General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMost American Christians Believe They’re Victims of Discrimination
Not The Onion!
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/the-christians-who-believe-theyre-being-persecuted-in-america/488468/
Polling data can be split up in a million different ways. Its possible to sort by ethnicity, age, political party, and more. The benefit of sorting by religion, though, is that it highlights peoples beliefs: the way their ideological and spiritual convictions shape their self-understanding. This survey suggests that race is not enough to explain the sense of loss some white Americans seem to feel about their country, although its part of the story; the same is true of age, education level, and political affiliation. Peoples beliefs seem to have a distinctive bearing on how they view changes in American culture, politics, and lawand whether they feel threatened. No group is more likely to express this fear than conservative Christians.
One aspect of American fear thats been talked about a lot during this presidential-election cycle is fear of the other, from the Mexican immigrants who would be kept out by a wall to the Muslim refugees who would be banned from fleeing here from their homes abroad. That fear seems to fade, though, if Americans recognize a religious kinship with people they perceive as foreign.
Forty-six percent of those surveyed said immigration from Mexico and Central America has been too high in recent years. When asked the same question about immigrants from predominantly Christian countries, though, only 10 percent of people said immigration has been too high. The irony is that this is essentially the same question, phrased two different ways: Latin American countries are overwhelming Christianin many places, even more so than the United States. When Americans think of those immigrants as Christians, rather than foreign nationals, theyre more likely to open their arms in welcome.
roamer65
(36,745 posts)The fundamentalist nutbags pull this crap to hide their dominionist agenda.
Doodley
(9,088 posts)You can't be a Christian and reject the most basic of teachings in the New Testament, such as caring about and accepting outsiders, about forgiveness, about unconditional love, about inequality between the very rich and the poor.
You can't be a Christian and reject all these most basic Christian values and support those who want to turn away those in need and send outsiders back, favor the rich, and display anger toward those who come from other lands.
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
MisterFred
(525 posts)Doodley
(9,088 posts)GoneOffShore
(17,339 posts)Even Jesus migrated:
Matthew 2:14 ESV / 51 helpful votes
And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt
REP
(21,691 posts)The bar for being a Christian is pretty low, though; one doesn't even need to be a member of one of their churches to be one. Whether an individual meets your definition or mine of a "good" Christian really doesn't matter.
Jesus spoke of "righteousness", and that was OT.
When asked what the greatest commandment was, he quoted Leviticus: Love God with all your heart and soul and might--and the second is like it, to love your brother as yourself. The rest of the law and the prophets depend on those to things.
Those are Old Testament values.
But Obama is just as much a DUer-Xian's brother as Sanders or Kerry or Trump. Most don't like thinking about that, though.
REP
(21,691 posts)You can't be a Christian and reject the most basic of teachings in the New Testament
Leviticus was then quoted, and that is not from the New Testament.
Categorizing Sanders as a Christian is both incorrect and insulting as he is,in fact, a Jew. Jews don't need to be Christianized to be acceptable or good or anything.
struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)These people have been at the forefront of privilege since day one. All this is, is their feelings of fragility being exposed. They're no longer feeling as if they're at the top of the heap and their ability to oppress those who aren't like themselves has been diminished due to greater levels of egalitarianism.
When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.
My heart aches for them.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)As one of my old Irish friends used to say, "Get off the cross, we need the wood!"
uponit7771
(90,335 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)Photographer
(1,142 posts)The ignorance quotient of America seems to be rising on a daily basis. SMH. Guess they missed The Treaty of Tripoli.
FuzzyRabbit
(1,967 posts)is because they can no longer force their religion on everyone else.
rurallib
(62,411 posts)with an occasional bow to separation of church and state.
In Iowa this weekend we are having the bible read on the grounds of every one of our 99 courthouses. This was agreed to by the governor.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)Initech
(100,068 posts)Solly Mack
(90,764 posts)Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)Solly Mack
(90,764 posts)JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)... you are discriminating against them.
That's how they see it.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)truebrit71
(20,805 posts)...
RKP5637
(67,107 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)SoLeftIAmRight
(4,883 posts)...
uppityperson
(115,677 posts)I'm SERIES!!!!11111
RKP5637
(67,107 posts)some of it might splash back on them.
meow2u3
(24,761 posts)I'll believe their claims of discrimination against them when I see American Christians actually persecuted right here in the USA.
I'll have to see the following practiced on a widespread basis to take their claims seriously:
1) On help wanted ads, "Conservative Christians need not apply."
2) We have the right to refuse service to conservative Christians
3) New kinds of sundown towns that deny conservative Christians the right to live there, with varying degrees of enforcement, legal and extralegal.
The list goes on.
Otherwise, it's nothing but whining about having yanked from them their license to dominate the culture, shove their warped beliefs down the throats of those who don't share them, and discriminate against people they don't like. Conservative Christianists need to face the reality that they're no longer absolute lords and masters and deal with it.
Skittles
(153,160 posts)you can make them believe ANYTHING