I have written about this before, somewhere here (I don't have the exact trackback, and I don't have time to search right now, but it's somewhere in there), but since that is inactive and, to an extent superceded by the present blog, I feel OK not so much repeating myself, but refining what I have said previously.
First, let me say that I am glad my turtle-loving neighbors to the north are insistent, because I am being forced to defend myself and my positions - always a good thing. I would never want to take myself so seriously that I felt above criticism. At the same time, there are points where we can find agreement that other, secular lefties might not be so comfortable with. This is a perennial problem, and one I thought I had settled for good earlier this summer. Apparently, I was wrong, as a discussion concerning the persecution of Christians - both real and imagined - has led to some interesting comments. I wish to state my position forthrightly and clearly, and then move on to something else.
I accept that the Christian churches have been less than congenial to those of other faiths; sometimes they are hostile to those of other denominations! I also accept that, as the religious foundation for a European Empire that spanned the globe and gave spiritual comfort to the oppression and cultural genocide over millions fo my fellow human beings, it has much for which to answer, although it is answering today in ways that are hard to hear because so many people are yelling at the Church. Finally, I recognize that some of my fellow-Christians hold political and social views that I find abhorrent. For these, however, I cannot answer, and will not. I am not responsible for what other people do.
Having said all that, in a pluralistic society, the Christian churches are under no compunction to soft-pedal their beliefs to fit the anti-religious prejudices of others. The struggle in the public sphere necessitates that all parties own up to the limitations of their views, secular and sectarian. To insist that Christians not "shove their religion down their throats" ignores the fact that we Christians have every right to our views, and to insist upon them, as do others. That is what public discourse is about. Your choice is to silence faithful Christians so as not to offend, or listen with an open mind, and perhaps even learn something.
I find it so interesting that, whenever these discussions come up, the Holocaust is mentioned. Somehow, the fact that Naziism was a pagan, occult ideology that was as hostile to Christian faith as it was to any other expression of faith (the list of Christian martyrs is long, indeed). More to the point, as Os Guiness reminds us in his recent book Unspeakable, the vast majority of the massacres of the previous century have been in the name of secular, even "scientific", political ideologies. Pol Pot, Josef Stalin, and the winner of the 20th century slaughter sweepstakes Mao Tse-tung, were hardly paragons of Christian virtue. Those are just three of the names I could mention.
This is not to negate the crimes of the Christian churches. It is only to say that, as human beings, we tend to kill those who disagree with us politically, and in a variety of other arenas as well. To insist that Christians remain silent while secular ideologies hold some place of honor, above the warp and woof of history, is just ignorant. We all have blood on our hands. As long as we can accept that and move on, things will be OK.
Finally, in reference to the whole question of the remembrance of victims of anti-Christian persecution, to insist that victims of other persecution be remembered as well - as if somehow the only way we justify remembering the violence against people who hold one set of beliefs is to remember that other faiths are victims as well - is intellectually dishonest. The church is under no obligation to generalize; as the litany quoted below clearly states, even as we remember our own victimization we are to remember the violence done to all those who believe - Jewish, Muslim, Baha'i, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon. Yet, and I shall say this again, we Christians must remember that there are brothers and sisters of the faith who are suffering and dying simply because they profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. To deny this, again out of some misguided sense of concern for the feelings of others, is just wrong.
No one said living together is or would be easy. No one said the compromises, and the limits of compromise, would always be clear-cut. It is part of the struggle of social existence that there is never one answer once and for all to these questions. We have to figure it out on our own as we go.
Virtual Tin Cup
