Courtesy of the zanies at OneNewsNow, we present their weekly top four ways that Christians are being persecuted, persecuted I tell you, just for being worshipers of Christ in this Christian nation of ours.
1. Police departments harassed over 'In God We Trust' motto
[http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2015/08/24/police-departments-harassed-over-in-god-we-trust-motto/]
The Freedom from Religion Foundation has complained to some police departments about patrol cars with "In God We Trust" on the side. While Christian groups say that using the national motto is a matter of "showing patriotism" and celebrating "religious heritage," I do have to wonder how someone who doesn't worship the Christian deity celebrated by that motto would feel having a police car sporting it rolling up to (presumably) help them. Or how a non-Christian police officer would feel carrying around that theistic advertisement.
(The phrase only became the national motto in 1956, though it did appear in money briefly in the late 1800s, and again starting in 1938.)
At any rate, are police cars intended to proclaim the patriotism and religious heritage of the officers or police department officials involved? If that's the goal, are other religious heritage phrases allowable, too — maybe a bumper sticker that says, "Allahu akbar"?
Or would that be bigotry, too?
2. Halftime hymn-players hogtied
[http://www.onenewsnow.com/perspectives/todd-starnes/2015/08/24/halftime-hymn-players-hogtied/]
Already dealt with this one (https://hill-kleerup.org/blog/2015/08/24/how-great-thou-art-threatened-to-be-fined.html). Apparently it's bigotry against Christians to not let a public school play Christian hymns at football games.
3. 'Free thinkers' continue hassling team chaplains
[http://www.onenewsnow.com/culture/2015/08/27/free-thinkers-continue-hassling-team-chaplains/]
Well, not exactly. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has issued a report (http://goo.gl/NxR7WA) condemning 25 public universities for spending tax dollars on sports team chaplains, on their travel, and for apparently all such chaplains being Christian when a large percentage of college students (including, presumably, some of the athletes) are not.
So should tax dollars be spent by public schools to preach to school athletes? If so, would the folk at ONN be willing to see some "good, godly" Muslim chaplains hired to give those kids "structure and good Islamic encouragement"? How about Buddhists? Or even Jews?
If the comeback answers is that, no, only Christian chaplains can provide such a service, then I think the FFRF's point is proven, and the "bigotry" involved is not theirs.
4. CA councilman 'purged' for views on marriage
[http://www.onenewsnow.com/culture/2015/08/19/ca-councilman-purged-for-views-on-marriage/]
A Newport Beach city councilman sent out a religious letter to his constituents, critical of the SCOTUS Obergefell decision. Said constituents (and constituents elsewhere in the city) complained, and the city council voted 4-3 to "disassociated" the city council from his remarks.
Ooooh. That's one hell of a "'purge,'" isn't it?
So apparently, according to ONN, it's not bigotry to spend taxpayer dollars to send out a letter to every household in a council district that God might be going to smite the world again because of the "homosexual movement," but it is bigotry to complain about it. Got it!
Even if this were persecution (and it totally isn't), isn't there something in there about offering the other cheek?
+Colm Buckley That not a Manly Enough Christianity for some folk. Plus, it doesn't gin up political donations.
"What I think God meant to say…"