Radar on Christians and hate crimes and special protectionism
The persecution facing Christians is the largest "human rights" violation issue in today's world.
According to the World Evangelical Alliance, over 200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith. David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing in their "Missiometrics 2007" report in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research (Vol. 31, No. 1: 32) estimate that approximately 173,000 Christians will have been martyred from mid-2006 to mid-2007. This represents an increase of 1.2% over last year and compares to 160,000 martyrs in mid-2000 and 34,400 at the beginning of the 20th century. If current trends continue, Barrett, Johnson and Crossing estimate that by 2025, an average of 210,000 Christians will be martyred annually.
excerpted from The Voice of the Martyrs
Christians in this country have it made compared to those in many overseas nations. We are not often murdered for our faith. But it does happen, and often Christians are assaulted simply for being Christians. Church burnings are commonplace enough if you watch the news each night. I have personally been attacked for being a Christian physically, because I dared to let people know of my faith.
On college campuses, the liberal agenda rules. Christians and conservatives in general are villified by college professors and speakers who are one or both get shouted down or even attacked from coast (Columbia University) to coast (California SLO campus). It is quite possible that Christians and conservatives are, in such venues, more likely to be subjected to a "hate crime" than anyone of a homosexual bent.
There is no big push to bring about a "hate crimes bill" to protect me and those of my creed. Schools are not promoting a "Day of Christ" to bring about awareness of Christianity and Christians and promote activism to protect us. There is not a quota system in schools or corporations to try to be sure an adequate percentage of Christians get accepted or hired. When a group of Christians get attacked the news media are not quick to carry the story.
But, you say, Christians are a majority in this country and need no protection, don't make me laugh! Are they? Let us shed some light on that...
The Theologica Blog presented some interesting facts in a posting, Between Two Worlds. It turns out that although around 40% of the population of the USA claims to attend church, the number of people who do so is much lower.
Only about 18-19% of the population are found in a church service on a given week, and only half of those are attending an evangelical Christian church service, while about 3% attend mainline churches and 6% go to Catholic services.
From that website: "How many Americans go to church regularly?
If you listen to the answers provided by major opinion research firms, the answer usually hovers around 40%. (National Opinion Research Center: 38%; Institute for Social Research’s World Values: 44%; Barna: 41%; National Election Studies: 40%; Gallup: 41%.)
But in recent years this consensus has been challenged. It seems that it’s more accurate to say that 40% of Americans claim to attend church regularly.
In 1998, sociologist Stanley Presser at the University of Michigan—whose “research focuses on questionnaire design and testing, the accuracy of survey responses, and ethical issues stemming from the use of human subjects”—co-authored a study entitled: Data Collection Mode and Social Desirability Bias in Self-Reported Religious Attendance, American Sociological Review, v. 63 (1998): 137-145 (with L. Stinson). Comparing diaries with actual attendance, they made the estimate that the actual percentage of Americans attending church from the mid-1960’s to the 90’s was about 26%.
One of the problem comes in how the question is asked in a poll. Different questions yield different results. For example, in a survey you might ask, “What did you do last weekend?” listing for the person a number of possible activities, including church-going. This will yield a very different response than if you asked, “Did you attend church last Sunday?”
One factor is that people often answer according to what they think someone like them wants or ought to do. So people tend to overreport on the number of sexual partners they’ve had and how much money they give to charity, and tend to underreport on illegal drug use and the like. Hence, church attendance is often inflated."
The numbers of Christians in this country seem to be declining in proportion to the population, even while the faith is growing world-wide. It is also evident that Christian influence depends greatly upon what region of the county you live in. (The numbers of church-goers varies widely by state, as you see in this chart).
I can attest that the average church-goer is not terribly involved in church activities or Christian outreach. Based on my research and numbers from The Barna Group, only about 25% of the 18-19% of the population actually attending church are participating in any volunteer activities within or associated with the church. These are the people who are truly involved in Christianity and are more likely to share their faith with others.
What it boils down to is that only 5% of the population is therefore a outreach-oriented Christian, the kind who might tell you about Christ. That isn't much bigger than the percent of the population that is homosexual (homosexual activists will claim up to 10% of the population, which is ridiculous while some claim as low as 1%. I think 2-3% of the population is the best guess based on studies and polls I have viewed).
Then we look at the racial demographics of the USA as of 2005 according to Answers.com:
According to the Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey the US population is as follows:
White American, 74.7%, or about 700 million (the definition of White includes European Americans, North African Americans, Middle Eastern Americans (e.g. Arab Americans), Central Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans who reported as White in the 2000 Census)
Black or African American 12.1% or 34.9 million
Asian American 4.3% or 12.5 million,
American Indian 0.8% or 2.4 million
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 0.1% or 0.4 million
Two or more races 1.9% or 5.6 million
Other 6% or 17.3 million
The figures above include people who declare mixed race or multiracial ancestry, and people who identify themselves as Hispanic. As of the 2000 Census, U.S. federal law defines Hispanic to indicate any person with ancestry from a Latin American country or Spain. The category includes Sephardic Jews[citation needed], and speakers of Ladino are classified with Spanish speakers in the U.S. Census.
Hispanics of any race: 14.5% or about 41.9 million.
I suspect that if we consider your racial heritage, your religion, your voting preferences, your sexual orientation, your gender and whether or not you liked dogs or cats, you would find that your particular grouping would be a minority group. My minority group is this:
Mixed race (European Caucasian/American Indian)-Christian-Conservative-heterosexual-male-loves dogs-barely tolerates cats.
I don't want special protection for my group! I want equal protection under the law as an American citizen, period. Don't give me more or less protection because I am a Christian or a heterosexual or for any other reason. Don't do it for homosexuals or Asians or cat-lovers or karaoke addicts, either.
Un-American special protection laws actually mean persecution for others. Look at what is now being proposed in Oregon!
"...A legislative plan to "eliminate attitudes" opposing homosexuality is moving forward in Oregon, even though opponents claim it threatens churches and establishes pagan morality as a benchmark for their operations.
Senate Bill 2, already endorsed by the state Senate and favored by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, now heads to the floor of the state House following a 5-1 committee endorsement.
It is expected to be voted on within the next week.
In the House Rules Committee, an amendment was offered that would have provided an exemption for Christian churches and Christian groups in the proposal to grant broad new powers to the homosexual community by designating them as members of a protected minority class.
However, the amendment was rejected in favor of a plan to continue to allow homosexuals to demand Christian churches hire them when there are job openings – among other issues.
"This is still an intrusion of the state into religious liberty, and makes [Christian organizations] subject to state control," David Crowe, of Restore America, told WND.
"It favors the homosexual community and puts the church in a defensive posture, having to defend itself and its beliefs, policies, doctrines and employment," he said.
The Oregon Family Council had proposed an amendment derived from similar legislative plans in other states where homosexual community members have been granted special rights, but it was rejected.
"This is very objectionable. It reveals that this is an agenda. They couldn't care less about what the people of Oregon think," said Crowe..."
Freedom and liberty and justice for all - threatened by the "progressive" forces for political correctness. We need to stand and fight. As was said of the time of the rise of Hitler...
First They Came (Pastor Martin Niemoller)
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
According to the World Evangelical Alliance, over 200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith. David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing in their "Missiometrics 2007" report in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research (Vol. 31, No. 1: 32) estimate that approximately 173,000 Christians will have been martyred from mid-2006 to mid-2007. This represents an increase of 1.2% over last year and compares to 160,000 martyrs in mid-2000 and 34,400 at the beginning of the 20th century. If current trends continue, Barrett, Johnson and Crossing estimate that by 2025, an average of 210,000 Christians will be martyred annually.
excerpted from The Voice of the Martyrs
Christians in this country have it made compared to those in many overseas nations. We are not often murdered for our faith. But it does happen, and often Christians are assaulted simply for being Christians. Church burnings are commonplace enough if you watch the news each night. I have personally been attacked for being a Christian physically, because I dared to let people know of my faith.
On college campuses, the liberal agenda rules. Christians and conservatives in general are villified by college professors and speakers who are one or both get shouted down or even attacked from coast (Columbia University) to coast (California SLO campus). It is quite possible that Christians and conservatives are, in such venues, more likely to be subjected to a "hate crime" than anyone of a homosexual bent.
There is no big push to bring about a "hate crimes bill" to protect me and those of my creed. Schools are not promoting a "Day of Christ" to bring about awareness of Christianity and Christians and promote activism to protect us. There is not a quota system in schools or corporations to try to be sure an adequate percentage of Christians get accepted or hired. When a group of Christians get attacked the news media are not quick to carry the story.
But, you say, Christians are a majority in this country and need no protection, don't make me laugh! Are they? Let us shed some light on that...
The Theologica Blog presented some interesting facts in a posting, Between Two Worlds. It turns out that although around 40% of the population of the USA claims to attend church, the number of people who do so is much lower.
Only about 18-19% of the population are found in a church service on a given week, and only half of those are attending an evangelical Christian church service, while about 3% attend mainline churches and 6% go to Catholic services.
From that website: "How many Americans go to church regularly?
If you listen to the answers provided by major opinion research firms, the answer usually hovers around 40%. (National Opinion Research Center: 38%; Institute for Social Research’s World Values: 44%; Barna: 41%; National Election Studies: 40%; Gallup: 41%.)
But in recent years this consensus has been challenged. It seems that it’s more accurate to say that 40% of Americans claim to attend church regularly.
In 1998, sociologist Stanley Presser at the University of Michigan—whose “research focuses on questionnaire design and testing, the accuracy of survey responses, and ethical issues stemming from the use of human subjects”—co-authored a study entitled: Data Collection Mode and Social Desirability Bias in Self-Reported Religious Attendance, American Sociological Review, v. 63 (1998): 137-145 (with L. Stinson). Comparing diaries with actual attendance, they made the estimate that the actual percentage of Americans attending church from the mid-1960’s to the 90’s was about 26%.
One of the problem comes in how the question is asked in a poll. Different questions yield different results. For example, in a survey you might ask, “What did you do last weekend?” listing for the person a number of possible activities, including church-going. This will yield a very different response than if you asked, “Did you attend church last Sunday?”
One factor is that people often answer according to what they think someone like them wants or ought to do. So people tend to overreport on the number of sexual partners they’ve had and how much money they give to charity, and tend to underreport on illegal drug use and the like. Hence, church attendance is often inflated."
The numbers of Christians in this country seem to be declining in proportion to the population, even while the faith is growing world-wide. It is also evident that Christian influence depends greatly upon what region of the county you live in. (The numbers of church-goers varies widely by state, as you see in this chart).
I can attest that the average church-goer is not terribly involved in church activities or Christian outreach. Based on my research and numbers from The Barna Group, only about 25% of the 18-19% of the population actually attending church are participating in any volunteer activities within or associated with the church. These are the people who are truly involved in Christianity and are more likely to share their faith with others.
What it boils down to is that only 5% of the population is therefore a outreach-oriented Christian, the kind who might tell you about Christ. That isn't much bigger than the percent of the population that is homosexual (homosexual activists will claim up to 10% of the population, which is ridiculous while some claim as low as 1%. I think 2-3% of the population is the best guess based on studies and polls I have viewed).
Then we look at the racial demographics of the USA as of 2005 according to Answers.com:
According to the Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey the US population is as follows:
White American, 74.7%, or about 700 million (the definition of White includes European Americans, North African Americans, Middle Eastern Americans (e.g. Arab Americans), Central Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans who reported as White in the 2000 Census)
Black or African American 12.1% or 34.9 million
Asian American 4.3% or 12.5 million,
American Indian 0.8% or 2.4 million
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 0.1% or 0.4 million
Two or more races 1.9% or 5.6 million
Other 6% or 17.3 million
The figures above include people who declare mixed race or multiracial ancestry, and people who identify themselves as Hispanic. As of the 2000 Census, U.S. federal law defines Hispanic to indicate any person with ancestry from a Latin American country or Spain. The category includes Sephardic Jews[citation needed], and speakers of Ladino are classified with Spanish speakers in the U.S. Census.
Hispanics of any race: 14.5% or about 41.9 million.
I suspect that if we consider your racial heritage, your religion, your voting preferences, your sexual orientation, your gender and whether or not you liked dogs or cats, you would find that your particular grouping would be a minority group. My minority group is this:
Mixed race (European Caucasian/American Indian)-Christian-Conservative-heterosexual-male-loves dogs-barely tolerates cats.
I don't want special protection for my group! I want equal protection under the law as an American citizen, period. Don't give me more or less protection because I am a Christian or a heterosexual or for any other reason. Don't do it for homosexuals or Asians or cat-lovers or karaoke addicts, either.
Un-American special protection laws actually mean persecution for others. Look at what is now being proposed in Oregon!
"...A legislative plan to "eliminate attitudes" opposing homosexuality is moving forward in Oregon, even though opponents claim it threatens churches and establishes pagan morality as a benchmark for their operations.
Senate Bill 2, already endorsed by the state Senate and favored by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, now heads to the floor of the state House following a 5-1 committee endorsement.
It is expected to be voted on within the next week.
In the House Rules Committee, an amendment was offered that would have provided an exemption for Christian churches and Christian groups in the proposal to grant broad new powers to the homosexual community by designating them as members of a protected minority class.
However, the amendment was rejected in favor of a plan to continue to allow homosexuals to demand Christian churches hire them when there are job openings – among other issues.
"This is still an intrusion of the state into religious liberty, and makes [Christian organizations] subject to state control," David Crowe, of Restore America, told WND.
"It favors the homosexual community and puts the church in a defensive posture, having to defend itself and its beliefs, policies, doctrines and employment," he said.
The Oregon Family Council had proposed an amendment derived from similar legislative plans in other states where homosexual community members have been granted special rights, but it was rejected.
"This is very objectionable. It reveals that this is an agenda. They couldn't care less about what the people of Oregon think," said Crowe..."
Freedom and liberty and justice for all - threatened by the "progressive" forces for political correctness. We need to stand and fight. As was said of the time of the rise of Hitler...
First They Came (Pastor Martin Niemoller)
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.