Lindisfarne Analysis June 2026

Persecution is something everyone talks about, but if we are honest, it can be quite hard to define. 

But with religious persecution it is not just important to recognise the obvious examples when we see them, a church being bombed in Syria or a Muslim mob rampaging through a Pakistani village targeting Christian homes. It is also important to recognise what are the various degrees that lead up to it.

We sometimes get asked whether Christians in countries such as the UK are facing persecution. The answer is generally "No…but," We give that answer because it doesn’t mean Christians are not being put under pressure, or that historic aspects of freedom of religion are not being eroded there.

However, even the staunchest supporters of freedom of religion among western politicians are generally quite reluctant to describe what is happening to Christians in the west, as “persecution”. That is because they do not want to detract from what is happening to Christians in countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Nigeria.

International law

One of the problems is that, somewhat surprisingly, international law does not actually define what ‘religious persecution’ is. It just assumes everyone recognises it when they see it.

There are actually only a handful of international human rights conventions that even specifically mention ‘religious persecution’. The first is the Refugee Convention, 1951. Article 1 of this defines a refugee as someone who is unable to return to their own country due to a

“well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”

Similarly, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, defines ‘crimes against humanity’  as:

“Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender…or other grounds”

But again, does not itself define what “religious persecution” actually is. Yet when the definition of who is (and equally is not) a refugee and entitled to asylum in other countries depends on it – that is clearly an incredibly important question.

Loss of freedom of religion

Sometimes persecution is spoken of as the loss of significant aspects of freedom of religion, but that raises the question of what freedom of religion actually is and what are its most important aspects.

Article 18 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights says that:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

The problem with this is that if you read it carefully, it doesn’t actually define what freedom of religion is. It simply says that everyone has the right to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion’ – then gives two examples of what this includes.

This is because Article 18 was actually a compromise agreement negotiated over the course of almost two years by a committee which consisted of people from countries such as the USA and UK which had a long heritage of freedom of religion and those such as China, Saudi Arabia and the USSR which did not. For example, at one point in the negotiations the UK government submitted a draft text which included the freedom

“to endeavour to persuade other persons of full age and sound mind of the truth of his beliefs”

However, this was vetoed by a number of Islamic countries who viewed it as conflicting with shari’a.

That is why the Lindisfarne Centre developed an analysis of the 10 aspects of Freedom of religion which historically developed among the countries of the English-speaking world:

1. Freedom of the church from state interference, including freedom to interpret scripture without government interference.

2. Freedom to translate and own scripture in the vernacular and read it publicly.

3. Freedom of worship.

4. Freedom from being required to act against one’s beliefs.

5. Freedom to establish places of worship.

6. Freedom to preach and try to convince others of the truth of one’s beliefs.

7. Freedom to choose or change one’s faith.

8. Freedom from being required to affirm a particular worldview i.e. religious or philosophical beliefs, in order to hold public office, enter various professions or study at university (repeal of ‘Test Acts’).

9. Freedom of parents to educate children according to their own beliefs.

10. Freedom to criticise the religious or philosophical beliefs of others (absence of blasphemy law).

We believe this both more fully explains what freedom of religion has historically been understood to encompass – and provides a much more specific set of criteria to assess individual countries and help their leaders understand where they need to improve.

What persecution has historically meant

However, the other approach is to look at what ‘persecution’ – in particular, religious persecution, has historically meant.

To do that, we need to appreciate the profound and widespread influence the English translation of the Bible has had, not just on our language, but also on our thinking.

The earliest references to “persecution” in the English language are specifically Christian. For example, the late fourteenth century Bible translation associated with John Wycliffe (1330-84) in translating the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:21 says:

“For when tribulation and persecution is made for the word…”

This wording was followed by William Tyndale and almost all subsequent Bible translators.

The translators of the Wycliffe and Tyndale Bibles were of course following a long tradition of writing about persecution of Christians over the previous centuries of church history. But that itself simply reflected the teaching of the New Testament, such as Jesus’ words in the Parable of the Sower:

“The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” (Matthew 13:20-21)

This makes a distinction between ‘trouble’ (or as older translations put it ‘tribulation’) and ‘persecution’.  ‘Trouble’ is the Greek word θλῖψις (thlipsis) which means to put under pressure or to squeeze. While the word which is translated ‘persecution’ διωγμός (diōgmos) means to chase or pursue. In other words, what is happening to you is so bad that you need to flee or you will face things like imprisonment or death.

The difference between being caused ‘trouble’ because of your faith, and ‘persecution’

So, yes there is a difference between the sort of pressure which is happening to some Christians in the west as historic aspects of freedom of religion are eroded – and the persecution that some Christians are facing in places like Pakistan. 

But it is also important to remember that the understanding of what ‘persecution’ means, as well as freedom of religion itself, historically developed in a specifically Christian context. 

Part of the reason western society lacks a clear understanding of what ‘persecution’ or freedom of religion actually is, is because our understanding of it has become detached from the Christian roots which gave it birth.