Where Complaints About Christian Persecution Fall Flat

[SecularMotion]

Fellow Patheos blogger Rebecca Hamilton writes often about international Christian persecution (her latest: “Christian Persecution: What Can We Do?”). Her outrage perplexes me, but let me return to that in a moment.

In the West, Hamilton admits, Christians aren’t being killed. Still, she says that they are being censored, mocked, reviled, harassed, silenced, marginalized, and forced to violate their faith.

She doesn’t make clear the insults that she’s talking about, so I can only guess. But let me be clear: I’m a strong supporter of free speech. Where a Christian can’t speak freely, neither can I. Where she shows me Christians denied the right to free speech, we’re on the same side. (But where Christians are being denied the “right” to impose their beliefs on others, I have no sympathy.)

Lord Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, put claims of Christian persecution in the West in perspective:

" I am always very uneasy when people sometimes in [Britain] or the United States talk about persecution of Christians. … I think we are made to feel uncomfortable at times. … But that kind of level of not being taken very seriously or being made fun of; I mean for goodness sake, grow up. …

Don’t confuse it with the systematic brutality and often murderous hostility which means that every morning you get up wondering if you and your children are going to make it through the day. That is different, it’s real. It’s not quite what we’re facing in Western society."

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/crossexamined/2013/09/where-complaints-about-christian-persecution-fall-flat/

[skepticscott]

1. Pretty much any Christian in the United States or Western Europe

who claims to be "persecuted" (and certainly any who claim to be "persecuted" on this site), if not a completely paranoid loon, ought at least to be profoundly ashamed of themselves. They have, virtually without exception, no personal experience whatsoever with anything resembling real persecution. They just love playing the victim for any hacks in the media with column inches to fill who will get sucked into promoting their agenda.

[longship]

2. But, but, but they're teaching my children evolution in school!

And those evil atheists put up a billboard in my city!!!

[hrmjustin]

3. Christians in the west who claimed to be persecuted need to go to the east to see what real

persecution is.

[dimbear]

4. The facts are grim, but where Christian persecution really happens, it comes mostly from other

religions, and the result is that the religious press doesn't give it much play. Even more complicating for us, where it does get some play it's often from the right-wing. The left needs to stand up against all religious persecution no matter who the perpetrator and not shy away from the inevitable chorus of "Islamophobia" and similar knee-jerk self-righteousness.

Christian persecution here in the west should just continue to be the butt of jokes. That's a good enough resolution there.