Anti-Christian prejudice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anti-Christian prejudice is a negative categorical bias against Christians or Christianity as a whole. Such prejudice can lead to religious intolerance. As a mental and emotional attitude, anti-Christian prejudice leads to stereotyping, discrimination, and persecution. Anti-Christian prejudice can be held by individuals or groups.
In nations where Christianity is a minority faith, prejudice against Christians is most pronounced. In nations where freedom of religion is limited, the issue becomes persecution of Christians. Anti-Christian prejudice results in hate speech, hate crimes, and other forms of persecution against Christians.
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[edit] Prejudice versus criticism
Anti-Christian prejudice should not be confused with reasonable criticism of Christianity or its claims.
- A legitimate, reasonable criticism of Christianity as a whole may addresses the belief system as a whole, and does not apply to the individual Christian
- Nor should unjustifiable actions by any individual Christian or group necessarily be taken as representative of Christianity as a whole.
Similarly, anti-Christian prejudice should not be confused with criticism of an individual Christian's own words and actions. In short, prejudice is distinct from valid criticism in that it is the irrational targeting of all Christians.
[edit] Christianophobia
Christianophobia, sometimes called christophobia (which means fear of Christ), is a term used by some to describe a fear or hatred of Christians, or Christianity in general.
The term originated with American legal scholar J.H.H. Weiler. It was described in detail by American conservative writer, activist, and Catholic theologian George Weigel in his books, Is Europe Dying? Notes on a Crisis of Civilizational Morale and The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God.
In December 2004 the late Pope John Paul II argued that Christianophobia was spreading around the world and called on the UN to draft laws on Christianophobia, as it has done on Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.[citation needed] The Vatican initiated diplomatic efforts toward recognition of Christianophobia by the European Union and the United Nations. The UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva now speaks of "anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and Christianophobia." The use of the word Christianophobia has been proposed for use in the UN General Assembly.[1]
[edit] Reasons some claim others have Christianophobia
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George Weigel, an Adjunct Fellow of the Discovery Institute's Religion, Liberty & Public Life Program, attributes christianophobia today to a number of causes:
- the rejection of Christianity in favor of secular humanism by many European and American intellectuals in the 19th century;
- pre-World War II Roman Catholic Church support for Benito Mussolini, some of whom would later collaborate with the Nazis – prior to the Christian Democrat movement which attempted to break from this legacy
- the disappointment allegedly felt by European leftists over the collapse of European communism, for which Christianity is held partly responsible
- post-WWII church support for reactionary politicians, especially in Latin America
- guilt by association with the political policies of the United States and the West in general, especially the war on terror which is perceived by some to be an imperialist war
- strong political statements made by controversial pastors; Christian network founder and presidential candidate Pat Robertson; singer and anti-gay rights activist Anita Bryant and some American televangelists who condemn behavior of certain social groups and political leaders
Other writers[citation needed] point to evangelization by Christians as a cause. The activity of the Christian Right is sometimes characterized by its opponents (usually from the political, social, or religious left) as promoting the ideologies of Zionism, Fascism, nationalism, theocracy, intolerance, homophobia, xenophobia, heterosexism, patriarchy and sexism, and fostering anti-science attitudes, in part because it aims to prevent access to pornography, abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage through the use of laws, supports Israeli military actions and settlements, promotes public policies entailing religious belief in the Christian conception of God, and frustrates the teaching of evolution in the public schools, among other things. Erratic and/or violent behavior of individuals can distort the public view of the conglomerate: individuals who try to thwart activity in abortion clinics through shootings and bombings, those who themselves commit hate crimes.[citation needed]
[edit] Sectarian strife
As with all religions, Christianity is not a homogenous group; there exist many sects of Christianity, which often find themselves at odds with each other.
[edit] Anti-Catholic
Anti-Catholicism officially began in 1534 during the English Reformation; the Act of Supremacy made the King of England the 'only supreme head on earth of the Church in England.' Any act of allegiance to the latter was considered treason. It was under this act that Thomas More was executed. Queen Elizabeth I's scorn for Jesuit missionaries led to many executions at Tyburn. Catholic / Protestant strife has been blamed for much of "The Troubles," the ongoing struggle in Northern Ireland.
This attitude was carried "across the pond" to the American colonies, which would leave England, forming the United States. Although there has been a strong anti-Catholic sentiment in North America since before the dawn of the US, the feeling grew stronger during waves of Catholic immigration from old Europe. Nationalist, "native" feeling was represented by the Know-Nothing Party. Father James Coyle, a Roman Catholic priest, was murdered in 1921 by the Ku Klux Klan.
[edit] Anti-Mormon
Followers of the Latter Day Saint movement (commonly known as Mormons) have been persecuted since the faith's creation in the 1830s. This drove the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from New York to Missouri (where Joseph Smith says the Garden of Eden was), where escalating attacks by neighboring villages caused them to flee to Nauvoo, Illinois. However hostilities between Mormons, non-Mormons and former Mormons would soon escalate. After a mob was let into the jail in Carthage, Illinois, where Joseph Smith was being held for committing treason against the state of Illinois, a gun fight ensued and as a result Smith was killed.[2][3] This caused an exodous by the Latter-day Saints to Utah, which, at the time, was not a part of the United States.
[edit] Turkey
Christianity has a long history in Anatolia, modern-day Turkey; it is often said to have gained status as a world religion when Istanbul (historically known as Constantinople in the English-speaking world) became the world's first Christian city. Although this would not last, Christians were treated poorly under the Ottoman Empire, until its collapse following the first World War. Nationalist passions ran hot, and some paramilitary groups, such as the Young Turks, began to discriminate against, and murder, Christians of Greek, Armenian and Assyrian people. (For further information, see Armenian Genocide, Assyrian Genocide and Pontic Greek Genocide)
In the 19th century Kosovo was conquered by the Ottoman Empire; unlike in most of the empire, Chrisitans (mainly Serbs) have been routinely persecuted, mainly by Albanians, who for the most part converted to Islam. This long-standing rivalry escalated into the Kosovo war.
Kemal Timur, a convert from Islam to Christianity, was detained in May 1999 for distributing Christian Bibles on the street. While in police custody, Timur allegedly called Muhammed a "sorcerer," violating Turkey's blasphemy laws. The charge carries a sentence of up to a year in jail, however, in this case the court dropped the charges.[1]
[edit] Sudan and Darfur
The Janjaweed, Islamic militias, and even the Sudanese Army are together estimated to have killed as many as a million and a half Christians between 1984 and today. It must be noted that the bulk of this killing is ethnic in nature, perhaps more than religious.
Many Sudanese Christians have been lucky enough to only have been displaced. The Sudan Human Rights Organization in 1994 reported the crucifixion of pastors, ethnic cleansing or genocide, and "widespread" torture. El Obeid, a bishop, reported to the UN Commission on Human Rights that hundreds of churches were being burned, women systematically raped, child labor, and mutiliation or burning alive of priests.
[edit] China
China is a totalitarian state with more than a billion people; hundreds of millions live in relative prosperity in the cities, while most of the population is spread across the countryside, generally in poverty. Worse, more people are moving to the cities for a better life than they can economically sustain. These conditions are ripe for prejudice of all kinds, and the ruling Communist Party maintains tight control over religion in China. It should be noted that religion isn't singled out - most of daily life is controlled to some degree by the ruling party.
Interestingly, Christianity was banned for a century in China by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, after the Pope forbade Chinese Catholics from venerating their relatives or Confucius.[2] Both Christianity and Buddhism are foreign religions in China, although Buddhism may have been better suited to China's multi-ethnic, and had the further advantage of being introduced centuries earlier.
Colonization of China, from the Opium Wars onward, helped spread Catholicism and Protestantism into the mainland. Many in the countryside saw Christianity and colonization as two sides of the same coin. According to the Communist Party of China, some missionaries looted, took part in the opium trade, and preyed on the weak.[3] Jiang Menglin remarked that "Lord Buddha came to China riding on the back of a white elephant whereas Jesus Christ flew in on cannon shells."
[edit] United States
Pundits of the Christian right such as Ann Coulter and Jerry Falwell, claim that American society and the United States government discriminate against Christians,. Examples given by these commentators include:
- The ban on any religious expression by faculty in front of students.[citation needed]
- The increased usage of BCE/CE, not just limited to strictly non-Christian studies but also to more general historical terms, even including Christianity or societies which eventually lead to Christianity (such as Greece and Rome).
- The Christmas controversy. O'Reilly refers to "The War on Chistmas", a phrase originated by journalist Peter Brimelow in 1999. Advocates of greetings such as "Happy Holidays" replacing "Merry Christmas" state that their goal is to be more inclusive of non-Christian faiths, but O'Reilly contends that such efforts are a veiled attack on Christianity.[4]
- In 2000, when the Brooklyn Museum of Art displayed an image of the Virgin Mary crafted of dried elephant dung, among other media, and festooned with photographs of winged female breasts, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani decided to cut the city's voluntary funding to the museum. The state court ordered him to resume the previous financial support with an added $5.8 million.[5]
- In March of 2006, one of the University of Oregon's campus newspapers, The Insurgent in their coverage of the Muhammed cartoon controversy, published 12 cartoons of Jesus, along with two editorials criticising Catholicism. Two of the cartoons depicted Jesus with an erection and one presented him engaged in homosexual activity. In response, the Catholic League wrote Oregon lawmakers in complaint of the newspaper. The president of the Catholic League characterized the issue as hate speech. The response to the edition offered by the president of the university was criticized as tepid.[6][7]
[edit] Canada
- For the 1998 multi-faith memorial for the Swissair disaster, the Canadian government allowed Jewish and Muslim religious leaders to quote from their Scriptures during their speeches, but mandated that a Christian pastor could not read from the Bible or mention Jesus.[8]
- In 1991, the Vancouver Art Gallery purchased a sculpture entitled "Piss Pope", a depiction of a bust of Pope John Paul II submerged in urine.[9]
- Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps issued a calendar of all days, weeks, and months "important" to Canadian heritage. The calendar omitted Christmas and Easter. After complaints from Christians, the government recalled the calendar.[10]
[edit] See also
- Anti-Catholicism
- Criticism of Christianity
- Evangelicalism
- Persecution of Christians
- Religious intolerance
- Separation of church and state
- Piss Christ
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- News article on Bjorn Atldax Anti-Christian logo jeans
- "Is Christianity a 'hate crime'?"
- "Hate Crime Bias" News release from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
- "Jewish group fights anti-Christian bias"
- "Jewish Group Campaigns Against Anti-Christian Sentiments in US"
- "America's Christian-hating public schools"
Categories: Articles lacking sources from March 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Discrimination | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles which may contain original research | Articles with unsourced statements since January 2007 | Christian interfaith and secular relations | Religious persecution | Criticism of religion
