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On the Myth of "Christian-Bashing"Jul 01 '02 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Pssst, hey, christians: protecting the 1st amendment is not an act of war.
While I myself am not religious, I do not have a problem with anyone else being so. I have nothing against religion, or individual private beliefs. I do not care if you are devout. If the truth be told, I guess I do have a "spirituality" of a kind, and it could best be described as a line from an old song by Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians. I don't remember the name of the song, and actually it wasn't that good a song to begin with, but the line went: "religion is the smile on a dog." In other words, for me, religion is a simple and personal respect of nature without attributing the universe to a mystical Überbieng. For you praying to Yahweh may do the trick. For me, seeing my dogs grinning like idiots after a good bout of playing the pulling game does it. That being said, my view of people with faith is this: Okay. You say you are a deeply devout zoroastrian? Okay. You say you are a fundamentalist christian? Okay. You say you are a reformed jew? Okay. You say you are a hybrid wiccan-druid-neopagan? Okay. I really don't care at all about your religion. You can be a satanist for all I care. But I do care if you suddenly decide to try to sell me on your beliefs, or if your worshiping interferes with my freedom not to worship. Then, I get upset. I mean, if I can let you be mulsim without trying to convince you of the joys of being an atheist, then the least you can do is return the favor. Unfortunately that small favor is often not returned, and I have had to endure all manner of high-and-mighty types condescend to me regarding belief for most of my life. And, even more unfortunately, these condescending gas-bags almost invariably happen to belong to one christian sect or another. For some reason, I have never had a jew, muslim, buddhist, hindu, taoist, druid, or any other belief-representative come up to me under the guise of engaging in an intellectual philosophical discussion only to then ambush me by trying to get me to pray with them. However, I have had catholics, presbyterians, fundamentalists, pentecostals, methodists, protestants, and jehova's witnesses all come up to me, full of smiles, and do just that. And that has become a very sore spot with me. Again, I can't emphasize strongly enough that while I am not religious, I do not have a problem with anyone else being so. I have nothing against religion, per se, or individual private beliefs, and it does not bother me if you are devout. Why do I feel it necessary to repeat that? Because whenever I express myself by saying that I am not religious, and that I do not appreciate being the target of a conversion, I get accused of being anti-religious. Because whenever I speak up and question the effect of an unyielding belief in some religious doctrine, I am accused of being intolerant. Because whenever I discuss matters of science that run contrary to religious dogma, I am accused of perpetuating an atmosphere hostile to faith. Yet whenever my private values are contradicted, or whenever my expression of acceptance of other philosophies is mocked, or whenever my belief in scientific evidence is questioned, or whenever some freaking a-hole feeling the need to proselytize accosts me without invitation, that is not considered hostile. Why is that? Why is it that christians constantly claim that anyone who does not agree with them, or anyone who voices a contrary opinion, or anyone who expresses a desire not to be preached to is engaging in the sport of christian-bashing? Now, there is no doubt that some reactionary aggression is directed at christians. I myself have lashed out a few times, and made gross generalizations about those in the faith. Yet how any christian living in the United States can claim victimization is beyond me, and simply flies in the face of reason. Consider this: We live in a country that has an overwhelmingly christian population. Our President has gone on record as saying that he is a born-again christian, and that his personal hero is Jesus. Our Attorney General is a fundamentalist christian who believes in creationism, a literal interpretation of the bible, and that homosexuality is a sin. Our currency has the words "In God We Trust" printed on it. In our courts witnesses are asked to place their hands upon a christian bible and swear to tell the truth. Government meetings are often opened with an invocation delivered by a christian minister. Schools all across the country are constantly being pressured by dimwitted fanatics to teach the christian mythology of creationism as a legitimate scientific principle along the scientifically based evolutionary theory. Schools are also being pressured to allow christians the right to say prayers before school,events, such as football games, assemblies, graduations, and others. How can a society so overwhelmingly christian possibly be hostile to them? The answer is that it isn't. The only time christians feel attacked is when anyone dares react to the unrelenting pressure constantly applied by christians upon our society, as if resisting christian indoctrination was a hostile act, rather than simply exercising the Constitutional gift of personal freedom.. A perfect example is the recent 9th US Circuit Court ruling that made recitation of the pledge of allegiance illegal in public schools, so long as the pledge contained the words "under god" in it. The ruling, properly and correctly, said that reciting these two words broke the sacred covenant of the separation of church and state, and thus must be prohibited. Conservatives, so-called "patriots," and christians have brutally assailed this ruling as the latest in a long-line of attacks on their values, and as further evidence not only that the country is well on its way to hell, but also as firm and total proof that an anti-christian bias exists and is gaining strength. Excuse my language, but bullshít. This is not proof that modern American society is intolerant of christians. It is, however, proof that modern American society still protects the freedom of all individuals granted under the Constitution. However, while some christians don't necessarily believe that enforcing the first amendment is a state-sponsored act of repression, they do seem to believe that this is evidence of a society where it is okay to mock degrade, and persecute christians. Somehow the act of disagreement with christian belief and of defending the concept of maintaining a clear separation of church and state has morphed into christian-bashing, with christians then assuming the well-practised role of victims of a harsh and intolerant society. Yet, the fact that America is such a resoundingly christian country makes those of us who are non-christian view the self-proclaimed martyrdom and cries of victimization by christians insulting -- much like a superstar athlete crying about being underpayed and unappreciated. If a christian living in a christian country is persecuted, how must a non-christian feel? The nation celebrates the two most important events of the christian faith, easter and christmas, with national holidays and garish celebrations and decorations. Sure other religious events are paid lip-service, but they never receive the same level of attention and reverence. Athletes and entertainers who shamelessly thank Jesus after winning championships and awards are respected and admired, while those who thank allah are at best patronized, and at worst insulted and ridiculed. Every one of our Presidents has been a christian who was active in the practice of their faith, yet when a jew was selected as the vice-presidential candidate questions were raised as to whether practicing his faith would interfere with his official duties. And yes, pop culture does contain many references to lunatic-fringe evangelicals, and often makes jokes at the expense of the christian faith, but it also contains more than a balance of pro-christian messages, programs and characters while islamic characters are always portrayed as terrorists or bloodthirsty felons. Again, I am not stating that there are no cases of violent anti-christian acts, but then there are violent acts of intolerance based on race, religion, sexuality, gender and social status every day. The point is, christian-bashing is neither a sport, nor an accepted discriminatory behavior. It is a misperception on the part of christians who don't realize that not everyone wants to share their faith, and that defending our rights to be free of christian propaganda is not the same as assaulting or attacking them. Yeah, if this is a culture of christian bashing, just try being a non-christian for a while.  |
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