After a mass murder Thursday at an Oregon community college in which the killer asked his victims if they were Christians – which follows a slaughter earlier this year at a Bible study class in Charleston, South Carolina –
Christians are beginning to fear a new wave of hate being launched against them.
The fears are further fueled by the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, where thousands of Christians have been kidnapped, murdered and forced into sex slavery. Similar attacks have occurred in Egypt, where a centuries-old Coptic Christian community is continually under fire.
In Oregon, Chris Harper Mercer reportedly singled out Christians for death by asking the religion of potential victims before firing on them. Mercer was then shot and killed by law enforcement. Witness Anastasia Boylan told CNN that the shooter said to one student as he fired at her: "[B]ecause you’re a Christian, you’re going to see God in just about one second."
It was the second such hate crime this year. In Charleston, South Carolina, a young gunman who seemingly was motivated by hatred of race as much as religion entered the historic Bible study class at the historic AME Church and forced the students to beg before he shot them to death.
But proven violent incidents in which Protestant Christians are targeted have been rare in the U.S., according to the FBI's most recent hate crime statistics. Both Jews and Muslims are more often the targets of domestic religious persecution, while Christians abroad have faced growing deadly violence.
Protestant Christians and Catholics
were the targets of just 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively, of approximately 1,031 religious hate crimes in 2013, according to the FBI. Jews in the U.S. account for 61 percent of victims in religious hate crimes, and Muslims accounted for 13 percent.
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