Sunday's Sermon - The Five Stages of Religious Persecution

It was Mission Sunday at church on October 2nd. We were treated to a sermon  by one of the elders. He happens to represent a Christian lobbying group out in the working world. The topic was Christian persecution. The premise of the sermon seemed to be that persecution of Christians is on the rise, that world wide, it is bad, and getting much worse in the United States.

I don't think anyone would argue this. The slaughter of Christians in the middle east is particularly disturbing and the question is 'why'.

The answer to that question lies in American foreign policy. The US government has done it's best in the war on terror to destabilize or destroy the once stable governments of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Egypt in order to avenge 9/11. Until the anti terror policies of George Bush, George H W Bush, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were implemented, Christians were safe and mostly protected in the middle east. The Zionist neo-conservative advisers to these officials; Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pipes, Daniel Perlemutter and Irving Kristol to name a few, are responsible for the actions of these officials.  Their work created a power vacuum that Islamic State and the Muslim Brotherhood have been able to use to there advantage for recruitment and terror activities.  These middle eastern countries are in more disarray than ever before because of the war on terror.

ISIS, ISIL and Al Qaeda are the direct result of American foreign policy. These organizations would not exist today if it were not for the power vacuum left by American military action in the middle east. The US Government is directly responsible for the persecution of the Christian minorities in these nations because it created a situation in which it could thrive.

And so, the 5 stages of religious persecution proceeds a pace. But there are other sources of this persecution besides radical Islam. There is atheism, liberalism, hedonism and any number of other 'isms' that directly oppose Christianity including Judaism. And again we must ask why this is.

Perhaps a review of the 5 stages of religious persecution is in order.

I. Stereotyping the targeted group
II. Vilifying the targeted group for alleged crimes or misconduct
III. Marginalizing the targeted group’s role in society
IV. Criminalizing the targeted group or its works
V. Persecuting the targeted group outright

Many would add a sixth and final of stage of genocide. This is what happened to the Jews more than once. And they have been seen as the "canary in the coal mine" when it comes to religious persecution.

This is very much like what the Romans did to the early Church in it's first 300 years of existence. The early Church overcame these persecutions by shear numbers. They did not fight the government, lobby the government or even resist except silently. They simply made more Christians through evangelism than the Romans could kill. These Christians entered government service. They won the right of existence through growth of the one true faith. They finally captured the emperor.

Interestingly, once the Church united itself with government - once church policy became government policy and Christianity became legal, the Church began to use government to persecute anyone that disagreed with them. And so the worm turned.

The stages of religious persecution became church policy that outlasted the Roman empire and continued through the centuries. The Church in it's various forms has systematically persecuted Jews, Muslims, scientists, atheists, artists and anyone that disagreed with their established orthodox doctrine. This continued until the Reformation when they began to persecute Protestants. Despite this persecution, the lesson was not lost on the Protestants. We learned to persecute each other as well as Catholics and Jews throughout Europe and finally in the New World - America.

Indeed, the greatest perpetrator of religious persecution on the planet is the Church of Jesus Christ in its many forms.

The shame is ours.  We must own it.

Our Lord and Savior taught us to "do to others what we would have them do to us." 

We either do not believe His teaching and we think He is wrong, or we are hypocrites. 

Whatever it is, we brought it on ourselves through our own intolerance and our support of governments that helped to make the problem worse. Jesus also said that we reap what we sow. Looks like that's what's happening right now. Ours is a harvest of mayhem, death and despair because we did not obey Jesus.

There is a reason that the Founders of the United States sought to protect the rights of religious people and minimize government involvement in religious affairs. The Church and the State corrupt each other when they combine power. Government tends toward corruption. When the Church involves itself in the affairs of the State, she corrupts herself...always.

There is no hope in law and government for the Church. There is no grace in law and government. Human law and government are temporary. The Church is Christ's Kingdom. We are citizens of that everlasting Kingdom. We just happen to live in the United States. Our loyalties should lie elsewhere - in Christ Alone.

Obey Jesus. Forgive and love your neighbors - no matter who they are. Do not try to change behavior through law. Instead, use the gospel. When that fails, shake the dust from your feet. Do not retaliate.

Persecution is inevitable. We stopped it once by actually practicing our faith. We traded that for the tools of the State. We repressed those that disagreed with us with violence, torture and death. It is not God's way. It will not work. God does not force Himself on people, but He will judge them one Day. Until that Day comes, people are free to choose and free even to try and deny us the right to practice our faith.

We must do what has worked in the past. Obey Jesus and resist passively. We might die. Our families may die for the faith. So what? Do we really believe what we say or is it just a comforting idea that we want to hang onto as we load our guns and fight for something that is already ours?

Even if they kill us they do not win. Christian you know this! Why do you struggle? Obey and let what happens happen and Pray God that we do the right thing when pressed to it.