[Culture, Religion]
[culture|religion] The modern persecution by the Christians
One of the more ridiculous things I hear from some of my Christian friends on a reasonably consistent basis is that they are being persecuted for their religion. I realize that persecution is an important Christian meme from the earliest days of the Church, and telling themselves this is comforting and self-valorizing. But let’s talk about persecution for a little while.
As a Christian, are you prevented from marrying the person you love by the rules of your country’s dominant religion? My gay and lesbian friends are. That’s persecution by Christians, not of Christians.
As a Christian, are your efforts to seek political and legal equality stymied by rhetoric from houses of worship on every street corner, and millions of dollars in a political funds from tax-exempt entries? My gay and lesbian friends are. That’s persecution by Christians, not of Christians.
As a woman seeking basic reproductive health services, are your choices limited and controlled and banned by government interference between you and your doctor, those bans and controls coming from your country’s dominant religion? My female friends are. That’s persecution by Christians, not of Christians.
As a religious minority seeking to practice your own religion in peace, are you constantly subject to prayers, religious observances and public holidays as established by the rules of your country’s dominant religion? My Jewish and Islamic and Sikh friends are. That’s persecution by Christians, not of Christians.
As a religious minority seeking to establish a house of worship consistent with real estate and zoning practices in a major American city, are you prevented from doing so by a massive public outcry led by practitioners of your country’s dominant religion? My Islamic and Sikh friends have repeatedly endured this. That’s persecution by Christians, not of Christians.
As a religious minority voting in state and national elections, are your choices almost always between two members of your country’s dominant religion? My Jewish and Islamic and Sikh friends find that to be so. That’s persecution by Christians, not of Christians.
As a religious minority being sworn into a rarely-elected office, or to testify in court, are you required and expected to swear on the sacred text of your country’s dominant religion? If you try to use your own sacred text, are you subject to mockery and derision? My Jewish and Islamic and Sikh friends find that to be so. That’s persecution by Christians, not of Christians.
As an atheist who polls as the leased trusted group in America, how would you feel about despised and distrusted? That’s persecution by Christians, not of Christians.
As a student trying to learn to be competitive in the high tech future, are you subjected to counterfactual faith-based teachings in math and science class thanks to the meddling of your country’s dominant religion with its persistent, pernicious confusion of faith-based belief with objective reality? Students across America are every day. That’s persecution by Christians, not of Christians.
The next time you complain about a minor erosion in the absolute social dominance of Christianity as being a form of persecution, take a moment to think, really think, what it still means to be a non-Christian in America. Trading away a small bit of your power for the self-respect and social safety of others isn’t persecution, it’s loving compromise.
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Posted: 5:19 am Tue September 25 2012 |
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Of course, there’s a far, far more difficult problem lurking under all of these examples:
When you examine the legal tender (coins and currency) of your nation, are you expected to accept its value because it is emblazoned with not just a Christian, but a Protestant, affirmation “In God We Trust”, knowing full well that the deity who receives such “trust” isn’t yours?
Try being a pagan, and a lesbian of size. I get it from every direction. But without a doubt, the first to attack on at least two of those fronts, are the christians. And they are not always up front about it. I have christian relatives that say they love me but that I don’t know gays and lesbians lifestyle like they do, and they spout hateful rhetoric they no-doubt hear at church (I’ve certainly seen the clips of these types of sermons.)
Good post.
I don’t like to talk about religion on public forums because it’s so divisive but I’m making this one exception so you don’t think all Christians are like the weird Tea Party right-winged weirdos, which most on the Christian left think they are. But that’s not very Christian of me and I dislike painting Christians as left or right because their politics should not interfere with love of community and good works. But those politicians seem to think they have a monopoly on Christianity or what they think it is and they portray the left as either atheist or muslim. They are not the standard by which to judge all Christians. If anything I hope they are a poor example of a minority. Just so you know, Jay. Episcopals allow for the ordination of women and ordination of gays and lesbians, and sacraments of marriage for gays and lesbians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episcopal_Church_(United_States)#Ordination_of_women
When this occurred some churches down south split and vehement and vociferous anti-gay congregates left the church and it still causes controversy from within. I’d explain my spiritual path but it’s long and convoluted and would take at least a page or two.