Shameful persecution

[I originally wrote this item in April for Enter the Jabberwock, but I'd like to have it on my own site as well, so here it is.]

I’ve been thinking lately about the odd position Christianity occu- pies in the United States. Despite being a majority of 80% to 90% (according to surveys) of the population, some Christians claim to feel besieged by secularism — even to feel that their religious freedom is being taken away. Do they have a case?

Surprising as it may seem, I think they do! Consider the question of religious displays on public property. After all, this is one of the most obvious ways in which Christians can exercise their freedom to assert the dominance of their religion over everyone else’s — to make atheists and followers of false religions feel like second-class citizens when dealing with their own government. Yet no sooner does some government official erect, say, a display of the Ten Commandments in a courtroom or legislative chamber, than the ACLU files suit, and a Soviet-style jackboot of a court ruling descends upon him, demanding that he remove the display. Thus he is forced to acknowledge unbelievers as equals before the law and the state — coercing him to violate his religious beliefs.

Then there is the issue of abortion. Few freedoms are more precious to the Christian fundamentalist than the freedom to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term. Yet in 1973 Roe vs. Wade swept away this crucial freedom with one totalitarian blow. Ever since then, fundamentalist Christians have been coerced — coerced by the power of the state — to permit women to make their own decisions about their own bodies. How long will they have to wait before a more enlightened era restores their precious freedom to control the reproductive behavior of women?

Then there’s homosexuality. Until recently at least some states did recognize basic Christian rights; believers were free to pass and enforce laws requiring homosexuals to be arrested and impri- soned for engaging in homosexual activity in the privacy of their own homes, even though they were disgracefully robbed of the right to apply the Biblically-mandated death penalty in such cases. But in 2003, disaster struck, in the form of the Lawrence vs. Texas case; once again liberty lost out, as Christians were robbed of their freedom to prevent and punish private homosexual behavior. Their fundamental right to force others to live according to Biblical morality was trampled. And we call ourselves a free society? Hah!

Many other examples could be cited. Under the auspices of the obviously Communist-inspired First Amendment, Christians have very little freedom to ban books, movies, and websites which offend them by including sexual content or making unflattering references to the Christian God and religion. They are forced by the state to permit others who want to see those things to have access to them. Believers have had some success at preserving their liberty to prevent scientists from engaging in stem-cell research, but there is every sign that this last freedom, too, will eventually be eroded and lost.

So support the Christian Right — only when they have completely triumphed will our land once again enjoy those liberties which are so precious to us all.