Franklin Graham, son of the famed evangelical preacher Billy Graham, urged fellow Christians to struggle against a “Christian genocide” that he says has killed in greater numbers than most believers can fathom. Graham, who has been criticized by some evangelicals for calling Islam “evil” and for portraying Presi-dent Trump as aligned with the Christian church, spoke at a conference aimed at highlighting an issue many feel is ignored by politicians and the media.
“I am sure the number of Christians who are in prison or martyred each year would stagger our mind if we really knew what the total number really was. And it would send us to our knees in sorrow and in prayer.”
It’s not clear on what Graham’s numbers are based.
The nonprofit Christian organization Open Doors — which tracks Christian persecu-tion globally, and the increasing number of Middle Eastern Chri-stians who seek safety outside their homelands — estimates that every year around 4,000 Chri-stians are killed because of their faith worldwide.
