The rise and rise of fundamentalist atheism, fundamentalist secularism, fundamentalist Islam, and other fundamentalisms which have declared war on Christianity continues unabated. This site regularly documents cases of anti-Christian bigotry and bullying.
In our topsy-turvy world, these fundamentalists are often seen as the good guys. Indeed, radical Muslims who want to take over the West seem to get a pretty good run. Militant atheists who want to eradicate Christianity entirely from the public arena are viewed as liberators.
Christianity is regularly and viciously mocked, ridiculed, vilified and spat upon by our opinion makers, media elites, leaders, and high-flyers. It seems that it is open season on Christianity, and any and all Christian-bashing seems to be acceptable.
Slowly but surely the secularists are grinding Christianity down, seeking to eliminate it completely from the public square, and then, perhaps from the private realm as well. A war has been declared against Christianity, and plenty of groups are quite happy to get in on the action.
I have documented one example of this after another on this website. All over the Western world we find cases of anti-Christian bigotry. Often the heavy hand of the law is involved in this crackdown. Two years ago I wrote about a home Bible study that was attacked by the authorities in San Diego California. Now a similar incident, also in California, is occurring.
Consider what is now transpiring in San Juan Capistrano, a city half way between Los Angeles and San Diego. Here is how one news outlet covers this story: “Chuck and Stephanie Fromm already have been fined $300 for holding Bible studies for their friends at their home, and they face the potential for additional fines of $500 for each study held, according to a legal team taking their case to court.
“The newest conflict over Bible studies in homes in America arose in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., where city officials say city code section 9-3.301 prohibits religious organizations in residential neighborhoods without a conditional-use permit, a sometimes very expensive procedure. The code cites ‘churches, temples, synagogues, monasteries, religious retreats, and other places of religious worship and other fraternal and community service organizations.’ But a Bible study in a home?”
Not everyone was impressed with this decision. Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, which is working on the case, said this: “Imposing a heavy-handed permit requirement on a home Bible study is outrageous. In a city so rich with religious history and tradition, this is particularly egregious. An informal gathering in a home cannot be treated with suspicion by the government, or worse than any other gathering of friends, just because it is religious. We cannot allow this to happen in America, and we will fight as long and as hard as it takes to restore this group’s religious freedom.”
Indeed, how ridiculous is this case? If a group of 20 people got together to play poker in someone’s home, would the city authorities crack down on it? What if 20 native American Indians got together to play cards? What if 20 Muslims got together to play checkers?
What if 20 Muslims got together to read the Koran? What if 20 secularists got together to strategise how to promote their secular religion? What if 20 Jews gathered to pray for Obama? What if 20 lesbians gathered together to write erotic religious poetry? What if 20 atheists got together to burn Bibles? What if 20 peyote smokers get together to do their thing?
What sort of madness is this? I doubt very much if any of these other groups would be targeted. But just dare to get a few Christians to come together in a home to pray or read God’s word, and all hell breaks loose. Then all of a sudden it looks like some horrible subversive activity is taking place.
Fortunately in America, unlike most other Western nations, there are a number of Christian legal defence outfits which exist to challenge idiocy and bigotry like this. A trial is scheduled for October 7. We need to keep these guys in our prayers.
This one case alone may not seem like much of a big deal. Nor would a few such cases. But the sad truth is, there are many of these cases occurring all the time in America and the West. It seems that an unofficial war against Christianity has been declared.
One small episode may not mean much. But many such cases result in a cumulative impact, where the steady, eventual erosion of the faith takes place. A bit here, a bit there, and soon before we know it, the faith is all but made illegal.
While such hostility and persecution is not surprising, we still need to stand firm and alert, and fight for religious freedom while we can. One day I will not even be allowed to write articles like this. But until that time comes, we all have a job to do. An eventual public closure of the faith may occur, but not on my watch. And it should not happen on your watch either.
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