The Persecution of Christians: New/Old Sport By Michael Ferguson

     It is not a good time to be a Christian if one wants to be persecution free, for outside of the West, which is getting nastier by the day, half a billion Christians across the world are persecuted:
  https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/11/24/report-half-billion-christians-facing-global-persecution/

“More than 60 percent of the world’s population of more than 7.5 billion reside in countries where the right to religious freedom is obstructed or denied. An estimated 505 million Christians face persecution for following their faith, a Catholic NGO Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) report indicated this week. “For simply belonging to the wrong religion, countless numbers of people have been killed; many others have disappeared and still more have been imprisoned indefinitely,” John Pontifex, the report’s editor-in-chief, said. On Thursday, a press release on the 14th edition of ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report, which this year covers all religions in 196 countries over a two-year period up to and including June 2018, declared:

The report—noting that respect for religious freedom is on the decline worldwide—finds that 61 percent of the world’s population live in countries where the right to religious freedom is obstructed or denied outright. The report estimates that some 327 million Christians live in countries where they face religious persecution, with another 178 million suffering some form of discrimination because of their faith.”

     I am not much of a theologian, or even one at all, but I can remember my priest talking about this in a sermon and saying that this could be one of the signs of the Second Coming. I do not know, but unlike those who want more consumer goods, I would like this all to end in a Second coming of Christ, just to get it all over with, for I am world weary.
  https://www.tomorrowsworld.org/booklets/fourteen-signs-announcing-christs-return/content
  https://www.thoughtco.com/jesus-explains-signs-persecution-and-betrayal-248746