When Christians learn about martyrs of the faith, they typically think of early believers tossed to the lions in the Roman arena. However, people of faith, especially Christians, continue to die for their beliefs.

The persecutors are many. With its new publication “Persecutors of the Year 2023,” International Christian Concern (ICC) assesses the complex challenge posed by today’s forces of darkness.

Religious minorities commonly face social and economic discrimination. Much worse is mob violence and mass murder. In many cases the state criminalizes faith, torturing, imprisoning, and killing those deemed to believe incorrectly.

The worst offenders are typically communist or otherwise authoritarian states, or majority Muslim nations. Armed organizations and movements similarly victimize those who believe differently. Moreover, several political figures stand out for their brutal treatment of individuals and communities of faith.

ICC’s analysis makes for grim reading. Nigeria, with a population evenly divided between Christian and Muslim, suffers from pervasive violence, mostly from Muslim forces that often operate with little government constraint. Explains ICC:

From large, organized terror groups to small, disconnected communal militias, the violence in Nigeria is endemic. Sitting between the Christian-majority south and the Muslim-majority north, the central Middle Belt region is home to much of the violence. There, communities clash over resources, ethnic animosity, and religion every day. Christians experience a disproportionate share of the killings and kidnappings turning the country into a dangerous place to live.

While Nigeria “is arguably the most dangerous place to be a Christian in the world today,” North Korea may the hardest land in which to practice one’s faith. Despite maintaining showcase churches in the capital of Pyongyang, the country is effectively closed to all religions. Notes ICC:

Central to North Korea’s system of oppression is a network of prisons throughout the country. There, tens of thousands of political prisoners and people of faith serve long sentences in the extremist of conditions. Rape, torture, and extra judicial killings are common in North Korean prisons, with particularly harsh treatment reserved for those practicing their faith. Simply owning or quoting scripture can easily lead to death, according to survivors who have escaped the country.

India, with a majority Hindu population, demonstrates that persecution comes in many forms. Although the country is a formal democracy, religious minorities, Muslims as well as Christians, suffer from mob violence and state prosecution. ICC relates that “[i[n 2023, violence against Christians has continued at a record pace, on track to meet or exceed 2022 when about 600 incidents took place. Human rights watchers have also noticed an increase in the size of violent incidents affecting Christian Indians.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi used Hindu nationalism to solidify his political power; he is now restricting secular freedoms.

Unsurprisingly, Iran, with an Islamist government that backs violent movements abroad and enforces social restrictions at home, also persecutes religious minorities. The regime evidently fears the rapid growth of Christianity. Reports ICC: “All Farsi Bibles and Christian literature are banned; sharing one’s faith with others is outlawed; Christian groups are constantly monitored by authorities, and pastors have consistently been arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned.”

With more Christian believers than Communist Party members in China, President Xi Jinping also must worry about the future. Over the last decade he has targeted those who worship God rather than man. ICC presents a tragic portrait:

Thousands of shuttered churches, crosses being removed from buildings, and government officials altering Scripture, are symbolic of the state of Christianity in China. Christians who attend state-sponsored “churches” fly under the radar. Those who choose to worship freely and openly, however, risk being imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

Persecution is pervasive in Muslim-majority Pakistan, in which blasphemy laws are used against religious minorities. Christians routinely suffer everything from economic discrimination to mob violence. Eritrea, known as “the North Korea of Africa,” deserves its sobriquet. Christians from unrecognized churches face prison and torture. Algeria has demonstrated increasing hostility to Christianity, “closing churches, detaining leaders, and punishing Christian outreach and proselytization.” Indonesia also maintains a much-misused blasphemy law and does little to contain extremist attacks on Christians. Azerbaijan recently seized the largely Christian territory of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia and is erasing the region’s historic cultural and religious heritage.

Although governments possess the greatest power to do harm, lesser organizations also commit murder and mayhem. ICC discusses several of them. For instance, the Allied Democratic Forces, aligned with the Islamic state group, is active in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Somalia’s Al-Shabab, which also operates in Ethiopia and Kenya, is known for executing captured Christians. In Nigeria, ethnic Fulani militants have become a deadlier threat to Christians than the infamous Boko Haram.

A potpourri of extremists, including ISIS and al-Qaida, operate in Africa’s Sahel, unsettling the region. Explains ICC: “In addition to the direct threats that these jihadist groups pose to societal order in the region, governments’ helplessness in the face of their rise has created mass discontent and political upheaval.” In Afghanistan, the U.S.-backed government was no friend of Christians, but the Taliban, which now controls the entire country, is far worse. In Burma/​Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, or military, which staged a coup nearly three years ago, directs much of its fire against Christians, heavily represented among the ethnic Chin and Karen populations.

ICC caps its report by listing some of the individuals most responsible for religious persecution. It is important to remember that there is nothing inevitable about attacks on believers. Rather, those in power target the weak and vulnerable. They act for a variety of reasons — religious belief, personal animus, political ambition — but the malign consequences are the same.

For instance, Yogi Adityanath is chief minister in Utter Pradesh, India’s most populous state. A leading Hindu nationalist, Adityanath has promoted popular hatred of and taken official action against religious minorities. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki presides over a totalitarian state that targets believers. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has turned a once secular government into a weapon against Christians at home and in Syria.

The man who may have the most to answer for is China’s Xi Jinping. Before him, Chinese believers were gaining space to practice their faith, but he has spent the last decade pushing his nation back toward totalitarianism. Last is North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, the third-generation ruler of what amounts to a communist monarchy. His nation’s people are not supposed to worship anyone other than him — certainly not God, who stands above all.

Many American Christians are filled with foreboding, and religious liberty has come under increasing attack at home. Nevertheless, believers in the U.S. face nothing like the hardship confronted by people of faith around the world. ICC has helpfully reminded American Christians here what persecution really is — and who is responsible for it. Our task is to stand with those struggling to be free.