Christian right's cries of persecution baffling (AJC)

[struggle4progress]

By JAMES EVANS
Published on: 01/17/06

Nothing has become more tiresome in recent years than the incessant claim by many conservative Christians that they are being persecuted.

Every time a church/state issue comes to the fore, a gaggle of Christian activists shows up preening in front of television cameras and whining about the war on Christianity. It's a plot, they tell us, perpetrated by the American Civil Liberties Union and God-haters everywhere, to remove any sign of Christianity from culture ...

The U.S. Constitution expressly prohibits government from endorsing a particular religion. It was the Founders' intent to keep religion out of government. They had seen the effect of a close relationship between church and state in Europe and wanted no part of any religiously inspired conflict.

But that's not persecution. In fact, Christianity has thrived in the freedom created by our legal system. That's why in most neighborhoods in America there is a church on nearly every corner. And if those churches are not a sufficient visible symbol of the viability of Christianity, then that's what Christian leaders need to worry about. That's not persecution, that's neglect ...

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0117edevans.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. if they want to know about persecution

they should talk to some Jewish Holocost survivors, or some Native Americans who practice their traditional faith.

[beam me up scottie]

2. I love it !

Now, don't get me wrong. "The Book of Daniel" is not a very good television program, but not because of the way it presents Christianity. It's bad because the writing is bad, the acting is stiff, and the negative portrayal of Daniel's family that the Christian right is so worried about hardly comes across as believable.

But even more disturbing than the bad television "The Book of Daniel" represents is the audacious assumption that network programming has some responsibility to represent Christians in a favorable way. Why should Hollywood producers do public relations for the church? Why do we think that make-believe Christians living happily in make-believe worlds can possibly make a difference in this very real world? Jesus said we would be known by our love, not by our Nielsen ratings.

And while we are on the subject, did Jesus ever say anything about the powers-that-be in this world rolling out the red carpet for us? They didn't do it for him, so why should his followers expect to be treated any better? In the world, Jesus said, but not of it.

Not that we don't need to be concerned about the negative way Christians appear on television, but I don't know how to make Pat Robertson stop.

SNAP!:evilgrin:

[kwassa]

5. Where is your quote from?

I think the "Book of Daniel" is better than this reviewer, though it doesn't aim very high. It is over-the-top dramady, much like "Desperate Housewives".

And the Episcopal Church has no problem with the show, even though it portrays a rector in the Episcopal Church. I don't think the show portrays a negative view of Christians, either.

[beam me up scottie]

7. Gee, I dunno, could it possibly be from THE LINK IN THE OP?

Or maybe I just made it up.

:banghead:

[kwassa]

11. Attribution is a wonderful thing.

[beam me up scottie]

13. So is a long memory.

I don't like people who make a habit of showing disrespect to me and my fellow atheists for shits and giggles.

Sue me.

[NMMNG]

10. Oh come now

Don't you realize that everyone and everything is responsible for portraying Christians in a favorable way? After all, Christians never portray others in an unfavorable way, do they? :sarcasm:

[beam me up scottie]

14. The funny thing is, the dude who wrote that IS christian.

:rofl:

[WhollyHeretic]

3. I've never understood how they can claim to be persecuted when almost any

position of power in this country has a Christian in it.

[beam me up scottie]

6. BWAHAHAHAHAHA !

:rofl:

I ADORE Tom Tomorrow!

[WhollyHeretic]

8. He's one of my favorites. I love his blog too, he has a lot of great

contributors to it.

[applegrove]

4. Tim LaHaye, funded by the right, has been putting down humanists

for ages. It is a purposeful wedge. What life is like under politicos who practice the "dark arts".

Of course they want to tribalize America.

When will the religious right ever figure out they are being used - so that they will vote for elites and not be part of all the social movements they were a part of in the last 500 years.

[Popol Vuh]

9. Christian cries of persecution?

Nothing gets my skin boiling more than to hear Christians crying that they are targets of some so-called persecution..

They have no clue what persecution is. I wonder how they would feel if they were treated the way Christians treated Native Americans because of the Native Americans' beliefs and greed for their land?

How quickly they forget things such as for example:

The Treaty of Fort Stansix of 1784;

The Removal Act of 1830;

The Trail of Tears;

Wounded Knee;

Sand Creek.


"There was one little child, probably three years old, just big enough to walk through the sand. The Indians had gone ahead, and this little child was behind following after them. The little fellow was perfectly naked, traveling on the sand. I saw one man get off his horse, at a distance of about seventy-five yards, and draw up his rifle and fire-he missed the child. Another man came up and said, 'Let me try the son of a bitch; I can hit him.' He got down off his horse, kneeled down and fired at the little child, but he missed him. A third man came up and make a similar remark, and fired, and the little fellow dropped."

---Testimony, 1864, Major Scott Anthony First Colorado Cavalry, before the United States Congress, "Massacre of Cheyenne Indians" at Sand Creek, in Report on the Conduct of the War (38th Congress, 2nd Session, 1865) p. 27.



"Civilizing" meant taking children away from their parents at the ages of 5-12 years and forcing them to live without father, mother, sister, brother in missionary schools, if you can imagine that done to a little child. This practice was not exclusive to the early years of American history but continued up until the mid 1970's.

And some Christians today cry because other (good) people in this country know the dangers of opening the door to theocracy....

*Sigh*.

[CatholicEdHead]

12. They whine because they do not get 100% all the time

no matter what. Anything less is "percuction" to them.

[NAO]

15. It is built into their mythology - their bible moans and complains of

'persecution'. They have made it a part of their religion, just like baptism and being 'washed' in the blood of Jesus (yecch, what a horrific notion - literally a bloodbath!).

There is some historical truth to the notion that their obnoxious superstition was not smiled upon by the Venerable Jews and Pious Pagans of the 1st century, but critical historical analysis has shown that their legends of mass martyrdom were greatly exaggerated.

A few days ago I was reading the book of I Peter (a letter from church leaders fraudulently attributed to St. Peter, who, as a fisherman, was almost certainly illiterate.) The author goes on and on about being persecuted, suffering for the Lord, etc. You can really see how xtians today, reading those 2,000 year old rantings, can easily percieve persecution as a real and proper part of their experience of the xtian religion, and read it into everyday happenings.

Skeptics Annotated Bible
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/

[MikeH]

17. Part of my problem with Christianity

I used to be a Christian; I found I had a problem with the message in I Peter; gladly accept undeserved suffering. In other words, gladly take abuse, and let the Lord work things out.

Also with a passage in Hebrews chapter 12; gladly accept the chastening of the Lord, like that of a "good" father.

I had a very difficult father, who sometimes did some very good things, but was very judgmental, and sometimes bordered on being abusive, especially emotionally and psychologically. He often decided that I needed to be talked to or treated in a certain way "for my own good" when I made an honest mistake, honestly forgot something, or something was not quite according to his standards. And he was often very insensitive when I would tell him about some emotional issue or about being upset at something. He was often very poor at understanding, or even trying to understand, some sensitive personal issue from my point of view. He felt he had to lecture me or scold me, or try to straighten me out.

I was serious about Christianity starting in my early 20's, and hoped it would be of help to me in dealing with some difficult issues, such as with my dad. My dad died when I was in my mid 30's, and about a year after my dad's death I realized how angry I still was at him, and how Christianity did not at all help me to deal with him when he was difficult. Christianity was part of the problem for me, especially with the attitudes preached in I Peter and Hebrews 12.

That being the case, I stopped participating in any outward practice of Christianity.

[catbert836]

16. Well, as Jesus said,

before we decide whether they're being persecuted or not, we should walk a mile in their shoes. This technique would be particularly helpful with the fundies, because by the time you finish, you're a mile away, and you have their shoes.