Christian gullibility?

Most christians are probably as gullible as the rest of the population.

From yesterday, some well-meaning friends started drawing my attention to various posts to the effect that "A report in Sunday Express magazine quotes a British Secret Service,MI6, report that some 200 million Christians in 60 countries aroundthe world are at risk of suffering persecution."

However, I cannot find the original report anywhere! So is this a hoax?

I started searching for the original report because:
- "MI6" is journalistic misnomer for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, the correct abbreviation for which is "SIS"
- the role of SIS is to provide the British Government with a global covert capability to promote and defend the national security and economic well-being of the United Kingdom. What is happening to Christians around the world is no concern to the government of the UK (except incidentally), and is therefore no concern of the SIS. The SIS operates world-wide to collect secret foreign intelligence in support of the British Government's policies and objectives, which do *not* include the promotion or protection of christianity - Britain is in fact a secular state with atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims in top positions in government, industry and society.. As far as I know, the sorts of subjects on which the SIS focuses are: regional instability, terrorism, weapons proliferation and illegal narcotics.

However, there is no particular reason to doubt the scale of the problem. The figure of "200 million Christians in 60 countries around the world at risk of suffering persecution" may well be accurate.

The curious thing is that people are always at risk of being legally or illegally persecuted or suffering ostracism or calumny or mockery for becoming christians. Yet they continue to become christians in such large numbers. Shoorely shomething rong hir?

As a follower of Jesus I regret the continuing massive confusion caused by the propoganda machines of the various christian churches between becoming christians on the one hand (an external and ritual-oriented matter) and the internal matter of following Jesus the Lord with the consequences that has in one's life and relationships. Sphere: Related Content