I’ve lamented the fact that Christians in America and elsewhere don’t seem to care about the oppression of fellow Christians around the world. Ralph Peters, however, thinks a backlash is coming–in Africa:
The Islamists have it wrong: Islam isn’t the world’s fastest-growing religion. By birth numbers and convert tallies, it’s Christianity. …
The bombings that recently butchered World Cup fans in Uganda were just the latest in a long line of crazed attacks on African Christians by Islamist fanatics. In the central states of Nigeria — Africa’s most-populous country — religious pogroms and counter-pogroms between Muslims and Christians have become routine. …
Throughout the region, patience is wearing thin. Africa’s impassioned forms of charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity won’t turn the other cheek forever. The coming backlash could be ferocious….
Peters writes, based on his own observation, that Islam is wasting away in sub-Saharan Africa, while Christianity is vibrant and growing. Peters thinks violent “collision,” that could spread to Egypt and other points north, “appears inevitable;” he suggests that “the African church could become the church-ultra-militant.”
Maybe so. It’s hard to picture, though. Here in the U.S., in so-called mainstream denominations we don’t even sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” anymore, so the Church Militant is about as far out of favor as it could be. Still, it is interesting: we tend to think of Islam as the only religion that is on the march. It is useful to get a different perspective.
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