PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS GROWING IN THE UNITED STATES
Even a casual observance of the facts reveals growing isolation of Christians as a people group, especially school age believers. Faculty and peer efforts to convince public school children that America was not founded on Christian ideals, and that our forefathers actually wanted a secular society, permeates public school interaction. History revisionists labor to eliminate any and all contradictory historical evidence from public school curriculum, and mockingly stereotype Christians as unenlightened fringe.
So, a majority of the American sheeple profess to follow your religion, the President and a sizable portion of Congress are believers, and you control a good portion of the federal government and a majority of states. So how is it that Christians are crying persecution? I’m sorry, but persecution is normally reserved for an oppressed MINORITY, which is not something that Christians in this country can reasonably claim.
I’m not about to run down Christianity. She Who Endures My Myriad Eccentricities is a committed Christian. I admire and respect her beliefs. I would never disrespect something she holds so dear. No, my problem is not with Christianity. To paraphrase Gandhi, I admire Christianity; it’s Christians I have issues with…and I have some SERIOUS problems with many of those who call themselves “Christians”.
I’m sorry, but most of y’all couldn’t lead a Christ-like existence if someone handed you a map, detailed instructions, and a flashlight….
If Jesus were to come back to Earth today, I seriously doubt he would recognize the religion being “practiced” by His “followers”. Too many of those narrow, judgemental trolls who call themselves “Christians” are nothing more than intolerant zealots using their beliefs as a ruler to evaluate and judge the worthiness of others by. These folks know nothing of the true meaning of Christ’s teachings and even less about Christian charity. They will take their families to their megachurches in their SUVs festooned with magnetic ribbons and leave feeling righteous and self-superior. The problem is that the religion they are “practicing” has nothing at all to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ. No, their religion is all about intolerance, xenophobia, and self-righteous acquisitiveness. ‘Course, this isn’t about to stop them from playing the “persecution” card.
Tolerance of anti-Christian attitudes in the United States is escalating. Recently, a woman in Houston, Texas was ordered by local police to stop handing out gospel tracts to children who knocked on her door during Halloween. Officers informed her that such activity is illegal (not true), and that she would be arrested if she continued. In Madison, Wisconsin, the Freedom from Religion Foundation distributes anti-Christian pamphlets to public school children entitled, “We Can Be Good Without God.” The entertainment industry and syndicated media increasingly vilify Christians as sewer rats, vultures, and simple-minded social ingrates.
Not surprisingly, no real evidence is offered to support any of these charges, but I imagine that these all provide ample and sufficient reason for righteous indignation. It also conveniently ignores the reality that too many Christians exhibit the same sort of behavior towards those who aren’t fortunate or enlightened enough to share their beliefs. How many of us who are not Christians have felt demonized by those who consider themselves anointed by God and therefore fully able to judge those who have not been “saved”? Any non-Christian such as myself who has lived in Texas can amply attest to this reality.
Intolerant, Christ-hating censors of religious expression target the media and public school curriculum because this is the best place, outside of the churches and families, to indoctrinate children and thus manipulate the future political and cultural landscape. If one succeeds in separating Godly principles from public education and the media, they deny citizens the knowledge of good and keep them from embracing the laws of God. To that extent, they are pawns of evil and subvert and destroy both the message and the messengers of righteousness.
This line of reasoning manages to conveniently ignore the separation of Church and State. The mission of our public schools is to EDUCATE, not INDOCTRINATE our children in “The One True Faith”. Education is not about teaching “Godly principles”; it’s about preparing our children to become contributing, successful members of society. Assuming that our public schools are mere extensions of Sunday School completely ignores the fact that not all Americans are Christians. Some of us, like myself f’rinstance, have chosen a different path. That is my right as an American, and it in no way makes me a less worthy member of American society.
I respect Christianity and those who actually endeavor to live by the teachings of Jesus Christ. The problem, though, is that far too many Christians have forgotten, if indeed they ever knew, what those teachings are about. Modern Christianity seems to have little to do with Christ and His teachings. It seems to be heavily infused with acquisitiveness, Conservative politics, and narrow, judgemental xenophobia. Those who follow this interpretation of Christianity see the world as a battle between the forces of Good and Evil, with themselves of course on the side of Good and America as the last bastion of Good in this world. It’s an amazingly self-absorbed, self-congratulatory view of their place in the world, but when you believe that God is on your side it would seem that all things really ARE possible, eh?
For the past five decades Americans have allowed the liberal Left to defend the use of public funds for pornography, explicit sex education, and anti-Christian curricula. The Hollywood elite have denigrated Christian values and mocked the virtues of purity. The highest courts in the land have ruled with contemptuous decree against God, against prayer, and against the free expression of religion. Is it any wonder we have become the most profane and violent society in the industrialized world?
Is it any wonder that we have also become the most reviled, jujdgemental society in the world? Perhaps it’s simply that the rest of the world sees Americans as the ignorant, judgemental, xenophobic hypocrites we truly are. Jesus was not a Conservative Republican. He did not espouse peace through strength. He did not see non-Christians as lesser human beings. He recognized that all human beings, regardless of their beliefs, are worthy and deserving of being regarded and treated with dignity and respect. These are lessons that many Christians could stand to learn. Sadly, too many of them are far too caught up in their “God Votes Republican” theology to understand that they’re blinded by their fear, prejudice, and self-congratulation. Of course, this is hardly going to stop them from whining about being “persecuted”…as if they have ANY clue as to what they true meaning of the word is.
According to some experts a pattern is emerging reminiscent of Jewish persecution in post war Germany. “Isolation of, and discrimination against Christians is growing almost geometrically” says Don McAlvany in The Midnight Herald. “This is the way it started in Germany against the Jews. As they became more isolated and marginalized by the Nazi propaganda machine, as popular hatred and prejudice against the Jews increased among the German people, wholesale persecution followed. Could this be where the growing anti-Christian consensus in America is taking us?”
You know that an argument is running out of credibility when it’s proponents trot out the Nazi analogies. To compare the plight of today’s Christians to that of six million murdered Jews is not only the height of arrogance and insensitivity, it betrays just how craven and shameless some of these demagogues are. Hey, if comparing your life to that of the Jews under Hitler gives your life some meaning, so be it. Might I recommed getting a grip on reality, though? You are no more oppressed and persecuted than I am, and the sooner you rid yourself of your delusion, the better off you and the religion you profess to follow will be.
Remember, God does not vote Republican, and no one is sending Christians off to the ovens…no matter how much you might try to convince yourself to the contrary. Deal with it…and get over yourselves.
