I was in Rome a few weeks ago, and took this photo in the entryway of the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the oldest churches in Rome. The engraving is one of a number preserved from an early date, and uses the Chi Rho symbol, which employs the first two Greek letters in “Christ.”
I’ve been reflecting on the conversion of the Greco-Roman world to Christianity, and contrasting it with the persistence of polytheism in the Hindu world (as an agnostic, I have no stake in any of these religions).
Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire by Constantine in 313, starting a period of toleration that ended when Theodosius prohibited paganism later in the century. Paganism seems to have quickly disappeared. The pagans were apparently unwilling to die for their religion in the way that Christians were for theirs. I’m not an expert in this, but it seems to me that Greco-Roman religion, with its view of Hades, didn’t offer much in the way of an incentive for dying for one’s faith.
Hinduism, by contrast, has survived and prospered, despite the Muslim conquest of India many centuries ago (Indian Buddhism was essentially destroyed). I don’t know how to account for this, but it has been suggested to me that the Hindu belief in reincarnation gave it a strength and resilience that Greco-Roman religion lacked.
I do find engravings like the above moving. It appears to me to have been carved by a non-professional hand–certainly with less regularity than on an official Roman inscription–and thus seems like a personal communication transmitted across the centuries.
A Christian couple have been charged with a criminal offence after taking part in what they regarded as a reasonable discussion about religion with guests at their hotel.
Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang were arrested after a Muslim woman complained to police that she had been offended by their comments.
They have been charged under public order laws with using ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words’ that were ‘religiously aggravated’.
[…]After the incident, the couple voluntarily attended St Anne’s Street police station in Liverpool, where they were interviewed under caution.
In July they were arrested and charged under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 and Section 31 (1) (c) and (5) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
This kind of law reminds me of Section 13(1) up north in Canada. These hate speech laws are passed by the left to undermine the inalienable right of free speech. It is selectively applied by the left against their enemies (e.g. – Christians) for the benefit of special interest groups favored by the left (e.g. – Muslims).
A judge has ruled in favor of two Florida school administrators who faced contempt charges for saying a prayer at a school luncheon, according to a group that helped represent them.
U.S. District Judge M.C. Rodgers ruled Thursday in favor of Frank Lay, principal of Pace High School in Pace, Florida, and school athletic director Robert Freeman, the Liberty Counsel said.
Lay and Freeman could have faced up to six months in prison and fines if convicted. They were accused of violating a consent decree banning county school employees from initiating prayers during school events.
[…]But the American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawsuit led to the consent decree, has maintained students have a right to be free from administrators who foist their personal religious beliefs on them.
Fascism is the idea that the state suppresses the inalienable rights of its citizenry by substituting the values and duties of the government (the rulers) for the values and duties of individuals.
Here’s how it works:
Inalienable human rights are granted by the Creator
Only the Creator of the universe can grant inalienable human rights to his creatures
Freedom of religious expression is self-evidently an inalienable human right
Christians exercise their freedom of religious expression
Atheists in the ACLU don’t believe in a Creator
If there is no Creator, then “rights” are just social conventions that vary by time and place
So atheists in the ACLU cannot ground inalienable human rights
Without an inalienable right to freedom of religious expression, suppressing the religious liberty others is permissible
Atheists in the ACLU can use government to silence, suppress and imprison unwilling Christians
Atheists in the ACLU are offended by the free expression of Christianity in public
Therefore, atheists in the ACLU find it rational to suppress the human rights of their neighbors using state coercion
There is no such thing as human rights in an atheistic “survival of the fittest” universe.
Atheists in the ACLU prefer to use the state to suppress any public religious expression, because the public expression of religion makes them feel badly. The feelings of atheists is sufficient to justify silencing, suppressing, imprisoning and in even killing people who make them feel bad. They are not so much interesting in debating the merits of the cosmological argument – they just want to shut down dissent so they can feel comfortable about their atheism.
Here is my entire series of posts explaining why moral behavior is irrational on atheism. Their worldview just doesn’t ground objective moral values, objective moral duties, self-sacrifice and the significance of moral decisions. And when the chips are down, they show their fascist colors. Atheists want to dismiss the claims of objective morality so they can pursue pleasure, and they don’t want you using your freedoms to remind them of their own depravity.
UPDATE: Kreitsauce is from the panhandle and writes this comment below:
I’m from the Florida panhandle, and we thought this whole thing was ridiculous because:
1. Lay and Freeman have done an unbelievable amount of good for the school and the community. It’s real Christianity making a difference that has had such a profound impact.
2. The school already teaches a Bible elective.
3. The school meeting where the prayer took place was housed in a church.
4. The prayer was spontaneous, not a willful violation of criminal law.
5. All protests have been peaceful, even in the face of opposition. The believers have mostly been praying and singing hymns.
6. Lay and Freeman have strong student, community, and parent support.
WINTERY KNIGHT 