Heading down a path toward persecution
6:56 p.m. EST, November 19, 2010
In this column on Feb. 12, 2005, I wrote of a conversation I recalled from college days. A friend of mine was speculating, "It's possible we might live to see Christians persecuted in America."
No one contradicted him; anything was possible. But honestly, I couldn't picture how that might happen.
As I noted then, that conversation took place in the mid-1970s. A lot had changed by 2005. Still, compared to the torture and enslavement of believers in Sudan, the imprisonment of pastors in China, and the martyrdom of thousands throughout history, American Christians were not really experiencing persecution. As I wrote five years ago, though, "it's no longer inconceivable."
A lot has changed, again.
American Christianity won't come under sudden widespread persecution. We won't wake up one day to the sight of believers everywhere being carted off to prison. If persecution comes, it will start with religious freedoms being subtly eroded in schools, in the workplace, and around the community. It will (if it comes) descend a path of gradually decreasing liberties. Only slowly will we recognize we've entered an era of persecution.
Could this happen? Could we already be walking down that path?
Police arrested and jailed four Christians last June for disturbing the peace at a public festival in Dearborn, Michigan. Video evidence shows that the charges were false from the beginning. All four were acquitted, except one of them was found guilty of an additional charge of disobeying a police officer's lawful command. She has filed an appeal.
What were they doing? They were wearing Christian t-shirts and talking about Christ with festival-goers who approached them on the city streets. There was no disturbance, no scene. The event was an Arab Festival, and one of the four, a friend of mine named Nabeel, is a Muslim convert to Christianity. His mere presence there seems to have disturbed some people. Though they've been exonerated (mostly), they are out thousands of dollars in expenses related to their defense. Their story is told at answeringmuslims.com.
Jailed for sharing their faith—is that not persecution?
A single woman in Michigan advertised on her church bulletin board for a Christian roommate. The state cited her for discriminating against other faiths. (Source: adfmedia.org
Brought up on civil charges for seeking a like-minded roommate—is that not persecution?
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last June that Hastings College of the Law could require the Christian Legal Society on campus to welcome into membership—and even into leadership—persons who disagreed with the Society's foundational Biblical principles. (Source: oldsite.alliancedefensefund.org/userdocs/MichCivilRightsComplaint.pdf)
Forced to put opponents in charge of their faith-based group—is that not persecution?
Augusta (Georgia) State University ordered Jennifer Keeton, a psychology student, to participate in "sensitivity training" and to renounce her Biblical beliefs regarding sexual morality, or else be dismissed from the program. (Source: oldsite.alliancedefensefund.org/userdocs/MichCivilRightsLetter.pdf)
The Soviets "re-educated" followers of Christ and denied them professional employment. Is this not persecution?
I saw my friend Nabeel the other day. In spite of his arrest and brief imprisonment he maintains his joy in Christ and his love for Muslims. God is bigger than all opposition. If persecution comes to America, that's how all believers should respond. He and the others mentioned here have also stood up for what's right. That's appropriate, too.
Is broad-scale persecution coming? For years now I have watched the growing civil and cultural pressure being brought against Christianity, and I have firmly resisted calling it that. Now, however, we are clearly aiming in that direction. How close are we to full-blown anti-religious oppression? I can't say. But I can see it on the path ahead. It's looming much closer now than in the 1970s—closer even than five years ago.
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