All right, Missile, I've had quite enough of this.
First off:
How dare you! How dare you, a person who claims tolerance and equality, lumping all Christians into your insulting, degrading little mold. Your implication that Christian aid workers only give aid to Christians and Christian converts is downright insulting. Christian aid workers give both physical and spiritual aid to people not because of some self-righteous streak they have in them, but because they believe in their hearts that these people will be much better off knowing Jesus. It's an act of love. You sit there thumbing your nose at the whole lot of us because you think you've got moral high ground when, in fact, you are just another drone who has bought into the propoganda being spewed by the secular movement. If you really want to know how a Christian thinks, imagine this: You know, for a fact, that NYC is going to be nuked. You have no idea when, or even if it will be during your life, but you know it will happen. Maybe it'll be in 1 minute, maybe in 1 millenium. Now, if you devoted your life convincing people to leave NYC, it's not because you hate the town. It's because you want the New Yorkers to live. We Christians believe, as a major tenet of our religion, that all non-Christians *will* go to Hell after death, so, as humanitarians and loving people, we try to make the number of people in Hell as small as possible, not for our sake, but for yours. Some, but not many, go about it the wrong way, but those are the ones you usually hear about. However, the Muslims I usually hear about are blowing up our buildings and shooting at our soldiers, but I don't lump them into the 'terrorist' mold and would be accused of bigotry if I did, so stop lumping MY beliefs into your little mold.
Evidently, you see all Christians as trying to ram their beliefs down your throat, but let's take a moment to reflect. Evolution is required learning in most schools and is presented as fact, despite the fact that it is merely a theory widely accepted in secular scientific circles. Whether or not this is what Darwin intended, evolution presented as fact is a decidedly atheistic concept. Despite claims by atheists, atheism *is* a religion that is being endorsed by schools all over the country through this. This is shoving someone else's religion down my throat.
Let's say, for a minute, that the topic of religion had never come up. I'd still like a moment of 'personal time' in a high school every morning. Even as a Christian, I probably wouldn't use it to pray. I'd probably do a little homework, think about things I need to do, or just plain enjoy the silence. High schools are so tense and noisy now that I think it should be used just to ease the mood. I'd even like it if they banned out loud prayer just so nobody breaks the silence. Banning any proposed time in which somebody *could* pray is a violation of their rights to free religion, as you are banning an activity not for its purpose, but for a single, possible use of it. Murders happen, yet guns are not banned because they have many other uses.
Many people, most notably those in the ACLU, have been kicking everything Chrisitian out of the public eye. However, the Constitution, as written (without this 'seperation of church and state' added without voter consent, basically) basically says that the church simply shouldn't be given priority over other organizations. Campaign organizations and charities are allowed to put their stuff up, so why not Christians?
All positive contexts of 'God' are being removed from tellings of our history, including the Declaration of Independance, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the origins of Thanksgiving. However, all negative contexts remain, such as the Inquisition. This oppresses the religion by deliberately painting it in a bad light. It would be akin to erasing all positives of the Roman Empire (aqueduct, mathematics, etc.) and leaving only the negatives (slavery, religious oppression, cruelty) in order to make Rome look really bad. This is an insult to my religion.
Everybody points to Christians as the problem. The fact is that Christians hadn't been viewed in any negative light in the USA until secularists came along. These guys want to get rid of Christianity because it stands in the way of their agenda. They want to cram their views down my throat and are doing so in ways such as labeling Christians as homophobic and hateful, while pointing to conservative voters as ignorant or corrupt. This is what religious oppression is.
While I'm on the topic, Christmas is a federal holiday. You even think of telling me not to celebrate it because it offends you and I'll sue you for violation of my civil rights under federal statute.
Myths and Truths:
The Constitution calls for religion to be completely removed from the government: Myth. The Constitution calls for the government to neithre endorse nor oppress religion, meaning it should be given the same treatment as other organizations. Democrats are allowed to use Democratic Party beliefs when forming their decisions, so why should Christians be barred from using theirs.
Churches should have their non-profit status revoked if they list a political view: False. There are dozens of non-profit groups, such as the ACLU, whose specific purpose is to express political views. As long as churches don't make profits which are paid to the 'owners' of the church, it's a non-profit organization and is tax exempt.
A Christian believes his religion is the only way to Heaven: Truth. It is a major tenet of the Bible. However, this means that a Christian witnessing to you is doing so because he/she wants you to go to Heaven, not because he/she's got a selfish agenda.
Christians are homophobes: Myth. Some are, just like in many other demographics, but Christians as a whole don't hate gays. We just hate homosexuality in much the same way we hate murder, theft, assault, etc. It's a sin, and Jesus taught us to love the sinners, for those are the ones who need him the most. Thus, the rule has always been: Love the sinner. Hate the sin.
Now, if anybody else insults my religion again, everybody duck.
