mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

Christians Now Targets of Choice
David Fiorazo ~ April 24, 2018
Five recent news stories indicate a concerning trend in America; a shift from disagreeing with Christians to discriminating against them. Sadly, these attacks are slowly becoming accepted.

With a campaign of redefined words such as ‘tolerance,’ it often starts with mild persecution.

New Yorker magazine recently suggested Chick-fil-A, the third largest restaurant franchise in America, doesn’t belong in their blue state because of the alleged “infiltration” of what one writer called “pervasive Christian traditionalism.”

That’s right, a corporation built on family values, hard work, and integrity, and whose stated mission is to “glorify God,” who also donates thousands of pounds of food to the homeless is somehow a threat to the liberal stronghold of New York.

Down south, a Miami Dolphins cheerleader went public because she was discriminated against for not only being a Christian, but apparently a virgin as well. As a cheerleader, Kristin Ann Ware was also criticized for posting a Bible verse on social media with a photo of her baptism.

Over in Minnesota, a school bus driver and pastor was recently removed from his route for praying with students on the way to school, even though students would volunteer to lead prayer.

Next, you probably heard liberal Democrat and anti-Christian Senator, Corey Booker, actually believes that those who have a biblical worldview are unfit to serve our country.

At a confirmation hearing for Secretary of State, Booker grilled Mike Pompeo, but it wasn’t about foreign policy or any of the most pressing national concerns. He demanded to know Pompeo’s stance on homosexual sex and asked, “Do you believe gay sex is a perversion?” Can you imagine a Muslim, Jew, or anyone else being asked this kind of question?

Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire writes:
Here’s the real issue: when your religion is government, and government is god, you cannot tolerate any other God before it — and you assume that all those who believe in God wish to mobilize government in order to impose God’s will.

Booker’s line of questioning was flat-out unconstitutional, but did you hear the media mention it – if they reported on it at all. The Constitution clearly forbids religious tests for public office. Period.

But here’s the most disturbing story: a bill was passed in California that could ban counseling services and the sale of books expressing orthodox Christian views about sexual immorality. This pro-homosexual bill would ban the Bible! (Images of Nazi’s burning books in the 1930s may come to mind.)

Assembly Bill 2943 would make it unlawful to engage in transactions offering to pursue “sexual orientation change efforts with an individual.”

National Review’s David French says California state law would lock in a sexual-revolution orthodoxy that hurts the very people they seek to protect. The bill defines “change efforts” as “any practices that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation. This includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions…”

French adds, “…no state legislature should be permitted to ban a “good” (such as a book) or a “service” (like counseling) that makes these arguments and provides them to willing, consenting consumers.”

This would not only outlaw certain speech, but California seems willing to ignore the constitutional guarantee of the free exercise of and enjoyment of religion without discrimination.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration, and if they pass it, radical CA Governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign it. And if the bill becomes law, we know from past history what happens in California doesn’t stay in California.

In recent years, Christians believing in the Bible and natural marriage have been suspended or fired from their jobs, sued and taken to court, slandered, some have lost businesses, savings, and have been viciously attacked in the press and on social media.

How can we respond? Stay the course. Don’t fret and don’t be surprised by any of this. Jesus told His followers they would be hated because of Him. Understand the times, pray, and press on.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the assaults of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6

woodguru

There is only one kind of christian that is going to be persecuted, and that's the ones that hate gays or muslims and take openly hostile positions about them. Nobody persecutes someone because they are christian, they speak out against the haters.

Take every single supposed persecution listed there, and switch the christian involved with a Muslim doing the same exact thing. Tell me that christians wouldn't have a problem with a Muslim bus driver teaching kids on the bus Muslim prayers. I can just hear how that one would play, makes a person laugh their ass off thinking about it doesn't it?

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

It's quite apparent that you're severely lacking in reading comprehension skills.

And by the way...I don't hate gays or Muslims. I have three gay nieces and nephews whom I love dearly and one of my best friends is Muslim. So STFU about Christians being haters.

woodguru

That you are not one of the haters is commendable, unfortunately there is a large group of haters who identify as being christian, they are not at all friendly or civil towards gays and Muslims, are they? And it is up to you as a good christian to do everything in your power to quell that perception.

jack sequim wa Loc: Blanchard, Idaho

God gives us provisions when persecuted.

For decades when interviewing for a job I always stated " I am a Christian", because I wanted the job and them to know my set of values, morals, then talk about my work ethic. I always got the job I was applying for and the employers always responded in a positive way. I was proud to say I was a Christian and the employer was happy to have an employee with values.
Now in our new demonically engineered society, one could likely be guaranteed not to get the job.

When they call evil good and good evil.......

While imprisoned and awaiting execution, Paul wrote to Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). “All” is not a throwaway word in this verse. Paul means it. Everyone who publicly lives as a committed Christian will face some kind of resistance from the world.


In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encouraged his disciples with these words, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:10). Jesus defines “persecution” as being reviled and having false things uttered about you. Could there be a better blessing than membership in the kingdom of heaven? Those who endure opposition in this world can be comforted by the fact that they belong to the world to come.

One caveat regarding this blessing is that it is for persecution for “righteousness’ sake.” Unfortunately, some Christians have acted obnoxiously, have been confronted about it, and have called it persecution. That is not what Jesus is talking about here.


The Corinthians were looking down on Paul’s persecutions as a sign that God’s blessing was not upon his ministry, and that he was not an apostle to be followed. Paul corrected their thinking, telling them “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:10).

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

"Nobody persecutes someone because they are christian"??? Are you really that freaking stupid or uninformed. I suggest you exit immediately whatever cave you are hiding in, something really dark and nasty in there has you by the balls.

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

You call telling the truth hate? Try reading Isaiah 5:20-21.

20 What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.
21 What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever.

woodguru

Exactly, and it wasn't that many decades ago that it could easily be a mark against you if you said you were not christian. It is now a question that an employer can't ask.

I have hired hundreds of people, and never had race or religion come into my decision making process.

I can't imagine someone in virtually any workplace having a problem with someone because they are christian. Now if I worked in a government office and worked with someone like Kim Davis who made a big deal about not doing her job and issuing marriage certificates to gays, you're damned straight I'd have a problem. With the person not their religion. As her boss I'd have told her to do her job or go find another one where her religious beliefs were not being compromised. Her choice. And Kim's problem was that she wasn't content to let another person in the office issue the license, she took it to mean she had the authority to prevent the office to issue them.

She lost that case, after much ado. To me it's an example of someone bringing far more attention to their religious beliefs than makes sense, keep anti gay beliefs to yourself.

woodguru

Compare christian churches being vandalized, defaced, burned, bombed, to Muslim Mosque hate crimes toward their mosques. It's an excellent indicator of where the hate card plays with which religion.

jack sequim wa Loc: Blanchard, Idaho

In government jobs they make accommodations so Muslims can pray

In many universities they have prayer rooms and rugs for Muslims, but Christians can get kicked out for praying on campus with other Christians

jack sequim wa Loc: Blanchard, Idaho

I have compiled a very short and very incomplete sampling of the sorts of things currently happening in the United States of America. These things are happening to Christians. And whether you think these things are deserved consequences or irrelevant to whatever Oppression Scale you happen to use, they highlight why many Christians do feel as if their communities are being targeted. Disregard them if you like, but realize that just because you haven’t experienced something, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

Jack C. Phillips, a baker in Denver, Colorado, was asked to create a wedding cake by a gay couple, Charlie Craig and David Mullins, in 2012. Phillips refused, citing his Christian beliefs, but offered to serve them any other baked goods. Mullins and Craig opted to sue him instead, claiming that he had treated them in a “dehumanizing” way, and two courts ruled that Phillips should be coerced to make the wedding cake for the couple. Instead, in order to remain loyal to his conscience and his faith, Phillips stopped baking wedding cakes entirely. According to him, this has cost him 40% of his business revenue.

Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin were forced by a court in New Mexico to pay more than $6,600 in fines in 2012 after they declined to use their business, Elane Photography, to photograph a lesbian “commitment ceremony.”

The University of Toledo fired one of their staff members when she disagreed with the idea that gay marriage was a civil rights issue:



The university fired Crystal Dixon in 2008 from her interim post as associate vice president for human resources because she wrote an op-ed piece in the Toledo Free Press arguing that the gay rights movement should not be compared to the civil rights movement because she, as a black woman, did not get to choose her minority status but, she claimed, homosexuals do.

In 2013, the state of Oregon went after the little family bakery of Aaron and Melissa Klein, when they declined to provide a wedding cake for a lesbian wedding, again citing their Christian beliefs. The state of Oregon fined them, going so far as to garnish their bank accounts and assets and taking a total of $144,000 for their refusal to violate the tenets of their faith. The bakery, which the couple worked to create for years, was shut down. Aaron Klein is currently on disability after injuring himself working as a trash collector to provide for the couple’s five children. Their family was also the target of a vicious campaign by gay activists intent on destroying their business, regardless of the cost

In 2013, Crisis Magazine reported that the anti-Christian campaigns had spread to Vermont:

A lesbian couple sued the Wildflower Inn under the state public accommodations law in 2011 after being told they could not have their wedding reception there. The owners were reportedly open to holding same-sex ceremonies as long as customers were notified that the events personally violated their Catholic faith. It wasn’t enough. The inn had to settle the case in 2012, paying a $10,000 fine and putting double that amount in a charitable trust. Also, the inn is no longer hosting weddings, although the decision reportedly was made before the settlement.

High fines to punish Christians for remaining true to their conscience are becoming increasingly normal. As LifeSiteNews reported in 2014:

The New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR) has ruled that the Roman Catholic owners of an Albany-area farm violated the civil rights of a lesbian couple when they declined to host the couple’s same-sex “marriage” ceremony in 2012. Robert and Cynthia Gifford, who own and operate Liberty Ridge Farm in Schaghticoke, were ordered by DHR Judge Migdalia Pares and Commissioner Helen Diane Foster to pay $10,000 in fines to the state and an additional $3,000 in damages to the lesbian couple, Jennie McCarthy and Melissa Erwin for “mental pain and suffering.” Additionally, the Giffords must provide sensitivity training to their staff, and prominently display a poster highlighting state anti-discrimination laws.

In 2014, an Indianapolis bakery owned by Randy and Trish McGath found itself the target of an online campaign launched by gay activists after they cited their Christian beliefs as the reason they would not provide a cake for a same-sex wedding. They were smeared as homophobes and hateful people, although they were willing to serve the gay community—just not participate in the celebration of a same-sex wedding.

Baronelle Stutzman, the owner of Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts in Richland, Washington State, was ordered to pay over $1,000 in fines in 2015 after declining to provide floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding. She had previously sold the couple in question flowers many times, but stated simply that providing floral arrangements for a wedding would violate her Christian beliefs.

In 2015, Mennonite couple Richard and Betty Odgaard were forced to close their business in Des Moines, Iowa, after being targeted by gay activists for their refusal to host a gay ‘wedding’ in their wedding chapel. A boycott campaign replete with vicious, profane messages and a civil rights complaint resulted in the Odgaards’ having to pay out a $5,000 settlement—ultimately, they lost their livelihood.

The level of hatred fueling many of these campaigns is somewhat ironic for the #LoveWins crowd. As LifeSiteNews reported in 2015:

A small-town Indiana pizzeria owned by a Christian family has closed its doors after being terrorized by pro-homosexual bullies opposed to the family’s religious values. Memories Pizza in Walkerton has received death and firebombing threats and had its website hacked…The attacks came after ABC-57 out of South Bend aired a piece March 31 highlighting the pizzeria owners’ support for Indiana’s hot-button Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The station claimed Memories Pizza, owned by Kevin O’Connor, was the “first business to publicly deny same-sex service.”

The owners specifically stated that anyone was welcome in the restaurant, but the story was set off by the fact that they said they would not cater a homosexual “wedding” because it would conflict with their Christian beliefs.

PeterS

You guys aren't hated because of Jesus but because you seem to practice a form of Christianity that seems to be devoid of Christs teachings. You are tolerant of adulterer's if they satisfy your political ideology but you shun homosexuals because you say doing your jobs will cause you to participate in their marriage! If your theology bows to your political ideology then you don't have the moral standing to refuse to do your jobs if they require you to serve homosexuals. Then there is the fact that you hold the wealthy in higher regard than you do the poor; you attempt to proselytize in our schools; you insist our nation is founded on Christianity; you attack secularism even though that is at the center of freedom in this country. In short you do everything you can to extend your religion over others and then run away whining when you are rebuked for doing so.

Stay the course and the guarantee is that for you poor little bless its hearts your persecution is only going to get worse...

jack sequim wa Loc: Blanchard, Idaho

Peter, I'll give you ten reasons why Christians support President Trump.
But first let me state that throughout the Bible are examples when God used unbelievers, pagan worshipers, even a donkey for his purpose and will.
Next I want to say a doctor sees the sick to heal, not the well and Jesus went among the sinners, called the sinners to be the apostles.
If Jesus waited for sinless men to be his apostles, he would still be waiting.
Just the same if Christians waited for a perfect man to vote as president, Christians would never vote.
Every man has a sinful past, some more or less than others.

President Trump:

1.)Obeys God that the USA serves God.
“In America we worship God, not government.” President Donald Trump
2.)Obeys God by working to destroy the Johnson Amendment
The Johnson Amendment silenced pastors to speak politically, which harmed people’s lives and the nation. The Johnson Amendment is illegal, because both God and the First Amendment prohibit Congress from making a law against the free exercise of Christianity. Trump signed an Executive Order opposing the Johnson Amendment. Trump wants Congress to obey God and the Constitution and to remove the Johnson Amendment.
3.)Obeys God that the USA is a Christian nation
“That’s just the way it is,” said Donald Trump when asked about the USA being a Christian nation. “This is a Christian nation,” says the Supreme Court. We know the only way for God to bless the nation is for the USA to serve the LORD. God says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD” Psalm 33:12. This means the nation would be cursed for not serving the one true God.
4.)Obeys God to end the military’s transgender sin
5.)Obeys God by doing all he can to end government funded abortion
6.)Obeys God to say America First
America is dedicated to Jesus Christ. By saying “America First,” we are really saying the USA uniquely serves God. No other country has a covenant dedication to God like the USA. “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” 1 Timothy 5:8
7.)Obeys God to protect the borders
The Bible teaches that dangerous people crossing the borders is God’s judgment. God wants us to protect the border. After all, God has the most restrictive border policy. He only allows Christians into Heaven, the Bible says everyone else is cast into hell. Jesus Christ says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
8.)Obeys God to oppose Islamic terrorists.
The Bible teaches God is using President Trump to undo God’s judgment of terror. We know terrorism is God’s judgment for the nation’s sins.
9.)Obeys God to cut taxes.
The Word of God explains high taxes are God’s judgment for our national sins, so God is using President Trump to end this judgment. However, by Congress opposing the President, we see that the nation has more repenting to do for God to fully cut taxes.
10.)Obeys God to cut regulations
Regulations and tyranny are also God’s judgment for our national sins. So because of the people reaffirming covenant, God is ending this judgment. Yet, with more people declaring the USA is a Christian nation, people will gain even greater freedom.

There you go Peter