Persecution Against Religion is News No.1—and Censored

The press is democracy’s watchdog. When it becomes the pet of anti-religious power, democracy dies.

By Marco Respinti*

*A paper presented at the hybrid conference “Media Bias and Democratic Freedoms: Protecting Religious Minorities,” hosted by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and the International Media Association for Peace (IMAP) UK on September 30, 2025.

The Hidden Epidemic: Religious Persecution in Plain Sight

Religious persecution is the most alarming news of the world we live in—yet most people are not aware of it at all. Acting as a filter are the mass media, which play a censorial role by selecting the news shared with the public. What goes unreported becomes invisible, and what is invisible cannot move the conscience of the world.

Within the broader framework of religious persecution worldwide, Christianity suffers the most significant persecution in numerical terms. This may seem surprising: Christianity is certainly not a small, obscure, local religion. It has the largest number of adherents across the entire globe, yet it is tragically the most persecuted. The general public remains unaware of this dire reality because of the filter—the de facto censorship—imposed by mass media.

Consider Nigeria. In that African country, Christians face constant harassment and violence, with a high number of victims. Yet Nigeria is almost absent from the foremost television newscasts and the pages of widely circulated newspapers. In such cases, the organs of information become organs of disinformation. If the world does not know a massacre is happening, then in effect it never does.

Two Faces of Persecution: Rogue States and Democratic Relativism

Religious persecution in the world can be divided into two macro-areas. I will briefly describe them, citing some clear examples drawn from my direct work at Bitter Winter.

1. Open Persecution in Rogue States

The first macro-area includes countries and territories where totalitarian regimes and despotic governments openly persecute religious groups and individuals. These are the parts of the world where rogue states are so arrogant they need not disguise their war against all forms of religion, spirituality, creed, or belief.

My example here is the People’s Republic of China. About religious faiths, the Chinese regime, led by the Chinese Communist Party, operates on a theoretical premise: religion is unnatural and, following a presumed evolutionary process, will eventually die out. The regime seeks to accelerate this process by infiltrating religious groups and churches to sinicize and control them, and by conducting violent persecution.

These two approaches target all groups indiscriminately: Christian House Churches, underground Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, Taoists, and new religions such as Falun Gong and The Church of Almighty God, to name just a few. Often, religious persecution is also directed against non-Han ethnicities whose cultural identity revolves around religious elements—Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongols, and others.

The violent persecution of these groups includes a lengthy list of atrocities: unlawful arrests and deportations, imprisonment in labor camps, indoctrination in re-education camps, violations of the sanctity of households and families, torture, segregation, rape, and suspicious deaths in custody that occur daily. Another brutal practice used to eradicate religions and destroy ethnicities is forced organ harvesting—an immense, highly lucrative, and deeply immoral business that extracts organs from political prisoners, often while they are still alive, feeding a horrifying black market. When atrocity becomes routine, silence becomes complicity.

Once again, the mass media are often complicit through omission, hesitating to report on this vast and devastating scourge, allowing it to persist unnoticed by the wider world.

2. Subtle Persecution in the Free World

But violent persecution in rogue states is only one side of the problem. The second macro-area is that which occurs in the democratic countries of the free world.

Yes, the shocking reality is that religion is persecuted even in democracies. Many dismiss this idea outright, labeling it an exaggeration. After all, they argue, democracies are founded on tolerance and inclusion. And yet, how is it possible that systems built to protect freedom can instead display intolerance and actively persecute faiths?

This becomes entirely possible when the free world hijacks the very concept of democracy through relativism. Relativism proclaims that everything is relative—every value, principle, idea, judgment, and evaluation—except the principle that everything must be relative. In practice, this makes relativism dogmatic. The “relativity of everything” leads to the irrelevance of whatever value those in power dismiss. Those who wield power enforce a new consensus sanctioned by newly constructed legality. Meanwhile, abandoning its duty and moral responsibility, the press becomes a tool to censor truth, dogmatize relativism as the will of the powerful, and legitimize this manufactured consensus and legality.

In a world governed by relativism, those who stand firm upon absolute principles and values—such as religions—become primary adversaries. In liberal democratic societies characterized by democratic relativism, religion is not persecuted openly but subtly marginalized. Theoretically, religion itself is not regarded as the enemy in such societies. Only those forms of religion deemed ‘exaggerated’ or ‘extreme’ are treated as enemies—precisely because of their intrinsic hostility to relativism. But who can define what is ‘exaggerated’ or ‘extreme’? By what criteria? And can a secular actor—alien to religion—legitimately decide what constitutes ‘excess’ within a domain to which he does not belong?

The Weaponization of ‘Cult’ and the Press That Fails

Here, the unfortunate habit of wielding the term ‘cult’ at will against religious groups comes into play. Scholars and specialists deliberately avoid the term because it is vague, offensive, and blunt. No scientific, accepted, and value-free definition of ‘cult’ can be calmly employed in academic or legal contexts. ‘Cult’ invariably serves as the brand of the ‘other,’ especially when there is a need to stigmatize difference. The term is deployed because it generates consensus and attracts attention. It frightens just enough to dominate and intimidate just sufficiently to impose control.

The situation becomes even more complex when private actors form a symbiotic alliance with state institutions. While many private actors may be involved, the scenario becomes particularly grave when NGOs, lobbying groups, and the media intertwine and reinforce falsehoods about ‘cults’ merely through repetition.

Private actors often function as ideological subcontractors of the State, exerting pressure to delegitimize specific religious communities. Consider France, where the Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires(MIVILUDES)—an ostensibly neutral government agency—systematically targets minority religious groups marked by theological or social nonconformity. Its periodic reports on ‘cults’ significantly influence law enforcement priorities and judicial decisions.

Some might argue that those targeted are simply ‘cults’—marginal groups that are, admittedly, ‘strange.’ In truth, it always begins with the ‘cults’ because they are an easy target for propaganda, and it invariably ends by affecting everyone. France offers a telling example: just two years ago, the Minister of Education intervened through a task force enforcing secular values, threatening suspensions and disciplinary action when a few children said a prayer before lunch in a public school.

Religiocide in Democracies: Case Studies and Consequences

In Japan and South Korea, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly known as the Unification Church) faces intense governmental attacks using unprecedented means. What is happening in these countries is religiocide—the systematic assassination of religion itself.

See Also

JAPAN: 4,536 Days in Captivity — The Man Who Refused to Surrender His Faith

In South Korea, not only is the Family Federation targeted but raids and arrests of prominent leaders have struck numerous Protestant Christian churches—sometimes megachurches with thousands of affiliates—such as Yoido Full Gospel Church, Sarang Jeil Church, Segero Church, and the Far East Broadcasting Co., an international Christian radio network.

Another striking example of democratic persecution against religion is the case of Tai Ji Men in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Tai Ji Men is a menpai (similar to a school) of qigong, martial arts, and self-cultivation, with teachings centered on conscience. In 1996, corrupt bureaucrats targeted the movement, accusing it of fiscal evasion and, absurdly, of raising goblins through black magic. Tai Ji Men committed no crime—a fact confirmed by every level of Taiwanese justice, culminating in the 2007 Supreme Court ruling fully acquitting them of all charges. Yet the same corrupt bureaucracy continues to demand money from Tai Ji Men, having meanwhile nationalized its sacred land as “compensation.”

Where Is the Press?

Now, where is the press in all of this—and in countless other cases? The press is supposed to be the watchdog of democracy. But when it becomes the pet of anti-religious power, when it abandons its moral duty and censors the truth, democracy itself dies.

*Marco Respinti – is an Italian author and journalist. He serves as Director-in-Charge of both the academic publication “The Journal of CESNUR” and “Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights.” PHOTO: Marco Respinti holding a public speech at a rally in support of Falun Dafa (credits: minghui.org) PHOTO: Marco Respinti holding a public speech at a rally in support of Falun Dafa (credits: minghui.org)

FEATURE IMAGE: Marco Respinti on a fact-finding mission in Taiwan – April 2023 –  Location: TAIWANESE PARLIAMENT (Photo:FOREF)