Remember all the
hullabaloo about
Christians being under
attack when the
Ten Commandments thing was removed from
public property? And you recently heard about the judge who showed up to the
fair and
impartial courtroom with a religious document
embroidered on his robe? Well, check this out:
"Two days after Presiding Circuit Court Judge Ashley McKathan donned a robe in court displaying the Ten Commandments on his chest, staffers were busy fielding calls from media outlets and supporters across the nation.
... 'Every one of them is supportive of what the judge has done. We have not had a single complaint called in.'"1
No
atheists calling in
bomb threats. No
Wiccans outside the building holding signs that say "Goddess hates
McKathan". No
Taoists making death threats.
Now, contrast this with the
Newdow situation. You remember, the guy who didn't want his daughter to be compelled to say "
under God".
"Newdow said that since the ruling he has received death threats, including one left on his answering machine that said, 'You're a dead man walking.'"2
And, of course, some people will say, "He's an atheist. He must be lying." Some people may have heard the answering machine tape, and said, "It was just a prank" or "Those aren't
real Christians."
You may
google "Pledge of allegiance" +newdow +threats for many, many more examples.
And, more recently, we have the "
Giving Tree" controversy:
"The Stocks complained after a city worker told them the tree makes him feel out of place, and if he says so, he fears for his job.
The couple's already gotten hate-filled phone calls, but they speak out anyway, because they believe many people feel the way they do but stay silent."3
Personally, I have no problem with
yule trees, especially not
charity fundraising yule trees, but that is no excuse to call someone's home and curse them over a tree. Not even a
fig tree.
When I was going to a
born again Christian private high school, I heard a lot about the "
moral majority" along with the completely contradictory
martyrdom complex. Our elders would tell us the
secular millions would shun us for our
faith, but keeping our faith
despite being outnumbered would prove our
righteousness and
blah blah blah.
Who's the
minority here in America? And who would
Jesus bully?
Remember after
September 11, 2001 how the cry went out for "
Where is the Muslim outrage?" Why weren't
Muslim clerics more vocal in their
disavowal and scathing
criticism of these acts? I am among those who wanted to see clerics vocally disavow
violence. I still do.
Although Christianity-based actions in
recent history haven't been that violent, when I hear about some of the other things that go on today in the name of the
Lord, I think,
"Where is the Christian outrage?"
Footnotes:
1. http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1103192240282300.xml
2. http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/06/27/pledge.allegiance/
3. http://www.komotv.com/stories/34416.htm
And yes, I know I'm going to get slammed for posting an opinion now that E2 has collectively leaned towards more objectivity. I'm saying it anyway.