The Prophetic Persecution

Defender or Denier of Religious Freedom?

"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."--2 Timothy 3:12-13

Biblical prophecy clearly reveals that in the last days directly preceding the return of Jesus Christ, true Christians are going to be severely persecuted throughout the world. Listen to the prophetic words of Christ himself: "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me." (Matthew 24:9)

And certainly, Christ's prophecy has been fulfilled numerous times. In the Middle East, Islamists brutally torture Christians; burn down their churches and execute those who are even suspected of blaspheming the prophet Muhammad. 

In predominantly Islamic Indonesia, Christians are stripped of their homes and property; Christian women are brutally raped and their children are savagely butchered to death. Why? Because they refuse to convert to Islam and submit to Allah.

In China, churches that haven't been approved by the Communist nation are shut down while their members are jailed and charged by the state with dispensing religious propaganda.

And in formerly predominant Christian nations such as Sweden, Canada and New Zealand, Christians are fined and even incarcerated for quoting biblical verses that condemn the homosexual lifestyle. 

And now in the United States, Christians are being bullied and harassed by a federal government that is openly hostile to their faith. And that hostility is also coming from groups and organizations that promote themselves as defenders of freedom, justice and the First Amendment.

Such as the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. (MRFF) This group claims that it functions as a watchdog-advocacy-civil rights organization for members of the U.S. military to ensure that their religious freedoms are protected as defined by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

In reality, the MRFF functions as a sledgehammer to bludgeon evangelical Christians into complete silence. The group, founded in 2005 by Michael "Mikey" Weinstein, hasn't been shy about expressing its hatred for evangelicals who Weinstein claims harassed him during his military service in the Air Force because he was Jewish. According to Weinstein and his organization, Christian fundamentalists have a long history of intimidating and harassing non-Christians in the military. 

And certainly, Weinstein has a right to oppose that and he has a right to fight for legislation that would outlaw all forms of religious proselytizing in the U.S. military. As a U.S. citizen, Weinstein has that right and I fully support his right to try and expunge the military of proselytizing even if I disagree with that. 

However, he doesn't have the right to insult and threaten fundamental Christians simply because he dislikes them. Here's an example of his vitriol: "If these fundamentalist Christian monsters of human degradation and tyranny cannot broker or barter your acceptance of their putrid theology, then they crave for your universal silence in the face of their rapacious reign of theocratic terror. Indeed, they ceaselessly lust, ache, and pine for you to do absolutely nothing to thwart their oppression. Comply, my friends, and you become as monstrously savage as are they. (sic) I beg you, do not feed these hideous monsters with your stoic lethargy, callousness and neutrality. Do not lubricate the path of their racism, bigotry, and prejudice. Doing so directly threatens the national security of our beautiful nation."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-l-weinstein/fundamentalist-christian-_b_3072651.html

  

That's pure hate speech that's equivalent with the type of incendiary rhetoric that comes from arch-racist Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church. And Weinstein should be soundly condemned as a hater for spewing that kind of vitriol. There is simply no place in a free society for that kind of disgusting language. And I don't believe that the First Amendment should protect any speech that harasses anyone simply because of their faith or worldview. 

Interestingly, the MRFF claims that 96 percent of its members are "Christians." While I'm skeptical of that number, I can't imagine why anyone who claims to be a Christian would want to belong to an organization such as the MRFF.

Even if you agree with Weinstein that religious proselytizing of any kind has no place in the U.S. military, you shouldn't agree with his degrading insults against Christians. And to remain silent is tantamount to condoning such bigotry. You should condemn it. And you shouldn't be a member of any organization that levels such ad hominem attacks against anyone.

The MRFF's attacks against evangelical Christians are another fulfillment of biblical prophecy. And the persecution of Christians throughout the world is going to get even worse. How much worse? Just wait and see.