Christian "victims" employ alternative facts

Sherm Johnson's March 2 letter to The Indianapolis Star about religious freedom and the victimization of Christians is misleading at best  and is possibly dishonest and deceitful.  Mr. Johnson compares the deaths of Christians (900,000) worldwide over a 10-year period to the deaths of civilians (31,257) in one predominantly Muslim city in a four-year period; a blatantly obvious false equivalency. And how was that figure of 900,000 Christian deaths determined?

 Mr. Johnson cites his source as the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC). The CSGC "estimated" that approximately one million Christians were killed between 2000-2010. That number  was derived by again "estimating" that of the over four million killed in the civil war of the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC), at least 900,000 were Christians. The report failed to mention that it was a civil war not a religious war and that the  DRC is a Christian country, so it was Christians killing Christians. The Director of the CSGC, Todd Johnson, admits they have abandoned this statistic in recent years, stating that, "That's a weakness of this approach." The International Society for Humans Rights puts Christian deaths at about 7 to 8,000 per year worldwide. Certainly not a small number but one that Mr. Johnson could compare to the 8,000 civilians killed each year in just one Muslim city. 

I agree with Mr. Johnson that "religious freedom should be an ideal for all people." The truth, not alternative facts, should also be something to which we all aspire.