Feeling Christianity Is Being Oppressed In America?

Hi. Firstly, I'd like to say I'm very thankful to have found this forum. It is difficult, not living in a highly populated area, to find people who not only believe as strongly as many here do, but are also curious, determined, and I'm sorry to say intelligent enough to find the answers and make informed opinions on matters that are important to them. So thank you all, for helping me to become as informed as you.

On to the topic.

I get the feeling that a lot of Christians feel that their religion is being oppressed in America. Some examples I've heard are no praying in schools, not teaching intelligent design, the city not putting up mangers on city-property, and more. But I'd like to challenge these feelings, because I don't agree. I'm hoping that some people here see it differently than I do, so we can have a good discussion.

When we think American, we also think Freedom, and I think even though our founding fathers may have held their own religious beliefs, it was their intent that no one belief would quash the others. When people complain that Christianity is being underrepresented, I compare things to Hinduism. So for no praying in schools, I think it would be just as fair to make someone else's child pray in school as it would be to make your child pray to Vishnu. Saying that God created the world? That should be just as valid as saying that there are 40,000,000 gods in heaven. If you want the state to use taxpayer money to put up a manger for Christmas, it should be allowed to put up statues of Shiva.

So can anyone tell me a way that Christianity is oppressed, where all other religions enjoy freedom? Or does anyone else agree with me that Christians don't actually have it so hard, in that respect?
 
Paintanker:

I share your concerns about Christian persecution, which the Bible told us to expect in the Last Times. The Kingdom we long for is not of this world, nor is our King. I personally would not wish to see other religions and world-views suppressed so that mine could dominate. I live in a country --Canada-- where I have the freedom to worship as I please, without fear of any significant reprisal. Christians in other parts of the world really do have it worse than we do!

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." ~Eph. 6:12
 
Paintanker:

I share your concerns about Christian persecution, which the Bible told us to expect in the Last Times. The Kingdom we long for is not of this world, nor is our King. I personally would not wish to see other religions and world-views suppressed so that mine could dominate. I live in a country --Canada-- where I have the freedom to worship as I please, without fear of any significant reprisal. Christians in other parts of the world really do have it worse than we do!

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." ~Eph. 6:12

You're right, Christians in many parts of the world have it really bad - but then again, so do muslims in many parts of the world, and jews, and Rawandans and the Burmese, and... well, you get my point.
 
I'm sorry, I don't. o_O

Well, the point of this thread was to look at how Christians feel they are being oppressed in America (and Canada, I guess - I'm Canadian too, high five). I personally don't believe they are being oppressed in America, and when you bring up that they are being oppressed in other parts of the world, well, so is everybody. I don't believe that Christians have it that bad - but I hear a lot of people convinced that there's a war against Christianity headed by Obama and such.
 
It would be nice if the kids had more religious studies as a part of a well-rounded education. If I am not mistaken, I think anyone can pray anytime and anywhere--at least, I hope--but there can be no specific time in school set aside for that purpose. All in all, we have a great deal of religious freedom, and are very fortunate.
 
I would say that the change in the US over the last few decades has been subtle. From the open promotion of Christianity (at least as being "good for society"), to it being disdained as old fashioned and narrowminded, to the outright hatred you see in some (thankfully few and small) circles. Real persecutions are few (in the US), but the climate has certainly changed.
 
It would be nice if the kids had more religious studies as a part of a well-rounded education. If I am not mistaken, I think anyone can pray anytime and anywhere--at least, I hope--but there can be no specific time in school set aside for that purpose. All in all, we have a great deal of religious freedom, and are very fortunate.

Prayer in school is the one Intolerable Thing.

The Powers That Be are more permissive about high school kids bringing guns to school. :sick:
 
Prayer in school is the one Intolerable Thing.

The Powers That Be are more permissive about high school kids bringing guns to school. :sick:

I don't think that's a fair comparison. Would you want your child to be led through Islamic worship in a public school? If not, you can't really oppose the school leading children through Christian prayer.
 
Its annoying how everyone says religion must stay out of politics / schools to be fair on everyones beliefs...only to fill the void with atheism / evolution :eek:.

I am fully supoportive of any God-fearing Christian denomination dominating everything in society (y).
 
I don't think that's a fair comparison. Would you want your child to be led through Islamic worship in a public school? If not, you can't really oppose the school leading children through Christian prayer.

We are missing the point here.

I am old enough to remember 1964 when prayer was stopped in schools.

IT WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN PRAYER! It was a "generic" prayer. In fact here is the prayer from the New York school board that the Supreme Court said cound not be said.

"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen."

That is certainly not Christian, Muslim or Hindu or Jewish. Who in their right mind would NOT want their idea of God to bless their children and teachers every day????

Now.....a better question I think is WHY we should be concerned with how a Muslim or Jew or Hindu feels about this.

If you go to ANY Muslim country, they say prayers 3 times a day in scool and read and teach the Quran. If I am a Christian and complain, do you think that they care??????

Why single out the USA???
 
I don't think that's a fair comparison. Would you want your child to be led through Islamic worship in a public school? If not, you can't really oppose the school leading children through Christian prayer.

That is actually a straw dog argument isn't it Paintanker?

Any parent would know the make up of the community they were moving into, whether it be Muslim - Jewish or Hindu.

IF you choose to move to Iraq, do you really think that you are going to be surrounded by Catholic Churches???

If you move to India, do you expect to have members living next door who belong to the 1st Baptist Church of Calcutta?

I think not. You would make the proper choices to live in the place where you could worship as you choose.
 
I am fully supoportive of any God-fearing Christian denomination dominating everything in society (y).

Including the government? Including the media? :cautious: Personally, I don't think the Christian message benefits by being expressed through fundamentalism. The will-to-power of zealous evangelizers distorts it beyond recognition, which is what made the Spanish Inquisition so hideous (apart from the fact that nobody expected it :sneaky: ).
 
Including the government? Including the media? :cautious: Personally, I don't think the Christian message benefits by being expressed through fundamentalism. The will-to-power of zealous evangelizers distorts it beyond recognition, which is what made the Spanish Inquisition so hideous (apart from the fact that nobody expected it :sneaky: ).
:) The use of the new faces.

Evangelists that are not God fearing (n).
 
Its annoying how everyone says religion must stay out of politics / schools to be fair on everyones beliefs...only to fill the void with atheism / evolution :eek:.

I am fully supoportive of any God-fearing Christian denomination dominating everything in society (y).

It's okay if you support a Christian Theocracy, but that's not what America is about. America gives people the right to choose their own religion, and not to be controlled by the religion of someone else. As for atheism, it isn't a religion, it is the absence of a religion. I haven't interviewed every school in the country, but I don't know of any that teach children explicitly that there is no God. And as for evolution, it's what has been scientifically observed and accepted by the general scientific community, so they teach it in science class. Just like the history that's accepted by the general historical community is in textbooks, as opposed to many widely-claimed yet undersupported views, like the view that there was no holocaust. There's no history of scientists picketing outside Sunday School buildings saying, "What you're teaching might not be entirely scientifically accurate." But let's not change this into an evolution thread.

We are missing the point here.

I am old enough to remember 1964 when prayer was stopped in schools.

IT WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN PRAYER! It was a "generic" prayer. In fact here is the prayer from the New York school board that the Supreme Court said cound not be said.

"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen."

That is certainly not Christian, Muslim or Hindu or Jewish.

That prayer may be generic among many religions, but it isn't across the board. It assumes an almighty God, which many religions don't. And even so, those who don't want to be a part of religion CERTAINLY don't assume the existence of an almighty god.

Who in their right mind would NOT want their idea of God to bless their children and teachers every day????

The people who wouldn't want that are the people who don't want to believe in that, and they have the right not to, and they have the right to shelter their children from what they want while they are children, just like you do. Let me ask you this, would you be okay if the prayer were started like this? "All gods in Heaven and in Nature, please bless our children..."

If you ask "who wouldn't want God to bless their children?" Well, two gods blessings are better than one, but I don't think you would be happy about that, because it forces the person praying to assume something that you don't
believe is true.

If you go to ANY Muslim country, they say prayers 3 times a day in scool and read and teach the Quran. If I am a Christian and complain, do you think that they care??????

I don't think they would care, because they live in a state directed by a religion and very strict religious people. However, for those of us who don't live in an Absolute Monarchy like Saudi Arabia, who don't want to be stoned to death for disobeying a religion we didn't choose, and who want the liberty that America has grown to be synonymous with, we have a free country where we are neither forced to choose a particular religion (or one at all), nor are we bound by the religions that others have chosen. If you wouldn't be happy with living in Saudi Arabia as a Christian, don't go wishing we had a Christian Saudi Arabia instead of an America where we forced Christian views down everyone else's throats.

Why single out the USA???

The topic is about the USA because I happen to live there, and I assume the majority of the members of this forum do also (or Canada, which is for all intents and purposes similar enough).

Now.....a better question I think is WHY we should be concerned with how a Muslim or Jew or Hindu feels about this.

This question deserves no answer. I really hope you didn't mean to come off the way it looks like you did.

That is actually a straw dog argument isn't it Paintanker?

Any parent would know the make up of the community they were moving into, whether it be Muslim - Jewish or Hindu.

IF you choose to move to Iraq, do you really think that you are going to be surrounded by Catholic Churches???

If you move to India, do you expect to have members living next door who belong to the 1st Baptist Church of Calcutta?

I think not. You would make the proper choices to live in the place where you could worship as you choose.

America is not a Christian Theocracy - we have the freedom here to practice whatever religion we want. Take pride in the fact that we have that freedom, while many other countries lack it. It isn't fair to say, "America is Christian, and if you want to live here you have to put up with our idea of God." That has never been the case, and hopefully it never will be.
 
. And as for evolution, it's what has been scientifically observed and accepted by the general scientific community, so they teach it in science class. Just like the history that's accepted by the general historical community is in textbooks, as opposed to many widely-claimed yet undersupported views, like the view that there was no holocaust. There's no history of scientists picketing outside Sunday School buildings saying, "What you're teaching might not be entirely scientifically accurate." But let's not change this into an evolution thread.

Don't be naive. An atheists drawcard is ''belief'' in evolution. Everyone has to believe in something.

A good Christian school would not teach evolution as a science. Would you see them as naive? You do know that you cannot believe in the bible and evolution at the same time.

The truth is the bible. Every sane person should want schools, government and every aspect of society yielding to the truth. It is not a religious rights issue. Christianity dominating everything is logical as it is the most advanced form of knowledge. Science points toward God. If any scientist thinks otherwise he is still in the stone age :) .
 
Must I be a conqueror of other men to be considered a God-fearing evangelizer? The evangelist who doesn't take no for an answer is a fanatic, and fanaticism is bad.

You might want to think about that one theo.

If an evangelist is told that he can not say a certain thing in a certain place and he disagrees and does so anyway.......is that fanaticism.

If a preacher is told that a city can not be saved and he goes and preaches the gospel anyway.........is that fanaticism?

In my lifetime I have been blessed with knowing some very FANATICAL people for Jesus.
 
"Paintanker".........
You stated.............
"This question deserves no answer. I really hope you didn't mean to come off the way it looks like you did."

My comment was.........
"Now.....a better question I think is WHY we should be concerned with how a Muslim or Jew or Hindu feels about this."

My comment stands!!! Every single person who comes to this land can live as they want, where they want but they do not have the ability to tell me what rights I must give up to make them happy. I too am a citizen of the USA. I have been to many forigin countries and almost all of them were NOT bound by the ideas and morals of Christianity.

What makes this land great is the historical fact that it was founded upon JUDAO/CHRISTAIN values.

I have a real problem with ANYONE, whether they be of ANY religion or none at all coming here to the USA and insisting and demanding that their rights be observed concerning that religion.

You said........
America is not a Christian Theocracy - we have the freedom here to practice whatever religion we want. Take pride in the fact that we have that freedom, while many other countries lack it. It isn't fair to say, "America is Christian, and if you want to live here you have to put up with our idea of God." That has never been the case, and hopefully it never will be.

Actually the USA is a Christian Church re-location.

The 1st act of the 1st Continental Congress was the approval of the printing of 250 thousand KJV Bibles.

Harvard, Princeton were Christian Seminaries when formed and they taught men to go out teach from the KJV Bible all over the land.
 
Back
Top