Hello, world. Today's readings got me thinking about something. We're in the Easter season, and since it's before Pentecost, most of the readings are about the Acts of the Apostles: basically how they stood up for their faith, and how they were consequently put in jail and often killed for it. I've been reading passages like this for weeks now, but today it hit me a little differently. When I was reading Acts 14:19-28, there is a part that reads: “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” My immediate reaction was, "What a bunch of martyrs." And then, in a hilarious moment of realization, it dawned on me: they WERE martyrs! This whole melodramatic charade that Christians so often put on today about standing up for their faith is so vastly different from what it actually was in the very beginning. There's ALWAYS some Christian group protesting that they're suffering persecution in America because they can't pray in school or display the 10 Commandments on government property or overturn Roe v. Wade, etc. But really? Is that persecution? We live in a society that is incredibly generous and kind to the Christian populations. Christians haven't had to fight for religious freedom in this country for three hundred years. Somehow, I feel like those protestors are misusing the term martyr, and that we should really have a greater appreciation for our country, which allows us to worship peacefully.
Truth be told, we're the lucky ones. Our Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and to an extent, Jewish, brothers and sisters have not experience such comfort in their own religious practice. We pride ourselves on being a country that promotes religious tolerance, but really, only if that tolerance means that Christians are still in charge. How many stories have we heard, post 9/11, about mosques and Islamic centers being the epicenter of hate, bigotry, and cruel remarks? If that was a Catholic or mainline Protestant church, those haters would probably be arrested. So why aren't Muslims being granted the same rights?
I understand that there is a heightened sense of uncertainty with regard to Muslims, and most of it is due to ignorance and hate. I do not condone any group or organization that preaches violence, nor do I promote any "patriotic" group that only supports the mainstream Christian denominations. If you call yourself an American, then you should be standing up for those who are being persecuted for their beliefs. As citizens of the country (even if they're not citizens, they're still living here), they deserve to live in a safe and welcoming environment that our ancestors fought so hard to create.
There shouldn't be a hierarchy with whose religious tradition gets the most votes. The reality is that most of the country is some sort of Christian, but is that to say that the other percentage doesn't get a voice? That they don't deserve to worship and live and work safely, without fear of violence? It's a blatant hypocrisy in the face of the Constitution. And I'm not really a patriotic person. I love my country and I love that I have the freedom to worship God without my life being on the line. But that's only because I belong to the religion that the vast majority of the nation also subscribes to. So I'm speaking up for the others. The forgotten ones, the misunderstood ones, the victimizes ones. They have a voice.
And seriously...let's stop trying to argue that the 10 Commandments need to be plastered across every government lawn. Most of them are basic societal norms, anyway. We don't need Moses reminding us not to murder. Most of us just know that it's wrong. And in a nation that promotes religious tolerance, that means that a student should be allowed to read his or her own Bible in school...but it doesn't mean that a teacher should be teaching it as a holy text. That's what religious education is for. So, let's all chill out and remember why our country fought for this religious tolerance in the first place. The founding fathers weren't even traditional Christians...they were deists. So, none of this crap that America is only a Christian nation. George Washington didn't even believe that.
Alright, I'm done.
Peace.
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