Christians and their liberty

I'm not sure why, but monthly issues of Jerry Falwell's National Liberty Journal have been showing up in the mailbox here at the parsonage ever since we moved in. If you're not familiar with NLJ, it's a newspaper published by Jerry Falwell and affiliated with Liberty University (which was founded by Falwell), and it makes no effort to hide its Christian evangelical fundamentalist position on the issues. It's an interesting read, regardless of your political persuasions, and glancing through some of the articles in this last issue got me thinking. If you're interested in the details, I'll let you track down the NLJ's website on your own, but what caught my attention was this:

-there are roughly thirty articles in this issue of the newspaper
-of those articles, at least five specifically involve Christians taking legal action against institutions (courts, schools, governments) with regard to the protection of their practice of Christianity
-one implicitly calls for a boycott of the forthcoming Presidential $1 coins, which have "In God We Trust" inscribed on the coin's edge rather than its face
-and one points out that the College of William and Mary suffered a withdrawal of $12 million in donations when it removed a cross from its chapel

Just to clarify, those five articles dealing with the legal action are in response to things like students being banned from washing each others' feet (a common Christian ritual) and a school removing language referring to God in its yearbook.

Setting the morality or legality of the actions of those institutions aside for the moment, I find myself wondering about the motivations of the people in those institutions. Are they doing these things, seemingly attacking Christianity and indeed Christians, because they're controlled by demonic forces? Or are they such staunch atheists that they want to destroy all religion? Or are they participants in a strong but minority agenda in our nation that seeks to tear down the body of Christ?

Or, just for the sake of argument, do they attack Christianity because they fear what they perceive as a rise in militant political Christian extremism -- not the sort that is going to resort to terrorism, but the sort that believes the American government exists as its tool for securing its beliefs in the nation at large?

Now, where would they get an idea like that? Why would they think Christians are the sort of people to pose a threat?

Could it be because some Christians resort to boycotts to get their way? Or take people to court when they think their rights are being stepped on? Or call on people to withdraw funding from things they don't like?

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.

A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Blessed are the meek.

Blessed are the merciful.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you.

Whoever exalts himself or herself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself or herself will be exalted.

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you; if someone strikes you on one cheek, give him the other as well; if he takes your cloak, give him your tunic also.

"Vengeance is mine," says the Lord.

Hmmm.