Persecution
2006-07-16 17:06![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flexibeastIt raises my hackles whenever i hear Christians in Western nations complaining of 'persecution'. Sometimes there is genuine religious persecution taking place; but more often than not, it's people trying to claim that Australia 2006 CE is like Rome 100 CE. The reality, however, is that you're far more likely to face discrimination and harrasment in Australia if you're not Christian than if you are. (And from what i've read, this is true in the US, too: see, for example, this story about Christians harrassing non-Christians in Oklahoma, and this story about a pagan war vet being refused a pentagram on his headstone).
Australia's laws are based on Christian morality. (Case in point: Women's access to abortion is technically illegal; only case law creates the loophole that gives women access to abortion. And even then, anti-choicers stand outside abortion clinics and harrass women availing themselves of the clinic's services.) The phrase 'family values', which "all right-thinking people" are supposed to have, implicitly refers to Christian notions of 'family' and morality. The content of our media is restricted by Christian notions of what is and is not acceptable: the Big Brother "Adults Only" show, which was only broadcast after 9.30pm, with its nudity and sexual references, was recently taken off due to complaints about such content. (Yet Christians rarely seem to complain about prime-time depictions of physical violence, including gun fights.) And increasingly, people are forced to turn to Christian organisations in order to access social services (see, for example, this article).
i realise that many of these notions are not confined to Christianity alone. Nor is Christianity a homogenous religion; there are many Christians who respect the right of woman to control her own body, who have a more positive view of sexuality, who do not presume to demand that their morals be everyone's morals. i think it's beyond dispute, however, that the origins of our laws and regulations and socially accepted behaviours are based in Christianity. And not only that, but being Christian gives one a privileged position in our social discourse. Declaring oneself to be Christian usually doesn't require one to preface one's views with a series of disclaimers; and yet this is most definitely not the case for (serious) Satanists, with whom i share a number of beliefs.
Hyperbole and bombast are basically a form of propaganda. Before Christians start claiming to be victims of persecution, they should read up on Christianity's shameful history, stretching over six continents and many centuries, of persecuting those with non-Christian beliefs.
Australia's laws are based on Christian morality. (Case in point: Women's access to abortion is technically illegal; only case law creates the loophole that gives women access to abortion. And even then, anti-choicers stand outside abortion clinics and harrass women availing themselves of the clinic's services.) The phrase 'family values', which "all right-thinking people" are supposed to have, implicitly refers to Christian notions of 'family' and morality. The content of our media is restricted by Christian notions of what is and is not acceptable: the Big Brother "Adults Only" show, which was only broadcast after 9.30pm, with its nudity and sexual references, was recently taken off due to complaints about such content. (Yet Christians rarely seem to complain about prime-time depictions of physical violence, including gun fights.) And increasingly, people are forced to turn to Christian organisations in order to access social services (see, for example, this article).
i realise that many of these notions are not confined to Christianity alone. Nor is Christianity a homogenous religion; there are many Christians who respect the right of woman to control her own body, who have a more positive view of sexuality, who do not presume to demand that their morals be everyone's morals. i think it's beyond dispute, however, that the origins of our laws and regulations and socially accepted behaviours are based in Christianity. And not only that, but being Christian gives one a privileged position in our social discourse. Declaring oneself to be Christian usually doesn't require one to preface one's views with a series of disclaimers; and yet this is most definitely not the case for (serious) Satanists, with whom i share a number of beliefs.
Hyperbole and bombast are basically a form of propaganda. Before Christians start claiming to be victims of persecution, they should read up on Christianity's shameful history, stretching over six continents and many centuries, of persecuting those with non-Christian beliefs.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-16 10:01 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-16 12:11 (UTC)Sacred Harlot xxx.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-16 12:20 (UTC)I have my own beliefs on a range of topics however I'm not making the country believe what I believe when there are people that wouldn't necessarily believe in what I believe.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-16 12:20 (UTC)Be my best friend!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-17 00:08 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-17 04:50 (UTC)(I wish I could say more but my brain has gone to mush.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-19 02:22 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-21 11:31 (UTC)