It's not really news that Christians are often hateful and abusive towards secular activists. We've seen it enough times now. (LINK) As with reports of pedophile priests, closet homosexual pastors, and abortions by anti-abortionists, we've gotten to the point where we almost shrug off new instances of Christian hate. It's the status quo, and it's what we expect.
Even though it's "old news," we should sometimes take a minute to step back and reflect on the broader context of this kind of abuse. The current example comes from a high school in Rhode Island, where a secular teen had the unmitigated gall to request equal treatment under the law. She fought her school's display of a sectarian prayer banner and won. (LINK) Now, the poor Christians in this humble Rhode Island town only have their churches, their homes, their radio stations, TV stations, pamphlets, jewelry, T-shirts, money, congressmen, and seven out of ten people in the U.S. to remind them that they love Jesus. The repression burns.
In response to having to take down a single banner at one lowly school, the Christians have brought the holy rage of their lord and savior:
- May that little, evil atheist teenage girl and that judge BURN IN HEL!
- she just destroyed a piece of cranston west's history. hope you're happy stupidbitch!
- why the f**k does it matter? it's basically history. just don't look at it. Bitch
- If this banner comes down, hell I hope the school burns down with it!
- You little brainless idiot, hope you will be punished, you have not win sh*t. Stupid little brainless skunk!
- How does it feel to be the most hated person in RI right now? Your a puke and a disgrace to the human race.
- shes not human shes garbage
- I think everyone should just fight this girl
- F**k Jessica alquist I'll drop anchor on her face
- definetly laying it down on this atheist tomorrow anyone else?
- im sabotaging her site on fb lets just say its going to be nuts you need in on dat dawg?
- Let's all jump that girl who did the banner
- But for real somebody should jump this girl
- Hmm jess is in my bio class, she's gonna get some sh*t thrown at her
- I want to punch the girl in the face
- I hope there's lots of banners in hell when your rotting in there you atheist f**k
- jessicaalquist is gonna get punched in the face
- i hope you go to hell i honestly do youre a sh***y person
- gods going to f**k your *ss with that banner you scumbag
- if I wasn't 18 and wouldn't go to jail I'd beat the sh*t out of her idk how she got away with not getting beat up yet
- Brb ima go drown that atheist in holy water
You can check out THIS WEB SITE for screen captures of these and many more abusive comments by "good Christians."
Like I suggested, let's take a step back and look at this from a broader perspective. First, this kind of abuse is directed at a high school student. A teenager. The cause of all this abuse is the removal of one banner from a school. One banner is getting taken down. One banner.
Christians are quick to denounce other theists for similar behaviors. When Muslims threw a fit over cartoons, Christians called them extremists. But objectively, is it more extreme to call for violence against a cartoonist for depicting Muhammed, or against a teenager for taking a banner down? To an outside observer, are the Christians being any less hateful?
Sadly, this is not an abberation. This kind of retaliation is the norm for American Christians. In virtually every case where a secularist has fought for their legal rights, Facebook and Twitter have been bombarded with hundreds or even thousands of hateful messages. Despite tired protests that "all Christians are not like this," or that "most Christians are good people," the evidence suggests the opposite. If most Christians were good and loving, we would expect to see far more Christians defending Jessica, and just one or two bad apples spoiling the thread. That's not what we see, though. We have to wade through pages and pages of abuse to find even one Christian denouncing their brethren -- if we're lucky enough to find one at all.
We are left with a depressing choice. Either most Christians really are hateful, or most Christians are unwilling to be good Samaritans and come to the aid of non-Christians, as their holy writ instructs. In either case, it is understandable why so many people are left with a sick feeling in their stomachs after experiencing "Christian love" first-hand.
UPDATE: Thankfully, Cranston police are taking the threats of violence seriously. An investigation is underway. (LINK)
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