Is there a war on Christianity in America's Left?

[Twilight Hue]

Read this article, and find that in a discussion of the horrendous attacks on Christian Churches in Sri Lanka, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama cannot bring themselves to use the word "Christian." Instead they use the sanitized euphemism "Easter worshippers." Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton tip anti-Christian ‘Easter worshippers’ hats

Why? Has being a Christian become too much of an embarrassment for Democrats these days? And is this just a part of the larger picture of the Left disenfranchising Christianity? It often appears these days that you can be Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, Wiccan, and even a Satanist (and ESPECIALLY a Muslim) and the ACLU will protect your rights. But if you are a Christian, aren't you seen as the purveyor of prejudice?

I used to think it was we Jews who had it bad. I remember when I lived in North Hollywood, CA and two Jewish men were shot going into morning prayers at their shul -- not a single newspaper or TV media outlet covered the event. And that was typical back then for our neighborhood. Jews were seen as part of the "rich white oppressor" by the Left.

Now the hatred is spreading, and Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world, first by Islam, and second by the Left. And I'm sorry to say, but the bigotry extends even to my own country.

While I think it's a little extreme to say 'persecuted' with some geographical exceptions like the middle east, I do think the Socialist Democrats are trying to suppress personal religious freedom.

While I support separation of church and state, I don't support using the nanny state to prevent people from having a Bible or religious icon on their person and the ability to pray or worship on their personal time at or away from work or school as long as it's not disruptive or intruding towards another person.

 

[Left Coast]

That is not what things are like in Muslim countries around the world. In fact, just today I was reading that Christians in Egypt are going through yet another round of heavy persecution. When I say persecution by Muslims, I mean destruction of churches. I mean the execution of those who convert to Christianity. I mean false charges against Christians for so called blasphemy against Muhammad. In these countries, a Christian can die for being a Christian. The terrorists in Sri Lanka targeted Christian Churches in particular, you know.

The governments of the places in the world where that is true also persecute pagans, atheists, and Muslims who the ruling authorities consider heterodox (Sufis, for example). The issue isn't a particular animus towards Christianity, but a brand of fundamentalist Islamist theocracy.

The second source of religious persecution is coming from the secular left, especially anti-Theists. Using revisionist history, they seek to marginalize Christianity and remove it from public existence. IOW, they would like to emasculate it, so that it cannot function in a way that effects civic and cultural life.

Separation of government and religion guides the jurisprudence of all Western democracies. No religion should have the power to dictate public policy (nor should any public policy have a rationale rooted in nothing more than religion/theology).

They have passed laws that have consistently placed rights NOT embedded in the constitution over the right to freedom of religion, which IS expressly protected by the constitution. A business literally had to take it all the way to the Supreme Court that given their religious beliefs, they should not be forced to provide a gay wedding cake. It is absurd that this kind of religious discrimination goes on.

The only thing that is absurd here is your conflation of preventing discrimination with discrimination itself. Telling businesses they are not allowed to discriminate against Jews (by refusing to serve Jews, for example) is not discriminatory - it is literally protecting Jews from discrimination. The Right has masterfully framed the discussion around this issue as a violation of "religious expression" when it is actually about protecting the rights of minorities. If your religion motivates you to discriminate against people, then sorry, in free societies we place limits on how you are allowed to act on those religious impulses in the public square.

 

[1213]

Read this article, and find that in a discussion of the horrendous attacks on Christian Churches in Sri Lanka, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama cannot bring themselves to use the word "Christian." Instead they use the sanitized euphemism "Easter worshippers." Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton tip anti-Christian ‘Easter worshippers’ hats
....

It is really sad. Surprisingly they don’t call Muslims stone worshipers, even though they bow to the rock in Kaaba everyday.

 

[Shiranui117]

I don't believe there is a war on Christianity; it is more about redressing the previous benefits that Christians were granted above all others.

Is refusing to even admit that it was 200+ Christians and not vapid "Easter worshipers" who were killed by Islamic terrorists the right way to "redress previous benefits that Christians were granted above all others"?

By all means, push for equality between all members of any religion in the US. But the way to do that isn't to push down Christianity into the fringes. It's to uplift the other religions.

 

[Altfish]

Is refusing to even admit that it was 200+ Christians and not vapid "Easter worshipers" who were killed by Islamic terrorists the right way to "redress previous benefits that Christians were granted above all others"?

No, who said it was?

By all means, push for equality between all members of any religion in the US. But the way to do that isn't to push down Christianity into the fringes. It's to uplift the other religions.

Why should any religion have privileges? Christianity is hardly 'pushed to the fringes in the US' it runs the President.
BTW, Don't forget those of no faith; they also need equal rights.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Is refusing to even admit that it was 200+ Christians and not vapid "Easter worshipers" who were killed by Islamic terrorists the right way to "redress previous benefits that Christians were granted above all others"?

Can you explain why you consider "Easter worshippers" to be vapid?

I'm also not clear on why you think anyone "refused to admit" that the victims were Christians. I would have thought that this would have been implied from saying that they were participating in a worship service for a Christian holiday, and I'm not sure where this stuff about refusing is coming from.

 

[Shiranui117]

Christianity is hardly 'pushed to the fringes in the US' it runs the President.

In most universities, especially those which have a lot of the regressive "woke activist" types, Christianity is definitely looked down upon compared to other religions. It's often seen as the religion of backwards, oppressive, bigoted, racist, homophobic and transphobic people.

BTW, Don't forget those of no faith; they also need equal rights.

Naturally.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

The one who wrote about Islam being a tool to destroy Christianity and itself as well as Atheism being a tool.

Just atheism. Not Atheism. Cheers.

 

[QuestioningMind]

Read this article, and find that in a discussion of the horrendous attacks on Christian Churches in Sri Lanka, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama cannot bring themselves to use the word "Christian." Instead they use the sanitized euphemism "Easter worshippers." Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton tip anti-Christian ‘Easter worshippers’ hats

Why? Has being a Christian become too much of an embarrassment for Democrats these days? And is this just a part of the larger picture of the Left disenfranchising Christianity? It often appears these days that you can be Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, Wiccan, and even a Satanist (and ESPECIALLY a Muslim) and the ACLU will protect your rights. But if you are a Christian, aren't you seen as the purveyor of prejudice?

I used to think it was we Jews who had it bad. I remember when I lived in North Hollywood, CA and two Jewish men were shot going into morning prayers at their shul -- not a single newspaper or TV media outlet covered the event. And that was typical back then for our neighborhood. Jews were seen as part of the "rich white oppressor" by the Left.

Now the hatred is spreading, and Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world, first by Islam, and second by the Left. And I'm sorry to say, but the bigotry extends even to my own country.

ROFL... my oh my, you guys sure do have to stretch reality in order to justify your silly belief in this War on Christianity. A couple of liberals called the victims' Easter Worshipers' instead of Christians! Oh my lord how HORRIBLE! CLEARLY they were referring to all of the Hindu and Jewish Easter Worshiper victims that were there.

So sad that folks like you think that not getting SPECIAL PRIVILEGES means you're being PERSECUTED against.

 

[Shiranui117]

Can you explain why you consider "Easter worshippers" to be vapid?

I'm also not clear on why you think anyone "refused to admit" that the victims were Christians. I would have thought that this would have been implied from saying that they were participating in a worship service for a Christian holiday, and I'm not sure where this stuff about refusing is coming from.

In which case, why is it so hard to say that 200+ Christians were killed by Islamic terrorists? Why is there a need to say "Easter worshipers" instead? You wouldn't say that Ramadan worshipers were killed, or Eid-al-Fitr worshipers were killed, or that Yom Kippur worshipers were killed, or that Diwali worshipers were killed. You would say that Muslims, Jews or Hindus were killed.

 

[Shiranui117]

ROFL... my oh my, you guys sure do have to stretch reality in order to justify your silly belief in this War on Christianity. A couple of liberals called the victims' Easter Worshipers' instead of Christians! Oh my lord how HORRIBLE! CLEARLY they were referring to all of the Hindu and Jewish Easter Worshiper victims that were there.

So sad that folks like you think that not getting SPECIAL PRIVILEGES means you're being PERSECUTED against.

The OP is Jewish.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

First of all, I am not a Christian. I have no dog in the race. I am a Jew. If anything, you would think I would have a bias against the Christian church given our history.

I didn't suggest you were personally invested, nor that you were a Christian. My comment represents my opinion on the matter. Your allegiances don't effect it at all. I'm not a reactionary.

There are two forces marginalizing Christianity. The main force is Islam.

Really? I would have had Christianity listed first, but okay...

Now Muslims in my own country are just fine. They've grown up here, and have assimilated American values like freedom of religion. They are horrified when people of other religions are persecuted.

Apart, presumably, from the ones who went and fought for Islamic State...

That is not what things are like in Muslim countries around the world. In fact, just today I was reading that Christians in Egypt are going through yet another round of heavy persecution. When I say persecution by Muslims, I mean destruction of churches. I mean the execution of those who convert to Christianity. I mean false charges against Christians for so called blasphemy against Muhammad. In these countries, a Christian can die for being a Christian. The terrorists in Sri Lanka targeted Christian Churches in particular, you know.

Why are you so concerned about Christian persecution?
Are Jews not discriminated against by oppressive regimes? Atheists? Muslims?
Oppressive regimes oppress.

The second source of religious persecution is coming from the secular left, especially anti-Theists. Using revisionist history, they seek to marginalize Christianity and remove it from public existence. IOW, they would like to emasculate it, so that it cannot function in a way that effects civic and cultural life. They do this primarily by trying to shame it, presenting only one side of its history, and removing from history all of the good that it has accomplished, and the fact that it has been central to our culture and therefore even to the secular government that sprung from our culture.

That is a claim I commonly hear. Then I see some of the speeches and claims made by American policy makers and I wonder why we hear of Christian persecution...a strong word in my book...when the legislative bodies are dominated by Christians, and non Christian officials are often unelectable. I also hear all sorts of things lumped into 'persecution' including things like the so-called War on Christmas which is frankly snowflake level behaviour. Again, I'm not accusing you personally of this.

They have passed laws that have consistently placed rights NOT embedded in the constitution over the right to freedom of religion, which IS expressly protected by the constitution. A business literally had to take it all the way to the Supreme Court that given their religious beliefs, they should not be forced to provide a gay wedding cake. It is absurd that this kind of religious discrimination goes on.

They, as in the Christian dominated legislature? Yeah...by all means, see wedding cakes as persecution and abortion laws as due process.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

In which case, why is it so hard to say that 200+ Christians were killed by Islamic terrorists? Why is there a need to say "Easter worshipers" instead? You wouldn't say that Ramadan worshipers were killed, or Eid-al-Fitr worshipers were killed, or that Yom Kippur worshipers were killed, or that Diwali worshipers were killed. You would say that Muslims, Jews or Hindus were killed.

I find the term Easter Worshippers pretty strange.
The people killed weren't all Christians, and

 

[Left Coast]

Is refusing to even admit that it was 200+ Christians and not vapid "Easter worshipers" who were killed by Islamic terrorists the right way to "redress previous benefits that Christians were granted above all others"?

By all means, push for equality between all members of any religion in the US. But the way to do that isn't to push down Christianity into the fringes. It's to uplift the other religions.

Oh FFS. Referring to Christians as "Easter worshippers" does not "push them to the fringes." I thought us libs were supposed to be the snowflakes.

 

[Shiranui117]

Oh FFS. Referring to Christians as "Easter worshippers" does not "push them to the fringes." I thought us libs were supposed to be the snowflakes.

You presume that this is the only scenario I have in mind. Nevermind the fact that most public university campuses are now host to left-wing identitarians who view Christianity as the religion of the colonizer and the oppressor which is to be overthrown. Christians as a whole are derided as being bigoted, racist, misogynistic, transphobic, intolerant, close-minded, unintelligent, backwards and homophobic. But not a word about Islam or Orthodox Judaism being likewise. And nevermind the fact that nobody talks about the 20th century being the century where more Christians were killed for their faith than all previous centuries combined.

 

[Shiranui117]

I find the term Easter Worshippers pretty strange.
The people killed weren't all Christians, and

Were you going to finish that sentence?

 

[QuestioningMind]

The OP is Jewish.

Then apparently Jewish people can also have this silly belief that there's a War on Christianity going on in America.

 

[Left Coast]

You presume that this is the only scenario I have in mind. Nevermind the fact that most public university campuses are now host to left-wing identitarians...

Is "left-wing identitarian" just a intellectual- sounding way to say "liberal person?" Mkay, so liberals exist at colleges. Go on...

who view Christianity as the religion of the colonizer and the oppressor which is to be overthrown.

In modern Western history, Christianity has been the religious identity of colonizers. So that's a historical fact.

In terms of whether Christianity should be "overthrown," I don't know who you're hearing advocate that, because Christianity isnt a monolithic organization that could be overthrown even if one wanted to.

The majority of Dems in the US are still Christians, so they're certainly not advocating for Christianity to be "overthrown" by any stretch of the imagination. They mostly just want right-wing Christians to stop trying to impose their theological beliefs in the public sphere.

Christians as a whole are derided as being bigoted, racist, misogynistic, transphobic, intolerant, close-minded, unintelligent, backwards and homophobic.

Every group faces its stereotypes. Welcome to the world. There's one simple way to combat those stereotypes though - don't advocate for public policy or theology that is bigoted, racist, misogynistic, transphobic, intolerant, close-minded, unintelligent, backwards, or homophobic.

But not a word about Islam or Orthodox Judaism being likewise.

Personally I hear plenty of lefties criticizing members of those religions who are fundamentalists.

And nevermind the fact that nobody talks about the 20th century being the century where more Christians were killed for their faith than all previous centuries combined.

Well, it helps that for the majority of Christian history, Christians have enjoyed near-total political and cultural hegemony and imposed their faith by force throughout the West and the variety of places they colonized.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Were you going to finish that sentence?

Yeah, sorry. Was going through airport security, hadn't meant to post it. I'll edit later.

 

[QuestioningMind]

Is refusing to even admit that it was 200+ Christians and not vapid "Easter worshipers" who were killed by Islamic terrorists the right way to "redress previous benefits that Christians were granted above all others"?

By all means, push for equality between all members of any religion in the US. But the way to do that isn't to push down Christianity into the fringes. It's to uplift the other religions.

How the heck is calling people Easter Worshipers in any way shape or form 'refusing to admit that 200+ Christians' were killed? How many non-Christians do you know who consider themselves to be Easter Worshipers?

That's like if I said that 20 school children were killed in a school shooting and you claimed that I 'refuse to admit that 20 human beings were killed in the shooting... as if the school children I was referring to were anything other than human beings.