Baby Christian Donald Trump — who spent Easter Sunday honoring the resurrected Jesus by golfing all day — and his feckless band of Evangelical and Roman Catholic gatekeepers, made it known that his administration will actively go after anti-Christian bias in the federal government. Question: is there anti-Christian bias in the government to start with? No evidence is provided for bias. Christians are absolutely FREE to worship God as they wish. Christian pastors are free to preach whatever they want from the pulpit. Outside of occasional skirmishes over building codes and the Johnson Amendment, Christian churches are left alone, free to preach superstition and nonsense.
Until the early 1960s, Christians ruled the cultural roost. Then came U.S. Supreme Court rulings that banned teacher-sponsored prayer and Bible reading in public schools. Many Christians were outraged over these court rulings, saying that their religion was being persecuted. This, of course, is laughable. Public schools are secular institutions. The separation of church and state requires schools to refrain from promoting sectarian religions. When schools permit teacher-led Bible readings and prayers, they are promoting a sectarian religion — namely Christianity. Over the past five decades, Evangelical parachurch organizations have found ways to weaken the wall separating church and state by establishing student-led programs such as Lifewise Academy and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Non-Christian organizations are permitted to offer programs to students, but so far, few do so, and those who do — such as the Satanic Temple — face pushback from Christians who do not understand the freedom of religion, free speech, and the separation of church and state. These objectors wrongly think that only Christianity should be taught in public schools. However, as things currently stand, if Christian groups are given access to school children, non-Christian groups must be given the same access.
Sadly, many school administrators, either out of ignorance or bias, support and promote Christian organizations, giving them preferential access to students. Groups such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation, American Atheists, American Humanist Association, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the American Civil Liberties Union spend countless hours writing letters to schools that think they can ignore the law, filing lawsuits against schools that ignore their demands. Most of the time, school districts back down and end discriminatory practices. If left unchecked, schools with Christian administrators would allow unfettered evangelization and indoctrination.
I live in rural northwest Ohio, home to God, guns, and Donald Trump. There are hundreds of Christian churches in a three-county area. I live in Ney, a town of about 356 people. There is at least seven churches within a few miles of my home. Countless local businesses have Christian kitsch hanging in their stores or tracts on their counters. Some businesses are decidedly evangelistic in their business model. One local barber claims his barber shop is a “ministry.” Get your hair cut by this barber, and you should expect to hear a sermon. Everywhere I look, I see Christianity. Maybe it is different in other places, but I don’t see anti-Christian bias anywhere.
As I type this post, I am listening to Matt Dillahunty’s Wednesday program on The Line. Matt talked about the difference between anti-Christian bias and anti-Christianity bias. Christians should be governed by the same laws as atheists. Government should be neutral when it comes to religion. Government = we the people. Not just people who meet certain political or religious standards, but all people. As citizens, however, we are free to have anti-Christianity bias. While I generally treat all religious people with respect (or with as much respect as they give me), when it comes to the organizations themselves, I am definitely anti-Christianity. I am anti-Evangelicalism, anti-Catholicism, anti-IFB church movement, and anti-any sect that causes harm to other people. I can respect my Evangelical neighbor while despising his religion at the same time. As a private person, I have the right to oppose, criticize, and condemn religious groups and their teachings. It is not anti-Christian bias if I speak out against particular sects. While it is often hard to separate the skunk from its smell — the Christian from his chosen sect — I do my best to distinguish between the two.
Donald Trump is using anti-Christian bias nonsense to curry favor with Evangelicals, Mormons, and conservative Roman Catholics. These followers of Jesus, however, are using the claim of anti-Christian bias to advance their theocratic agenda. Their goal is God rule; a nation state where Jesus rules supreme and the Bible (as interpreted by them) is the law of the land. Trump is a blowhard, but these theocratic Christians are an existential threat to our Republic. If left unchecked, the next thing we will be talking about is anti-non-Christian bias. And we already see this bias rearing its ugly head in government policies and statements made by Christian government officials.
Anti-Christian bias does not exist, but anti-religion bias does. As a secular state, the United States should not give any religion preferential treatment, but by setting up anti-Christian bias offices, the government is giving Christianity a preferred seat at the table. In a pluralistic society, every religion — including humanists, atheists, and pagans, to name a few — should be treated equally — not just Christians.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Frank Shaeffer, son of the late Evangelical icon Francis Shaeffer had a front row seat in the Evangelical movement of the 70’s and 80’s. He and his father led the movement that brought the Evangelical movement into the anti-abortion movement of the Catholics. But Frank left the faith and is now actively opposing the effort of Evangelicals that he sees as trying to overrule democracy and establish a Christian theocracy. In particular, he sites J. D. Vance, Mike Johnson, and Amy Coney Barret as leaders in this movement. These people claim that they are fighting an anti-Christian persecution, but they are really looking to establish theocracy. e.g., see https://frankschaeffer.substack.com/p/it-has-to-be-read-money-lies-and and https://frankschaeffer.substack.com/p/duty-to-warn-may-i-tell-you-who-jd, and
Oh, yeah I remember him, Frankie Shaffer wrote a book about his famous father. And oh, the things he exposed! Like the dad being a wife beater. She did look like his abusive mother, it was uncanny. But she didn’t deserve those beatings, poor woman! All the kids had issues that are typical for sufferers of C- PTSD. They do to this day, though it sounds like Frank was able to get past his traumas.
The Supreme Court decision about prayer in public schools came earlier in the 60s, I think.
According to a song I heard in my youth, and still remember, “It was June the 17th, year of 1963, when the U S Supreme Court made a terrible decree. Who’d have thought the court would say, that effective on that day, no more prayer or Bible reading in the school.” So, there is your answer. 😉
Trump is beating the drum against non-existent anti-Christianism but he obviously cares nothing about Christianity or any ideology. It’s but another opportunity to sow division, not unlike he flogs immigration, LGBT rights,, climate change, abortion, voter fraud, etc etc etc. He obviously cares only about Trump prevailing. Any emotionally divisive cause he can exploit is just another tool in his public relations kit. He sets himself up as the champion of controversies and causes of his own design where such causes barely exist if at all. He just makes ithem up.
There’s something in the Kool Aid he serves that disables his followers from seeing his ruthless oportunistic manipulation for what it is. Some say he is a public relations genius. That sounds too much like praising evil. I prefer to define him as the grand master of the big con.
Thank you, Merle! I had never heard that song, but I did remember that Madalyn Murray O’Hare was one of the plaintiffs in the original suit. I was going to edit my response but I needed to make a quick trip to Petsmart for cat food and the time to edit window elapsed. O’Hare was reviled by Christians especially the rest of her life.
The third verse said: “Twas November 22, year of 1963, John F. Kennedy was killed, what an awful tragedy. How men thought of God that day, all America did pray, still no prayer or Bible reading in the school”. And the chorus said, “No more prayer or Bible reading in the school! I wander who we think that we can fool. Can we so dishonor God, while we walk upon this sod? Let’s put prayer and Bible reading back in school.” It was a silly rant, but I still remember the whole song.
DutchGuy–You hit the nail on the head. Trump doesn’t give a fig about Christianity, or any other belief system. But if there is a way he can use it to his advantage, he will.
I have been in and around education long enough to know that, yes, many school officials are ignorant about what freedom of religion actually means. But I believe many more o along with allowing prayer and other trappings of Christianity in their schools because they are conflict-adverse. To be fair, I can’t blame them: Parents and politicians are their most vehement when they know little or nothing about what they’re vehement about.
Thank you Merle, et al. You are exactly right, Christian Nationalists wish to impose their cult world view on everybody. They are not persecuted. These same people were “burning” Black Churches in the South (and parts of the Midwest) in the Jim Crow era up until the early 70’s. – and if ANYBODY were actual followers of Jesus it was Southern Blacks.
I’m in the construction business, while inner city public schools everywhere are falling apart, one religious cult school after another is being built in the WHITE suburbs, I see them in planning stages or under construction everywhere.
SMH, sad.
Yeah, this is one my mind all the time these days. Next month, the real effects of the tariffs will be felt and seen, with empty store shelves everywhere. To attack the economy is their intentions all along, for years. Even using ” Christian arguments” and ” principles” to justify austerity policy. Thomas Hobbes comes to mind. He opposed the middle class, as they were too confident and independent, something oligarchs can’t stand. Add in Von Mises and Von Hayek, those Neoliberal economic scholars, and the picture emerges. It’s truly frightening! Dictatorships always use shortages with food and water,other essentials,to control the country. I just read that Ohio will be voting on ” qualified immunity” for / against cops. Please vote against it, as it helps Fascism in major ways. No doubt the conservatives will be all for it. Amazing to see the ” Christian” Nationalists using the same tactics right out of the Dictators’ Handbook. I’m going to read that to see what’s in it. Immigration, which the Republicans promoted for 45 years, until 2009, when Obama was elected, then conveniently they did a 180. Sending our good jobs and manufacturing overseas, set the US up for losing the middle class lifestyle enjoyed before Reagan. Those wild things the regime is doing now is distraction, so worse things under the radar won’t be stopped in time.
Re:Shaeffers. In 1979, a rich guy inherited a beautiful english mansion in the countryside near us. He had no links with our area, but, as a x-tian, wanted to donate it as a mission HQ, x-tian retreat centre or similar. Hubby and I adored the Shaeffers, drank in every word of the books that Francis and Edith wrote. Hubby was asked to chair a committee to make recommendations for the mansion’s x-tian use. It seemed like an answer to prayer, we immediately contacted L’Abri in Switzerland about them having it. Edith waxed lyrical about the beauties of nature, we could just see her and her children cultivating the Jane-Austen-like walled vegetable garden and decorating the period interiors so tastefully. A Shaeffer daughter, husband and kids came to view it, I felt like we were meeting celebs, we’d never have dreamt of meeting such superb, super-spiritual heroes! L’Abri was considering our offer, when the owner, on his 2nd marriage to a x-tian woman with whom he had two toddlers…..had an affair and she started divorce proceedings, and the mansion would be sold as part of that, so we never got our L’Abri……and decades later, I too read Frank Jnr’s account of his father’s autocratic abusive behaviour towards his mum and himself – and I think Edith yelled back as they argued, not the image she projected of the perfect example of sweet beautiful x-tian womanhood!
Eye roll
Anti-Christian bias. I’m increasingly feeling the urge to exhibit anti-Christian bias. The only thing holding me back is that I do know some genuinely good people who happen to be Christian, and these people are appalled and ashamed by their Trump-loving bigoted co-religionists.
If anything, I feel some pushback/bias for being nonreligious. But, I do feel that I helped change a frien/coworker’s view of atheists. One of my coworkers is a Catholic, but we’re pretty aligned on just about everything else (human rights, equality, etc). He knows I grew up fundamentalist evangelical and that I have strongly negative feelings about that. He knows I have read extensively on the history of Christianity, what scholars think about how the books of the Bible were written, about the effects of religion (particularly evangelicalism) on US politics. I never told him I am atheist. One day my coworker mentioned that he was appalled by Ron Reagan’s unabashed atheist ad. My coworker said that showed how bad his parents must have been, no morals, etc, that their son didn’t believe in God. I tried to deflect by saying it’s just a philosophical difference of opinion and then segued into a different direction. A few days later my coworker brought it up again. That time, I reiterated that it’s a philosophical difference and that believing in a god or gods isn’t necessary for morality – people can show compassion for others and treat others with respect by choosing to do so because it’s the right thing to do. My coworker said, “Please don’t tell me YOU are an atheist!” I responded, “OK, I won’t tell you.” He was stunned and said, “But we pretty much agree on everything else! How can this be?” And I stuck to it just being a philosophical difference and that I consider myself an agnostic atheist since I can’t prove either way. Also, i said that he’d known me for 4 years, and that I have been nonreligious a lot longer than that.
About a month later, he and I and another coworker who is a secular Jew were discussing the passing of the Pope, and my coworker talked about how he appreciated that Pope Francis tried to be inclusive of people of all faiths. My coworker stated that he realized that people of different faiths or no faith can be good people.
I count that as progress. One religious person has gotten to know me pretty well over the past 4 years, and we’ve had some good discussions on some really tough topics. We agree on most things – but he believes in God and Satan and I don’t. And that doesn’t make either of us more moral.
And I didn’t have to be anti-Christian to him once! 😁
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