Bill O’Reilly, Kirk Cameron, Sarah Palin, and the rest of the ecclesiastical world continues mewling about how the war against Christians is ramping up once again as Christmas nears.
But they’re buffoons. Why would I care, much less comment?
Because I am a committed, 33-year Christian, Bible student, and former minister and pastor. Every single thing I write, do, and say is informed by my faith. I have also been involved in politics since I was able to stuff envelopes in kindergarten. I’ve spent years in the evangelical subculture, was raised Catholic, and am theologically home with the Wesleys and the Anabaptists.
I understand faith, and I understand politics and culture.
Trust me, then, when I say the Church in the U.S. is nowhere near faithful enough to Jesus to be persecuted, and a huge swath of the Church is involved in movements that have declared war on women, the poor, public school kids, and other marginalized people Jesus favored. If there’s a “war” against Christians, it’s primarily “friendly fire,” merrily self-inflicted with little thought as the evangelical world cements its adulterous relationship with the political Right — and, in doing so, does more damage to the Christian witness than any retail culture of “Happy Holidays” possibly could.