Why do Americans believe that Christianity is as Violent as Islam?
Seeds of the Word (Week 8 of 11)
Take out of consideration the Creator, who made every person in love and destined each for eternal life, and properly inalienable rights promptly disappear. And individuals become, in very short order, the objects of political manipulation and domination. To see the truth of this, all we have to do is look at the totalitarianisms of the last century, governments that were grounded in the explicit denial of God. The negation of equality and the suppression of fundamental human rights in Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, and Castro’s Cuba followed directly from the systematic denial of the Creator God. — Seeds of the Word, “Why it Matters that our Democracy Trusts in God”, Paragraph 5
Nearly two centuries ago, a frenchman by the name of Alexis de Tocqueville devoted over a thousand pages to the notion of Democracy in America in a book by the same name. After having spent over nine months traveling around our fledgling country, he recorded his findings regarding our government, commerce, citizenship and religious life. And he drew some conclusions about the success of our Democratic Republic, related to Barron’s assertion above, although de Tocqueville drew the same conclusion from a different angle. He asserted that in searching for the origin of America’s vibrant success,
I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution.
Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.
America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
So much of what Bishop Barron addresses in this week’s assignment raises red flags about the direction of our country as Christianity is thrust into the trash heap of yesterday’s foolishness. Everywhere we look, there is a concerted effort to suppress the Judeo-Christian philosophy via miseducation, propaganda and, frankly, lies. Apparently, it’s working.
Shockingly, a recent poll reported that 7 of 10 Democrats believe that Christianity is as violent as Islam.
Now, while I will readily admit that I know very little about the Muslim religion, I feel pretty confident in saying that rarely has a more blatant falsehood been so propagated among Americans. In the past year, there have been over 1800 incidents of terrorism committed by Islamic extremists. In fact, of the six deadliest terror attacks committed around the world in 2016, every one was committed by Islamic extremists.
How many terrorist attacks have been committed by Christians? You’d be hard-pressed to find one act of terror committed in the name of the Triune God. Perhaps a Christian committed a crime. Perhaps a Christian claimed to be a Christian when he committed the crime. But have you ever heard of a Christian committing an act of terror “in the name of God?” I’m not saying that it can’t happen – and perhaps you can think of examples from the news. I Googled it; but still came up blank.
On there other hand, there are dozens of news articles about Islamic terror. Do you know what I did find? That Christians are the most persecuted group in the world. That Christians have fled many countries in the Middle East where Christianity used to flourish. Which begs the question – how in the world can anyone believe that Christianity is as violent as Islam?
There has been much sympathy-building for Muslims in the wake of Muslim-committed terror – a genuine and enthusiastic effort to ensure that those Muslims who live in peace are not condemned because of violent extremists. After some not so proud moments in our nation’s past, such concern may be laudable. But when the public develops views so alien to reality, perhaps we should conclude that the effort at equivocation is being taken a bit too far.
Perhaps in a compassionate attempt to place all faiths on even footing, or perhaps as a result of 20+ years of relativism where no “belief” is beyond acceptance unless it pertains to a declaration of Truth, it seems everyone from the highest levels of government to the local elementary school is promoting two ideas: 1. Islam is a peaceful religion; 2. Christianity has a violent past. These two ideas promote widely spread equivocations and very unbalanced comparisons between Christianity and Islam.
Presidential Parallels
President Obama, in his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2015 had this to say, only days after the Charlie Hebdo shooting and other Islamic terror attacks in France, which left 17 innocent people dead, and 22 wounded.
“And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place – remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ…“In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.”
Many Americans were outraged that the President of the United States would feel the need to call out Christians in the wake of such an evil attack. He could have denounced terror as evil, and left it at that. But instead, he chose to lecture Christians in an almost belittling tone: “Lest we get on our high horse...” The message could not have been more clear – Christians are no better than Islamic extremists. While most Christians would acknowledge that we are all sinners, the comparison was an unbelievable stretch, particularly when the carnage in Paris was so fresh.
Indoctrinating the Innocent
In public schools today, children are being taught Islamic beliefs in History or Social Studies class. But what they are taught seems arguably skewed toward a certain political perspective which identifies with Islam and looks down upon Christianity. Children are taught that Islam is a peaceful religion and that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. They are writing the Islamic Creed in their assignments. And yet nowhere are they taught about Muslim persecution of Christians. On the other hand, if Christianity is mentioned at all, students are taught pointed lessons about Christians persecuting Christians. And they absolutely are not assigned a Christian Creed. In fact, Christian beliefs in and of themselves are rarely taught at all.
Quoting a representative of Campus Watch mentioned in the article cited above:
“What we find in schools … is a portrayal of Islam in a very positive light and a portrayal of Christianity and Judaism in a very negative light.” Myers said he wants a “balanced view that recognizes the good and bad” of Islam and Western civilization.
But when parents complain, the media and school representatives silence them by claiming that their objections are rooted in fear and bigotry. When one girl expressed confusion about what she was being taught in school versus what she was seeing on the news, The Atlantic Monthly had this to say:
Above all, the public-education system has an obligation to this 12-year-old girl: to teach her how to read the news and understand it; to prepare her to sort through truths and untruths about world religions; to ensure she can navigate complicated questions about ideology and violence. The question, though, is whether this kind of campaign against “Islamic indoctrination” in classrooms actually helps kids, and their parents, grapple with their fear and uncertainty in a constructive way—and whether these are plausible concerns in an overwhelmingly white, Christian place like Williamson County.
Spreading the Truth about Christianity
The above are merely a couple of examples. There are countless others that are not listed here. There is no doubt that we live in a post-Christian society. This country, once founded on a Judeo-Christian understanding of religious tolerance, has deteriorated into a “tolerance” for everything but a Judeo-Christian view. Evidence of this can be found in the fount of public opinion as well as the halls of elementary school buildings.
The only problem with that philosophy is that, in crushing Christianity, we crush what has made America great.
Christianity calls us to lay down our very lives for others. There is no vengeance, no animosity, no hatred in Christianity – even at its most fundamental and doctrinal level. In fact, contrary to popular belief, the closer a person is to Christ, the more he reflects the virtue of love – even for his “enemies.” For God is Love. And the more we unite ourselves with God, the more love will be manifest in our lives.
Christian martyrs throughout history did not give their lives for the express purpose of killing infidels. Rather, many gave their lives in order to save the lives of virtual strangers. Consider Saint Maximilian Kolbe, for example. While imprisoned in Auschwitz, a German concentration camp during WWII, he stepped forward to offer his life for a man he scarcely knew, because that man had a family waiting for him, should he ever be released. But that wasn’t Kolbe’s only sacrifice during the war. Prior to his imprisonment, he hid up to 2,000 Jews from Nazi persecution. He risked his life daily for people of an alternative faith. Ultimately, this sacrifice and that of printing anti-Nazi publications landed him in Auschwitz.
There are many other martyrs with similar stories. To live our Faith more fully means to offer ourselves more completely to our neighbor. Christ said, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). This sacrificial sentiment is at the root of America’s greatness.
Yet somehow this fundamental message of Christianity is being lost in the wake of comparison – otherwise how could 70% of Democrats believe that Christianity is as violent as Islam?
If we don’t begin to spread the word, not only will the Christian message be completely shut down in the public square, but we will lose the liberty that we so cherish in our country.
Reading Assignment:
We Have Here… – Judge Judy…
Discussion Questions:
- What is your take on the results of this new survey (7 of 10 Democrats believe Christianity as violent as Islam)? How might you comment on Bishop Barron’s quote?
- Feel free to comment on anything from our assignment this past week!
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About Vicki Burbach
Vicki Burbach is a wife and homeschooling mother of six children ages four to sixteen years who relishes the calm inspiration of spiritual reading amidst the roller coaster of life. A passionate convert to the Faith, Vicki is an avid reader who started the SpiritualDirection.com book club so she could embark with like-minded bibliophiles on a spiritual journey through some of the greatest Catholic books ever written. She is author of the new book How to Read Your Way to Heaven – A Spiritual Reading Program for the Worst of Sinners, the Greatest of Saints, and Everyone in Between. You can also find her at pelicansbreast.com