Christians who claim the "persecution" and "criminalization" of the faith in the United States belittle the actual persecution of Christians in places such as Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and North Korea.
Persecution of Christians in the Arab Spring got some play. They definitely do not care about sub-Saharan Africa and Palestinian Christians.
Christian persecution in the Middle East has only really become an issue since the Syrian Civil War and the rise of ISIS, even though it really began with the Iraq War and the overthrow of the Hussein regime.
