Recently, conservative Christians have been up in arms over President Obama’s health care mandate that would require church-affiliated universities and hospitals to provide birth control as part of their insurance plans.
Only a few months earlier, former presidential candidate Rick Perry released an ad that claimed, “You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military, but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.” Perry vowed to end Obama’s “War on Religion.”
These examples are two of many that represent the alleged “War on Christianity” in the United States. Religious groups and politicians have used this cry to clinch votes – or maybe they naively believe their faith is actually in danger.
The reality is that the Christian faith in the United States has not faced any risk and it continues to prevail unscathed. Separation of church and state protects the government from imposing on the church and the church from forcing views on the general population.
When was the last time you saw a Christian being questioned at the airport for sporting a crucifix? Does carrying a Bible often attract disapproving stares?
The fervor of conservative politicians to cry wolf is shameful, especially when there is a real war on Christianity occurring halfway around the world.
In a recent Newsweek feature, Ayaan Hirsi Ali exposed the recent rise of terrorist attacks on Christians in Africa, the Middle East and Asia since 2003.
In Nigeria, Ali writes an Islamist organization called Boko Haram has claimed it will kill all Christians in the country.
“In 2011 its members killed at least 510 people and burned down or destroyed more than 350 churches in 10 northern states. They used guns, gasoline bombs, and even machetes,” Ali wrote.
Christians in Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Indonesia and Pakistan face much of the same discrimination. They live in daily fear for practicing their faith.
In Saudi Arabia, churches and private prayer are banned. Christian homes are routinely raided and Christians are regularly charged with blasphemy in civil court.
It is important to note that the Muslim community as a whole is not to blame for these atrocities. Terrorists and extremists - whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu or of another faith - have no right to take away the basic human freedoms of any human being.
It is detestable that politicians in the United States are falsely portraying themselves as victims in order to paint some moral image or a false advocacy for religious freedom when there are real victims dying and suffering in other countries. The political gains of politicians are coming from the false representation of their struggle and the underrepresentation of the genocide of Christian minorities in the Middle East.
Politicians are right. The "War on Christianity" is prevailing. That war is occurring halfway around the world, though. We should no longer stand for the whining of politicians who drown out the cries of the real Christian victims.
Reach the columnist at Eeaton@asu.edu
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