George Yancey on the Rise of Anti-Christian Bias

There has been a lot of recent debate over the shape of Christianity in the West and how it will cause the Church to rethink it’s posture. What nobody is debating is the increasing antagonism toward evangelical faith, both in the West and, in violent and murderous form, overseas.

I had the chance to speak with George Yancey, who has a new book, Hostile Environment. Yancey is a professor of sociology at the University of North Texas. Here is one of the questions I asked him:

You coin the term, “Christianophobia” to describe the increasing hostility toward Christianity in the world. Why this term as oppose to “persecution” or some other common term?

We struggled to find the best term for the type of anti-Christian hostility and bigotry we documented in our work. We finally settled on “Christianophobia,” not because it is a perfect term but because it is the best one we could come up with.

Clearly what is happening with some Christians in oppressive regimes would qualify as persecution. Those Christians are being killed or jailed specifically for their faith. The way anti-Christian hostility plays out in the United States is different.

Christianophobia, or the irrational hatred and/or fear of Christians, is the basic way to describe the perspectives of those in our society that Christians have to address. These individuals do not want Christians to have power in the public square, as they believe that Christians are not to be trusted with social power.

Read the rest of the interview here: