Part Two of my post on Christians in Nigeria is up at God’s Servant First, the religious liberty blog of the U.S. Catholic Bishops on religious liberty. The first part was posted on August 28th. This one focuses on Christian responses to persecution there.
An excerpt:
Some Christians have simply had to flee the violence, [Robert] Dowd [,one of the Under Caesar’s Sword researchers] found, becoming internally displaced people or refugees. He was impressed, though, by how many adopted “strategies of association” through which they strengthened their position by building ties with those around them. Sometimes Christian pastors and other leaders would build relationships with sympathetic Muslim leaders, thus isolating Boko Haram. This strategy was used, for instance, by Archbishop Kaigama in Plateau State to attempt to stop the violence between Fulani herders and Christian farmers. In some cases, Muslim leaders would hide Christians from other attackers. Christians even proclaimed forgiveness publicly in order to counter jihadi discourse. Christians have also appealed to the government to defeat militant violence and provide protection. They have also adopted more confrontational approaches of protest and bringing light to government failures through advocacy campaigns. In a small number of instances, Christians have taken up arms against militants.
I also propose some strategies for responding to the persecution that U.S. Christians can undertake.