Information: The new Evil

I usually stay clear of religious mud slinging, but this has been going around in my mind a lot, so I'll share it...

Since the beginning of the Christian faith, Christians have been persecuted. Jesus Christ, the reason for Christianity was killed by the Jews (and Romans). Even His earliest followers like Peter, Stephen and John were persecuted. The persecution of Stephen sparked a whole "attack" on Christians, led by Paul of Tarsus (Saul). From there on we can follow the path of Christian's blood throughout history. Roman's role in the execution of Christians is a chapter of its own. The Bar Kochba Rebellion of AD 135, Dhu Nuwas (pre-Islamic Jewish king) massacred Christian communities in Najran. Khosrau II, King of Persia, killed more than 90,000 Christians in Jerusalem in 614 AD - his army consisting of Arabs and Jews. And don't forget the persecution of Christians by Islam. Ethiopian, Queen Gudit, who persecuted Christians around 970 AD and helped bring down the Kingdom of Aksum.

Christians even persecuted fellow Christians when the Christian Church gained enough strength to stand on its own two feet. Those who did not conform with the "Church" were called heretics and persecuted by the thousands. In Medieval times we see the Roman Catholics going against the Orthodox Church in the Crusades. Which was quickly followed by violence between Catholic and Protestant Churches. Persecution went on deep into the 1900's (and can still be found in some Eastern countries) in countries such as Russia (Soviet Union), China, Japan, Nazi-Fascist persecution, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, and the list goes on.

Now this was a really quick glance at a very long history. The point is, however, that Christianity has been under attack since the beginning of time. And this attack is of course from "Evil's" side, i.e. the Devil/Satan/Lucifer. His plan, to stop Christianity, i.e. stop people's souls from being saved.

As time went by - from the day Christ was crucified - no matter what "he" (Satan) did, Christianity grew. It grew in such a way that Christians ruled the "modern world". What to do now? He turned Christians against each other. But even after the deaths of millions of Christians, Christianity grew. Then one day man (modern world) became "civilized" enough not to kill another person because of religion. A single Church (Catholic) no longer "controlled" the world. This happened with the idea of "human rights". It became increasingly difficult to kill a Christian. So, in the middle to late 20th century this new idea of Human Rights was, you guessed it, used against Christians (and all other religions for that matter). Religion was removed from schools and most public places. It became a no-no topic at social events, in business circles, etc. The cracks again appeared in Christianity, but it stood strong, even if the growth was no longer what fellow Christians would have liked it to be.

And this brings us to where we are today. What do they call it? The information age. And what better weapon for Satan to use? Information. He is using our own brains and intelligence (if that's what you want to call it) against us. We are informed in such a way that we start to question what we thought we knew. The Bible - and what Christians thought to be as facts - is being questioned. And it's not a handful of occurrences. We see it everywhere. Da Vinci's Code, to mention one of hundreds of new books that's seeing the light of day (I’m not saying that Dan Brown is working for the Devil!). And these books are bestsellers. Christians (amongst other people) are buying the books, and the (one-sided) information is planting seeds. "What if"? What if this is true? What if Jesus did have a child? What if Jesus did not exist? What if it's all a fairy tale?

And let's face it; valid points are raised. But what we forget is that the Bible was written hundreds (thousands) of years ago by "primitive" people for "primitive" people. The Bible was written for those times. It's a book with a message, not a history book or a book with explanatory facts. So atheists had 2,000 years (give or take a hundred) to pick at the holes in the Bible. Why is this? Why is that? This can't be true because this and that. And we are "smart". We realize that they've got a valid point and the Christian faith starts crumbling.

And personally I think this new attack on Christianity is the most dangerous of all. Christians don't know they're busy with another religious/spiritual war. There's no blood. There's no persecution. You don't even realize you're being attack because of your religion. Because you persecute yourself. Spiritual suicide. How easy could it be to win a war? Let all your "enemies" (Christians) kill themselves. You just sit back and watch.

And the Christian side is doing very little about the ongoing war. Christian leaders are reactive and not proactive. A book is published with many good questions poking holes in Christianity. It gets loads of publicity and it becomes a best seller. Religious historians then react with a book explaining the facts. But the "reactive" book never gets the publicity the "attacking book" got. There's no Christian writer being proactive and writing a historically correct best seller to win over some non-Christians...

We must admit that we've become to smart for our own good. We are becoming more and more informed. And there's nothing wrong with it. Deny ignorance by all means! We must seek knowledge AND wisdom after all. But we are bombarded with one-sided theories based on inaccurate facts. What can we as Christians do? We don't know the answers. We aren't historians. We saw the theoretical facts that Jesus got married and went to India with His new wife. But where's the actual facts? Where's the fighter for the truth - a Christian? I don't know. And that my dear friends, is where Faith comes into play. Blind trust and believe.

In order to fight this new war, we need to be armed with information. But that is what's making this new "evil" so dangerous, because as ATSers we know the value of information - and we cannot deny facts. As long as you know your enemy's strategy.

That's all. Just wanted to get it out of my mind.

True. But Satan isnt a mythical dragon with a pitch fork.. Its people who knowingly create the problems at a mass scale.. ie: George Bush = satan

Satan is a variable and the result of their actions pushes god away and your left without guidance

Setting aside the crucifixion of Christ, and going to persecution of Christians, I have a few things to say which I doubt the OP is going to want to hear, but which need to be said anyway.

Almost all persecution of Christians in the past, whether at the hands of Roman pagans or at the hands of Christians, has arisen from the belief on the part of Christians that they have a monopoly on salvation, that theirs is the only path to God.

The Romans distrusted Christians because of that belief. Roman official policy was religious toleration throughout the Empire. Christians were an exception to that policy, because Christians did not share the Roman official commitment to religious toleration. Some Christians were guilty of acts of violence against non-Christian temples. Christians also refused to give the state religion the token worship that was required (the Romans didn't require sincere belief, only going through some very minor motions) -- but Jews as well as Christians made that refusal and Jews were accepted and tolerated. Christians were not, because Christians sometimes assaulted pagan temples, while Jews did not.

Christians refused to give token worship to the state religion, and sometimes committed acts of violence against non-Christians, because they believed they had a monopoly on salvation and the only path to God. It is part and parcel of this attitude that they explained their religion's special illegal status in terms of the opposition of the Devil, when to any outsider's eyes it's as plain as can be that it was the fruit of their own actions and beliefs. No diabolical influence is required as an explanation, but if you want to introduce that hypothesis, put it where it belongs. The Devil, one could argue, deceived Christians into an arrogant belief about their own special position in the universe and led them into violence, and the Empire responded appropriately.

That Christian persecution of Christians arose directly from the same arrogant attitude should be obvious. If the Church authorities hadn't seen things that way, then other Christians who interpreted the faith differently would have been treated with more humility. And of course, Christian persecution of non-Christians is similarly explained.

It is also part and parcel of this arrogant attitude that mere disagreement and argument are sometimes equated with persecution. That seems to be the OP's main thrust here. Certainly we have a freer flow of information today than in the past. Certainly that has resulted in greater questioning of official dogma, not limited to Christian dogma but including it without doubt. This is what happens when people cease to be as ignorant as once they were. But to call it "persecution" is beyond arrogance. It is downright paranoid.

We live in a free society. There are consequences of that fact. One of them is that in the marketplace of ideas, the Christian religion(s) must contend freely with others that seek to replace it/them. If you see the free exchange of ideas and information as "persecution" -- well, that is just plain scary, dude. Because real persecution, i.e. acts of violence directed against Christians by reason of their beliefs (which you will not find happening) would justify in many cases violent acts of defense. And if you are saying that arguing with you amounts to persecuting you, then that means you might see violence directed against those who question Christian beliefs as justified self-defense. And there we go, back to the very sorts of actions that led ancient Rome to feed some Christians to the lions.

You make valid points and most of them cannot be argued - maybe debated, but still good points.

The role in of Christians in their own persecution especially due to arrogance and desire for power and money cannot be denied. It can, as you said be part of "the Devil's plan" to destroy Christianity, and that is left open to speculation or debate.

I must admit that I used the word "persecution" a bit loosely. But I do want to draw parallels between outright persecution of a religion and the current state of the information thrown at religions to either discredit them, or question a Faith.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for information in a free society. The right to be informed. I can't highlight this enough. Hey, if there were an Internet forum where we could deny ignorance, I would be a member of it!

But the problem I'm trying to point out, is that with all this information given to the "free society" - Christians cling to a 2,000 year old book, and they rest all their arguments on this book. A lot (of research) is done to discredit and question the Christian faith (and pretty much everything else) with new studies and "new" information coming to light. Instigated by whatever force you like to choose. But the "counter information" is a bit lacking in my opinion. Maybe not in validity, but in presentation. Christians are bombarded with mainstream literature on why Christianity might be a fairy tale. And the counter-arguments are far from "mainstream". It's published in Christian publications with not nearly as much backbone (media, discussions, etc.) as the literature that sparked the reaction.

A non-Christian reads an article about a theory that Jesus did not exist. He/She now has less chance of becoming a Christian. That person will not go do some reading to see exactly hom much water the "theory" holds. And not all Christians will do their homework either. And many of those that try to find an answer to the questions raised, try to look for the answers in the Bible. And as we said earlier, the Bible is no Book of Science. Thus they don't find the right answers.

And little is done to inform people from the Christian side. Which one of these two articles will you read:
"Scientist proves that Jesus did not walk on water."
"Small town priest discovered that Jesus did walked on water"
Science fiction is an easier read than religious history - in terms of mainstream media. Christianity is not presented to the rest of the world in a "main-stream" or "interesting" form. And it's just as much their own fault due to their arrogance and wanting to save souls. Many Christians will argue that Christianity is not meant to be mainstream - it's a sacred and/or dignified religion not entertainment.

That's all I'm saying. The amount of information given to us (all of us) is not equal. ATS is a great example where both sides of every story are explored. But "out there" both sides aren't always presented. A person that reads a book of fiction (like the Da Vinci code) or a newspaper article will not always get to see both sides of the coin. I just want to make those that aren’t' aware of the "attack" on Christianity, aware of it. The "attack" may be conscious or subconscious but whatever forces you or I like to believe. Christian Faith is discredited and Christians allow this to happen because they aren't informed on all the facts. They only hear the questions and see one-sided facts.