FYI: Those that think Christians can't be the victims of "hate" crimes in the US... Think again

The problem with Christianty(and I claim to be a Christian) is that people don't live by the words of the Christ. Jesus said we would be persecuted in His Name. He also said to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, respond to persecution with love. Bless those who curse you. Love those that hate you.
The problem with those who hate Christianty is they don't read the words of Christ. They listen, instead, to the interpretations of men, who by our very nature, will be imperfect.
Some of you say you were brainwashed into being Christians. I don't doubt that. I was brainwashed as well. BUT instead of turning my back on my Saviour I began to study on my on, and I came to the conclusion that my belief was true, and I didn't have to listen to preachers, "prophets" or any other who interpret the bible for me. I can interpret it for myself, thank you very much!
Those of you who have turned you back on God, I would ask you to rethink you position. The atrocities committed in the name of the Church were committed by men, not by God. If enough of us truly live by the words of The Christ, we will be able to make a difference.

Originally posted by DeadSeraph
I understand the rules, but sometimes a picture is worth a 1000 words.

edit on 10-8-2012 by DeadSeraph because: (no reason given)

Picture is worth a thousand words here? Damn that's laughable. The picture says nothing except here's a young woman with a bohemian style. What you are referring to are the WORDS on the picture. So the picture ain't worth squat and in no way relates to anything said on the poster. What is does reflect is your assumption that because of he style of dress, she must somehow hate Christians. Nice reasoning skills there.

Originally posted by kettlebellysmith
The problem with Christianty(and I claim to be a Christian) is that people don't live by the words of the Christ. Jesus said we would be persecuted in His Name. He also said to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, respond to persecution with love. Bless those who curse you. Love those that hate you.
The problem with those who hate Christianty is they don't read the words of Christ. They listen, instead, to the interpretations of men, who by our very nature, will be imperfect.
Some of you say you were brainwashed into being Christians. I don't doubt that. I was brainwashed as well. BUT instead of turning my back on my Saviour I began to study on my on, and I came to the conclusion that my belief was true, and I didn't have to listen to preachers, "prophets" or any other who interpret the bible for me. I can interpret it for myself, thank you very much!
Those of you who have turned you back on God, I would ask you to rethink you position. The atrocities committed in the name of the Church were committed by men, not by God. If enough of us truly live by the words of The Christ, we will be able to make a difference.

And if you were raised into a Buddhist home in a Buddhist culture you'd say the same about Buddhism. Your belief is 100% about the environment you were born into and has nothing to do with your religion (or any other) being true. I do appreciate the kind tone of your post and am sure you are a decent human being. Just try to think beyond the narrow little perspective most of us by virtue of our experiences. Billions of people have a different reality and are thus just as convinced as you of their "truth."

I get accosted by Christians almost everywhere I go and personally I am sick of it, also getting sick of them knocking on my door Saturday morning to tell me about their church. I feel like a victim in this, surrounded by a bunch of cult ridden sick wacko's!!!
I wish these people would mind their business and keep their faith off others. No one wants this crap forced on them!
No one gives a s**t how holy and righteous you are!

reply to post by gncnew


Hate crimes can happen to anyone. Even those who spew hate.

Faith is not hate, and a willingness to proselytize does not justify targeting an individual or a group with negative rhetoric and broad, umbrella assumptions regarding the beliefs of said faith.

Christians have every right to speak out against what they identify as wrong in American culture and/or any other culture.

And I have every right to debate with them regarding what I see as errors or irrational beliefs. But this should not involve threats, hate, guns, knives, derision or any other form of real or implied violence or disrespect.

Win your philosophical debates with logic and words, not ad hominem, appeals to the crowd and intimations of harm or death. That's MSM and NWO hard at work, dividing us and demonizing the targets they establish de jure.

reply to post by gncnew


I'm not Christian, but even I've noticed a growing wave of anti-Christian sentiment in this country -- especially towards the Fundamentalist variety of Christianity.

It's been growing for decades -- in schools, in pop culture and in the mainstream media (Fox is the exception).

Just look at the Gay mafia that controls our media (tv, movies, print [nytimes], etc.) -- you bet they have an agenda and an anti-Christian bias.

For the young especially, that "old time religion" is not "kewl."

The violence in this case is alarming.

Originally posted by remmetlee
Faith is not hate, and a willingness to proselytize does not justify targeting an individual or a group with negative rhetoric and broad, umbrella assumptions regarding the beliefs of said faith.

Christians have every right to speak out against what they identify as wrong in American culture and/or any other culture.

And I have every right to debate with them regarding what I see as errors or irrational beliefs. But this should not involve threats, hate, guns, knives, derision or any other form of real or implied violence or disrespect.

Win your philosophical debates with logic and words, not ad hominem, appeals to the crowd and intimations of harm or death. That's MSM and NWO hard at work, dividing us and demonizing the targets they establish de jour.

Good post. It's interesting that Christianity appears to be a target of the NWO. I suspect they want people without moral values or faith in a Higher Power -- people easier to manipulate and who will not resist their agenda.

personally i would be mad too! i wouldnt try and hurt him , but he would surely get an ear full from me.
if you want to be religious well thats fine with me , but if you try to stuff religion down peoples throats , then your just asking for a reaction from people. but i do think its crazy that i guy pulled a gun on him ... some people these days are just god damn crazy!

Funny how everybody can scream for tolerance but justify hate for Christians
Fortunately that hate is a promise of Christ,

"If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. John 15:18

It is a badge Christians should wear with a joy filled heart. It should inspire those who sewrve Christ

oka for the human being i feel bad for him, but honestly do you people think that a jew or a muslim went out and preached they would eithor be assulted by the people or harrased by the cop.

Originally posted by Stormdancer777
reply to post by gncnew

 

Well, the replies were what I expected.

Because blah blah did blah blah back in the day every Christians deserve yada blah blah yada.

Yeah kinda like the white people today that had nothing whatsoever to do with slavery...they are guilty! lol

Originally posted by gncnew

This "offends" people so much, they try to kill him, and would have, if not for the intervention of two witnesses.

I would say preaching your religious beliefs outside of your place of worship is not only offensive but intrusive. I dont really like being told that im going to hell if i dont convert to someone else's way of life so all in all, despite the freedoms this preacher is exercising, perhaps a Wal-mart carpark isnt the best of places to be shouting abuse in the first place.

As for the gun/dagger being pulled that's a little extreme, maybe they were just super pissed off with someone trying to ram religious BS down their throats?

If people want to find god, they will. They dont need another mortal human being to help them.

Originally posted by gncnew

Originally posted by nateman
Do you truly think there is a large number of people out there that think Christians can't be victims of hate crimes? Or are you just trying to spark of controversy here so that all the Christians can defend themselves. Obviously any person anywhere can be a victim of a hate crime. While I would never assault someone for it, I hate someone forcing me to listen to their beliefs. I'm happy to listen to them if given the option, just don't shove them down my throat.

The basis of this story is that the preacher had the right to free speech. Yes, sure he did. But freedom OF speech is not the same thing as freedom TO speak as you wish when you wish. The actions towards the preacher were not justified, but the preacher is also not 100% innocent either(as he is made out to be). No one wants to touch that topic though do they?

edit on 10-8-2012 by nateman because: (no reason given)

Nateman - please, search the threads for "hate crime". Now, read the comments. If/when anyone brings up Christianity, the immediate response is always that Christians commit all the hate crimes - and "they have it coming".

Deny Ignorance is the theme of ATS, and by pretending to not see the over-arching "victims deserve their revenge" mentality on this board, you HAVE to know what I'm talking about... so please - DENY IGNORANCE.

And just as evidence, look no further than this thread: I submit exhibit A:

Originally posted by wylekat
Seems like none of you have been crapped and peed on by Christians.

While I agree that crime is crime- and one shouldnt go to these extremes- christians have no one to blame but themselves for this. I am sure that given time to be asked, these people would have a laundry list of what the church and christians have done to them. A LOT of people do. The things chiristians do to others would make anyone snap and go on a rampage! You get robbed, lied to, stabbed in the back, lied about, treated like filth if you are not in their same social circle, if you arent up to the standards of the religion, the list is endless.

Victims of hate crimes indeed. Too many are the *perpetrators*.

edit on 10-8-2012 by gncnew because: (no reason given)

I didn't say anything about christians deserving it or having it coming to them did I? I actually didn't make it about christianity besides the fact that it was christianity being forced on people(which it was, not just an opinion). Also, I never said "victims deserve their revenge". If someone attacks someone else, and as a result are injured because their target defended themselves, that does not necessarily make them a victim.

I thought this thread was about your views on people thinking "christians can't be victims of hate crimes". Not sure what you mean by search for hate crimes and read the comments. I just went through several of the search results for "hate crimes". One response out of hundreds that I saw very slightly hinted at christianity. What's the significance in that? But as you said, deny ignorance. Many hateful comments are exactly that, ignorance. Some of the best ways to deny it are to not support it or glamorize it.

I don't know what you are talking about. Not trying to be a smartass. Can you elaborate?

Originally posted by DeadSeraph
I understand the rules, but sometimes a picture is worth a 1000 words.

edit on 10-8-2012 by DeadSeraph because: (no reason given)

Kinda hard to accept christianity when all they want to do is deny equal rights and force people into their way of thinking

They bring the hate on themselves. They let their preachers talk absolute nonsense never batting an eyelid then start pulling out the victim card when they get called out on it, Ive seen a group of 6 year olds with more maturity than your average christian.

Originally posted by AuranVector
Good post. It's interesting that Christianity appears to be a target of the NWO. I suspect they want people without moral values or faith in a Higher Power -- people easier to manipulate and who will not resist their agenda.

What? Religious people are the easiest to manipulate. All you have to do is claim its what some "god" wants using some obscure scripture and everyone jumps on board, it takes almost no critical thought. Morals can and do exist whether you have a belief in a "god" or not. To try to manipulate people without a belief in god would be harder because the agenda would have to make logical sense.

reply to post by sheepslayer247
Not quite. While there has always been "hate crimes" (how I despise that term, when you have enough ill-will to enact that violence on someone, you hate them, dummy! (not at you)),

"Those that think Christians can't be the victims of "hate" crimes in the US... Think again":

There's a percentage of the population in the US that has a habit of cheering on violence, when it's against a group they don't like. So, we have cop-bashers, muslim-bashers, and yes, even Christian-bashers. To think that all of Christianity, or any group, for that matter, deserves the violence geared towards them means that they're not victims, in your mind, but criminals, who got the punishment they deserved. These people exist out there, and some people, on here, come across as being that type towards Christians--whether or not they are.

To make it simple: If you have to go: "But Christians have done this for years!" as soon as someone goes: "Look at the wrong perpetrated at Christians!" is the English equivalent of saying: "Look at the wrong perpetrated at Christians, but Christians have done this for years!", and damn close to stating: "Look at the wrong perpetrated at Christians, but Christians DESERVE IT because their past is the same." So close, that some people will jump the gun, because we all read between the lines.

"this never would of happened 20 years ago": I can remember going to Mardi Gras, only 10 years ago, where this Christian Group was parading around a street-corner, on Bourbon Street, warning of the dangers of hell..and in the same area, a dude dressed like the devil, with horns and all, was giving out a bunch of business cards to some new website about the Devil, as advertisement? Don't really remember, only kept the card for about a year. Thing is, other than Westboro, Christians have been able to talk on street-corners, without fear of violence, in this country, for all my life. So, something like this comes as a shock to some Christians in the US.

It's not that people don't oppose what Christianity stands for, it's that there's not been a heck of a lot of violence towards Christians alone, in this country. Even when there's been crosses burnt on Church property, it's been about RACE, not about BELIEF, and is often a supposed Christian, against another supposed Christian.

The big complaint has been for years that US Christians don't face REAL persecution, and they're always playing the persecution card. This cannot be a true statement to complain about unless Christians haven't been beaten up much for their beliefs in a public way. You get someone up here going: "Here's REAL persecution! We haven't seen it in ages!" and all of a sudden, the complaint: "You're playing the persecution card!" no longer applies?

This is really a "having your cake and eating it, too" matter.

reply to post by fnpmitchreturns


My father did. He got cut up one side, and up the back, within an inch of major nerves. And he was released fairly quickly (didn't do overnight, that I ever heard), back in the early 80s.

So you can have serious stab wounds, yet still be released.

reply to post by fnpmitchreturns
Of course you lay on your back, silly! You just need help turning, so you don't tear the sutures. If you lay on your front, you stretch the stitches, as your shoulders try to reach the bedding, in a relaxed state.

reply to post by PvtHudson

I think that's been the point for a long time.

reply to post by elitegamer23


Why can't it be both? Much of the time, drugs just take your filter off.

reply to post by TerribleTeam2


So, what groups you want talking in public? Only politicians? Besides, anyone who doesn't know that they could get hurt for the things they're willing to say, publicly, is being a bit silly.

reply to post by Taupin Desciple


Soapbox preaching still happens in other places. They're just more likely to try a slightly different venue than a walmart parking lot. Honestly, can't think of a place I haven't seen it.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


While going through meth withdrawals?

reply to post by Annee


Only if it's breaking news. Otherwise, no.

reply to post by Evil_Santa


Biblically, a "Wolf in sheep's clothing" us actually one who causes dissent within a congregation through directly intentional heretical teaching. So, it's rare that it could be applied accurately to an outsider.

reply to post by wylekat

I'm a Christian, and while not literally, yes, I have been ,aligned by other "Christians". We are individuals, after all.

reply to post by rjmelter

Generally, yes the fear tactic is a bad way to go, love is better. But, if there really is a Hell at the end of this life, and they didn't tell you, how much worse a monster would they be?

reply to post by gncnew


A bit more than that. Most like to allow the media to shape what they should like to see.

reply to post by Pagedisciple

Westboro came to my college campus. The Baptist football players lead chants and cheers against them, while calmly sitting on the sidelines. (Still remember: "Save the kid!") Straight dudes wore dresses. Even if inflammatory speech is used, it does not even remotely excuse the reaction, so asking what he read is a bit silly.

reply to post by Staroth


Honey, just answer the door naked, while stroking a shotgun--and invite them in with a feral grin. They'll take your name off the list.

reply to post by remmetlee


Considering how many others with totally opposite views of mainstream Christianity can state what they think is wrong with society (often, "Christians need to step down"), it's a good thing to keep in mind.

reply to post by DuecesxGeneral


Yeah, I actually do.

reply to post by SearchLightsInc


So, since most other platforms are not religious, that do this, it's ok for them? Or were you meaning to single out religion?

reply to post by SearchLightsInc


Way to exaggerate. The media: for (Rhino Fox) or against (Most of the rest) don't show form Christianity anything but what they want shown. There's whole swathes of Christendom in this country alone that support alternative freedom--and they're vocal! I can get you in touch with a few, if you'd like.

reply to post by acmpnsfal


Frankly, the really anti-religious are jsut as easy to manipulate. All you have to do is give them a law, from the text, and you get them to oppose it.