I will preface this column by stating that I'm neither a liberal nor a conservative. When it comes to political philosophy, it seems that I can hardly support any of the two extremes because there is no sense in rigidly following an absolutist ideology. This preface is necessary because the content of this column likely will be misinterpreted.
In time for Pope Benedict's railing about our Satanic modern society and Bill O'Reilly's newfound War on Easter
I find myself confused at the clamor by a people who haven't experienced minority status in over a millennium. The new myth in today's public discourse is a myth of a persecuted majority.
One of the by-products of modernity is that the old guards of organized religions are beginning to feel the pinch. In the United States, and especially Europe, church attendance is down, and those identifying themselves as Christians have been slowly declining for decades. With the expansion of secular democracy, institutions that were once accustomed to great social power are in fear of becoming static.
Not a day goes by without hearing about the horrible effects of secularism, the evil American Civil Liberties Union, the abandonment of Christ and the looming Armageddon. Perhaps we should warn Afghanistan and Iraq from even trying democracy, and that they can stick with faith-based governments that execute non-believing heretics.
It is simply not enough for the majority still to have an overwhelming number of Christians in America (including virtually every public office holder), to have In God We Trust stamped on our currency (post-1865), to have under God inserted into the originally secular Pledge of Allegiance (in 1954) and to have it be social taboo to objectively critique the value of faith. From an outsider's perspective, it seems that this pessimism about the persecution of faith is more of a paranoid insecurity than an actual threat to worship, and a frustration brought on by loss of power and control.
Last week, Post columnist Ashley Herzog wrote a column titled Everyone Can Learn Lessons From Jesus that coincided with this past holiday. And although I don't share her religious views, I agree with Herzog's thesis that we could all probably learn something from his character. The underlying problem that arises between secularism and the faithful is that the former school of thought thinks the State has no business promoting religion. However, private individuals and private organizations can proselytize all they wish.
In many ways, I identify with Nietzsche's admiration of Christ, whom he proclaimed the one true Christian. Many misunderstand Nietzsche, and he was the victim of a smear campaign to diminish his character and pervert the meanings of his ideas. What Nietzsche saw in Christianity is the inherent problem of most mass religious movements. Typically they start with noble practitioners with noble ideals, but eventually those ideals are subverted to consolidate power, and Christianity has been no different.
Much of what we recognize as modern Christianity comes from the writings of Paul of Tarsus, not from Jesus (who didn't write anything). It could even be argued that the most important figure in the spread of Christianity wasn't even Jesus. Constantine the Great had a much larger effect by legalizing the religion in 313 A.D., instituting various social reforms throughout the Roman Empire and summoning the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.
Meanwhile, the biggest misconception is the belief that secularism somehow inhibits you from practicing your faith ' a claim that is entirely false. Secularism is meant to inhibit you from using the State to institute your faith and force others to believe as you do. Besides, wasn't Jesus the one who proclaimed in Matthew 6:5 and 6:6 to pray in secret because the hypocrites love to pray standing in the streets? And isn't unabashed worship of the physical manifestations of the Ten Commandments just another form of idolatry?
Disagreement doesn't equal persecution, and I'm hardly sympathetic to such a large majority, who are embedded so deeply into society, when their philosophy is critiqued and kept from institutionalization by the State. Perhaps we're being persecuted should be changed to we're not getting our way anymore. It seems that no amount of fire-and-brimstone rhetoric and apocalyptic fear-mongering can stop that.
And as ironic as it might seem, even I'll give an Amen for that. 17
Archives
Thomas Hill
