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Anti-Christian graffiti from the Alexamenos worships his god.")">Alexamenos graffito">Alexamenos worships his god.") Anti-Christian sentiment, also referred to as Christianophobia or Christophobia, is the fear, hatred, discrimination, or prejudice against
Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
and/or aspects of the
Christian religion Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus is the Son of God and rose from the dead after his crucifixion, whose coming as the messiah (Christ) was prophesied in the Old Testament and chronicled in the New ...
's practices. These terms encompass "every form of discrimination and intolerance against Christians". The presence of anti-Christian sentiment has frequently led to the
persecution of Christians The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point ...
throughout history.


Antiquity

Evidence shows that anti-Christian sentiment was already present as early as the Roman Empire during the first century AD. The steady growth of the Christian movement was viewed with suspicion by both the authorities and the people of
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
leading to the
persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire During their early history, Christians were persecuted, tortured, mutilated, raped, and massacred in a genocide, throughout the Roman Empire, beginning in the 1st century AD and ending in the 4th century. As Christianity spread through the ...
. During the second century, Christianity was viewed as a negative movement in two ways: both due to accusations made against adherents of the Christian faith in accordance with the principles held by the Roman population, and because of the supplementary controversy aroused during the intellectual age. Anti-Christian sentiment is alluded to in the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, and appears to have been anticipated thus by
Jesus of Nazareth Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religi ...
, being documented by the writers of the
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
s. Furthermore, anti-Christian sentiment of the first century was not expressed by the Roman authorities alone, but also by the Jews. As Christianity was, at that time, a sect which was largely emerging from
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
, much of this sentiment was the result of anger from the well established Jewish faith towards a new and revolutionary faith.
Paul of Tarsus Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...
, who persecuted Christians before himself becoming a Christian, highlighted the
Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...
as a 'stumbling block' to the Jews: the belief that the
messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
would have died on a cross was offensive to some of the Jews because they awaited a messiah who had different characteristics.


Middle Ages

On the subject of historical anti-Christian sentiments of
early Muslims From 613 to 619 Common Era, CE, the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad gathered in his hometown of Mecca a small following of those who embraced his message of Islam and thus became Muslims. The first person who professed ...
, professor Sidney H. Griffith explains that "The
cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...
and the
icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...
s publicly declared those very points of Christian faith which the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
, in the Muslim view, explicitly denied: that
Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
was the
Son of God Historically, many rulers have assumed titles such as the son of God, the son of a god or the son of heaven. The term "Son of God" is used in the Hebrew Bible as another way to refer to humans who have a special relationship with God. In Exo ...
and that he died on the cross." For that reason, "the Christian practice of venerating the cross and the icons of Christ and the
saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...
often aroused the disdain of Muslims". Because of that, there was an ongoing "campaign to erase the public symbols of Christianity
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and Christianity in Syria">Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
], especially the previously ubiquitous sign of the cross. There are archaeological evidences of the destruction and defacement of Christian images [and crosses] in the early Islamic period due to the conflict with Muslims they aroused." The prominent Andalusian jurist
Ibn Rushd Ibn Rushd (14 April 112611 December 1198), archaically Latinized as Averroes, was an Arab Muslim polymath and jurist from Al-Andalus who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psychology, math ...
decreed that "golden crosses must be broken up before being distributed" (as plunder). "As for their sacred books
Bibles The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
], one must make them disappear", he added. (He later clarified that unless all words can be erased from every page in order to resell the blank book, all Christian scripture must be burned.) An anti-Christian treatise published in
Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
was titled "Hammers or breakingcrosses." The Persian poet
Mu'izzi Amīr ash-Shu‘arā’ Abū Abdullāh Muḥammad b. ‘Abd al-Malik Mu‘izzī (, romanized as ''Mu'ezzi'') (born Nishapur 1048/9) was a poet who ranks as one of the great masters of the Persian panegyric form known as ''qasideh''. Mu'izzī's f ...
urged the grandson of
Alp Arslan Alp Arslan, born Muhammad Alp Arslan bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second List of sultans of the Seljuk Empire, sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk (warlord), Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty and the empire. He g ...
to root out and wipe out all Christians in the world in an act of genocide:
Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...
, who journeyed throughout the East in the 13th century and made an observation of the people of
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
, stated that "The inhabitants are all
Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...
s uslims and utterly detest the Christians." and "indeed, it is a fact that all the Saracens in the world are agreed in wishing ill to all the Christians in the world".


Early modern period

At the time of the Reformation, anti-Christian sentiment grew with the rise of
atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...
. During the
Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...
, a period of the French Revolution, radical revolutionaries and their supporters desired a cultural revolution that would rid the French state of all Christian influence. In 1789, church lands were expropriated and priests killed or forced to leave France. Later in 1792, "refractory priests" were targeted and replaced with their secular counterpart from the Jacobin club. Anti-Christian sentiments increased during 1793 and a campaign of dechristianization occurred, and new forms of moral religion emerged, including the
deistic Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term ''deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation o ...
Cult of the Supreme Being Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
and the atheistic
Cult of Reason The Cult of Reason () was France's first established State religion, state-sponsored secular religion, atheistic religion, intended as a replacement for Catholicism, Roman Catholicism during the French Revolution. After holding sway for barely ...
. The
drownings at Nantes The drownings at Nantes () were a series of mass executions by drowning during the Reign of Terror in Nantes, France, that occurred between November 1793 and February 1794. During this period, anyone arrested and jailed for not consistently sup ...
targeted many Catholic priests and nuns. The first drownings happened on the night of 16 November 1793. The victims were 160 arrested Catholic priests that were labeled "
refractory clergy During the French Revolution, the National Assembly abolished the traditional structure of the Catholic Church in France and reorganized it as an institution within the structure of the new French government through the Civil Constitution of t ...
" by the
National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...
.


Late modern period

William Kingdon Clifford William Kingdon Clifford (4 May 18453 March 1879) was a British mathematician and philosopher. Building on the work of Hermann Grassmann, he introduced what is now termed geometric algebra, a special case of the Clifford algebra named in his ...
was outspoken about Christianity as a drag on
progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...
. He was personified by Mr. Saunders in the novel ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
'' by W. H. Mallock in 1878. For example, ‘All our doubts on this matter,’ said Mr. Saunders, ‘are simply due to that dense pestiferous fog of crazed sentiment that still hides our view, but which the present generation has sternly set its face to dispel and conquer. Science will drain the marshy grounds of the human mind, so that the deadly malaria of Christianity, which has already destroyed two civilisations, shall never be fatal to a third.’ When British writer
Charles Montagu Doughty Charles Montagu Doughty (19 August 1843 – 20 January 1926) was a British poet, writer, explorer, adventurer and traveller, best known for his two-volume 1888 travel book '' Travels in Arabia Deserta''. Early life and education Son of Rev. Ch ...
journeyed around Arabia, the local Bedouins said to him, "Thou wast safe in thine own country, though mightest have continued there; but since thou art come into the land of the Moslemin uslims God has delivered thee into our hands to die—so perish all the Nasara hristians And be burned in hell with your father, Sheytan
atan Atan may refer to: Mathematics * arctangent (), a trigonometric function ** atan2, the two-argument function implementing the arctangent in many computer languages Places * Atan, Armenia * Atan, Iran Atan () is a village in Alamut-e Pain ...
" Doughty also records how Muslims in Arabia would, while circling around the Kaaba, supplicate Allah to "curse and destroy" the Jews and Christians. Many Christians were persecuted and/or killed during the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...
,
Greek genocide The Greek genocide (), which included the Pontic genocide, was the systematic killing of the Christian Ottoman Greek population of Anatolia, which was carried out mainly during World War I and its aftermath (1914–1922) – including the T ...
, and
Assyrian genocide The Sayfo (, ), also known as the Seyfo or the Assyrian genocide, was the mass murder and deportation of Assyrian/Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish tribes during ...
.
Benny Morris Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the ...
and
Dror Ze'evi Dror Ze'evi (born 1953, Haifa) is an Israeli historian who studies political, social and cultural history of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey and the Levant. Ze'evi's father, , was deputy head of Mossad, and his mother, Galila, is an interior designe ...
argue that the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...
and other contemporaneous
persecution of Christians in the Ottoman Empire The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point of be ...
(
Greek genocide The Greek genocide (), which included the Pontic genocide, was the systematic killing of the Christian Ottoman Greek population of Anatolia, which was carried out mainly during World War I and its aftermath (1914–1922) – including the T ...
, and
Assyrian genocide The Sayfo (, ), also known as the Seyfo or the Assyrian genocide, was the mass murder and deportation of Assyrian/Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish tribes during ...
) constitute an extermination campaign, or
genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
, carried out by the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
against its Christian subjects. The
Affair of the Cards The Affair of the Cards (), sometimes called the Affair of the Casseroles,The appellation is certified by Paul Naudon1. In the slang of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “casserole” meant someone who cooked to make people talk. “Stir ...
was a political scandal which broke out in 1904 in France, during the
Third French Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France duri ...
. From 1900 to 1904, the prefectural administrations, the
Masonic lodges A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...
of the
Grand Orient de France The Grand Orient de France (, abbr. GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbe ...
and other intelligence networks established data sheets and created a secret surveillance system of all army officers in order to ensure that Christians would be excluded from promotions and advancement in the military hierarchy, and "
free-thinking Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...
" officers would be promoted instead. The
Cristero War The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticler ...
was a widespread struggle in central and western
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
in response to the implementation of secularist and anticlerical articles. The rebellion was instigated as a response to an executive decree by Mexican President
Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (born Francisco Plutarco Elías Campuzano; 25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a Mexican politician and military officer who served as the 47th President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. After the assassination of Ál ...
to strictly enforce Article 130 of the Constitution, a decision known as
Calles Law The Calles Law (), or Law for Reforming the Penal Code (''ley de tolerancia de cultos'', "law of worship tolerance"), was a statute enacted in Mexico in 1926, under the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles, to enforce restrictions against the C ...
. Calles sought to eliminate the power of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
in Mexico, its affiliated organizations and to suppress popular religiosity. To help enforce the law, Calles seized Church properties, expelled foreign priests, and closed monasteries, convents, and religious schools.Warnock, John W. ''The Other Mexico: The North American Triangle Completed'
p. 27
(1995 Black Rose Books, Ltd) Some have characterized Calles as the leader of an
atheist state State atheism or atheist state is the incorporation of hard atheism or non-theism into Forms of government, political regimes. It is considered the opposite of theocracy and may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments ...
and his program as being one to eradicate religion in Mexico.
Tomás Garrido Canabal Tomás Garrido Canabal (September 20, 1891 – April 8, 1943) was a Mexican politician, revolutionary and atheist activist. Garrido Canabal served as governor of the state of Tabasco from 1920 to 1924 and from 1931 to 1934. He was noted for h ...
led persecutions against the Church in his state,
Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...
, killing many priests and laymen and driving the remainder underground. The
First Portuguese Republic The First Portuguese Republic (; officially: ''República Portuguesa'', Portuguese Republic) spans a complex 16-year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the History of Portugal (1834-1910), period of constitutional monarchy ma ...
was intensely
anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...
. Under the leadership of
Afonso Costa Afonso Augusto da Costa, GCTE, GCL (; 6 March 1871 – 11 May 1937) was a Portuguese lawyer, professor and republican politician. Political career Costa was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party and he was one of the major figures ...
, the Minister of Justice, the revolution immediately targeted the Catholic Church; the provisional government began devoting its entire attention to an anti-religious policy. On 8 October the religious orders in Portugal were expelled, and their property was confiscated. On 10 October – five days after the inauguration of the Republic – the new government decreed that all convents, monasteries and religious orders were to be suppressed. All residents of religious institutions were expelled and their goods were confiscated. The
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
were forced to forfeit their Portuguese citizenship. A series of anti-Catholic laws and decrees followed each other in rapid succession. The Red Terror in Spain committed various acts of violence that included the
desecration Desecration is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful, contemptuous, or destructive treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual. Overview Many consider acts of desecration t ...
and burning of monasteries, convents, and churches. The failed coup of July 1936 set loose a violent onslaught on those that revolutionaries in the Republican zone identified as enemies; "where the rebellion failed, for several months afterwards merely to be identified as a priest, a
religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
, or simply a militant Christian or member of some apostolic or pious organization, was enough for a person to be executed without trial". Although
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
never officially proclaimed a
Kirchenkampf ''Kirchenkampf'' (, lit. 'church struggle') is a German term which pertains to the situation of the Christianity in Germany, Christian churches in Germany during the Nazi Germany, Nazi period (1933–1945). Sometimes used ambiguously, the term ma ...
against Christian churches, top Nazis freely expressed their contempt for Christian teachings in private conversations.
Nazi ideology Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was freque ...
conflicted with traditional Christian beliefs in various respects – Nazis criticized Christian notions of "meekness and guilt" on the basis that they "repressed the violent instincts necessary to prevent inferior races from dominating Aryans". Aggressive anti-church radicals like
Alfred Rosenberg Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head o ...
and
Martin Bormann Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, private secretary to Adolf Hitler, and a war criminal. Bormann gained immense power by using his position as Hitler ...
saw the conflict with the churches as a priority concern, and anti-church and anti-clerical sentiments were strong among grassroots party activists.
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
himself disdained Christianity, as
Alan Bullock Alan Louis Charles Bullock, Baron Bullock (13 December 1914 – 2 February 2004) was a British historian. He is best known for his book ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'' (1952), the first comprehensive biography of Adolf Hitler, which influenced m ...
noted: Throughout the
history of the Soviet Union The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...
(1917–1991), there were periods when Soviet authorities brutally suppressed and persecuted various forms of Christianity to different extents depending on State interests. The state advocated the destruction of
religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
, and to achieve this goal, it officially denounced religious beliefs as
superstitious A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and p ...
and backward. Froese, Paul. "'I am an atheist and a Muslim': Islam, communism, and ideological competition." Journal of Church and State 47.3 (2005) The Communist Party destroyed churches, ridiculed, harassed, incarcerated and executed religious leaders, flooded the schools and media with anti-religious teachings, and it introduced a belief system called " scientific atheism", with its own rituals, promises and proselytizers.Paul Froese. Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Mar., 2004), pp. 35–50Haskins, Ekaterina V. "Russia's postcommunist past: the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the reimagining of national identity." History and Memory: Studies in Representation of the Past 21.1 (2009) According to some sources, the total number of Christian victims under the Soviet regime has been estimated to range around 12 to 20 million. At least 106,300 Russian clergymen were executed between 1937 and 1941.


Contemporary

Persecution of Christians in the post–Cold War era has been taking place in Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia and Middle East since 1989. Christians are persecuted widely across the
Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
. Native Christian communities are subjected to persecution in several
Muslim-majority countries The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is p ...
such as Egypt and Pakistan. The
persecution of Christians in North Korea The persecution of Christians in North Korea is an ongoing and systematic human rights violation in North Korea. According to multiple resolutions which have been passed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the North Korean governme ...
is ongoing and systematic. According to the Christian organization
Open Doors Open Doors is a non-denominational mission supporting persecuted Christians around the world. They work with local partners to distribute Bibles and Christian literature, give discipleship training and provide practical support, such as emer ...
, North Korea persecutes Christians more than any other country in the world. The issue of Christianophobia was considered by the UK parliament on 5 December 2007 in a Westminster Hall Commons debate. Some people, such as actor
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, writer, and director. He starred as Dwight Schrute on NBC's American adaptation of ''The Office'' from 2005 to 2013, and received t ...
, who is not a Christian himself, have argued that
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
has often expressed anti-Christian bias. Actor
Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first su ...
has stated that he has seen Christians in Hollywood hiding their faith for the sake of their careers. Starting in June 2021, over 68 Christian churches were desecrated, damaged, or destroyed across Canada. Officials speculated that the fires and other acts of vandalism were reactions to the reported discovery of unmarked graves at
Canadian Indian residential school The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by various Christian churches. The scho ...
sites (primarily run by Christian churches) in May 2021. The
Trump administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...
has considered anti-Christian bias a significant issue within the
US federal government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...
. Trump announced in February 2025 that he would create a task force on targeting anti-Christian bias within federal agencies, and tasked Attorney General
Pam Bondi Pamela Jo Bondi ( ; born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who has served as the 87th United States attorney general since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the 37th attorney general of Fl ...
with leading it. Despite Trump's claims of eradicating anti-Christian bias, the
Interfaith Alliance Interfaith Alliance is a national interfaith organization in the United States founded in 1994 to counteract the religious right. Its stated goal is to protect faith and freedom by respecting individual rights, preserving the boundaries between re ...
has recorded dozens of "attacks on faith communities" by the Trump administration, most of which have targeted Christian groups, especially Catholics and Lutherans.


See also

* Persecution of Christians in the post–Cold War era *
Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire During their early history, Christians were persecuted, tortured, mutilated, raped, and massacred in a genocide, throughout the Roman Empire, beginning in the 1st century AD and ending in the 4th century. As Christianity spread through the ...
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Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union Throughout the history of the Soviet Union (1922–1991), there were periods when Soviet authorities suppressed and persecuted various forms of Christianity to different extents depending on state interests. Soviet Marxist-Leninist policy c ...
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Criticism of Christianity Criticism of Christianity has a long history which stretches back to the initial formation of the religion in the Roman Empire. Critics have challenged Christian beliefs and teachings as well as actions taken in name of the faith, from the Crusad ...
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Christianity and colonialism Christianity and colonialism are associated with each other by some due to the service of Christianity, in Christian denomination, its various denominations (namely Protestantism, Catholic Church, Catholicism and Orthodoxy#Christianity, Orthodoxy), ...
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Persecution of Christians The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point ...
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Anti-Catholicism Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...
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Anti-Mormonism Anti-Mormonism refers to individuals, literature and media that are opposed to the beliefs, adherents, or institutions of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement as a whole. It may include hostility, prejudice, discrimination, persecution, ...
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Anti-Protestantism Anti-Protestantism is bias, hatred or distrust against some or all branches of Protestantism and/or its followers, especially when amplified in legal, political, ethic or military measures. Protestants were not tolerated throughout most of ...
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Persecution of Eastern Orthodox Christians The persecution of Eastern Orthodox Christians is the religious persecution which has been faced by the clergy and the adherents of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Eastern Orthodox Christians have been persecuted during various periods in the his ...
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Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses The beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses have engendered controversy throughout their history. Consequently, the denomination has been opposed by local governments, communities, and religious groups. Many Christian denominations co ...
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Black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...
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Violence against Christians in India Violence against Christians in India is religiously motivated violence against Christians in India. Human Rights Watch has classified violence against Christians in India as a tactic used by Sangh Parivar and extremist organizations to encour ...


References

{{Persecution of Christians Anti-Catholicism Anti-Eastern Orthodoxy Anti-Protestantism