How Bad is Christian Persecution in America?

How bad is religious persecution in the America?

Aaron Renn is a social commentator from Carmel, Indiana, and has come up with interesting labels for three eras in the last sixty years of American history. Of all places, Mr. Renn was profiled in the New York Times. According to the Times Renn divides the recent past into three epochs when it comes to the status of Christianity. In “positive world,” between 1964 and 1994, being a Christian in America generally enhanced one’s social status. It was a good thing to be known as a churchgoer, and “Christian moral norms” were the basic norms of the broader American culture. Then, in “neutral world,” which lasted roughly until 2014…Christianity no longer had a privileged status, but it was seen as one of many valid options in a pluralist public square. But in 2014 Christians found themselves in “negative world” with the culture—especially at the elite level—hostile toward their values and their participation in public life.

Renn, an evangelical Christian, says we have to learn how to be Christian in a world that is negative regarding our faith. Of course the dates are imprecise and it depends on where you are. The academic community has been hostile to Christianity all that time and now is extremely hostile. If you live in the rural south the hostility is a lot less.

The question I want to answer in this video is how great is the persecution Renn speaks of?

True Christians will always suffer persecution according to Scripture.  Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:12 that everyone who lives a real Christian life is going to be persecuted. John says in 1 John 3:13, “Marvel not my brothers, if the world hates you.” And Jesus Himself warned in John 16:2 that the time was coming when a person killing a Christian thought he was doing God a service. There are many other passages as well, predicting suffering for people trying to follow Christ. So persecution is to be expected and there’s a lot of it especially on the personal level. Many of you listening to this video suffered rejection by many of your friends when you decided to follow Christ. Worse yet, many of you were rejected and shunned by family members. Some by parents, children, or even a spouse. That persecution is very real.

It is not uncommon to harassed at work because of your Christian faith. We read lots of stories these days of people suing their employers because they have been fired for being a Christian. I, myself, experienced this. After a series of interviews Mike and Kitty Burke were judged to be ideal foster parents but the state of Massachusetts rejected them. Why? Because they were Christians who rejected the LBGTQ agenda. We have all read of numerous occasions where this kind of bigotry is expressed by Leftist governments against Christians.

Then there is the infamous case of Jack Phillips the Colorado baker who wouldn’t make a cake celebrating a gay wedding. The Colorado so-called Civil Rights Commission judged him a bigot, fined him, and required him to go to reeducation meetings. He sued and his case made it all the way to the Supreme court where he won. He was immediately in court again because he would not make a cake celebrating a transgender coming out. He won again. But he spent nearly ten years defending himself against the LBGQT assault on his Christian faith.

There are certain sectors in our society where it is almost impossible to get a job if you are a known Christian. The academic community is the first thing that comes to mind and is probably the most anti-Christian venue in American society. It is virtually impossible for a known Bible-believing Christian to get hired by a public university or college—and most private institutions. This is especially true in the social sciences and humanities.

Christians come off poorly in movies and TV programs produced by Hollywood. We are almost always hypocrites and bigots. We all have southern accents. Our clergy are almost always old and out of touch. The entertainment industry betrays very little understanding of who we are and what we are like.

The FBI keeps statistics on “hate crimes.” Christians in America rank second. Jews are first.

So there is real persecution of Christians in America. However, we should remember that it is quite modest compared to the rest of the world. I have a daughter who lives in the third world and laughs at our whining. We don’t know what real persecution is. 

One time when I was contemplating being fired for being a Christian I said to myself, “I’ll bet my brothers and sisters in North Korea are real impressed by my level of suffering.” There are people all over the world dying for Jesus. I am not one of them. I am an American and I enjoy some of the greatest religion freedom in world history. But that does not mean Christians in my country never see persecution.

If you are in a tough spot today I pray you will persevere. May the God who helps those suffer for His name be with you today.

More: My letter to the University of Colorado Board of Regents on discrimination in higher education: https://www.the401stprophet.com/my-letter-on-discrimination-in-higher-education

Open Doors has a religious persecution ranking system. It gives the 50 most persecuted countries in the world.

The Christian Post weighs in.

The Christian Post on world-wide persecution.

Nigeria is an example of serious Christian persecution: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/261571/nigeria-tops-report-for-number-of-christians-killed-kidnapped-in-2024

Foster parents discriminated against:

Aaron Renn: We live in an age hostile to Christianity; https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/us/aaron-renn-christianity-conservative-negative-world.html