UK Lawmaker Warns It Is ‘Open Season’ on Christians as Persecution Spreads Across the West

Christian persecution is no longer confined to distant corners of the world. Across the West, we increasingly face legal battles, arrests and professional consequences for publicly affirming biblical truth.

Lord Jackson of Peterborough, vice chair of a parliamentary group focused on religious freedom, warned that Christians in the United Kingdom are now experiencing “two-tier justice.”

“It’s open season to discriminate against Christians in the United Kingdom now, and that’s a very regrettable position,” Jackson told Fox News Digital.

The British lawmaker pointed to the case of Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen, whose statements about biblical marriage and sexuality have drawn years of legal action. British authorities canceled her electronic travel authorization in July following her “hate speech” conviction over passages in a church booklet addressing homosexuality.

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Although Räsänen received a U.K. visa on Aug. 21, the approval came too late for her to attend a free speech event in Northern Ireland. She addressed the gathering remotely instead.

“We do not have the same free speech protections that are available to citizens of the United States,” Jackson said.

He accused activists of using Räsänen’s “sincere faith-based beliefs” to attack her and employ “lawfare to ensure that she is stigmatized and criminalized.”

Jackson also condemned the contrasting treatment of Christianity and radical Islam in Britain.

“Extreme Islamist preachers being allowed to preach in parts of the United Kingdom whilst at the same time Christian pastors are being harassed and arrested on the street, that cannot stand,” he said. “That’s completely unacceptable.”

Jackson said lawmakers and religious liberty organizations are fighting back by offering legal support to our brothers and sisters in Christ and others facing punishment for their convictions.

His warning reflects a troubling shift across the West: Biblical beliefs once recognized as foundational are increasingly treated as unacceptable. For Christians across Europe and the Americas, defending our freedom to speak Scripture openly has become an urgent battle.

James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact media@.