In the world we live in, it would appear that it is OK to stand up for pretty well any cause except one's faith. I of course exclude things like terrorism but generally speaking liable suits and claims of discrimination can be directed at anyone who might speak against your particular cause or belief. Christianity however, is fair game pretty well anywhere.
The examples are too numerous to mention but here are just a few from comments in online newspapers: Christians "force" their "dangerous" beliefs on others. Our children need to be "protected" from religious "zealots" that belong to these "sects". These born-again Christians are just as "violent" as Islamic terrorists.
These are comments that I took issue with on social media over the past few years. I approached the city editor of a large newspaper a few times about the language used by atheists and others and was told there was nothing wrong with the language. In other words she had no problem with evangelical Christians being depicted in such a way.
I am sure this doesn't come as a surprise to too many of you but the question that I have been struggling with is perhaps more important than what some ignorant folks put in print behind the safety of their computers. What exactly does the Church stand for at this time in history? Is there outrage when an evangelical Christian group is denied the right to sing songs at Dundas Square because they mention the name of Jesus? I posted the story twice on Facebook from a Toronto Sun article and almost no believers "liked" the post. The article was one of the few (actually the only one that I saw) that ridiculed the decision by the City of Toronto. What we often say as believers, is that we need to pray about these things and that the "battle" is not against flesh and blood. I agree wholeheartedly that the Church needs to be doing this but to be quite honest, I know that most are not doing it.
The Church is being literally muzzled and to this believer it looks like we are sailing quietly into the night. A friend of mine who happens to be a Liberal MP in Ottawa has pointed out to me more than a few times that Christians are their own worst enemy. We complain (like this blog) to one another about the state of the morals of this country and yet seldom make our voice heard to the lawmakers of this nation called Canada. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I am not talking about the Moral Majority and other Christian political activism of the US. We have however somewhere believed the press clippings that we are no longer a Christian country and because of it we need to keep silent. If I hear one more person talk about the "separation of church and state"... there is no such thing in Canada!!!
I personally resent the media and atheists telling me what I can and cannot say in a free democratic country. We just celebrated Christmas and I am not sure if you noticed but people are starting to get fed up with the bias against Christianity. To be clear, I am not talking about believers when I speak of "people". Ordinary Canadians, many of whom are not even Christians, are fed up with political correctness. The nonsense that political correctness has created needs to be challenged loudly but peacefully (if you can do both). It is true that a few religious groups oppose Christian symbols pretty well anywhere but within the walls of our churches. I do not feel that these groups or individuals from these groups are the problem however. The real culprits are atheists that want to impose their belief system on others by insisting they are the only non-religious people and therefore have it right.
Make no mistake about it: Atheism is as much a religion as any other.
Getting back to those vocal religious groups...they have a way around being sanctioned by politicians: they claim that all their events are "cultural". So I suggest the Church start doing the same thing: any activity we do is under the umbrella of "cultural" and not church or religious. As a pastor I saw this double standard practiced twice and even had the city official admit it to be true. Reality tells us of course that these attempts by Christians will not be tolerated because we are not a "minority religion"? So we are no longer a Christian country but Christianity is not a minority religion?
Our new PM advised all Canadians that should you decide to represent the Liberal Party and apply to be an MP, you need not do so if you are Pro-Life. This is the same PM that is planning on legalizing pot so he can smoke it without feeling guilty (my opinion). The interesting thing is that so many of my Christian friends believe this Prime Minister is far superior to the born-again PM we had and therefore they have openly shown their support for Justin on social media. I guess this is their way of "standing for something"?
I know I stepped on about half of the toes I know but that is just me taking a stand. I still have faith in my God and that is why I am not feeling hopeless. I look at the world around me and I have come to a conclusion that I know many of you have as well: many of the values that we held dear 30 years ago are now being portrayed as evil while those things that we as Christians called sin are now being held up as "normal". That applies to many churches in North America which makes be think some church leaders are going to have plenty of explaining to do one day.
I think that covers the other toes I missed the first time!
The examples are too numerous to mention but here are just a few from comments in online newspapers: Christians "force" their "dangerous" beliefs on others. Our children need to be "protected" from religious "zealots" that belong to these "sects". These born-again Christians are just as "violent" as Islamic terrorists.
These are comments that I took issue with on social media over the past few years. I approached the city editor of a large newspaper a few times about the language used by atheists and others and was told there was nothing wrong with the language. In other words she had no problem with evangelical Christians being depicted in such a way.
I am sure this doesn't come as a surprise to too many of you but the question that I have been struggling with is perhaps more important than what some ignorant folks put in print behind the safety of their computers. What exactly does the Church stand for at this time in history? Is there outrage when an evangelical Christian group is denied the right to sing songs at Dundas Square because they mention the name of Jesus? I posted the story twice on Facebook from a Toronto Sun article and almost no believers "liked" the post. The article was one of the few (actually the only one that I saw) that ridiculed the decision by the City of Toronto. What we often say as believers, is that we need to pray about these things and that the "battle" is not against flesh and blood. I agree wholeheartedly that the Church needs to be doing this but to be quite honest, I know that most are not doing it.
The Church is being literally muzzled and to this believer it looks like we are sailing quietly into the night. A friend of mine who happens to be a Liberal MP in Ottawa has pointed out to me more than a few times that Christians are their own worst enemy. We complain (like this blog) to one another about the state of the morals of this country and yet seldom make our voice heard to the lawmakers of this nation called Canada. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I am not talking about the Moral Majority and other Christian political activism of the US. We have however somewhere believed the press clippings that we are no longer a Christian country and because of it we need to keep silent. If I hear one more person talk about the "separation of church and state"... there is no such thing in Canada!!!
I personally resent the media and atheists telling me what I can and cannot say in a free democratic country. We just celebrated Christmas and I am not sure if you noticed but people are starting to get fed up with the bias against Christianity. To be clear, I am not talking about believers when I speak of "people". Ordinary Canadians, many of whom are not even Christians, are fed up with political correctness. The nonsense that political correctness has created needs to be challenged loudly but peacefully (if you can do both). It is true that a few religious groups oppose Christian symbols pretty well anywhere but within the walls of our churches. I do not feel that these groups or individuals from these groups are the problem however. The real culprits are atheists that want to impose their belief system on others by insisting they are the only non-religious people and therefore have it right.
Make no mistake about it: Atheism is as much a religion as any other.
Getting back to those vocal religious groups...they have a way around being sanctioned by politicians: they claim that all their events are "cultural". So I suggest the Church start doing the same thing: any activity we do is under the umbrella of "cultural" and not church or religious. As a pastor I saw this double standard practiced twice and even had the city official admit it to be true. Reality tells us of course that these attempts by Christians will not be tolerated because we are not a "minority religion"? So we are no longer a Christian country but Christianity is not a minority religion?
Our new PM advised all Canadians that should you decide to represent the Liberal Party and apply to be an MP, you need not do so if you are Pro-Life. This is the same PM that is planning on legalizing pot so he can smoke it without feeling guilty (my opinion). The interesting thing is that so many of my Christian friends believe this Prime Minister is far superior to the born-again PM we had and therefore they have openly shown their support for Justin on social media. I guess this is their way of "standing for something"?
I know I stepped on about half of the toes I know but that is just me taking a stand. I still have faith in my God and that is why I am not feeling hopeless. I look at the world around me and I have come to a conclusion that I know many of you have as well: many of the values that we held dear 30 years ago are now being portrayed as evil while those things that we as Christians called sin are now being held up as "normal". That applies to many churches in North America which makes be think some church leaders are going to have plenty of explaining to do one day.
I think that covers the other toes I missed the first time!
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