Conservative Christians Persecuted in the US?

[beenie]

I had a rather healthy (albeit sometimes loony) debate on my FB page about Trump's treatment of the fallen soldier's wife (after Khizr Khan's DNC speech). One friend said she sides with Trump and the Republican Party because "conservative, believing Christians are being persecuted in the US".

Can someone elighten me exactly how Christians are being persecuted? Are they being forbidden to attend their services? Are they being questioned for wearing religious garb? When I asked for clarification, she proceeded to tell me how abortion is murder. Is that it? Seriously?

She had no response when I asked her how she thinks it feels to be a Muslim in the US right now.

Figures.

Open to hearing how Christians are being persecuted, though.

 

[fantome profane]

One friend said she sides with Trump and the Republican Party because "conservative, believing Christians are being persecuted in the US".

Before that debate really gets going, I feel I need to point out that even if it were true that conservative Christians were persecuted in the US (and I don't believe it is true) it would be irrelevant. The hypothetical persecution of Christians would not justify persecution of Muslims. It would not justify placing a religious test on immigration, it would not justify profiling, and it absolutely would not justify the ignorant bigoted comment Trump made about Mrs. Khan.

 

[Sees]

There can be heavy bias against people who are Christian in various circles, and there is, while still only having a very tiny minority who are being persecuted in a serious way. I think it's a misuse of language spawned by the martyr-complex that is easily adopted by some. They are being overly dramatic but not without some cause.

There are Christian stores, radio stations, churches, etc. galore....throughout the country. Yet at the same time, a Sunni Muslim would get a pass for homophobia before the Baptist neighbor does. There is a sense for non-religious folks that heavy criticism against it is much safer and more acceptable, basically perceiving it as a bigotry-free activity. Really about the opposite of what to expect in Muslim majority nations.

 

[Shad]

I had a rather healthy (albeit sometimes loony) debate on my FB page about Trump's treatment of the fallen soldier's wife (after Khizr Khan's DNC speech). One friend said she sides with Trump and the Republican Party because "conservative, believing Christians are being persecuted in the US".

Can someone elighten me exactly how Christians are being persecuted? Are they being forbidden to attend their services? Are they being questioned for wearing religious garb? When I asked for clarification, she proceeded to tell me how abortion is murder. Is that it? Seriously?

She had no response when I asked her how she thinks it feels to be a Muslim in the US right now.

Figures.

Open to hearing how Christians are being persecuted, though.

Simply put Protestant Christianity had many privileges within government that have been slowly undermined by other groups such as Catholics for over two centuries. Yes Catholics helped secularism spread in the USA. Protestants assumed these privileges are rights so now complain about the loss of their special privileges such as dictating law based on their denomination's view points. Special snowflake syndrome, nothing more.

 

[jeager106]

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=742

Muslim persecution of Christians is widespread. Particularly despised are former Muslims who converted to Christianity, for they stand in violation of traditional Islamic Law's injunction against apostasy. According to all contemporary schools of Islamic jurisprudence, that is a crime punishable by death, in accordance with the Prophet Muhammad's command: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.”

Conservative Christian persecuted in the U.S.
Not enough to make the evening news in Ohio.

Muslim do attack and persecute Christians here if they are of the wrong
sexual identity.
Miami?

 

[Father Heathen]

By "being persecuted" they actually mean being prevented from persecuting others themselves.

 

[tytlyf]

RW media enjoys playing the religion card to divide the nation. Conservatives are trained to think democrats want to destroy christians. It works apparently. Another reason to vote Democratic is to uphold our secular constitution and keep religious dominionists out of office

 

[Revoltingest]

I had a rather healthy (albeit sometimes loony) debate on my FB page about Trump's treatment of the fallen soldier's wife (after Khizr Khan's DNC speech). One friend said she sides with Trump and the Republican Party because "conservative, believing Christians are being persecuted in the US".

Can someone elighten me exactly how Christians are being persecuted? Are they being forbidden to attend their services? Are they being questioned for wearing religious garb? When I asked for clarification, she proceeded to tell me how abortion is murder. Is that it? Seriously?

She had no response when I asked her how she thinks it feels to be a Muslim in the US right now.

Figures.

Open to hearing how Christians are being persecuted, though.

I thought of a whole bunch of sarcastic remarks.
But they're all so obvious that I'll spare you the
burden of reading them.

 

[Lyndon]

I see plenty of abuse of conservative Christians on this forum!!

 

[jeager106]

RW media enjoys playing the religion card to divide the nation. Conservatives are trained to think democrats want to destroy christians. It works apparently. Another reason to vote Democratic is to uphold our secular constitution and keep religious dominionists out of office

Great post.
Lacking in any meaningful content but a great post.
I'm still laughing m.a.o.

 

[fantome profane]

I see plenty of abuse of conservative Christians on this forum!!

Define abuse. The only thing that happens on this forum is words.

 

[Sunstone]

So far as I know, for Evangelicals and some other Christians, it is unthinkable that they would not be persecuted. It is strangely crucial to their worldview that Christians are persecuted: Their god has even said as much to them in their bible. As a consequence, they seize upon things with only the very slightest, the most glancing, resemblance to genuine persecution, and then they declare those things are certain and conclusive proof of persecution.

Outsiders might find the Christian persecution notion to be bizarre, fantastic, baseless, but outsiders should keep in mind that it is universal human nature to create mental images of ourselves, and that it is far more common than many of us think for those mental images to be in whole or in part cut loose from any connection to reality.

 

[Sunstone]

I see plenty of abuse of conservative Christians on this forum!!

Your post is a case in point for the view that the Christian image of themselves as persecuted rests on insubstantial and/or irrelevant evidence.

 

[Laika]

I had a rather healthy (albeit sometimes loony) debate on my FB page about Trump's treatment of the fallen soldier's wife (after Khizr Khan's DNC speech). One friend said she sides with Trump and the Republican Party because "conservative, believing Christians are being persecuted in the US".

Can someone elighten me exactly how Christians are being persecuted? Are they being forbidden to attend their services? Are they being questioned for wearing religious garb? When I asked for clarification, she proceeded to tell me how abortion is murder. Is that it? Seriously?

She had no response when I asked her how she thinks it feels to be a Muslim in the US right now.

Figures.

Open to hearing how Christians are being persecuted, though.

As a non-Christian, My guess is that They believe the bible is true and contradicting that is "persecution". E.g. Forcing kids to learn evolution in public schools rather than the "truth" about intelligent design is persecution. That isn't wholly unreasonable when you think about it as having legal force.

The trailer for gods not dead 2 actually illustrates the mindset pretty well. It is the sense of escalation, of not being in control and of being surrounded by critical or hostile forces that constitutes "persecution".

Essentially, it is a fundamentalist Christian belief that cannot separate individual belief from political and public life based on the secular separation of church and state. People would ask for the "freedom" to discriminate based on their religious beliefs such as whether they do the paper-work for a gay wedding, or to chose which customers they serve in a restaurant etc. "Freedom of religion" has a very different meaning when it's secular and theocratic or Fundamentalist. A secular Christian may accept that their individual belief shall not reciece public approval, but for a more theocratically minded Christian, public approval of Christian theology is a vindication of its truth and public disapproval an attack on its truth. E.g. Allowing individuals to chose whether they can have an abortion is an attack on the Christian "truth" that we have a right to life endowed by our creator and in ignoring that God-given right, we are committing acts of murder. Etc. Not surprisingly, that feeling of vulnerability probably alienates them from others and makes for much more closed communities.

It must be pretty scary for Christians in a way to be part of a society where homosexuality is acceptable, pornography is widely available even to children on the Internet, the news shows Islamic Fundamentalists commuting acts of terrorism and you can't say "merry Christmas" without provoking claims to violating the establishment clause. I don't agree with them (look at China or North Korea for actual persecution), but I appreciate the sense of vulnerability.

 

[Lyndon]

Define abuse. The only thing that happens on this forum is words.

You're an adult and you've never heard of verbal abuse, you must lead a sheltered life!!

 

[Sapiens]

Radical fundamentalist Christians seem to have a need to claim that they are being crucified ... it's more "Christ-like" I guess.

This has been going on a long time, the Puritans came here to seek the right that was being denied to them, the right to persecute anyone who disagreed with them.

 

[Neo Deist]

RW media enjoys playing the religion card to divide the nation. Conservatives are trained to think democrats want to destroy christians. It works apparently. Another reason to vote Democratic is to uphold our secular constitution and keep religious dominionists out of office

Or just vote Libertarian and skip the democrat/republican circus.

 

[tytlyf]

Or just vote Libertarian and skip the democrat/republican circus.

Nah, libertarians vote republican. I'm not a fan of the libertarian platform wanting to privatize everything. The Kochroaches are libertarians. Additionally, I don't think public schools should be shut down.

 

[Revoltingest]

Nah, libertarians vote republican.

And fascists vote Democrat.

Hah!
Take that!
In your face!
In your face!

I'm not a fan of the libertarian platform wanting to privatize everything. The Kochroaches are libertarians. Additionally, I don't think public schools should be shut down.

Can you show me where this is in our platform?
https://www.lp.org/platform

 

[Lyndon]

Actually fascists vote Republican, case in point Donald Trump!!