In America, a large number of Christians have developed a persecution complex. They are convinced that they are being persecuted all over the place, with enemies lurking everywhere. The truth is that what they are experiencing isn't anything close to genuine persecution, not in any systematic sense. It's rare for it to even rise to the level of discrimination.
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The reality is that Christians are experiencing a shift in the wider American culture. First, their beliefs and traditions aren't being taken for granted anymore. There was a time that Christian beliefs were reflected back to Christians everywhere and that's simply no longer the case.
Second, Christians are no longer being given special access to the government -- government institutions, government events, etc. -- to promote their beliefs and agenda. It wasn't too long ago that it was normal for Christians in government to abuse their position to promote their personal religion.
American Christians seem to desire persecution. And that is understandable, since the Bible says that those who truly follow Jesus and stand for righteousness will be persecuted.
The appropriate response is not to cry persecution even when not suffering it. That doesn't fool anyone.
The appropriate response is to ask what you could do to actually stand against injustice and for righteousness. Maybe if you stood in the way of big corporations and wealthy power brokers trampling on the powerless, you would find out what persecution means.
Maybe if you stood with the oppressed instead of trying to get in bed with the powers that be to share in their worldly power in order to oppress others, you would realize that there are those who do face persecution, bullying, enslavement, and many other horrors in the world - and that you may have at least contributed to the climate that allows that to continue.
Maybe then, you'll have taken up your cross and begun to follow the crucified Messiah.
Since American Christians are not actually being persecuted, does it follow that they are not truly following Jesus? Logically it does - the conditional "if A then B" means "If not-B then not-A." So if it is true that "if you are a true Christian then you will be persecuted for it" then it is also true that "if you are not being persecuted for your religion then you are not being a true Christian."
We have a tremendous amount of history to tell us that when a religion gets temporal power, it oppresses anybody who doesn’t follow it. For example, the Church of England was as oppressive as the Roman Catholic Church that it overthrew.
I had to chuckle at your conclusion, Austin. Nicely done.
I was surprised to learn McGrath is a Christian. I’ve come to expect professed Christians to be a bit vacuous when it comes to religion and politics, so it’s quite a surprise to find one making sense.