United Nations Faces Criticism for Omitting Anti-Christian Hatred in Campaign

The United Nations Office at Geneva has faced criticism after a recent social media campaign against hatred explicitly condemned racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia while omitting any reference to anti-Christian sentiment. The campaign, which utilized the hashtag #NoToHate, prompted an open letter from Sardar Mushtaq Gill, a human rights lawyer and founder of LEAD Ministries. Gill argued that the exclusion of Christians risks creating an impression of unequal treatment and urged the organization to recognize the widespread discrimination and violence faced by believers globally.

Gill emphasized that while he supports efforts to combat other forms of intolerance, the omission ignores the reality of Christianophobia, which includes attacks on churches and restrictions on religious freedom. His concerns are supported by data from advocacy groups like Open Doors, which estimates that approximately 388 million Christians face high levels of persecution. Similarly, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Vatican’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations, has previously identified Christians as the world’s most persecuted religious community, citing figures of nearly 400 million people affected by faith-based violence and discrimination.