Jesus and a Christophobic culture
With violence in the streets of many of our most prominent cities, there is a troubling underlying theme. Christophobia, which attacks anything Christian, is surely on the march.
Perhaps the latest example is the burning of Bibles in recent Portland protests.
On August 2, The Washington Examiner noted, “Portland protesters were filmed burning Bibles and the American flag as protests continue in the city for more than two months. Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz responded to a Friday video of people burning what was described as a ‘stack of Bibles’ on Twitter Saturday, saying, ‘This is who they are.’”
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In reference to this bonfire, journalist Ian Miles Cheong, managing editor of Human Events, tweeted, “I don’t know what burning the Bible has to do with protesting against police brutality.” He added, “Do not be under the illusion that these protests and riots are anything but an attempt to dismantle all of Western Civilization and upend centuries of tradition and freedom of religion.”
How interesting to note that the focus of the ceaseless attacks in Portland is the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. The late Mark Hatfield, a long-time senator from the state of Oregon, was known for years as an outspoken follower of Jesus.
I suppose in the history of the world there is no book so attacked as the Bible. The famous French skeptic, Voltaire, predicted that within a century or so after his death, the Bible would no longer be in circulation.
But within fifty years of his death, a Bible society purchased Voltaire’s printing press —on which he made such predictions — and instead of publishing skeptical books, they published the Bible. Today, more than 240 years after Voltaire’s death, the Bible remains the best-selling book on earth, with 20 million copies sold in America alone annually — despite the Christophobes burning copies of the Word of God on the streets of Portland. When was the last time you saw a book by Voltaire?
But the bias against things Christian continues unabated in our time. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called recently for the statue of Father Damien, who served lepers in Hawaii and contracted the disease because of his self-sacrifice, to be removed from the U.S. Capitol. Why? What did Father Damien do other than offer his life as a sacrifice of the Lord on behalf of those in great need? He was white and therefore, says AOC, was an example of “white supremacy.”
The attack on Christ in modern America can be seen in all the recent attacks against churches and church statues. In his Denison Forum on July 15, commentator Jim Denison reported, “A number of churches from Florida to California were burned and vandalized over the weekend.”
The attack on Christianity can also be seen in the responses to churches reopening in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Several of the governors on the left have a double standard toward churches. Abortions are allowed (and abortion is considered “essential”), but not church services — even if those church services practice social distancing and require the wearing of masks.
America’s churches were once viewed as oasis of good for society. But in the recent coronavirus pandemic, we have seen a bias against churches.
David Barton, founder and director of WallBuilders, said during a recent TV interview for D. James Kennedy Ministries: “When you look at the debate that is going on with COVID, we’re saying, ‘What are essential services?’ Well in the minds of a lot of governors, churches are not essential.”
Kelly Shackelford, the founder and director of First Liberty Institute, also spoke to our ministry, noting, “There's a clear attack on religious freedom, the churches, there's been clear discrimination. All people have to do is look at the experts even saying, ‘Well, you can’t sing at church, but oh yeah, the protests, we’re okay with that because that’s important,’ which belies an understanding that they have that the church is not important — that religious freedom is not important.”
When a church in Nevada recently asserted equal rights with casinos and liquor stores, the state balked. This is a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The church lost. The case is Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Sisolak. Chief Justice John Roberts disappointed conservatives once again, casting his deciding vote with the liberal justices in favor of casinos over churches.
Listen to the brilliance of Justice Neil Gorsuch’s dissent: “In Nevada, it seems, it is better to be in entertainment than religion….But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel.”
Those who engage in attacking Christ and the Church need to remember this warning from the Word of God in Proverbs 21:30: “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.”
Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., is the senior producer and an on-air host for D. James Kennedy Ministries. He has written/co-written 32 books, e.g., The Unstoppable Jesus Christ, American Amnesia: Is American Paying the Price for Forgetting God?, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (w/ D. James Kennedy), and the bestseller, George Washington's Sacred Fire (w/ Peter Lillback) djkm.org @newcombejerry www.jerrynewcombe.com
