On Friday night’s episode of HBO’s Real Time, comedian and late-night host Bill Maher introduced a topic that brought anything but laughter to his audience. With sobering seriousness, Maher addressed the shocking wave of Christian persecution in Africa and the equally damning silence of mainstream media voices covering what he deemed as a modern-day genocide, particularly in Nigeria at the hands of terrorist group Boko Haram. 

Maher, a self-described atheist, used his platform to ask why there are no protests or mainstream media headlines in support of this persecuted religious community. Admitting his own beliefs differ with the Christians in question, he nonetheless cast blame on those who might believe the targeting of religious communities is only a concern for members of those communities — invoking a comparison to the vocal response from media related to violence against other faiths in recent years. 

Given the recent uproar over the pending cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and inappropriate comments by Jimmy Kimmel, readers might feel a sense of whiplash that the most prominent media voice speaking out against Christian persecution is another late-night comic. Then again, why are so many other prominent voices conspicuously silent? 

Details on the surge of Christian persecution are readily available, including from the frequently cited World Watch List, an analysis produced by Open Doors, which reports the sobering truth that 12 Christians are killed on average every day simply because of their faith. Running the numbers, that means 4,476 innocent people a year are murdered simply for choosing to believe in the Bible and follow Jesus Christ. 

While these statistics may be staggering, what is worse is the stories that hide behind them. Each death is not just a number, it is a father beaten, a daughter violated, a sister kidnapped or a husband executed, and nowhere are these stories as concentrated as Nigeria, the epicenter of unprecedented levels of violent persecution in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Maher’s televised response to the suffering and persecution of Christians around the world comes just days after President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations and raised many of the same questions related to worldwide persecution of Christians. The president called Christianity “the most persecuted religion on the planet today,” and demanded answers for why the United Nations wasn’t doing more to protect all persecuted religions equally. 

Notably, many of the nations on the World Watch List with the highest rates of violence against Christians are current members of the United Nations. 

Maher’s somewhat lonely voice on the issue of religious persecution emphasizes a lesson I’ve learned as president of Open Doors.  While persecuted Christians worldwide appreciate tangible support, including humanitarian and economic relief, legal aid, and sometimes relocation assistance, they most want to know that they aren’t forgotten. 

So why does the world remain deaf to the suffering cries of Christians? 

The difficult answer is that persecution of Christians worldwide is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of one simple conviction: no one should be murdered or silenced because of their faith. As America and the rest of the world remain conspicuously silent towards the global persecution of Christians, we are forced to ask ourselves if this conviction is true to our society. While debates around politics and policymakers divide nations even further, the earth only becomes more stained by the blood of modern-day martyrs. 

The extremity of Maher’s recent rant unfortunately reveals the real nature of this problem. If our society cannot care about this conviction, then no amount of legislation or news coverage can actually stand against this persecution. While politicians may try to solve the problem, vital legislation will fall on deaf ears if our society cannot bring itself to care about the pain and deaths of those who might believe differently than “us.” 

Based on Friday’s episode, Maher seems to agree with this point, but do we? If America and the rest of the world cannot begin to start empathizing beyond party lines and church borders, how will we ever unite to stand up against suffering? 

For this reason, Open Doors is partnering in the Arise Africa campaign, an endeavor to gather 1 million signatures condemning the severe and intensifying persecution of Christians and to present it to the United Nations. This purpose is intended both as a statement to the U.N. as much as it is an endeavor to help Americans wake up to the reality of what millions of Christians endure around the world. 

While Christians in Nigeria, Africa, and the rest of the world continue to face eradication, the continued duty of our society is to ensure that the world pays attention not just to the numbers, but to the vibrant lives, testimonies and stories behind every death and survivor of violence. Only in ensuring that we intentionally cultivate a society where each and every faith is equally protected — and religious freedom is valued — can we hope to put an end to violence against Christians. 

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