Christian Persecution Continues All Around Us

Ignatius of Antioch is one of my favorite Christian heroes.  He was a disciple of John and fought tirelessly to strengthen the flock in the midst of persecution.  He was martyred in 107 by being thrown to wild animals.  It was the emporer Trajan who ordered his execution.

I led with this because Christianity, even here in southern Indiana some 1900 years later, continues to be attacked in various forms.  In some countries today, there remains the same ‘hard persecution’ where Christians are jailed or murdered for their faith.  In our country, Christians continue to feel the ‘soft persecution’ (though it is becoming increasingly hardened) of being subjected to systems and laws that directly contradict our faith and beliefs.

God has been taken out of our public schools (this was a gross contortion of the separation of Church and State); we live under an edict that abortion is okay and is funded by the state (where do you think it gets its money?); we hear of a sweeping mandate that our boys and girls should be able to use the same bathrooms and locker rooms depending on their gender identification; the traditional family unit is seen as one of many ‘norms;’ and I read recently that there is a satanist running for congress in Los Angeles.

I will step out on a limb and say that I object to it all.  I give everyone the freedom to call me whatever they want; I am sure there are various terms that can be used – bigot, close-minded, radical, yada yada.

I don’t care much what others think of me as long as I know that my beliefs are grounded in Church teaching; so they can talk away.  When are we as Christians going to stand up through our witness to say that enough is enough?  When are we going to bind ourselves together in prayer and effort to bring foundation back to this country?

To say the least, I am dumbfounded that we Christians have gone from the zeal of the martyrs to the sheepish acceptance of godless mandates.  So, my dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, don’t be surprised when one day you pick up the daily news and hear that a Christian has gone missing or “has been thrown to the wild beasts” because we are all on the locomotive heading full steam toward the destination for which we have all purchased tickets.