Thanks be to God for John Allen again!  Please read the whole of his "Real War on Religion" post. Allen had the brilliant idea of summing up the kind of real-life persecution that Christians and other believers around the world faced during the 24 hours of July 4.

This one really got me - I had picked vague mentions of it on the internet but hadn't found the specifics.  Here they are.  Unspeakable.

• Ghulam Abbas, a mentally disabled man in a region of Punjab under Pakistani control, was thrown into jail July 3 after rumors spread that he had burned some pages from a Quran. Before any investigation or trial could take place, a Muslim extremist mob stormed the jail, dragged Abbas from his cell and burned him alive. According to local observers, it's at least the 35th extra-judicial murder to take place following an arrest under Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws since 1986.

The incredible thing is that Abbas, apparently was a Muslim rather than a Christian.  Apparently, half those prosecuted under Pakistan's blasphemy law have been Muslims. (Pakistan is 99% Muslim).

The U.S. bishops, in collaboration with the Catholic University of America and Catholic Relief Services, are planning to hold a conference titled "International Religious Freedom: An Imperative for Peace and the Common Good" on Sept. 12 in Washington. Something to pray for and to attend, if you can.

80% of all religious persecution in the world is against Christians.  Religious freedom is a huge Catholic issue, not just in the US but all over the world.