There’s a silly poll at a website called The Voice of the Martyrs, asking whether Christians are persecuted in the United States.
(No.)
I only post this because we all know all too well that most of the “persecution” faced by fundamentalist Christians in this country basically involves them being forced to stop lording their beliefs over other people and/or get over the fact that that they live in a secular nation with a separation of church and state, and that it’s truly irrelevant what their beliefs on what “God said” about marriage, etc., are, when it comes to treating LGBT citizens equally.
So anyway. Go Freep this poll. It was already posted at Pharyngula, where P.Z. gave the following instructions:
Wah, wah, wah…make them cry some more, persecute them by going clicky-clicky on a little button on the internet.
Because that’s all it takes to persecute them, really. Over 90% are already answering no, but that number should be more like 99.9%.
(And yes, I know some of you readers are Christians, and you should know that polls like this aren’t about liberal, open-minded Christians who don’t have a victim complex every time somebody breathes in their direction.)
A reader at our Facebook page offers some fabulous perspective on this, though:
I thought Jesus said Christians are supposed to rejoice if they’re persecuted for his sake. The mewling and puking of the religious right needs to stop. More rejoicing, less bitching.
I think he outsnarked me.
Damn. I have to up my game.
I notice whenever sites that document (real) Christian persecution exist there’s a distinct absence of stories from the US. The reason is that there is no persecution of Christians in the US. Sadly too many people think not allowing RRRW Christians to run roughshod over the entire nation = persecution.
But loud mouth fundies are persecuted: The fact that you have liberal Christian is persecution to some of these people.
It’s the usual game that has been played for centuries. (Started by the Catholic Church and picked up later on by the rest.) Deflect any criticism. Best defense is a good offense. The “sheep” buy this sack of baloney every time.
If they were actually being persecuted, they’d be strung up from lamp posts.
Oh, wait a minute. That’s what they are inciting others to do to LGBT people.
Persecution complex. Well, its like, you got conservatively religious people who tell you what is “moral” and what is “right” and what is “wrong” and they believe they have the right to do that because it’s “God’s will” but when someone speaks against that, they cry religious persecution.
MY solution to the “persecution complex”: Let people live their own lives. If I like other men and I want a relationship with another man, let me marry one. If you want to think it’s wrong, dont marry a member of the same sex. Let me hold a job without being fired. Afterall, you wouldnt like it if some atheist fired you. Dont beat me up because Im gay because you wouldnt want to be beaten for your religion (in which, religion IS a choice). Im sure Jesus didnt like being tortured to death because of HIS religion.
You treat me the way you want to be treated…..
There. So many problems solved when people are allowed to live their own lives how they see fit.