Should Christians be interested in human rights? The answer is yes. In many countries of the world today, Christians are victims of serious human rights abuse, persecution and oppression.

‘Free’ Christians are the exception, not the rule, in the world today. And far from fitting the Western model of the “white Anglo-Saxon Protestant male”, most Christians today are Asian, African, and Indian – women, men and children. Many of these Christians are living in majority Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Communist societies, and are in a religious minority within their countries.

Adopting Christianity as their religion of choice – as is their right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – has been shown to bring with it significant risks.

Many Christians in Eritrea have been locked in shipping containers like this one by the government in an attempt to force them to renounce their Christian faith.

See our news to read about what’s happening to them.

Often when a Christian’s right to religious freedom is denied, other human rights are violated as a consequence. These include

Religious freedom is therefore an important human right for Christians.

However, religious freedom is one of the most neglected human rights in the international arena today. Religious freedom is also one of the most intimate, personal human rights in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That’s because religions talk about God, how to relate to Him, how to conduct your life, and about good, evil, right and wrong, and the afterlife – ideas that touch the mind, heart and soul. Different religions have different things to say about these issues.

Religion can shape thinking and motivate behaviour, as it describes ideas, ideology and practices for those who believe.

Where two or more religions exist, a clash of ideas can occur. In free societies, where freedom of expression is practised, this clash of ideas can be talked through. Even if a difference of religious opinion occurs, people with different ideas can coexist in relative harmony and respect. This is because the belief that “everyone should have the right to freedom of thought and belief” undergirds the free society.

But in many areas of the world, where democratic freedoms are not enjoyed, the clash of ideas can often result in fear, violence, and the harassment, persecution and even killing of people whose religious beliefs differ from those of the majority.

Tears of the Oppressed exists to promote religious freedom in order that minority Christian groups around the world can have opportunity to worship the God of the Bible (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) without fear and suffering.