Warrior Prophet
August 23rd, 2004, 10:50 PM
Dear All,
I've been noticing a phenomenon within the American Evangelical Church that's a little... scary. Just reading a few Christian books just now... Babylon Rising and Silenced, both set in America just prior to the rapture, I noticed a theme that both books share: a paranoia that evengelicals will/are being persecuted in America.
Now let's be realistic folks. There is no real persecutions going on in America, and while there are Christians who are mocked, most deserve the treamente they get. (I'm thinking the Pat Roberstons and Jerry Falwells of the world.) Face it, some of the people who claim to represent evangelicals... are a bit off. Also, among some evangelical circles there is pure hatred for homosexuals and abortionists. I'm not defending either behaviour, just saying that the minority that does hate to an extreme will always be highlighted. Face it, the media will always paint with a broad brush. When we've got leaders who are ignorant and tend to.. say silly things and whack jobs go to an extreme... can you expect those who aren't evangelicals to want more evangelical influence in the culture?
Second point... in America, even those who want Christianity taken out of governmental ceremony and schools are not anti-Christian. America is becoming more and more a secular nation. So do you expect a secular nation to still use religious icons in it's governmental structures? No. More than that.. we are becoming postmodern. That means that people want all views represented, not merely one view. This does not mean they just target evangelicals. Any extremist group is a target. Mormons, muslims and any group that claims exclusivity is a target. You have to also see that those who do want a more secularized nation are noisey.... but small. 80 percent of Americans claim belief in God. A majority of Americans claim to be Christians. The secularist tide now is still very small and they haven't really persecuted anyone. All they've done is take some Christian monuments down. We are hardly having to turn to house churches.
Third... where is this persecution? If you believe there is some persecution going on against evangelicals... where's the beef? Compared to the world, we have it easy. Are Christians mocked? Yes. But because we are truly being the Church of God is not one of the main reasons. It's because the church has a rep of being ignorant, narrow minded and hateful. As I've pointed out, looking at the church, there are good reasons for people to believe this. Jerry Falwell blaming the 9/11 attacks on homosexuals and feminists is one example. And claiming that God told him that... it's like 'geez.. shut up!' The anti-intellectual and anti-science movement in evangelicalism also shows people what they don't necessarily want in their spirituality.
I think I've gone long winded and preachy.... my question is this... why do you think American Christians are so determined to picture themselves as martyrs? Do we just ignore the plight of Christians around the world? Are we that ego-centric?
I've been noticing a phenomenon within the American Evangelical Church that's a little... scary. Just reading a few Christian books just now... Babylon Rising and Silenced, both set in America just prior to the rapture, I noticed a theme that both books share: a paranoia that evengelicals will/are being persecuted in America.
Now let's be realistic folks. There is no real persecutions going on in America, and while there are Christians who are mocked, most deserve the treamente they get. (I'm thinking the Pat Roberstons and Jerry Falwells of the world.) Face it, some of the people who claim to represent evangelicals... are a bit off. Also, among some evangelical circles there is pure hatred for homosexuals and abortionists. I'm not defending either behaviour, just saying that the minority that does hate to an extreme will always be highlighted. Face it, the media will always paint with a broad brush. When we've got leaders who are ignorant and tend to.. say silly things and whack jobs go to an extreme... can you expect those who aren't evangelicals to want more evangelical influence in the culture?
Second point... in America, even those who want Christianity taken out of governmental ceremony and schools are not anti-Christian. America is becoming more and more a secular nation. So do you expect a secular nation to still use religious icons in it's governmental structures? No. More than that.. we are becoming postmodern. That means that people want all views represented, not merely one view. This does not mean they just target evangelicals. Any extremist group is a target. Mormons, muslims and any group that claims exclusivity is a target. You have to also see that those who do want a more secularized nation are noisey.... but small. 80 percent of Americans claim belief in God. A majority of Americans claim to be Christians. The secularist tide now is still very small and they haven't really persecuted anyone. All they've done is take some Christian monuments down. We are hardly having to turn to house churches.
Third... where is this persecution? If you believe there is some persecution going on against evangelicals... where's the beef? Compared to the world, we have it easy. Are Christians mocked? Yes. But because we are truly being the Church of God is not one of the main reasons. It's because the church has a rep of being ignorant, narrow minded and hateful. As I've pointed out, looking at the church, there are good reasons for people to believe this. Jerry Falwell blaming the 9/11 attacks on homosexuals and feminists is one example. And claiming that God told him that... it's like 'geez.. shut up!' The anti-intellectual and anti-science movement in evangelicalism also shows people what they don't necessarily want in their spirituality.
I think I've gone long winded and preachy.... my question is this... why do you think American Christians are so determined to picture themselves as martyrs? Do we just ignore the plight of Christians around the world? Are we that ego-centric?