When does the persecution of Christians Begin?

[BOSSHOG]

A passing glance at the news and headlines and one would believe that death camps have been set up for Christians; but last Sunday I took a drive around the county and all the church parking lots were full, religious displays were in all the their glory on church properties and you could hear "Merry Christmas" ringing out throughout town. What gives? Will all the churches be shut down this weekend? Is what I saw just the last defiant acts of a persecuted minority? Or am I being duped? Is all this persecution shit just a ruse to rile the masses? Are church leaders just having a little fun to see how fired up they can get their ignorant lemming churchgoers? Will the annual "assault on christmas" stories result in an additional passing or two of the collection plate to fund the never ending battle against the evil secularists? (tax exempt of course). Those wacky church "leaders" sure know their flock. Praise the Lord Junior, Grandma can do without her medicine this month; put her medmoney in the plate. Its important that we fight the evil liberals and their stem cell research and other evil acts.

[Democrats_win]

1. They're too busy warmongering and hating to notice absence of persecution.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

2. All of the cars you see in the parking lot

are cars of the evil secularist who park them there so that it will look like everything is normal. But those of us in the know are fully informed that the true christians have been hauled off to death camps.

Yea, it's all part of the evil liberals to quietly do away with the christians.

[BJW]

3. You nailed it!! It's false victimhood!!--eom

[No Exit]

4. It's a trap.

They're lulling the churches/Christians into a false sense of security, so they will come out and reveal their Jesus-loving ways.

Then they'll swoop in and round 'em all up and send them to Guantanamo. Then Prethident Bush will appear in one of Arafat's old head scarves and we'll all be forced to be Muslims.

I'm scared! How will I be able to get a tan next spring, wearing those long Muslim robes and a head scarf??

[dogman]

5. The first Church was built on martyrdom.

They just want to repeat history. They need an enemy since St. Ronald defeated the Godless communists.

[iamahaingttta]

6. When does the persecution begin?

I'm not really sure, but when it does, let me know.
I want to get in on it!

[randomelement]

8. Hit the nail right on the head

Once these delusional idiots (Christofascists) get done dragging our country in the wrong direction, and the rest of the country realizes what's been done, you can bet your last rosary bead the REAL persecution will begin. Unfortunately, any of the REAL Christians out there, who know that God couldn't care less about governments, will become targets as well .....

But right now, the "holier than thou" crowd run the roost and they'll say or do ANYTHING to make it sound as if they're being dragged off to the dungeons .....

Pretty damn pathetic -

[peaches2003]

7. Faux News

Most of the persecution 'end-of-Merry Christmas' stories are spread and fueled by Faux News, Bill O'Reilly, and John Gibson (to promo is War on Christmas book) and the Fundy religious leaders given air time on Fox. It is scary, though, to see how quickly some people can be whipped into a frenzy to battle an enemy that doesn't exist. Right Wing media are geniuses at this.

[Glorfindel]

9. Right wing media have an anxious, appreciative audience...

just waiting, wanting, HOPING for signs of "persecution." Lord knows, something has to provide an external enemy for these "Christians," or their doctrinal disputes will doom them all. Several branches of the cult (mostly Orthodox) celebrate Christmas on January 6th ("Old Christmas"). Others (Jehovah's Witnesses) don't celebrate it at all. Still others, relatively minor players such as Mormons and Seventh-Day Adventists make a big to-do over Christmas to demonstrate how mainstream they are. All of them taken together aren't worth a pitcher of warm piss, to quote the Hon. John Nance Garner, former Vice-President. Imagine if the so-called Christians actually spent their money, time, and energy feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and visiting widows, orphans, and the imprisoned! What a blessed difference they could make in a suffering world. That's why I think of them all as a cult. They wish to govern the world with their primitive, superstitious nonsense and IGNORE the teachings of their own Messiah. Well, a merry Christmas to them, I say. May they all enjoy wallowing in their own self-pity and forget for a while about the yawning abyss of hell that's waiting for them.

[Bloodblister Bob]

10. Well put. eom

[BjohnsonMN]

11. It is about obtaining absolute power

Anyone who is not blind can see that even in the stores that use the "Happy Holidays" greeting that the fundies are so opposed to. You see products all over virtually every store with the word Christmas on it, and the marketers are always talking about our "Christmas wishlist". The fundies all know the word Christmas is there, the real reason they oppose the word Happy Holidays is because they are opposed to acknowledging other religions outside their own. They don't want us acknowledging Hannukah because they are anti-semitic, they don't want us acknowledging Kwanzaa because they are racist, and they don't want us to acknowledge New Years because that is a fun holiday and they don't want us to have fun.

There is no war on Christmas, there is a war on non-Christian holidays.

[NoFederales]

12. Western Religion could not be replete without victomology. Look at the

icons representative of these religions. Go to into some of the homes of these folks to see shrines or documents redolent of historical persecution and suffering. But even without the trappings of glorified misery, you can hear the tales that have been internalized and regurgitated over and over into a mimicked litany worthy of the most popular tele-evangelical heroes.

To hear their cries of woe you would indeed believe Satan was thrashing them about ever so abusively and continuously.

NoFederales

[leftofthedial]

13. are you taking reservations?

[xchrom]

14. that's the 64,000 dollar question ain't it?

i am waiting for someone to tear into one these poor persecuted souls on telly -- asking them to PROVE their claims.

and then ask them why after two thousand years haven't they done a better job with the poor.