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'War' on Christians Is Alleged
Conference Depicts a Culture Hostile to Evangelical Beliefs

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 29, 2006; A12



The "War on Christmas" has morphed into a "War on Christians."

Last December, some evangelical Christian groups declared that the religious celebration of Christmas -- and even the phrase "Merry Christmas" -- was under attack by the forces of secularism.

This week, radio commentator Rick Scarborough convened a two-day conference in Washington on the "War on Christians and the Values Voters in 2006." The opening session was devoted to "reports from the frontlines" on "persecution" of Christians in the United States and Canada, including an artist whose paintings were barred from a municipal art show in Deltona, Fla., because they contained religious themes.

"It doesn't rise to the level of persecution that we would see in China or North Korea," said Tristan Emmanuel, a Canadian activist. "But let's not pretend that it's okay."

Among the conference's speakers were former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and Sens. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) as well as conservative Christian leaders Phyllis Schlafly, Rod Parsley, Gary Bauer, Janet Parshall and Alan Keyes.

To many of the 400 evangelicals packed into a small ballroom at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, it was a hard but necessary look at moral relativism, hedonism and Christophobia, or fear of Christ, to pick just a few terms offered by various speakers referring to the enemy.

To some outsiders, it illuminated the paranoia of the Christian right.

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Christianophobia, sometimes (if ungrammatically) called christophobia, is a term used by some to describe an irrational fear or hatred of Christians, or Christianity in general.

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By Robert Scheer

Blame it on the vast anti-Christian conspiracy. That was the explanation offered by U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas and his supporters last week for the whirlpool of legal difficulties that finally led the ex-leader of the Republicans in Congress to admit it was time to call it quits.

The convener of a “War on Christians” conference held in the nation's capital outrageously depicted the former House majority leader's political plight as the unwarranted crucifixion of a Christ-like leader by God-haters. And, with his trademark gall, the infamously ethically challenged DeLay eagerly embraced this explanation when it was his turn to speak to the adoring crowd.

“We have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned and our world is being threatened,” thundered the Texan pest-control entrepreneur who rose to become one of America's most powerful politicians. “The enemies of virtue may be on the march, but they have not won.”

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Dizzy yet? It gets worse, much worse. Despite its alleged focus on protecting American families, the Family Network's lobbying instead found success in securing DeLay's political support of Russian oil profiteers, sweatshop operators in the U.S. protectorate of the Northern Marianas, and American Indian gambling casinos afraid of competition. It's a peculiar record for an organization launched with the stated purpose of pushing policies to advance “families, the economic prosperity, social improvement, moral fitness, and general well being of the United States.” But perhaps DeLay and his underlings just have a different interpretation of what “it” is when it comes to “moral fitness.”

After all, DeLay did argue publicly that allowing textile manufacturers in the Marianas to sew in “Made In the USA” labels while not having to follow our labor and immigration laws was the moral thing to do. And when Abramoff, recipient of more than $7 million in lobbying fees from the Marianas government, managed to get him to visit, DeLay took the opportunity not only to call Abramoff “one of my closest and dearest friends,” he also cast the sweatshop owners' cause — protecting their right to cheap imported Chinese labor — in a Christian framework. “Stand firm,” Delay urged them at a dinner hosted by a major sweatshop company, as he promised to protect their profitable loophole from any corrective legislation. “Resist evil. Remember that all truth and blessings emanate from our Creator.”

What is still unclear, however, is how, if DeLay really fears the judgment of his creator, can he be so cavalier in assuming he will get an eternal pass on this despicable behavior?

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We have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned and our world is being threatened

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Originally posted by pleco

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We have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned and our world is being threatened

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No free will?

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They don't get to have no free will 'cause Jesus loves them, or so they think. Me, I think Jesus would cut their sanctimonious throats with a rusty oyster knife if he knew what the bastards were trying to do in his name.

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Wow. Such a word does exist. Christianophobia

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Christianophobia, sometimes (if ungrammatically) called christophobia, is a term used by some to describe an irrational fear or hatred of Christians, or Christianity in general.

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Could this also include disgust toward the harm they are doing?

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Anti-Christian prejudice should not be confused with reasonable criticism of Christianity or its claims, at least in the sense of "criticism for which one can give a reason".

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Numerous conflicts between the ACLU and conservative Christian activists prompted the creation of the ACLJ in 1990, by televangelist Pat Robertson. The ACLJ promotes what it sees as family values and freedom of expression, as well as establishing itself as a counterbalance to the more "liberal" ACLU. While both organizations argue that they are dedicated to defending religious liberty, each takes a vastly different approach. While the ACLU argues that the state should maintain a neutral stance on religious affairs in order to protect civil liberties, the ACLJ believes that Separation of church and state in its current form is contradictory to the original intentions of the Founding Fathers, and that policies designed to foster religious tolerance are actually intolerant of Christians. A large part of the ACLJ caseload involves defending the First Amendment rights of Christian students who believe that they have been denied freedom of speech by school administrations.

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