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Persecution will never happen, but when it does, you Christians will deserve it

Rod Dreher reflects on the recent expulson of InterVarsity from the University of California system. Dreher indicates that this is only the beginning, and he offers a sobering word about the conflict that is upon American Christians for holding to a biblical sexual ethic. We are not in persecution now, but it does seem to be on the horizon. He writes:

Look, this is coming. This is the new world. This is post-Christian America. You will hear the Law of Merited Impossibility people yelling that this will never happen, but when it does, you people will deserve it, to try to shout down your concerns, and to hide from themselves the illiberal truth of what they’re doing. But it’s happening, and you had better get ready for it, and get your children ready for it, because the people driving this thing believe so strongly in their own virtue. Error has no rights.

Read the rest here.

16 Comments

  • Bill Smith

    Sad, but there’s nothing new under the sun. Christians are being held responsible for the fires going on the world. The same spirit working then is working now.

  • Scott Lencke

    Having lived in post-Christian Europe for 5+ years, I want to somehow offer a perspective, one that helps American evangelicals understand a couple of things:

    A) What some identify as “chicken little” theology (“the sky is falling, the ship is sinking, ‘persecution’ is coming”) will not help the church move forward in our day & time (that’s not how the early church engaged with persecution as far as I can tell). Perhaps certain Christian publishers having their books removed from a Library system isn’t what the NT has in mind when it speaks of persecution?

    B) Moving towards a post-Christendom society in America will create opportunities for authentic & real expressions of God’s people. We need real, authentic expressions of the church, not necessarily “one & a half hour meetings staring at the back of each other’s heads and calling it church.”

    I don’t want to sound naive in regards to what persecution might really look like. But if we are actually on a trajectory towards anything like what middle-eastern Christians or Chinese Christians or the first Christians experienced, it looks very, very different from what we see in Europe and America today.

  • buddyglass

    As a view to how bad it might get it might be useful to consider the plight of those who public Klansmen or Neo-Nazis. These folks who are absolutely reviled by everyone who isn’t also a racist. Both Christians and otherwise. So how bad do they have it? Not that bad, really.

    Please don’t freak out because I uttered “Christian” and “Klansmen” in the same sentence. My point is only that if the extent of persecution Christians are likely to face is on the same plane as what those groups face then I’m not all that worried. Of course one can argue it’s a bad comparison and Christians are actually likely to face worse persecution than those two groups. If that’s your view then I’m interested to hear your thoughts on why that’s the case.

    • David Powell

      I would argue it primarily on theological grounds. 1 John 3:13; John 15:18-20; 2 Timothy 3:12-13; the tribulation language of Matthew 10:22, 24:9, and Luke 21:17, etc.

      Suffering and persecution should not surprise us; if anything, acceptance by the world should.

      • buddyglass

        Consider the language and perspective of the folks who’re most often accused of persecuting Christians. It’s all about inclusion. InterVarsity was booted because it wouldn’t agree to let just anyone hold a leadership position. Opposition to legal recognition for same-sex relationships is seen as tantamount to bigotry. Etc.

        How much more scorned will the guy be who thinks black people are monkeys and wants to send them all back to Africa?

        I suppose the difference between that guy and the believer is that he has the luxury of being a stealth racist whereas the believer is obliged to be up front about his Christianity.

        Society at large may in fact come to regard certain Christian beliefs and/or political positions (or, rather, what some folks have decided are “Christian” political positions) are morally repugnant. If not exactly on the same level as extreme racism then somewhere along the spectrum. But if we use as our guide the way society treats those who hold views it finds morally repugnant, of which extreme racists are one example, then the future isn’t so scary in terms of persecution.

        We needn’t worry about being fed to the lions. We might need to worry about finding it harder to get the job we want and/or being socially shunned by our non-believing acquaintances.

      • Ken Abbott

        “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” Luke 6:26. Bad company, those false prophets.

  • Ian Shaw

    Persecution isn’t something I wish to bring uopn believers, but didn’t the church (historically speaking) see the biggest growth while under persecution? And the faith of those being persecuted only grew stonger?

  • Chris Ryan

    This country is as Christian as its ever been. We’ve always been a country of cultural Christians–loudly proclaiming we’re Christian while acting every way but. This has been true since the Founding Fathers fathered out-of-wedlock children with women they considered sub-human to the present day when many shrug at the thought of letting fellow citizens go without health care and food. So, in a way, we’re as persecuted as we’ve ever been, and yet I still pray at work, attend church, and pay my tithes without being hassled. I think we’ll be alright.

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