- Jul 31, 2006
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It really annoys and angers me when American Christians whine about persecution in the United States. American Christians wouldn't know true persecution if it stared them in the face.
Here we sit in the richest and (probably) most free country in the world. Our government is not only open to religion (sometimes too open) but sometimes holds Christianity in a privileged position.
While Christians in other parts of the world are being killed for even having a Bible in their possession, American Christians, who can worship practically any way they want (within reason) whine because of a stupid Ten Commandments statue. Or perceived "bannings" of prayer and the Bible.
I think that American Christians are spoiled. They have held a high position of regard - even privilege - in this country for a long time. For some Christians, this isn't enough. They're more interested in Christianity's complete dominance of this government than religious pluralism and freedom.
Not all the Christians who still regret the removal of the Ten Commandments monument feel this way, of course. The majority of Christians, I think, are good people who think that sometimes, the government is out to get them. This is a valid concern that should probably be addressed. But to the other Christians, who are constantly whining about "persecution", I say: get over yourselves!
Christianity has been around for at least two-thousand years. It has survived hundreds of different cultures both responsive and resistant to its tenets. It has survived horrible persecution - beheadings, burning-at-stakes, being used as live torches in ancient Rome. After all of that history and all of that real persecution, are you honestly telling me that the removal of a stupid monument, or a clerk at Target saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", or the banning of mandatory schoolwide prayer is persecution? Please.
I simply don't understand this way of thinking. Why are some Christians so insistent upon acting as the "persecuted minority" when it's not even close to being true? What is with the persecution complex among so many Christians?
Don't you appreciate your freedoms? The right to worship on Sunday (or any other day you want), how you want (within reason) and where you want (within reason)? Don't you appreciate the ability to think for yourself rather than the government telling you what religion and what brand of doctrine to follow? Don't you appreciate the freedom to vote your conscience?
There are so many things for which Christians should be grateful in this country. Are meaningless monuments and a clerk's words at the check-out lane in Target truly worth the energy and effort? I don't think so.
Ten Commandments monuments fade and are soon forgotten. After all, A monument is nothing but a symbolic item anyway. If the Ten Commandments are truly so important, why not erect them in your church or home? Or learn them for yourself and keep them within your heart?
Appreciate your freedoms and quit whining!
Ringo
Here we sit in the richest and (probably) most free country in the world. Our government is not only open to religion (sometimes too open) but sometimes holds Christianity in a privileged position.
While Christians in other parts of the world are being killed for even having a Bible in their possession, American Christians, who can worship practically any way they want (within reason) whine because of a stupid Ten Commandments statue. Or perceived "bannings" of prayer and the Bible.
I think that American Christians are spoiled. They have held a high position of regard - even privilege - in this country for a long time. For some Christians, this isn't enough. They're more interested in Christianity's complete dominance of this government than religious pluralism and freedom.
Not all the Christians who still regret the removal of the Ten Commandments monument feel this way, of course. The majority of Christians, I think, are good people who think that sometimes, the government is out to get them. This is a valid concern that should probably be addressed. But to the other Christians, who are constantly whining about "persecution", I say: get over yourselves!
Christianity has been around for at least two-thousand years. It has survived hundreds of different cultures both responsive and resistant to its tenets. It has survived horrible persecution - beheadings, burning-at-stakes, being used as live torches in ancient Rome. After all of that history and all of that real persecution, are you honestly telling me that the removal of a stupid monument, or a clerk at Target saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", or the banning of mandatory schoolwide prayer is persecution? Please.
I simply don't understand this way of thinking. Why are some Christians so insistent upon acting as the "persecuted minority" when it's not even close to being true? What is with the persecution complex among so many Christians?
Don't you appreciate your freedoms? The right to worship on Sunday (or any other day you want), how you want (within reason) and where you want (within reason)? Don't you appreciate the ability to think for yourself rather than the government telling you what religion and what brand of doctrine to follow? Don't you appreciate the freedom to vote your conscience?
There are so many things for which Christians should be grateful in this country. Are meaningless monuments and a clerk's words at the check-out lane in Target truly worth the energy and effort? I don't think so.
Ten Commandments monuments fade and are soon forgotten. After all, A monument is nothing but a symbolic item anyway. If the Ten Commandments are truly so important, why not erect them in your church or home? Or learn them for yourself and keep them within your heart?
Appreciate your freedoms and quit whining!
Ringo
