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The Myth of Christian Persecution

Started by stromboli, October 18, 2013, 12:18:21 PM

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stromboli

http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-r ... ersecution

QuoteWhen Senator Rand Paul took the stage at last weekend's Values Voter Summit, it was clear he needed to up the stakes. Alongside a handful of other 2016 presidential contenders, Paul was auditioning for the far right's support in a speech to the annual conference of Christian conservatives hosted by the Family Research Council at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Making his task far more difficult was that fact that one of his rivals had just hit a home run.

Ted Cruz, the Republican senator largely blamed for orchestrating the government shutdown in a last-ditch effort to defund the Affordable Care Act, left the podium after a barn-burner speech punctuated by yells of protest from a handful of immigration activists who had entered the conference incognito. Each time the protesters interrupted Cruz's speech, the audience throbbed with exhilaration and rage. Cruz—who would go on to win the 2016 presidential straw poll—paced the stage like a charismatic preacher, pronouncing amid thunderous applause, "The greatest trick the left has ever played is to convince conservatives we cannot win." It was an appropriate tack for a man who's been widely criticized for leading congressional Republicans into an unwinnable shutdown crisis. At least in Cruz's mind, victory was still possible.

The air was much stiller after Paul took Cruz's place behind the microphone. But the Kentucky libertarian plunged in, dispensing with a few boilerplate jokes about the Senate Republicans' upcoming meeting at the White House before shifting to another conservative bête noire: Christian persecution in the Middle East and beyond. "Across the globe, Christians are under attack, almost as if we lived in the Middle Ages or under early pagan Roman rule," Paul said, referring to the waves of violence against Coptic Christians, who were targeted following the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. "This administration does nothing to stop it. And it can be argued that they're giving aid and comfort to those who tolerate these crimes."

The global war on Christianity is a perpetual topic on conservative talk shows, but it might seem like an odd choice for a politician like Paul, who's made his name as a libertarian Republican opposed to any kind of military intervention. As the Values Voter Summit unfolded over the next day and a half, however, it was clear that Paul was stepping onto a powerful rhetorical bandwagon. Throughout the summit, speaker after speaker bemoaned Christians' status as an embattled people, fighting everything from Islamic radicalism to a shadowy "war on football."

At least four speakers—from Ted Cruz to Matt Krause, a first-term Texas state legislator—placed themselves and the assembled crowds in the shoes of another embattled minority: Jews at the time of the Babylonian exile. "Like Esther, you were called for a time such as this," Cruz told his audience, echoing a line from the Book of Esther, the Biblical story of the queen who rescued the Persian Jews, a religious minority in exile, from the genocidal machinations of the king's adviser, Haman. It's a weird analogy, not least because it casts Obama (who is, of course, also a Christian, although that fact was not mentioned at the summit) as Haman, a member of the Amalekite tribe, the Jews' ancient foes. The allusion has other disturbing implications: At the end of the Book of Esther, the Jews, with the Persian king's blessing, roved throughout the kingdom, slaughtering their enemies.

The crowds ate it up. But why would messages about martyrdom and victimhood be so galvanizing to a group of people who are, by almost any measure possible, objectively not being persecuted? The president is Christian; Congress is overwhelmingly Christian; although there are no Protestants on the Supreme Court, a majority of the justices are Catholic. Even Paul's claims about a global war on Christianity ring false. Muslims who use the Internet—who make up about 18 percent of the global population, although this number varies widely from country to country— are increasingly likely to have favorable views of the West and Christianity, signaling that as Internet access expands, Muslim attitudes will grow friendlier.  Two-thirds of Muslims worldwide share concerns about Islamic extremism.

The longer I am an atheist the more disgusted I am by this type of thinking. As a Mormon there was a constant  "we are the sons of martyrs" mindset, and what I refer to as the "circle the wagons" mentality. Christianity is no different. Using the Old Testament and the Babylonian captivity is so typical of the backward mindset these people have. I was one of them. Can't tell you how good it feels not to be anymore.

Solitary

Better late than never. =D> What has any mythical stories have to do with anything now in reality. Religion is like trying to progress with ignorance instead of knowledge and it shows.  :roll:  Solitary
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

Poison Tree

I was raised SDA and was constantly told that it was only a matter of months (years, if we were lucky) before "they" would pass a global Sunday-worship law and round all of us Sabbath-keepers into concentration/death camps.

The first step for me realizing how bizarre this line of thinking actually was was to stop and think "If this needs to happen before Jesus can return and take us all to an eternity in heaven, why are we trying to prevent it from happening? Shouldn't we be trying to hurry the end times?" OF course, I now know that there are some people trying to hurry Armageddon, people in multiple religions.
"Observe that noses were made to wear spectacles; and so we have spectacles. Legs were visibly instituted to be breeched, and we have breeches" Voltaire�s Candide

Hijiri Byakuren








Christians with an oppression complex need to go sodomize themselves with a cactus.
Speak when you have something to say, not when you have to say something.

Sargon The Grape - My Youtube Channel

AllPurposeAtheist

I have a better idea. Let's gather this bunch up and allow them to be real examples of persecution and actually feed the motherfuckers to real hungry lions.

Note: I don't have a problem making them martyrs.. :)
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

AlwaysLearning

Yea, I would definitely say that Christians in America (and quite a few other countries) are not persecuted, hated but not persecuted, and it's sad that politicians use it as a way to help build their campaign. But there really is persecution going on in some places. You could get killed, tortured, or arrested just for claiming to be Christian. I've had friends go to other countries for missionary work and they would write us emails or letters to keep us in touch and they had to use substitute words for things like God, Holy spirit, gospel, Christ, and so on because they ran the risk of being arrested if they were caught.

AllPurposeAtheist

Like waterboarding and being left to rot in Cuba? :-k
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

aileron

Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"...actually feed the motherfuckers to real hungry lions.

Even the Christian persecution in ancient times, though real, is wildly exaggerated.  After a few Christians became martyrs, a lot of brain-fucked coreligionists saw martyrdom as a one way ticket to heaven and did all they could to become martyrs.  One Roman governor even told them in exasperation if they wanted to die there were plenty of cliffs for falling and ropes for hanging.  Romans for the most part didn't go out of their way to find out who was a Christian and do anything about it.  There were ongoing, mostly localized persecutions that probably claimed a few thousand lives, but nothing like an organized hunt and roundup of hundreds of thousands as early Christian writers describe.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room! -- President Merkin Muffley

My mom was a religious fundamentalist. Plus, she didn't have a mouth. It's an unusual combination. -- Bender Bending Rodriguez

Shiranu

Quote...that Christians in America (and quite a few other countries) are not persecuted, hated but not persecuted...

Hated as in the government tries to put their beliefs in school? Hated as in if you "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", the media loses its collective mind? Hated as in they are tax-exempt even when they become political cheerleaders?

I have hard time seeing this hatred.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

aileron

Quote from: "AlwaysLearning"I've had friends go to other countries for missionary work and they would write us emails or letters to keep us in touch and they had to use substitute words for things like God, Holy spirit, gospel, Christ, and so on because they ran the risk of being arrested if they were caught.

I don't have a problem with Christian missionaries going to such places to proselytize, but I have a big problem with the "send in the Marines" attitude when they get arrested in some jerkwater country.  If they want to take the risk, it's their risk to take.  I have no patience for people who would endanger the lives of our troops (not to mention the local population) to save a few foolhardy people who knowingly put themselves in danger.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room! -- President Merkin Muffley

My mom was a religious fundamentalist. Plus, she didn't have a mouth. It's an unusual combination. -- Bender Bending Rodriguez

Hydra009

Quote from: "Shiranu"
Quote...that Christians in America (and quite a few other countries) are not persecuted, hated but not persecuted...

Hated as in the government tries to put their beliefs in school? Hated as in if you "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", the media loses its collective mind? Hated as in they are tax-exempt even when they become political cheerleaders?

I have hard time seeing this hatred.
Hated as in mildly disliked by other groups.  Sometimes bordering on aversion.  Or whatever word expresses an incredibly mild form of aversion.  Annoyed?  Annoyed works.

And it's usually just the extremely preachy people who get that sort of reaction.  The standard rank-and-file Christian is not at threat whatsoever.

What is happening is that using that the Christian Right is slowly losing steam and turning off a lot of young people.  And as such, the same ol' blustering isn't quite as effective anymore.  Naturally, they interpret this shrinking influence as persecution.  *plays world's smallest violin*

Minimalist

I highly recommend Candida Moss' "The Myth of Persecution."  Not that it will stop grandstanding shits like these republicunt assholes but there is little actual historical support for this poor, poor, xtians crap.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Myth-Persecut ... ersecution
The Christian church, in its attitude toward science, shows the mind of a more or less enlightened man of the Thirteenth Century. It no longer believes that the earth is flat, but it is still convinced that prayer can cure after medicine fails.

-- H. L. Mencken

stromboli

Quote from: "Minimalist"I highly recommend Candida Moss' "The Myth of Persecution."  Not that it will stop grandstanding shits like these republicunt assholes but there is little actual historical support for this poor, poor, xtians crap.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Myth-Persecut ... ersecution

This. The xtians gettin' all misty is based on a load of BS, period.

jublebeans

Every time I have an argument with my mother and I tell her my reasons for not believing in her god she always pulls the "Stop disrespecting by beliefs" bullshit.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able, or willing?
Then why call him God?

Religion rids the mind of reason and logic.

Minimalist

Personally, j/b, I love to shove this cartoon right up the ass of people like that.

The Christian church, in its attitude toward science, shows the mind of a more or less enlightened man of the Thirteenth Century. It no longer believes that the earth is flat, but it is still convinced that prayer can cure after medicine fails.

-- H. L. Mencken