Perilous Times
Postmodern Christian Persecution: It Is Here!
Posted by Dr. Carl S. Parnell On February - 18 - 2010
Postmodern Christianity in America has faced many attacks from
anti-Christian groups and individual people for the past two decades.
These attacks have been mostly a “war of words” and or possibly the
destruction of property. However, as of January 30, 2010, Christian
persecution in America took a turn for the worst, meaning the
cold-blooded murder of two street preachers in Boynton Beach, Florida.
An eighteen old boy, who apparently had a disdain for the Christian
message presented to him by two local street preachers, Tite Sufra, age
24, and Stephen Ocean, age 23, shot and killed them. As a result, the
subliminal reason these two Christian preachers were killed should be
exposed to Christians of all faiths.
America has been predominantly a Christian nation since its beginning
in the late seventeen hundreds. However, with the emergence of many new
anti-Christian religious and ideological groups in the United States
after World War II, Christianity has had to encounter a myriad of
attacks against its Biblically-inspired, faith-based moral value
system. As a result, more and more Americans have developed a hatred
for Christians. But, what is the rationale for this unwarranted hatred
toward Christians? Also, who is literally responsible for the promotion
of vicious verbal and physical attacks on hardworking, people-loving,
peace-promoting, God-fearing Christians in America? Ultimately, why
have American Christians been demonized?
The true story begins with America’s forefathers who made sure that
Christianity would become the backbone of America’s heritage. However,
in postmodern America, certain forces are attempting to rid America of
its foundational Christian faith. The faith of America’s founders is
hanging on by a thread. Even though churches in the United States are
still operational, the spirit of Christ is being attacked throughout
the land. Therefore, the persecution of Christians is growing in the
United States. Of course, the death of the two “Christian Warriors” in
Florida gives validity to the aforementioned premise.
From the beginning of the twentieth century until the present,
thousands of Christians have been persecuted for their faith all around
the world. However, in the last five decades, this anti-Christian
spirit has spread to America’s shores. According to Manly P. Hall, a
well-known author and leading scholar in the fields of religion,
mythology, mysticism, and the occult, “They are the invisible powers
behind the thrones of earth, and men are but marionettes, dancing while
the invisible ones pull the strings. Satan’s string pullers have
patiently manipulated unregenerate architects of American society for
over five decades, networking both visible and invisible principalities
to discredit Christian causes. Indicators reveal the propaganda
blame-game against western believers is working.” (1)
Even though most Americans have never been persecuted like the Jews
during the Holocaust, the persecution of Christians in the United
States could take on some of the same characteristics at some point in
time. First, Jews were isolated and marginalized. Second, the
propaganda machines made the German people hate and develop prejudice
toward all Jews. Ultimately, this persecution led to the mass
annihilation of over six million Jewish men, women, and children. (1)
In fact, Christians are beginning to be blamed for all the ills in the
United States. As a result, much prejudice is being directed toward
Christians in America, despite all the good things that Christians do
on a regular basis for the less fortunate in the United States and
around the world. Of course, there are some Americans that would like
to see all Christians isolated from the rest of the U.S. populace.
Unfortunately, much of the rhetoric coming out of Washington, D.C. is
negative toward Christians, especially the classification of Christians
as “potential terrorists” and the promotion of the pro-homosexual
agenda. Also, if the truth were known, there are people in America who
would advocate the annihilation of all Christians, just like Adolf
Hitler attempted to do to the Jews during the Holocaust. As far-fetched
as this might seem, these people do exist.
What has caused so much hatred toward Christians in America’s
postmodern era to escalate? This hatred toward Christians is a direct
result of the current move to discredit all aspects of the Christian
faith, mainly because the Christian faith promotes moral values that
many Americans detest. Therefore, if Christianity is discredited in the
public sector, just maybe Christians would stay in the four walls of
their churches and refrain from preaching their eternal life message on
the streets of Florida or in any other state. But, what methods are
being used by those who would discredit Christianity, specifically
secularists and other anti-Christian forces who are being manipulated
by Satan and who have signed on to his diabolical plot to eliminate
Christianity in the United States of America.
What are Secularists? Secularists are those non-Christians who denounce
the influence of the Christian religion in any sector of America’s
culture. Their main agenda is to silence the witness of Christians in
America and make their faith “null and void.” Also, they would denounce
the absolute truths contained within the pages of God’s Holy Bible,
which they want to become an archaic religious document. As a result,
Christianity would ultimately lose its influence in America. Then the
anti-God and the anti-American forces in America would finally be
victorious.
How do the secularists hope to achieve their objective to renounce
Christianity in America? First, they must elicit the help of the
judiciary system to declare the Bible a hate book. Of course, most
Christian Americans would never accept that this theory could become an
actuality, even though parts of Canada already ban the Bible outside
the doors of the church. However, with the emergence of a large number
of people that claim that the Bible preaches intolerance toward
homosexuals, which was the group that promoted it in Canada, there is a
distinct possibility that a politically correct court in the United
States might just agree some day with the secularists’ position.
Therefore, Christians must quit living a lifestyle that is clueless to
the agendas of anti-Christian forces that exist in the real world today.
Second, secularists must elicit the help of Congress to pass
legislation that would prevent what they call intolerant preaching from
the pulpits in America’s churches. In reality, Christian preachers are
just preaching “what saith the Word of God.” However, if the proper
“hate crime” or “hate speech” legislation is passed, preachers could
possibly be silenced from preaching the truths of God’s Holy Word, that
offend certain Americans, from inside and outside their churches.
Penalties for such crimes would be prison time for the preacher and the
removal of the church’s tax-exempt status. These penalties could
possibly close the doors of many churches in the United States and deny
preachers throughout America their freedom of speech and their freedom
of religion. Also, another provision of a Federal Hate Crime Law would
give individuals who commit a crime out of hate toward their victims
more serious punishment. Therefore, Christian Americans should never
underestimate what some members of the Congress of the United States
might do to meet the demands of gift-bearing lobbyists. As a result,
the anti-Christian Federal Hate Crime Bill was passed by the United
States House of Representatives on April 29, 2009 and the United States
Senate on October 22, 2009.
Third, secularists must elicit the help of a United States President
who would support their agenda. In general, it would have to be a
President who was extremely liberal in many of his beliefs. It would
have to be a President who would be willing to sign legislation into
law that would deny members of the largest faith in America their
God-given rights. It would have to be a President who was a member of
the political party that controlled both houses of Congress.
Ultimately, it would have to be a President who believed that America
was not a Christian nation. America has such a President. As a result,
the anti-Christian Federal Hate Crime Bill was signed and enacted into
law by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
Fourth, secularists must elicit the help of individual churches, church
denominations, or pastors who would support a liberal and distorted
view of Christianity. They would need the support of pastors who preach
a social gospel rather than a spiritual gospel. They would need the
support of pastors who preach the acceptance of sins that God condemned
in the Bible. They would need the support of pastors who do not believe
that the Bible is
the infallible Word of God. They would need the support of pastors who
use their pulpits for irreverent purposes. They would need the help of
pastors who worship the earth itself more than its Creator. Ultimately,
secularists would need the support of pastors who have a form of
godliness, but who deny God’s “omnipotent power.” America has such
pastors.
Fifth, secularists must elicit the help of non-Christian Americans and
their religions. As the number of non-Christian Americans increases
from year to year, it would be easy to mount a subtle attack against
Christians in America. Since 90 percent of Americans claim to be
Christians, no one would believe that a non-Christian religion and its
followers would arrive on the scene and become the dominant religion in
the United States. But, the latest predictions state that Islam is
making great strides in the United States. Therefore, if Islam and
other non-Christian religions unite in a concerted effort, they could
possibly cause problems for America’s Christian population. They could
use their voting power to replace Christian legislators with
non-Christian legislators who could vote for bills that would have a
negative influence on Christendom in America. Of course, if this were
to happen, secularists would be elated to see Christians on the defense
and, at the same time, be evicted from their dominance in America’s
religious sector. America has such non-Christian legislators.
Finally, secularists must elicit the help of mainstream media, which
would support their agenda. Movies and televison programs produced in
Hollywood, for the most part, blaspheme God and Jesus Christ and, at
the same time, blatantly promote their anti-Christian agenda, which
centers around the promotion of homosexuality. Also, most major
national network news programs promote a more liberal agenda, which
prohibits the mention of Christianity and the One for whom it was
named, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a result, the story of the
two murdered street preachers received very little, if any, recognition
in the mainstream media. Of course, the news concerning the Christian
workers who were accused of attempting to kidnap some Haitian orphans
received a large amount of liberal propaganda news. The printed media,
such as newspapers and magazines, seemingly has an unfavorable view
point toward writing positive statements about news related to the
Christian community, too. America has such news journalists.
Therefore, it appears that many years ago secularists developed and
initiated a well-planned trap to dethrone Christians from their
religious dominance in the United States. At present, most of the
resources that they would need to achieve their agenda already exist.
They have the support of many activist judges, liberal congressmen, the
President of the United States, social gospel pastors, non-Christian
Americans, and, of course, liberal journalists on major network news
programs and on the staff of liberal newspapers and magazines. However,
thank God for those news networks, fortunately some do exist, who take
a conservative stance toward the news that affects all Americans. It is
these organizations that defend the United States Constitution, which
guarantees First Amendment rights to all American citizens.
In conclusion, as has been inferred, there was a deeper, more cynical
reason for the death of Tite Sufra and Stephen Ocean, the two murdered
street preachers from Boynton Beach, Florida. There was more to it than
just the preaching of something that the murderer did not want to hear.
The murderer was just a representative of the anti-Christian attitudes
that have been engrained into the minds of many non-Christians in
America, as a result of decades of anti-Christian attacks. Seemingly,
it has reached the point in time in America that the words “Jesus,”
“Christianity,”and “Christian” have become words that Satan uses to
infuriate non-Christians and promote a mean spirit in them, much
similar to the evil spirit that came upon King Saul when he became mad
at David, his heir apparent. Therefore, Christians of all faiths should
wake up and finally realize that they have many bona fide enemies in
the United States who are diligently striving to rid America of its
Christian heritage. Of course, for those Christians and non-Christians
alike who deny that Christian persecution does exist in America, just
open your eyes and be observant, because Satan does have a dedicated
and deliberate plan of action directed toward Christians in postmodern
America.
P.S. This article was written to honor the memory and faith of the two
valiant “Christian soldiers” who lost their lives in a spiritual street
battle on U.S. soil on January 30, 2010, while preaching the truth of
God’s Word to a nonbeliever in Jesus Christ. Please pray for their
families and loved ones.
References
1. Horn, Tom. “Persecutions of Christians Growing in the United States”
Worthy News. 4 May 2006.
Dr. Carl Sterling
Parnell
Christian Educator, Author, and Columnist