The New Bigotry

My name is Robert and I’m a Christian. There, I said it. Does it sound like I’m in an AA meeting? It feels that way sometimes. Some people think it’s more noble to say you’re a recovering alcoholic than a Christian.

Actually, anyone who’s carried on a conversation with me for more than a few minutes knows I’m a Christian so it’s not like I’m coming out of the closet with my Christianity. But I’ve noticed that, in society today, people seem like they would rather have Christians keep quite about what they believe. Being open about one’s belief automatically earns one the label of being an intolerant, fundamental, right wing, Christian zealot.

The funny thing is I guess I’m really all of those things. It’s kind of like hillbillies; they know they’re hillbillies, but they don’t like being called hillbillies by people who think there’s something wrong with being a hillbilly. When people call me a “right wing fundamentalist,” they’re not trying to describe me - they’re trying to insult me. Being called a “Christian” has become a pejorative term akin to being called a “racist.”

I sincerely believe the last bastion of discrimination that exists (that which can be expressed without fear of reprisal) is against Christians. If I made the comment, “blacks are weak minded,” I would earn the title of racist - and deservedly so because it’s a racist remark. However, in Playboy Magazine, Jesse Ventura, then Governor of Minnesota, said, “Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers.” When asked about the outrageous comment, his spokesman, John Wodele, clarified that the Governor was only talking about the “extremists of the religious right.” Oh, thanks Governor for clarifying that. So I guess it’s only those people who sincerely believe that Jesus is God who are weak minded.

I think I know why people who aren’t religious hate Christians so much. It’s because they don’t like being told they’re wrong. The old saying is that there is safety in numbers; well I guess there’s comfort in numbers too. So a new catch-word has made its way into the vernacular – “tolerance.” People who disagree with Christianity stopped making the argument that it was wrong; they made the argument that it was “intolerant.” It’s OK to believe something, just don’t tell anyone he’s wrong if he doesn’t believe it too. In other words, we shouldn’t tolerate intolerance. Jesse Ventura, in the same interview, said that religion, “tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people’s business.” That says it all.

It’s rather confusing when you think about it. The intolerant left says it’s OK for people to be Christians but if they believe anyone else is a sinner then the Christian is being intolerant. So the Christian is wrong for believing someone else is wrong. But doesn’t that mean the person who calls the Christian wrong is himself wrong because he called the Christian wrong?

Let me just say that I support any person’s right to be wrong. But believing a Christian is wrong for simply believing someone else is wrong is lunacy. There are people who hate Christians for no other reason than they don’t want to believe they are themselves wrong. It’s funny but sad that these people somehow think of themselves as enlightened and tolerant. Let’s just call them what they are – bigots.