Acceptance or Persecution?

There are many things amiss in the world, but there is one particular issue that rises to the top of the contentious list. Our rights and freedoms as members of the human race.

We hear about it all the time, but what does that really mean? I don’t think anybody knows anymore. While I believe that the inherent meaning is noble and good and right, our rights and freedoms have become skewed along the way. So much so that much of what I hear and read in the media is just plain dumb.

You have to be politically correct, you know.

It’s to the point where you can’t even express an opinion without being called narrow-minded, racist, prejudiced, or worse.

But there’s a contradiction here. You must embrace same-sex marriage, accept the religious practices of other cultures, and say nothing that could be construed as offensive to any race, color, sect, or political party. Except, of course, when you are referring to Christians. Then anything goes.

Anything that sniffs of Christianity – church, the Bible, prayer, etc. – is fair game for the hounds who make it their purpose in life to be obnoxious. Seriously. It’s true.

Apparently, rights and freedoms do not apply to Christians. A Muslim can wear a turban to school, but a Christian cannot wear a T-shirt with a cross on it. Public buildings are being asked to establish non-gender specific restrooms to accommodate the LGBT population, but those same public buildings do not allow any form of Christian display or practice.

Why is it that Christians continue to bear the brunt of persecution while being forced to accept the beliefs of other groups?

It’s not fair. It’s not right. It doesn’t even make sense. But that’s the way it’s always been. And that’s the way it will continue until Jesus Christ comes again.

I have gay friends. I have friends of other faiths. I have friends who are completely against Christianity. We don’t fight. We don’t argue. We talk about why we believe what we believe and there are no hateful words or intolerance or offenses taken. We simply reach a point of acceptance – acceptance of each other’s fundamental rights and free will.

And I will exercise my right and obligation as a Christian to pray for them.