear of being raped or attacked. In Germany, an increased
frequency of attacks on Christians and Jews is the cause of serious security problems. So much so,
the German state has placed a gag order on reporting immigration crimes so as to placate institutional
bureaucrats.

In March 2019, a New Zealand leftist gunned down 49 innocent Muslims in cold blood. The news
reverberated around the world, as it should. But, just weeks later when Muslims in Sri Lanka
massacred 290 innocent Christians as they worshiped in Easter services, NPR quickly reported the
tragedy as a retaliatory attack for the New Zealand murders. This false narrative by our U.S.
government-funded NPR radio stokes hatred and bigotry in America. Unfortunately, the fueling of
religious bigotry toward Christians is now the stock-and-trade of one of America's major political
parties.

During the recent Democrat presidential debate, Ron Reagan (son of President Reagan) promoted
atheism, then mocked Christians by declaring, "I'm not afraid of burning in hell." This unnecessary
wanton hatred is ever-increasing. Even the popular football player, Drew Brees, is attacked for
mentioning “bring your Bible to School Day.” During the last Democrat convention, an offer of
prayer was met with jeers and boos. The party of self-declared tolerance - isn't.
Then this year's Democrat field of intolerant presidential candidates stoke more Christian hatred. A
leading candidate advocates that teaching certain Bible verses in church should be silenced by
revoking a church's nonprofit status. Rights guaranteed under the Constitution to practice one’s faith
are beginning to be restricted. Some Democrats argue that the Constitution is not current with today's
values. Our sacred Constitution that protects free speech and religious freedom is rapidly being
eroded by those who hate. In addition, the rise of socialism in the United States correlates to the rise
of religious oppression. The underbelly of socialism is the destruction of people of faith who do not
put the state first in their lives.

The fact is that faith in big government, as practiced by socialist movements, destroys religion and
free expression thereof. In China, there are two to three million Muslims imprisoned in concentration
camps. Chinese dictator Xi has reinstituted Mao's gulag prison "re-education"
system used during the brutal days of Mao's cultural revolution when he murdered millions. Now
dictator Xi has ordered Christian pastors arrested and churches destroyed, all to the deafening sound
of silence from America's leftist mainstream media.

And let us not forget the young female students at a Christian school in Nigeria who were kidnapped,
raped and forcibly married off. Many tweeted concerns, but after a few weeks, all was forgotten and
only a third of the hundreds of girls were returned. In the following months, Muslim Boko Haram
kidnapped more young Christian girls, but the American press made little mention of their plight.

Repeatedly, Christian executions and mass murders have little sympathy in the American press.
Burkina Faso, a quiet agrarian society in West Africa, has seen their country torn apart by Muslim
terrorists with a murderous-driven agenda to attack people of faith. The Africa Center for Strategic
Studies reported 324 fatalities in Burkina Faso by the end of July 2019; more than double the number
of deaths in 2018. (https://www.persecution.org/2019/10/04/extremism-burkina-faso-twice- deadly-
2019/). These offensive extremist groups include the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, the Macina
Liberation Front, and Ansarul al Islam.

In many parts of the world, the continuous murder of Christians is a silent genocide. In the Middle
East, Christians who have been there for a millennium and who speak Aramaic – the language of
Christ – are being cut down. Once prominent communities in Iraq and Syria are now on the cusp of
extinction. The killing of Christians is not abated with the death of Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi, the former
ISIS leader who was killed over the weekend in a raid by Joint Special Operations’ Delta Force.
Killing of innocent people of faith is likely to continue.

In America, your rights as a Christian are being stolen in a slow, methodically deliberate movement.
The notoriously corrupt Obama IRS lawyer, Lois Lerner, targeted Christians for decades, and yet she
oversaw the non-profit status of churches and other non-profit organizations. In a deposition she
admitted targeting Christians and conservatives; however, she has never answered for her crimes.
Those who exposed her were targeted and put in prison. Unfortunately, many socialists who hate
people of faith are still employed in our government – a systematic hiring of those leftists has left a
tragic legacy in government that continues to spew out policies to undermine Christian’s values.
Unfortunately, many remain silent in the face of this onslaught of religious bigotry, couched in the
name of betterment for our society.

November 3, 2019 is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. We should not just pray
for Christians elsewhere in the world, but for the persecuted church in America. For centuries,
America has been a beacon of religious liberty. Her lighthouse is now under assault. November 3rd is
a good time for those who believe in a free country and religious liberty protected by America’s First
Amendment to be on our knees for the persecuted Christians here at home. America and the world
desperately need the prayers of the faithful who will not yield to the forces of evil that seek to destroy
religious liberty. Once again, our generation must declare “never again” on behalf of people of faith.
Lessons of yesterday must not be forgotten today! Let us pray……

About the author: Congressman Steve Stockman, 23502-479, was a two-time U.S. Congressman
from Texas. He served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and its Subcommittee on Africa,
Global Health, Global Human Rights & International Organizations and the Subcommittee on
Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats. He traveled widely in the Middle East and to Nigeria to
work toward the release of the Boko Hiram victims. Stockman went after IRS non-profit head lawyer
Lois Lerner for her persecution of conservatives and Christians through her abuse of power as an IRS
official. The same corrupt officials being exposed at the IRS and DOJ spent four years, millions of
dollars and four grand juries to indict and convict the congressman. You can write him at Stephen
Stockman #23502-479 PO Box 26010 Beaumont Texas 77720-6120 or email his wife at
Patti@defendapatriot.com. For more information go to www.DefendAPatriot.com.

More information on Christian persecution, murders and enslavement may be found at

www.persecution.com, www.VOMradio.net/IDOP, www.christianpersecutionnews.com, or
www.opendoorsusa.org.