I'm surprised this wasn't a Pat Buchanan piece.

Except that the Christians who THINK they're persecuted the most in the world are the American ones who believe every American having the same rights they do is persecution. The ones who look at the cross and don't see Jesus, they see themselves.

Jake Havechek: I'd have some sympathy, but after the annihilation of the Gnostics, Christian clergy/physicians making the Black Plague worse by relying on 100% wrong ancient texts to treat patients, and the tacit tolerance of Nazism does not make them look like innocent babes in the woods.

Then there is the child sex abuse cover up which continues to this day.

So yeah, I find it really hard to sympathize.

I'm sure the Copts in Egypt getting beaten to death and run over by armored vehicles totally sympathize whith your point of view.

Then what are you FOR? (new window)

The persecution of the Christians was required study when I was in high school. Diocletian was a very intolerant man. Do they not study that any more? Painted them with pitch and lit them on fire to use them as screaming slow-cooked-pork-scented lighting. Powdered the bones in their hands with hammers while they were still alive to feel it and watch. Executed them in droves. It was seriously nasty. You'd think they'd still be studying it.


Jake Havechek: Then there is the child sex abuse cover up which continues to this day.

"Cover up" ... heh. The boy-rape is in the open, it's unrepentant, and they think there's something wrong with you for not liking it. And then there's the whole "It's okay to rape women if they've had an abortion" thing from the Archbishop of Portugal...

Feeding time!

When an American Christian says they are being persecuted, they don't mean they are being stopped from practicing their religion. They mean they are not being allowed to force everyone else to follow their rules.

unlikely: You'd think they'd still be studying it.

The last thing Christian leaders want is for their followers to study the history of Christianity. They might actually find out that Jesus wasn't a republican.

To borrow from Chris Rock, only Christians are allowed to profit from persecution (new window).

OH NOES

@Pres_Bartlet: I don't recall the last time a teenager was dragged into a field, beaten, and left to die for being a Christian

American Christians?

Yeah, I'm really sorry you feel persecuted because we've passed laws making it illegal to take an axe-handle to the back of a gay person's head, but, you know, live with it. It's an unfair world in which we live.

Personally, I don't think there's nearly enough persecution of Christians in this country.

So by not letting them dictate the behavior of everyone else, they are persecuted? Fascinating. Queue the Inigo Montoya pics.

Conrad Black?

What the?

Why would that egotistical, selfish prick care about anything or anyone outside of himself? Prison life has made him more douchey.

namegoeshere: Petit_Merdeux: When an American Christian says they are being persecuted, they don't mean they are being stopped from practicing their religion. They mean they are not being allowed to force everyone else to follow their rules.

Petit_Merdeux: When an American Christian says they are being persecuted, they don't mean they are being stopped from practicing their religion. They mean they are not being allowed to force everyone else to follow their rules.

Petit_Merdeux: When an American Christian says they are being persecuted, they don't mean they are being stopped from practicing their religion. They mean they are not being allowed to force everyone else to follow their rules.

Bears Repeating

Growl repeating bear, growl!

True enough.

A lot of nice young gay men, and young black men were good Christians. Sad that their congregations didn't see it that way.

Christians bash Christians. They're worship the wrong way. They highlight the wrong things. Christians don't agree with the churches down the street on what constitutes a good potluck, let alone the best path to Salvation. Which is why we don't let religion run the nation or the government, because there is no consensus, and to be fair, if there was, we have already seen what a State religion can do, which is why set that aside.

Are the churches who marry homosexuals, are they NOT Christians? Are Methodists and Unitarians not considered good enough? Well, to be fair, the Unitarians did have Catholics roll on them in a Crusade, but it's exactly that sort of thing that we're trying to avoid.

Keeping religion out of the government isn't a war on religion. It's keeping the government clear of all the disagreements, and all the arguments.

Christian churches marry same sex couples. Christian churches married inter-racial couples. The one consistent thing about religion in this country, is that there is very little common ground. And that's kind of the point. That we have the freedom to disagree, vigorously.

When you can all agree on Scripture, and if GOD HATES F*GS! then you can get back to me, and EVEN THEN there are still Buddhists and Jews and Pagans who will disagree with you, and they still have their freedom to worship without interference by the government.

It isn't a war on Christians. It's a war on asshats. Stop being asshats, and maybe folks won't poke fun at you.

Perhaps the gravest under-publicized atrocity in the world is the persecution of Christians. A comprehensive Pew Forum study last year found that Christians are persecuted in 131 countries containing 70 percent of the world's population, out of 197 countries in the world (if Palestine, Taiwan, South Sudan, and the Vatican are included). Best estimates are that about 200 million Christians are in communities where they are persecuted. There is not the slightest question of the scale and barbarity of this persecution, and a little of it is adequately publicized. But this highlights the second half of the atrocity: the passivity and blasé indifference of most of the West's media and governments.

It is not generally appreciated that over 100,000 Christians a year are murdered because of their faith.

But 10 years ago some Jehovah's Witness knocked on your door -- so no worries.

Seriously, kids.

Before you go screaming about persecution, you may want to check to see if, in fact, you are just being an asshole...

Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: Mr. Coffee Nerves: Except that the Christians who THINK they're persecuted the most in the world are the American ones who believe every American having the same rights they do is persecution.

Yeah, I would say that in places like Sudan, China, and Egypt there's a legitimate claim that Christians are being persecuted. Hell, in Northern Ireland there's still lingering sectarian strife.

In the USA, Christians are fine.

Apparently, "People liking stuff I don't like" is persecution now.

It's really lowering the bar, but I guess it's safer than actually having bricks thrown at you for wanting to bring your boyfriend to the picnic after church...

A comprehensive Pew Forum study last year found that Christians are persecuted in 131 countries containing 70 percent of the world's population, out of 197 countries in the world (if Palestine, Taiwan, South Sudan, and the Vatican are included).

farking Vatican is always persecuting Christians.

It is not generally appreciated that over 100,000 Christians a year are murdered because of their faith.

Cite please.

Petit_Merdeux: When an American Christian says they are being persecuted, they don't mean they are being stopped from practicing their religion. They mean they are not being allowed to force everyone else to follow their rules.

/oblig

GhostFish: It's kind of presumptuous to claim that you know what the "gravest under-publicized human rights atrocity" is.

Maybe there's something even worse going on, but you've never heard of it because - hey, it's under-publicized.

To be fair, those dark skinned folks, and ghey ruined it by getting lynched or thrown off a bridge. Christians could have had that level of persecution, if they hadn't been so busy protecting the white wimmin and the sanctity of marriage...

Let's look at two stories that have gotten a lot of play lately:

Karen Handel and Susan G. Komen cut off breast cancer screening funds to Planned Parenthood because PP doesn't align perfectly with their religious views.

One Million Moms group demands that JCPenney fire spokesperson Ellen Degeneres because she's gay.

Yeah, it's Christians under attack all right.

persecuted, yes. just not in America.