The world is experiencing a war against Christianity. Our nation, founded on Judeo-Christian principles, faces the greatest challenge to our existence in modern times. Amazingly, our enemy, the radical Islamic terrorist movement, is underestimated at the highest levels of American government.

While ISIS slaughters Christians and Jews throughout the world, and jihad is plotted against the United States, President Barack Obama compares those actions to ones taken by Christians during the Inquisition and the Crusades. Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5, Obama noted that evil deeds have been committed in the name of all religions, including Christianity. “During the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.”

The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, berated the president later the same day for his lack of defense for Christianity, saying, “Many people in history have used the name of Jesus Christ to accomplish evil things for their own desires. But Jesus taught peace, love and forgiveness. He came to give His life for the sins of mankind, not to take life.” On the contrary, he said, Islam’s Muhammad “was a warrior and killed many innocent people.”

Unfortunately, we are witnessing a weakening America in the naïve name of super-sensitivity for those of the Islamic faith, while Christians of the world are beheaded by Muslim terrorists.

Meanwhile, Christians in America — and 80 percent of us identify as Christians, according to Pew research — are being attacked in a culture war that seeks the secularization of a great country founded on the Ten Commandments and belief in our creator.

We are losing our religious freedoms and our hope. A great war for our minds is mounted at the very time that a dangerous threat to our existence rises throughout the Mideast in preparation for another 9/11 on our shores.

Examples of discrimination against Christians and their beliefs are rampant throughout America, and the murder of Christians and Jews throughout the world is escalating.

Recent Indiana and Arkansas Religious Freedom Restoration Acts are actions intended to prevent discrimination against people with religious beliefs. The RFRA simply states that “government cannot substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion. It ensures that “law will respect religious freedom and apply the highest level of scrutiny to any state or local government action that infringes on people’s religious liberty.”

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said, “Faith and religion are important values to millions of Indiana residents. RFRA will continue to respect beliefs of all Hoosiers.”

Maine legislators take note. Yes, Christians have rights, too.

If Americans continue to ignore God’s laws will the destruction of our country result?

It is obvious to any thinking American that hostility and intolerance toward Christian beliefs and values has been growing. We have not yet lost all our religious freedoms, but the assault on them exists everywhere. Christians seem to be safe from persecution as long as we don’t live our faith, vote for believers or urge others to respect Christianity.

It is interesting to note that on almost every occasion when Christians take a stand, they eventually prevail in the court of law and public opinion.

Faith cannot be privatized without being compromised. Christians just don’t want to be forced to participate in or to celebrate something that they feel violates their religious conscience.

The purpose of this column is not to proselytize for religion, but since the single most significant political issue of our times is increasingly becoming the worldwide war on Christianity, I have chosen the subject for a political column. Unfortunately, that is now where it belongs.

I submit that if you believe in nothing, you will have nothing worth dying for when that critical moment arrives to defend America (and its Christians and Jews) against attack.

Don Roberts, a former city councilor and former vice chairman of the Charter Commission in Augusta, is a trustee of the Greater Augusta Utility District.