Writer and advocate Kerry Hasenbalg, drawing on experiences in Rwanda and post-Communist Russia, argues that modern digital tribalism echoes historical divides that have preceded genocide. Citing data from Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List, she notes that more than 380 million Christians worldwide face high levels of persecution and plans to address these concerns at a December 4 panel in Washington, D.C.
Genocide often starts with words rather than weapons, according to writer and advocate Kerry Hasenbalg. In a recent essay for The Daily Wire, she recalls a 1990s incident in Rwanda when a teacher asked a young girl, “Are you Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa?” The question, she writes, divided a classroom and foreshadowed the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which killed nearly a million people, including the girl’s parents.
Hasenbalg sees parallels between that moment and what she describes as today’s digital tribalism, where echo chambers, cancel culture, and ideological purity tests on social media can turn strangers into enemies and foster “othering.” She points to historical patterns in which targeted groups were first isolated, then attacked: Jews in the Holocaust subjected to prejudice, propaganda, policy, and punishment; intellectuals targeted in Cambodia; ethnic divisions weaponized and turned deadly in Bosnia; and identity used as a tool of violence in Rwanda.
Her current warnings focus on the persecution of Christians. More than 380 million Christians worldwide experience high levels of persecution, according to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List, a figure she cites as evidence that such persecution is no longer a fringe concern. In Nigeria alone, Hasenbalg notes, 16,769 Christians have been killed in the last four years, citing figures reported by Catholic broadcaster EWTN, and she argues that this violence reflects a broader pattern of attacks on Christians that has persisted since 2009. She links these trends to ongoing threats in countries including Afghanistan, Sudan, and North Korea.
Hasenbalg writes that her perspective is shaped by firsthand experience. As a student in 1992, she lived in Russia as it emerged from roughly 70 years of Communist rule, describing a society marked by broken trust and long-term restrictions on religious freedom and independent thought. Years later, on the 10th anniversary of Rwanda’s genocide, she visited communities still bearing physical and emotional scars and met child-led families whose parents had been killed. She also recalls working to reunite Sudan’s so-called “Lost Boys” with surviving relatives after they fled war on foot over hundreds of miles.
Quoting Hebrews 13:3 — “Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies” — Hasenbalg argues that persecution should be viewed as a matter of human dignity rather than partisan politics. She calls for greater empathy and vigilance, particularly in education, contending that classrooms should teach students to recognize propaganda and resist indifference to suffering.
To address these issues, Hasenbalg says she will join other faith leaders at a "Persecuted and Prevailing" panel at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., on December 4, where the discussion will focus on the rising threats facing Christians worldwide. Hasenbalg is the founder of The Becoming Foundation and a former executive director of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, roles in which she has worked on child welfare policy and post-conflict healing. She maintains that ignoring persecution, whether of Christians or any other group, ultimately weakens freedom for all.
