Are Those Nasty, Awful Christians a Threat to Liberty?by
Bill Barnwell
Almost every time I write a column I get at least a few pieces of hate mail from people who absolutely hate Christianity. These individuals firmly believe that Christiansare the enemy and that Christianity can be blamed for most of the world’s problems in some way or another. While they despise religion in general and think any belief of the supernatural is silly and superstitious, they reserve most of their anger for Christians. Are these angry secularists correct? Are Christianslike myself really such a huge threat to liberty and society on a whole? I think the answer is obviously no, but my secular friends might need a little reassurance. There are plenty of non-religious people that don’t share this hysterical view of Christianity and religious faith. Such individuals email me and discuss very thoughtfully and intelligently their objections to some of the things I write and I enjoy their feedback. Many others, however, simply go off the deep end in their denunciations of Christianity and Christian morals. Usually the religion haters who send me emails never really intelligently argue their points. Instead they call names, write a bunch of profanity, and think they are being incredibly original and witty when they call Jesus "Jeeeeezzzuuuuzzz." This comes from the same crowd of people who sincerely believe that they are intellectually superior to everyone else. Their emails and "arguments" (if you want to call them that) read like crazed disjointed hyperventilating rants instead of intelligent comments from thoughtful people. One has to ask themselves, just what is their beef? First of all, they think religion is silly and stupid and should not be embraced by intelligent people. They are typically very smug in their supposed intelligence and consider religious people to be a bunch of morons. But I will congratulate the hardened atheists on this: they have much more faith than I could ever have. To have such an unflinching and unquestioning faith in naturalistic Darwinism to explain life and societal development as we know it takes quite a bit more faith than believing in the supernatural. So good job, guys. You’re an inspiration for people of faith everywhere. Second, many think Christianity is nothing more than a brainwashing device to control people. Christiansare supposedly brainwashed because they have awful values like loyalty to God, aversion to promiscuity and homosexual behavior, respecting the lives of unborn children, and the terrible belief that men and women might actually be different. Militant secularists are afraid that Christianswant to "impose their values" on them but they would have no problem imposing their own "eat, drink and be merry" values on society if they could. From a libertarian standpoint, I’ve written that I have a problem with terminating the lives of unborn children as it violates many libertarian (not to mention Biblical!) principles. But when it comes to matters of lifestyle, I don’t believe in using the state to "impose" my values on others. Neither do many other Christians. However, that is not enough for the rabid Christian hater. They despise the fact that certain moral standards even exist and that people could be "dumb" enough to hold them. To demonstrate just how touchy and belligerent Christian haters have become, one would only have to read the emails I got in response to a recent column I wrote defending the rights of those who do not want to say the Pledge of Allegiance. You think this would make these guys stop and think, "Man, maybe they all aren’t actually hiding underneath my bed with Bibles at night. Maybe some of them can be fair." Instead many responded with hyperventilating messages about how I wanted to "impose" my values on them and about how Christianity posed a massive threat to freedom and liberty in the United States! What planet are these people on? Look, there is plenty of room to debate on these issues. Also, let me say that there are indeed statist Christiansout there who may mean well, but they prescribe awful political solutions to the societal problems facing the church today. There are also the Armageddonites, who never met a war they didn’t like and believe the sword is the best way to usher in the Kingdom of God (contrary to what Scripture teaches, I may add). I am not ignorant to the fact that there are bad elements of the "Christian Right" out there. But this is hardly the full story. The angry secularist assumes that every Evangelical is a Left-Behind fanatic that wants to nuke the Middle East. They assume that every conservative Catholic and Protestant wants to usher in a theocracy run by Ralph Reed. They believe that every Christian is out to get them. Run for cover! The truth is that there are more than just a handful of Christianswho hold sensible views on public policy and liberty. I get emails all the time from Evangelicals and Catholics who oppose the War Party and Leviathan. There is a growing Christian libertarian sentiment out there that is fed up with the current way of doing things and is rediscovering that it is the Gospel, and not Washington politicians, war and socialism that will redeem society. Rather than try to work together with such individuals, the religion haters just prefer to make enemies with them and mock them. Yet it is the Christianswho are "hateful," "intolerant," and "stupid." Another major reason that these people hold the attitudes they do is that they are lovers of self. They hate the idea that man needs as "Savior" and completely resent the idea that Jesus is the path to eternal life. It annoys them that Christiansbelieve such things and that Christianshave the nerve to "witness" or share their faith with others. Well, if you don’t like it then there is a very libertarian answer to this: Ignore them. Don’t listen to them. Go on your merry little way and enjoy life. If you don’t want to hear the televangelist on TV, turn the station. If you don’t like church, then don’t go. If you think Christiansare annoying, then don’t associate with them. The point is that nobody is forcing you to believe in anything. Religion haters assume they have an inherent right never to be annoyed by Christianity or exposed to it. Since the mere presence of Christianity annoys them, they feel their rights are being violated and that others are trying to "impose" their values on them. The truth is that the only thing that would make them happy is not just Christiansleaving them alone and being silent, but Christianity and religion disappearing from the face of the earth. The supposed threat that Christianity poses to liberty and non-Christiansis seriously overblown. Religion haters need to take a step back, take a few breaths, and realize that everyone is not out to get them. Not all Christiansare morons. Not all want World War III. Not all want to "take away" your "rights." In fact, most don’t. They just want to live moral and productive lives and see others find faith and salvation in Jesus Christ. If you don’t believe in this salvation, then you are very free to ignore the message and live however you want to live. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you. The question I have is just what in the heck has got these people so riled up? What makes usually reasonable and thoughtful people turn so quickly negative and irrational? My advice to you guys is to chill out. Instead of seeing us as threats to humanity, realize that you are completely free to reject Christianity and that nobody is hiding in your closets with Bibles and holy water. As other more thoughtful and balanced secularists have discovered, there actually are issues liberty minded secularists and religionists can work together on. Or would you prefer just treat us as enemies?
August 27, 2004 Bill Barnwell [send him mail] is a pastor in Swartz Creek, Michigan, and a Master’s of ministry student at Bethel College. Copyright © 2004 LewRockwell.com |
Christianity
is not a threat to anyone. Some Christiansand some quirky forms
of Christianity may be, but certainly not Christianity on a whole.
The Christian faith is actually rich with great virtues and teachings.
Far from being a threat, Christianity is a hope for society. Faith
haters would do themselves well if they realized how irrational
their utter hatred of all things religious is and realized that
faith, hope, and love are still forces for good in society today.