A Christian Chinese woman visiting Wisconsin recently responded to a question about religious persecution in China by saying that being watched and knowing persecution is not just possible but highly probable is a way of life in China. She said, “In America, you have it easy,” going on to note that we take our religious freedom for granted. In essence, she was saying, intimating we don’t really know what it costs many people around the world to become a Christian.
This dear lady is right. Far too often we take our religious freedom too lightly, in part because so few of us have ever had to pay a price for this gift. Religious freedom is primarily what drove the founding of this country, and many have paid dearly for us to remain the bastion of religious freedom in the world. But every generation must fight to keep this foundational freedom.