THOMSON: Modern Crusade: Christian persecution and a battle for Western values

Moose Jaw-based John Thomson is a retired Canadian Armed Forces veteran, children’s book author and aspiring columnist. With radical Islamic factions attacking Judeo-Christian groups across the world, and President Trump considering a US military deployment to Nigeria to stop the killing of “record numbers of Christians…” it begs the question: are we witnessing the advent of a 21st Century crusade?For those unfamiliar with history, back in the 11th 12th and 13th centuries, crusades were all the rage. European Christians undertook extensive religious military campaigns to wrest the Holy Land from Muslim control and recapture territories that had been previously held by Christians. These were enormous undertakings; huge armies were required to march and sail vast distances to garrison forts and fight in the Middle East and North Africa for years. It financially exhausted the richest kingdoms of Europe, as well as the Catholic Church, and claimed between one million and nine million lives.Now some of you may be wondering: is a modern crusade even possible in the twenty-first century? And the answer to that question is, yes. In fact, we already experimented with it earlier this millennium, but we didn’t call it a crusade; we called it the Global War on Terror (GWOT).In response to the Islamic terror attacks carried out on 9/11, the United States invoked NATO Article 5, officially kicking off the GWOT. Nations which answered America’s call for assistance quickly deployed their military forces to garrison forts and fight alongside the US throughout the Middle East. .Just like the crusades, it resulted in the death and displacement of millions of people, drained the national coffers of every country that contributed to it, and in the end, nothing really changed on the ground despite all the bloodshed. But while the GWOT didn’t have an overt religious drive behind it, Christianity has seen a major resurgence in the Western world since then, especially in the United States.It is Gen Z (1997 to 2012), who is driving this Christian revival, and as they seek out leadership roles in politics, it’s likely that their religion will take a more prominent role in both domestic and foreign policy decisions.So what would a modern crusade look like?For starters, it’s unlikely there will be any rash attempt to recapture the Holy Land as a central goal. Especially given the fact that the majority of that sacred ground is now present-day Israel, and the United States is a staunch ally of the Jewish State.Instead, it might resemble something like what President Trump is proposing to do for Christians in Nigeria. Christian-predominant countries, like the US, projecting force around the globe to protect other Christian communities who are facing persecution, extermination, or exile until such time their safety is assured..Of course, that’s a bit of a tricky proposition because unless invited, any unilateral deployment of their military into a sovereign state, regardless of the reasons, and without UN sanction, would be an illegal occupation at best, and at worst, an act of war. Those things have a way of spiralling out of control rather quickly.Yet, the current administration has repeatedly demonstrated that the prospect of chaos isn’t necessarily going to dissuade them from trying something they want to do. In this circumstance, they can certainly try to claim a moral prerogative and point a finger at the United Nations’ failure to prevent such genocides or religious persecutions from occurring. And Christian persecution is a real problem in the world today, and there may be a growing appetite for it to have a champion.According to the 2023 World Watch List compiled by Open Doors, a UK-based Christian NGO, which was published in a research briefing for the UK Parliament:More than 380 million Christians live in situations subject to “high levels of persecution and discrimination.” This is compared to 340 million in 2021.1 in 7 Christians worldwide live in situations with at least “high” levels of persecution and discrimination, including 1 in 5 in Africa and 1 in 7 in Asia. This is compared to 1 in 8 worldwide in 2021.4,476 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons in 2024. Seventy percent of those killed were in Nigeria, where attacks on Christians have become more common since 2020 as part of a wider rise in political violence against civilians. Open Doors estimates that the number of Christians killed for faith-related reasons worldwide was 4,998 in 2024, 5,621 in 2023, 5,898 in 2022, and 4,761 in 2021.7,679 churches and Christian properties were attacked in 2024, around half of the 14,766 in 2023.North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan had the highest rates of reported persecution against Christians.For a Canadian perspective, consider that 85 Catholic churches have been damaged by fire or vandalism since May 2021, according to data collected by the Catholic Civil Rights League. It’s a topic that has received little attention by politicians or law enforcement and is dwarfed by media coverage of attacks on other religions’ places of worship.So, is this the advent of a crusade redux? Yes, I think it is. But at least for now, it won’t be a protracted holy war on foreign soil. Instead, it will be fought amid Western societies as we grapple with the many challenges posed by Islamic fundamentalism, progressive ideology, multiculturalism, and mass immigration without integration.In fact, this crusade is already underway, and Charlie Kirk is one of its most significant casualties. .Kirk was a man of profound Christian faith. He was assassinated for his public and popular stance against many of the tenets of modern progressive orthodoxy. His positions were largely guided by his beliefs. Millions looked up to and admired him. According to faith leaders in the US, there was a 15% increase in church attendance following his death. As Geoff Russ wrote in the National Post in Dec 2024, Canada’s failing multiculturalism needs a rethink. And in the wake of Kirk’s death, church burnings, Supreme Court rulings which protect child predators, and rampant unopposed antisemitism, young conservative Christians have answered that call and are going to lead the charge in this new crusade.Moose Jaw-based John Thomson is a retired Canadian Armed Forces veteran, children’s book author and aspiring columnist.

THOMSON: Modern Crusade: Christian persecution and a battle for Western values

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