OPINION:
In conversations surrounding the precarious state of democracy, seldom does the mainstream press delve into the far-reaching impact of the rise of authoritarianism and the consequences faced by Christians worldwide.
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Today, 360 million Christians endure severe persecution and discrimination for their faith — a figure that has almost doubled since 1993 when Christians faced high to extreme persecution in 40 countries. Today, that number has soared to 76 nations. The repercussions of religious persecution are particularly evident after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
I recently had the honor of meeting with an interfaith delegation from Ukraine during their trip to Washington, D.C. Their purpose was to bring attention to the religious persecution in Russian-occupied areas of Crimea and the Donbas regions. In these regions, Russian troops and Russian-backed separatists have specifically targeted religious leaders and followers of various faiths, excluding Orthodox parishes associated with the Moscow Patriarchate.
Members of religious minorities are arbitrarily arrested, threatened, assaulted, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. In addition, 660 religious facilities have been destroyed or damaged throughout Ukraine.
Bishop Ivan Rusyn, the deputy senior bishop of the Ukrainian Evangelical Church, shared harrowing tales of pastors killed and seminaries attacked, forcing churches to operate underground in Russian-controlled territory.
“We are not speaking about social marginalization,” he emphasized. “We are speaking about people being murdered because they have a different faith.”
Representatives, including Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and Evangelicals, spoke of the history of religious repression under the Soviet Union, the freedom experienced by Ukrainians as an independent democracy, and the present fear they share. Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich recounted attempted bribes by Russian agents in 2005 to infiltrate Jewish synagogues, warning that Russia has never stopped trying to take active measures to drive oppression, including deploying the Russian Orthodox Church to do Putin’s bidding.
Each delegation member underscored the cooperation between Moscow Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, a staunch supporter of repression, and the war in Ukraine. They underscored religious leaders, especially those who oppose Russian forces, find themselves targeted for persecution. A recent example is former president of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Yuri Sipko, who fled Russia when accused of disseminating “knowingly false information” after speaking out against the war.
Steven Moore, a former Capitol Hill Chief of Staff and president of the Ukraine Freedom Project, recounts Russian torture of Ukrainian evangelicals in his November Substack blog, highlighting a report from the Institute of War showing that Protestants, constituting only 4% of Ukraine’s population, accounted for a third of persecution cases by Russians, because Russia associates Evangelical Christians with America. Moore cites a Baptist Press article that highlights Baptist churches are the most targeted, with the loss of 400 congregations since the war began. Not only have churches been shut down in occupied territories, but 26 Christian leaders have also lost their lives.
Moore shared a disturbing incident where an evangelical Christian pastor endured 25 days of torture, including electrical shocks and beatings, with a Russian Orthodox priest present attempting an exorcism using a taser.
This issue hits close to home for me, both personally and professionally. As the daughter of a mother who played a pivotal role in helping to launch World Help, a Christian organization that distributed Bibles in Russia and supported European communities after the fall of the Berlin Wall, I have witnessed the importance of religious freedom and the power it brings to emerging democracies.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, I collaborated closely with Dale Armstrong, founder of the Armada Network — a group of pastors that built a church support system after the 2012 Russian invasion of Crimea. Our weekly calls included horrifying church family accounts of young children being forcibly separated from their parents to be sent to Russia or suffer sexual violence. United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry Chair Erik Mose confirmed these types of atrocities, saying, “Frequently, family members were kept in an adjacent room, thereby forced to hear the violations taking place.”
In the face of these barbarities, we must acknowledge the grave consequences that await if Russia prevails in Ukraine. The plea for support from those on the front lines of religious persecution is a call not just for the preservation of democracy but for the defense of fundamental human rights.
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Lisa Gable is a CEO, former US Ambassador, UN Delegate, and author of Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller “Turnaround – How to Change Course When Things Are Going South.” Lisa is recognized worldwide as a turnaround mastermind and innovative businesswoman and started her career in the Reagan administration.
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