War on Religion

Submitted by thudfactor on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 15:30

I've been hearing a lot about the War on Religion, but haven't seen much evidence of it myself. There are lots of churches in my neighborhood and everyone seems to be able to worship in peace. I have lots and lots of "out" Christian friends and coworkers. "War on Religion" sounds not just overblown but exaggerated beyond all sense.

But maybe I'm just not sensitive enough to the plight of Religion.

To get a better sense of where the front in the War on Religion is, I turned to
Human Events's handy list of battles, which says:

Don’t let the secularists tell you otherwise: There has been a war against religion being waged for decades by activist judges, artists, academia, liberal groups and the mainstream media. Judges have misinterpreted the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause and have tried to force religion from the public square, while a culture that is becoming increasingly decadent does all it can to denigrate, mock and sneer at people of faith. Find that hard to believe? Here is the evidence…

On the list: banning school prayer, Obamacare's contraceptive mandate, and the 1988 Oliver Stone film The Last Temptation of Christ.

But basically what the list boils down to is this:

  1. People say mean things about Christians and get away with it.
  2. The government forbids Christians from using government authority and budgets to convert others to Christianity.
  3. When Christians take jobs that might conflict with their religion, some people still expect them to do their jobs.

If you suggested doing the same things to Islam I suspect Human Events would be first in line to have your back, and I don't just say that because the magazine was happy to publish a gallery of Mohammed cartoons.

But what that tells me is this isn't so much "on religion" as it is "on Christianity." And it is not so much a "war" as it is spit-balls and being forced to share.

Is that all you got? Joan of Arc is not impressed. I'm open to more examples in the comments.

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Comments

Deane

Wed, 10/24/2012 - 17:27

I don't think there's a "war" either. It's just that the collective level of faith in this country is on a decline. This is not an overhead plan or strategy by some entity, it's just to emergent result of a huge demographic shift.

As a Christian, this pains me. But I'm not going to chalk it up to any conspiracy theory. What the government of the courts do is just reflective of how the country is going.

thudfactor

Wed, 10/24/2012 - 20:59

I think most people who are religious probably feel similarly. It's just "War on Religion" tries to broaden the apparent interest group so it seems larger than it actually is.

ChrisFrenzy

Fri, 10/26/2012 - 12:54

The other day someone took a parking space I wanted. Then later, this guy I know didn't laugh at something I said that I thought was kind of funny. Yesterday my wife made me a sandwich but didn't use the mustard I like. I believe this constitutes a "War on Chris Henson."

Seriously though, I wonder what Holocaust survivors think of this new "War on Religion." I mean, imagine telling Anne Frank that you're being oppressed because there's not a mandated prayer in school every day — one that only pertains to a specific faith. I believe she'd say something like, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Sarah Williams

Sat, 10/27/2012 - 18:56

The War on Religion does not exist from the perspective of the world, so it can be discredited easily by reference to reality. However, it is an article of faith for Christians that the world is at war against the true believer: http://biblesuite.com/matthew/5-11.htm.