\nSome reports suggest that the killer\u2019s focus was \u201creligion\u201d instead of Christianity. But Michael Brown, talk radio host,\u00a0WND columnist<\/a>\u00a0and author of\u00a0\u201cOutlasting the Gay Revolution,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0says the question of whether or not Harper-Mercer asked students if they were Christian misses the larger point.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis much we do know: There has been an increasing demonization of Christianity in our culture,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
To start out with the obvious, the Oregon shooter was focused on neither Christianity nor religion. He appears to have asked his victims about their religion as a form of small talk, not as a deciding (or even relevant) factor in choosing his victims. But what I want to discuss, here, is the larger point\u2014Brown\u2019s argument that \u201cthere has been an increasing demonization of Christianity in our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
First, a quick story. Recently, on a visit to my\u00a0very religious hometown, I found myself in a Barnes & Nobles looking for a Bible for my daughter. More specifically, I wanted a book of Bible stories that she could read that would provide\u00a0more detail than the Bible story book my mother\u00a0had given her several years ago, but that also would provide\u00a0the historical context and scholars\u2019 ideas about the development of the Bible from a scholarly\u00a0perspective. I was going to ask the children\u2019s area employee but decided against it, because you just don\u2019t do things like that<\/em> in my hometown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
This idea that Christianity is being increasingly demonized in the U.S. probably sounds ridiculous to anyone else who grew up in the Bible belt, and to anyone who lives in the Bible belt today, and indeed, much of the rest of the country. I am open about being nonreligious in the\u00a0hippie midwest college town where I live, but elsewhere in the midwest, I tend to keep that to myself\u2014the response I\u2019d get just isn\u2019t worth it.<\/p>\n
I suspect Brown is actually<\/em> talking about public opinion of evangelicals specifically, not Christianity overall (evangelicals have a problematic tendency to equate evangelicalism with all of Christianity). I further suspect that Brown is referring to an increasing willingness on the part of the public to call evangelicals out on their bigotry toward various groups, and especially on their bigotry toward the LGBTQ community. Remember that evangelical opposition to homosexuality has manifested itself politically, in attempts to limit LGBTQ rights.<\/p>\n
But lets look at some data, shall we?\u00a0According to a 2014\u00a0Pew Forum report<\/a>, Americans view evangelical Christians more positively than they view Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons<\/a>, atheists, or Muslims, and only one or two percentage points less positively than they view Jews or Catholics. If you lump evangelicals and Catholics together and simply label them \u201cChristians\u201d (I have no idea why the study\u00a0doesn\u2019t include mainline Protestants, but okay), you find that Christians are viewed more positively in the U.S. than any other group except for Jews. So much for the demonization of Christianity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But actually, I suspect that what Brown is really talking about is that \u201cUnaffiliated\u201d line in the figure above. An increasing number of Americans are not affiliated with any religion\u2014the much talked about \u201cnones.\u201d These individuals aren\u2019t necessarily atheists\u2014in fact, most of them aren\u2019t\u2014but I suspect they\u2019re the group Brown is thinking of when he talks about the increased \u201cdemonization\u201d of Christianity. And if you look at the above figure, you\u2019ll see that unaffiliated Americans view evangelical Christians more negatively than they view any other group.\u00a0But even this does not back up Brown\u2019s argument, because unaffiliated individuals are far more positive toward Catholics than they are toward evangelicals, and Catholics are Christians too.<\/p>\n
To the extent that unaffiliated individuals have negative perceptions of evangelicals, it\u2019s not about theology, per se. It\u2019s more about some serious problems in the way evangelicals have been treating other people over the past several decades. They don\u2019t just believe homosexuality is sin, they\u2019ve also actively opposed allowing same-sex couples to marry. They don\u2019t just believe the rapture is coming soon, they actively work against efforts to mitigate climate change. They don\u2019t just believe abortion is the taking of a life, they are also working actively to make it harder for women to access birth control regardless of their beliefs.<\/p>\n
If evangelicals have a PR problem, they only have themselves to blame. But rather than evaluate their own role in creating a negative public image, evangelicals are more likely to simply fall back on tried and true persecution narratives. It\u2019s like telling a group of executives\u00a0that\u00a0their company and an image problem, and\u00a0having them respond by railing against the public and then saying there\u2019s no way to fix their image problem anyway, because it\u2019s predestined. With that mindset, these executives would never take steps to improve their image\u2014and in failing to do so, they would only ensure that their negative public image continues.<\/p>\n
Actually, it\u2019s an odd situation. Evangelicals like Brown decry the \u201cdemonization\u201d of Christianity, but having the world view Christianity positively is literally against their theology.\u00a0Growing up in an evangelical community, I was often reminded of Jesus words that Jesus told his disciples that \u201cye shall be hated of all\u00a0<\/span>men\u00a0for my name\u2019s sake.\u201d To not be hated would mean\u00a0one was not following Christ. In fact, give the centrality of these teachings to my evangelical upbringing, I\u2019m rather surprised evangelicals like Brown aren\u2019t rejoicing in this perceived \u201cdemonization\u201d\u00a0of Christianity. After all, shouldn\u2019t that mean they\u2019re truly following Christ?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Evangelicals like Brown decry the “demonization” of Christianity, but having the world view Christianity positively is literally against their theology. Growing up in an evangelical community, I was often reminded of Jesus words that Jesus told his disciples that “ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” To not be hated would mean one was not following Christ. In fact, give the centrality of these teachings to my evangelical upbringing, I’m rather surprised evangelicals like Brown aren’t rejoicing in this perceived “demonization” of Christianity. After all, shouldn’t that mean they’re truly following Christ?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[557,314],"class_list":["post-27022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","tag-persecution","tag-persecution-complex"],"yoast_head":"\n
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