Why Are They Afraid of Us?

Quite often in today's media we hear stories about the 'Christian Right' or the 'radical religious right'. Every since the Christian Coalition was formed and began uniting and mobilizing Christians the media has launched a barrage of attacks on them. By doing so, they have succeeded in lumping all Christians together in one group with various unflatterig monikers such as the aforementioned. Never mind that all Christians aren't conservative or liberal, but a mix of various political beliefs. Why then would newspeople, who themselves are oftentimes Christians, go so far in condemning the actions of other good Christians? The answer, in this writers opinion, is threefold.

First, during the late 70's until the early 90's there were numerous incidents of priests in the Roman Catholic Church and other ministers accused, and some convicted, of molesting children. This is the worst possible thing that could happen in the eyes of many. It's bad any time this happens, but when it is done by someone who we love and trust as a person with the higher calling of doing God's will; it is unbearable. These incidents caused a dark shadow to be cast over all religion. Coupled with the fact that the church was slow to react to these charges gave the impression that the church was willing to cover up such horrendous behavior to save face. This unfortunately gives the impression that there is a hidden agenda; that the church itself is more important than the people in it. This perception has continued to overshadow the numerous achievements, as many are still concerned with the 'hidden agenda'.

Secondly, I can only believe that these are times when our faith will be challenged. Just as the Christians were thrown to the lions in the days of the Roman empire, todays Christians are torn apart by the media lion. It is more important than ever that we stand tall in our faith and continue to do God's work, for love will conquer all.

And lastly, but certainly not least is the ever explosive abortion issue. Most reporters that this Christian has seen believe intently that the sole purpose of Christians uniting is to make abortion illegal once again. Ironically, this seems to have had a backlash effect as more and more Christians realize that those in the media 'just don't get it'. There are a mountain of issues upsetting today's Christians; lack of morals in school, leniency for the wicked, sex as a sales pitch to our children, homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle, violence in movies called "...what we want..." even though some of the best selling movies of all time are non violent family films such as E.T., Forrest Gump and Ice Age.

Perhaps people of all persuasions should lighten up on our brother Christians. After all, it's not Christians that are out there murdering our children. It's not Christians selling drugs on the corner of the school grounds. It's not Christians stealing our hard earned goods. It's not Christians blowing up innocent civilians on the streets throughout the world. Being a Christian is a good thing and we must continue to set the example. Part of the problem is that a lot of people nowadays don't want restrictions on their lifestyle choices. We are now seeing the result of that sort of new age philosophy.

In closing let me say that being a Christian has a responsibility, and part of that responsibility is to fight against tyranny. Many Christians today are choosing to fight against the tyranny that they see demoralizing our children and our country. They fight with their vote, within our great system of government, which by the way was founded on Judeo/Christian principles. I, for one, believe that is a good thing. Something to be lauded and passed on to our children with joy and passion. Are you passing it on? Or...are you demeaning it in front of your children?





by: Keith D. Rodebush