Posted on 03/29/2006 1:04:29 PM PST by Crackingham
The "War on Christmas" has morphed into a "War on Christians."
Last December, some evangelical Christian groups declared that the religious celebration of Christmas -- and even the phrase "Merry Christmas" -- was under attack by the forces of secularism. This week, radio commentator Rick Scarborough convened a conference in Washington on the "War on Christians and the Values Voters in 2006." The opening session was devoted to "reports from the frontlines" on "persecution" of Christians in the United States and Canada, including an artist whose paintings were barred from a municipal art show in Deltona, Fla., because they contained religious themes.
Among the conference's speakers were former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and Sens. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and conservative Christian leaders Phyllis Schlafly, Rod Parsley, Gary Bauer, Janet Parshall and Alan Keyes.
To many of the 400 evangelicals packed into a small ballroom at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, it was a hard but necessary look at moral relativism, hedonism and Christophobia, or fear of Christ, to pick just a few terms offered by various speakers referring to the enemy. To some outsiders, it illuminated the paranoia of the Christian right.
"Certainly religious persecution existed in our history, but to claim that these examples amount to religious persecution disrespects the experiences of people who have been jailed and died because of their faith," said Hollyn Hollman, general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
"This is a skirmish over religious pluralism, and the inclination to see it as a war against Christianity strikes me as a spoiled-brat response by Christians who have always enjoyed the privileges of a majority position," said the Rev. Robert Franklin, a minister in the Church of God in Christ and professor of social ethics at Emory University.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
"Persecute??" Please. Real Christian martyrs are probably rolling in their graves at their heirs' complete lack of backbone.
There is a very real worldwide movement to destroy Christianity in favor of secular humanism. These little things are just part of it.
Is illuminating paranoia like following a paranoid person around?
Then address it as a freedom of speech issue, not a "don't hurt me because I'm Christian" issue.
"Oh Please. There is no 'War on Christians'."
There is indeed a war of traditional Judeo-Christian values, an attempt to erase all traces of Christian tradition and heritage in America, and a concerted effort to supress traditional religious liberties.
Exactly.
Chuckling...does that make both paranoid?
Matthew 5:11
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Maybe it would make us a little more serious about our faith.
Choke, gasp. I checked out your link. A self-fulfilling phenomenon is in there.
""Persecute??" Please. Real Christian martyrs are probably rolling in their graves at their heirs' complete lack of backbone."
We are not there yet. But there are unmistakable signs that it may be coming.
Our generation may be weak and flacid, but may God strength our children to withstand the fury they will face for not kneeling at the alter of Homo/Diversity.
You say that but I don't see any evidence.
I don't think homos wanting to get married or Wal Mart workers not saying 'Merry Christmas' is religious persecution.
"Maybe it would make us a little more serious about our faith."
I hate to think about it, but historically speaking it's usually one of the best things that can happen to the Church.
It's turned the Chinese Church into a powerhouse.
I had not thought of that, I guess it would. Or there's the phrase: the closer one gets to the light the more dirt one sees.
Agreed. I think my point is that American Christians have become too soft and are too easily offended.
"You say that but I don't see any evidence."
There's no shortage of evidence.
Here's a good starting point for you:
Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007ZNV04/sr=8-1/qid=1143667998/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-1328089-0523930?%5Fencoding=UTF8
The bias was evident to Millions of Americans when Mandissa sang a openly Christian Praise Song (a bona-fide song selection) on American Idol.
The judges responded to her EXCELLENT performance with confounded/confused and EXTREMELY PREJUDICED and UNBALANCED responses compared to what they were handing out.
Not occupying the place of privilege does not equal persecution. Oh darn, science won't conform to religious dogma, and shucks, the 10 Commandments aren't getting posted in schools or courthouses. Wahh, wahh, wahh, cry me a river. What a bunch of wimps.
I think American Christians became too soft and were not offended easily enough. That is changing. We are beginning to stand up for what we believe.
Alleged?? Alleged???? That is like saying "Bill Clinton is alleged to be a horn dog."
Persecution is too strong a word. It's more like disdain on the part of some people. Here's what persecution would look like:
Churches forced to close by crowds of angry protestors.
The Bible unavailable in your local bookstore.
Cities systematically changing zoning, forcing churhes to leave town.
Gangs of thugs robbing churchgoers on Sundays.
Newspapers no longer running the Church pages every Saturday, and refusing all advertising from churches.
Christians are not being persecuted in this country. Christians are being persecuted in Afghanistan.
Another word would be more appropriate.
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