Article for reference: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450445,00.html I find it humorous how many atheists and secular humanists love to play the martyr, whining about how Christians are always 'forcing their views' on them, how 'hateful' Christians are, and my personal favorite, how Christians are are becoming more aggressive in pushing their 'agenda' on everyone. (eg: Some of them wanting to teach creationism in schools as scientific theory, etc.) All the while the atheists push their own agenda veiled with claims of 'intelligence' and 'free thinking' while swearing that they do not want to change people's minds about the existence of God. Hogwash. The actions described by the group in this article is a perfect example of how deceitful many of those who are pushing this agenda are. I know some will argue that their motives are genuine, but please, who do you think you are fooling? Anyone who has lived in America for an amount of time and paid attention to these issues, particularly if they are Christian themselves, know that Christians have been pushing few if any issues for many years. In fact, they have primarily been asleep! We have been seeing the Christian based values of this country as a whole erode for decades while its people sink deeper into corruption and depravity -- God and prayer have been removed from public schools, the pornography industry is booming; casinos and gambling have spread throughout the country; television is filled with all kinds of filth and depravity; depression, suicide, crime, alcoholism and drug use are all on the rise or at epidemic proportions -- and for the most part Christians have sat back and done nothing about this. It has gone so far that it has even become fashionable to be a Christian basher. And the atheists claim that WE are forcing THEM to do something? PLEASE! An ongoing subtle attack against Christians, their beliefs and their values has been going on for decades. And in the past few years it has been gaining steam, much to the delight of its supporters. But despite the onslaught of hate, Christian bashing, name calling and challenges to prove God's existence that are surely to follow, I'm here to tell you, that is a critical mistake to make. These attacks have become more apparent, and more and more Christians are taking notice. What atheists portray as Christians trying to force their will upon others is actually a direct response to the atheists ongoing attacks in an attempt to strip society of any hint of God. For example, while many people have complained and been up in arms over Christians trying to institute the teaching of creationism in public school science classes, it is merely a direct response to those trying to force their atheistic beliefs on us and our children. Atheists chant the mantra of 'separation of church and state,' not actually knowing what that means, and try to use it to do an end-run around the parents to teach their children what the atheists want them to believe. And yet they claim we are forcing our views on them! That is utterly ridiculous. The fact is, everything the atheists have been accusing Christians of, they themselves have been doing. THEY have been have been trying to force their views on us in an attempt strip every bit of religious belief (and in particular, Christianity) from our schools, our children and society in general. THEY have been the ones spewing hate, insults and slander towards those who believe in God. THEY have been the ones unwilling to live peaceably with their fellow man with a 'live and let live' philosophy. And if you are a Christian, or claim to be a Christian, you better wake up and see that there are those who seek to take your rights and beliefs away from you. For those atheists who truly do not have a problem with Christians, Christianity or other religions, and truly do wish to live in harmony with others, not trying to take the rights or beliefs of any other group away -- I have no beef with you. I think it is most unfortunate that you get a bad wrap due to the Christian-bashing atheists for which you must all suffer -- much like all Christians suffer due to those who claim to be Christian but chronically behave the total opposite. But let me tell you something Christian-haters -- you have awoke the sleeping giant. It hasn't moved much yet, but if you keep pushing your agenda trying to take Christianity, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and whatever else from us, you WILL bite off more than you can chew, and you WILL have a war on your hands that you cannot handle. Do you really think we are going to give up so easily? Do you really think that you will manage to wipe out every mention of God from the hearts, minds, and sight of all people? Do you really think you will be able to insult, degrade and embarrass us into submission? You better think again. The majority of the population believes in God, however much you are hoping or claiming your numbers have increased. That is a fact, get over it. And many, including myself, are fed up with the lies, the slander and the Christian-haters trying to take away what we hold dear. When you mess with the fundamental beliefs of the majority of the population, it WILL backfire on you in a major way. So if you want to line yourself up for this war, you better think twice about what you are getting into.
OP, how about some examples of what you say. As in actions put forth by those you seem to hate which if I recall Jesus commented on while atop the Mount giving his sermon. Or are you just another whack job crying the blues 'cause you can't get your way and blaming it on others? Seneca today's reading from the 100% correct and always perfect Bible: "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment. " (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)
Didn't Jesus preach of Forgiveness? All the points of your article are mute if you just forgive.... why do Christians seem to always want to start a WAR when they feel that somebody has crossed them? Forgiveness is the answer.
It always amazes me how atheists are so offended by a God they say doesn't exist. Yes, Christianity is being attacked, everyone yells at the lack of tolerance in the Christian faith, yet they themselves are intolerant of a Christians rite to express their faith.... and before you go on the attack there are several other currently politically correct faiths that believe that theirs is the "only right and true way" but when it's expressed from the Christian faith, Kattie bar the door. I don't know what the comparison of the quote from Exodus was all about, except that it protected the Woman, early women rights ????? The sermon on the mount wasn't aimed at the general public, only those that were believers in Jesus; it was a contrast of Faith and the Law, if you don't understand that keep reading it. enough for now.
...the article I cited; the things I cited in my first post; TV shows, movies and books such as The Last Temptation of Christ, The Da Vinci Code, Bill Maher's new movie, House (TV Show); various lawsuits filed to ban Christmas trees and nativity scenes; the revival of the Fairness Doctrine which would also hinder Christian programming; the IRS's arbitrary threat to remove tax exempt status from any church that speaks out on political matters; a large number of physical attacks and intimidation on churches and pastors that goes unmentioned in mainstream media; and unheard of number of attacks that occur regularly in Christian chat rooms by atheists seeking to feel their oats and cause trouble; and unknown number of chat rooms dedicated to hating Christianity; YOUR POST and the typical accusations of hate I mentioned in my first post, as well as posting scripture in an attempt to be inflammatory and degrading; the post before yours by the ever so articulate individual who made his first post with that account as to remain anonymous. Welcome to ET! There, I just gave you many examples across a wide spectrum of genres and peoples of the hate that is being propagated against Christians on a regular basis, and there are plenty more that could be listed. If you were to perpetrate most of those acts on a black person, you would be labeled as a raciest and subject to prosecution for a hate crime. If you do it to Christians, it becomes trendy.
Forgiveness does not preclude the need or rightfulness to fight. That is a common mistake among believers and unbelievers alike.
The double standard that is applied to the preaching of Christian views vs. other views is just gargantuan. I totally agree that the humanistic, PC groups pushing for gay rights etc. are the ones forcing their views on everyone else, and becoming the very thing they accuse us of. What is sad is how little the church (which includes me personally) is doing about it. I did find the binge of whining that followed the defeat of Prop. 8 in California most humorous though! Perhaps the golden state hasn't lost its collective mind after all.