Over the years I've spoken with a lot christians about various religious and social topics. One of the things that keeps popping up is "the persecution of Christians". But are Christians really being persecuted? When you just google a bit, you can find all kinds of reports about how, worldwide, large populations of Christians indeed are being persecuted. There are many examples of Christians being persecuted in Muslim countries. In China Christians and Muslims are oppressed. Worldwide several religions are basically oppressing eachother. But what about the American Christians?
Are American Christians being persecuted?
Most Christians I speak with are American Christians. When we have a discussion about secularism, same-sex-marriage, discrimination, freedom of religion and the disagreements between Atheists and Christians regarding these topics, it is often explained to me, that Christians are being persecuted for their beliefs. And while this might be true, globally, you could wonder if this could also be true, specifically, for American Christians.
There have been several examples where Christians have been criticised for things like discrimination of members of the LGBTQIA community.
One of the best known examples is perhaps the famous case of a Christian Bakery that refused to bake a weddingcake for a gay couple.
When things like these came up, the Christians I spoke with, were quite quick to refer to 'freedom of speech', 'freedom of religion' and how they are being persecuted. The way they brought it up, it nearly felt like they were proud of being able to say, 'we are being persecuted'. This made me look in to this, just a bit closer and it raises an interesting question. Do American Christians want to be persecuted?
Do American Christians want to be persecuted?
There are 2 reasons to ask this question. The first is quite simple. I've been talking with some American Christians about this. They referred to bible verses which basically predict that Christians will be persecuted. This, ofcourse, is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
When you act on your religious beliefs towards others, in a way those others experience as negative, then they will react on it. By taking on the victimrole, you can then claim you are being persecuted, even when the actions towards you are justified. By citing bible verses you can reassure yourself that you, indeed, are being persecuted. Basically you are conditioning yourself.
The bible verses generally quoted by Christians are bible verses like "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first" - John 15:18, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" 2 Timothy 3:12, or "Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man." Luke 6:22.
It seems that, whenever Christians are being criticised for discriminating against people from another group, like the LGBTQIA community, they justify their own bigotry with 'freedom of religion' and subsequently identify the criticism they receive as discrimination against themselves. This is regardless of the criticism about their bigotry being accurate. In discussions I've had about this, the appeal to an higher authority than human laws or government has often been made.
Basically you can use this tactic to reaffirm your beliefs. When the bible tells you homosexuality is wrong and it tells you christians will be persecuted, you can turn this in to a self-fulling prophecy by discriminating against homosexuals. When you are being criticised for discrimination, you interpret that criticism as persecution. This would then show you that this element of the bible is true. From this you then conclude all of of the bible must be true. This form of reasoning is an affirming the consequence fallacy.
An elevating phenomenon
The second reason to ask if christians want to be persecuted, is a phenomenon I noticed happening over the past year. I get the distinct impression that, Christians look at themselves as living the only correct lifestyle. They feel confident that they will be rewarded with heaven when they die, because of their biblical lifestyle. They are saved, by gods grace, which gives them a feeling of righteousness.
This subsequently means that those, who do not live their lives in the same way, are living the wrong lifestyle. Some of the Christians, as being saved by Gods grace, feel justified to force their believes on those who do not live the biblical lifestyle. They appear to feel it is their duty to have those others saved by god aswell.
Somehow, wanting others to "be saved" justifies overruling the rights of those other people, because, according to those christians, that is in the best interest of those people who live their lives "in the wrong way".
What I basically see happening is, many Christians elevating themselves above others in society and starting to discriminate others who do not live their lifestyle. This would apply to members of the LGBTQIA community, Atheists, other groups and even other Christian denominations.
In the moment that the other groups in society then criticise those Christians for their bigotry and try to pull them back down, to the same level as all others, it is those christians who start to say that they are being discriminated against or even are being persecuted. This, however, is far from true.
I am not saying that all christians discriminate others or elevate themselves over others in society. Yet, there seems to be a trend amongst members of the American Christian community, in which this behaviour is quite obvious. Ofcourse I would not mention this behaviour, if I did not have some wonderful examples of how some American Christians elevate themselves above others in society and force their religion on people who do not live the christian lifestyle.
Are Christians forcing their religion on others?
Over the past weeks I've collected several examples that show that there are Christians in the USA who seem to be forcing their religion on other groups, of which its members do not live the christian lifestyle. This behaviour is visible for example in public schools and local city counsils, in several states of the USA.
Mandatory display "in god we trust"
By forcing public schools to display the phrase "in God we trust", non-religious people are forcefully confronted with the religious beliefs of others, in an institution that should be religiously neutral, especially when they are funded with public funds. The 1st amendment of the US Constitution protects this.
Bible classes in Public schools
Besides the display of "in God we trust" there is also a push for "bible study classes" in public schools. Even when those bible study classes are not mandatory, they schould not be funded with public money. Public schools are supposed to be religiously neutral. The 1st amendment of the US Constitution protects this.
Proselytizing at mandatory events
In Mississippi a public school had a preacher proselytize it's non-religious staff at a mandatory school event. A public school should be religiously neutral as they are publicly funded. The 1st amendment of the US Constitution protects this.
Rejection secular wedding celebrants
Atheists who want to get married in Texas will be married by a religious judge or by someone from the local clergy. Non-religious certified wedding celebrants are not allowed to solemnize a wedding in Texas, forcing the engaged couple to a religious ceremony against their will.
Mandatory prayer council meetings
In Kentucky, city council meetings are started with an invocation. When non-religious representatives didnt invoke god during their invokation speech, others were insulted, so they petitioned to hire a Baptist preacher, with public funds, to pray before every meeting. This is also shows a disregard for the non-religious council members.
The first amendment of the USA constitution says: " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;". This sentence makes the United States of America a secular country.
The government, as determined by the 1st amendment, can not make any laws, that forces people to follow any aspect of any religion. It shall not ban the exercise of religion, but it will also not enforce the exercise of any religion. The examples however show, that there are laws in place that do enforce the exercise of religion.
American Christians: Persecuted or Persecutors?
In this article I've asked two interesting questions, which both adress the issue of oppression but from different sides. Do American Christians want to be persecuted? Are American Christans forcing their religion on others? With about 65% of the American people being religiously affiliated, it's quite hard to aswer these questions with a solid answer. However, there does seem to be a trend, amongst the American Christians.
No, I don't think American Christians, in general, want to be persecuted, but I definitely do think that amongst them, there are many Christians who want to be able to say, that they are being oppressed or persecuted, because to them that means another part of the bible is true. They need the bible to be true, in order to justify their behaviour when others criticise them for it.
No, I don't think American Christians, in general, are forcing their religion on others, but I definitely do think that amongst them, there are many many Christians who proselytize every chance they get and who will try to bend the rules, so that others are confronted with their religion and their lifestyle. Even at inappropriate moments, like at work or at school, where the focus should not be on religion.
The fundamentalists definitely do try to force their religion on others. The examples as presented show this happening. Why do they do this? I can think of 2 reasons.
The first reason that pops in to mind is, religion in the USA has been on the decline for the past 20 years. This means forcing religion on others is a form of self-preservation. By proselytizing and confronting others with Christianity, they try to have their religion survive, enforcing it by law, if they have to. And as they see God as their lawmaker, they have no issue breaking human laws, like the 1st amendment of the US Constitution.
The other reason would be, they themselves feel they are saved and they feel compelled to have others saved by gods grace aswell, even when those others don't believe in God. For them, their believe in God justifies this, regardless of what other say or do.
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