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It seems to me that Bill O'Reilly (sp?) and Pat Robertson (among others) are determined to find ways to make it look as if Christians are being persecuted. This, in a country that has been predominantly Christian ever since we exterminated the natives.

What sort of a sick world view is it that makes it a good thing to be persecuted?

Eric, they are striving to make the text from the Gospel of Matthew 5.10 come alive now...."Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

I am with you Eric. These people are trying to present something that is false. Furthermore, by bringing their actions to the spotlight, they have missed the point of God's message. Their reward is here and now instead of in the hereafter. Wonder if they realized this?

Shalom

Christmas is meaningless without the baby Jesus being born into your heart. To force folks to celebrate Christmas or pay for Christmas trappings seems unChristian. I wouldn't want to pay for other religious symbols on public property and unless folks are willing to do that, they might want to think about this.

And Christians ready and on alert to sue? Now that seems about as unChristian as you can get. When did this triumphalism get embeded in Christian doctrine?

No one is forcing non-Christians to celebrate Christmas (in a religious sense). This time of year brings out people who can't tolerate anything to do with the religious expression of Christmas. A number of years ago my daughter's 4th grade teacher asked us it it was OK to sing Christmas carols during a school function-"less anyone become offended.

The idea that there is a war on Christmas is silly; what is ironic is that, those who are against any public display of Christmas, are so quick to scream: Intollerance!!!

Now, if the complaining offended Christians doin' the suin' really had a sense of full history, couldn't the retailers call them "Yule trees"?
That's a term many Christians embrace(d) for several centuries. Happily, it is also embraced by pagans. My surmisal is, no, they would not be appeased.

As for songs in school: I had a Jewish principal in elementary school who was roundly critcized for not allowing the name Jesus in the school winter concerts. He did not oppose songs with a more general religious (even traditional Christian) tenor (we were all tenors back then; or sopranos). The only stipulation was no mention of the name Jesus or Christ (but "Christmas" was okay). So "Good King however-it's-spelled" and "I Saw Three Ships" were in. Perhaps some lyrics to these songs had such names, but the first one or two did not.

Seems to me this was actually a very astute policy. We also sang a few traditional Jewish songs, about draedles as I recall. Harmless. Even one that mentions oil and light, etc., but not "God", YHWH, etc.

The rest were all snow, reindeer and the fat elf.

Anyone who has read the literature of the humanist and atheist community knows full well that it contains an imbedded hostility to anything Christian and biblical. Only an ostrich-headed ascetic could miss their progressive efforts to transform our culture into an atheistic, socialist “paradise.” The last election showed that this goal was not a widely popular one. But because the humanist intelligentsia have carried the day over the past century in the public schools and higher educational circles, there is increasing support for their agenda –a creeping atheism and moral anarchism.

Eric is correct that this country has been “predominantly Christian;” and not just predominantly, but overwhelmingly so. He says that “we” exterminated the natives. Grammatically, “we” must include him. I certainly do not accept the accusation. The persons who did mistreat Native Americans included multitudes of non-Christians, (or those nominally so, but in no way enlightened by the Scriptures): greedy entrepreneurs, power mongers, political opportunists, and the like. It was the atheist Margaret Sanger, after all, who advocated eugenics – also championed by the Nazis. It has perennially been ardent, Christ-like, Christians that have advocated human rights (abolitionists, pro-lifers) and benevolent institutions, who retrieved the throw-away babies of the Romans and Greeks. It has been my observation that anti-Christian types are quick to cast the first stone of unjust and misinformed accusations not true of committed, biblical Christians. But then, their glass houses are shattered every time! (Not that Christians don’t have their glass houses, as well)

Yes, their definitely is a culture war – but not really – it’s more of a spiritual one; and because Christians have been losing it for about a century now, they are lashing out in opposition – too little too late. Rather than engaging the atheist/humanist community on higher ground (some are) they generally seem to default to the high-profile battle lines. If Christians cave to the pluralist mindset, and seek merely to secure their place in the sun along with atheists, Buddhists, Wiccans, et al., they are further ceding the battle. Rather than seeking to survive, for example, in a public school system that is totally committed to pluralistic secularism, they should pull their kids out yesterday, and build a Christian culture. The anti-biblical humanist models will collapse of themselves – as they are already doing.

Christmas: well, it has become a largely commercialized folk tradition anyway. It has little to do with a genuinely biblical understanding of the Incarnation, or God’s Redemptive plan anyway; and actually detracts from the real spiritual issues. To engage opponents at this level is bringing your Howitzers to bear on a haystack. It looks and sounds powerful, but speaks more of desperation.

The real issue about Christ-mass is that the baby grew up and became the Redeemer of Israel and the world, and now sits at the right hand of heavenly power and authority. Sinners and detractors should fear and tremble at His judgments (Psalm 2). If they don’t, they merely seal their doom and display the ignorance of their darkened minds (Ephesians 4:17 ff).

Although I’m personally not big into the Christmas wars thing, it is a very public symptom of the very real effort of the atheist/humanist forces to subdue and extinguish the biblical worldview from our culture – not just that they philosophically disagree with it - but so that they can continue to kill unborn babies, advance socialism, undermine the motherly role of women and implement the Humanist Manifesto across the globe.

And no, Darryl, it is not merely a maudlin persecution complex; there really is persecution (minus the lions and boiling oil – so far). And no, we can’t just get along. This essential cosmic conflict will be resolved only by total and complete victory. Rev. 11:15! So you see, “progressivexian,” triumph is implicit in the Gospel message. Christianity without a triumphant Messiah and Gospel is only a bland, useless mess of spiritual porridge – salt that has lost its savor. But the Spirit impels us to speak the Truth in love. It has sufficient power and authority to gain the victory in itself – no need for armed Jihads! “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is Jesus’ prayer – and all true Christians; not just to be one-up, but to share the freedom, the joy and the destiny.