"VA medical center pulls curtain to hide Jesus, cross and altar" (AFA http://goo.gl/LUiy3l; Fox http://goo.gl/GqaW4W): VA officials at a medical center in Michigan are trying to comply with a 2008 VA reg that says that chapels have to be religiously neutral, doing so by putting a curtain around the Christian altar, cross, and Jesus statue except when Christian services or Bible study are being followed. I don't know how I'd feel as Muslim or Jew or Buddhist if the only place I could go for some quiet prayer viz my loved one in the VA hospital was festooned with religious symbolism other than my own. I suspect the folks complaining about this would complain just as loudly if the only place Christians had to meditate or pray in has a large statue of Vishnu or a stained glass star-and-crescent dominating the decor. I'll note that most airport chapels function in much the same way, and for much the same reason. While this particular solution is pretty clumsy, it is by no means a sign that Christians are "under attack" or are being forced to give up their First Amendment rights. Rating: 2 of 5 lions.
"'Aborted Baby Jesus' Dolls Hung in Hobby Lobby Store in Act of Anti-Christian Vandalism" (CNS: http://goo.gl/jteokW): A YouTube video was release this week of people surreptitiously creating an "Aborted Baby Jesus" doll display in the Easter Section of a Hobby Lobby store. Um … yeah, that's pretty tacky. And rude. Even arguably bigoted. Not exactly a hate crime, though, let alone the crime of the century. Rating: 4 of 5 lions.
"Houston Texas lesbian mayor bullies anti-Christian ordinance through – 'This is about me.'" (ONN: http://goo.gl/J3I988; MSNBC http://goo.gl/TuW8zz) Frothy ranting about the ordinance passed in Houston prohibiting discrimination against many groups, including (gasp) gays. Like every other such law passed or discussed, the conservative Christian media got in a lather about how people who aren't allowed to discriminate are being discriminated against — a position I find goofy, but emblematic of the "we're special, we've always been in control, and now that's changing, waaah" thrashing about that characterizes this faction. Meanwhile, after the city law passed, Mayor Parker received death threats and was under police protection. Hmmm. Where is the bigotry and hatred in this story, really? Rating: 1 of 5 lions.
"And…from the Anti-Christian Group of the Week: Freedom From Religion Foundation contests Georgia high school prayers" (FFrF http://goo.gl/ZGggep): The local public high school football team has pre-game dinners — that happen to be hosted by a local Baptist church and come complete a sermon from the church youth minister and a group prayer. And … nope, opposing that is not being anti-Christian, it's being anti-Christian-preaching-to-high-school-students-at-a-school-sponsored-function. I have no problems with opposing that, and don't feel like it impinges on my religious freedoms as a Christian. Rating: 0 of 5 lions.
Oh, by the way, that whole throwing christians to the lions thing?
Old christian propoganda. Apparently the Romans never did that.
Well that was interesting. I used their form to express my support for the VA's move to recognize that our soldiers come from all faiths.
+Asbjørn Grandt I've heard that from a few people, but I've not seen any cites. I have no doubt that it was exaggerated to some degree (though the Romans could be pretty zany at times), and I suspect it was not just the Christians who were persecuted in various ways. I'll have to dig into that a bit more.