tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post8925779008407289541..comments2024-03-22T11:37:52.668-05:00Comments on Byzantine, Texas: Make no mistake. California is hostile to religion.Byzantine, TXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17845681957622343484noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-55603438841511251152016-07-05T10:17:59.848-05:002016-07-05T10:17:59.848-05:00http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2016/06/30/christianmingl...http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2016/06/30/christianmingle-com-opens-doors-to-gay-singles-under-settlement/Byzantine, TXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17845681957622343484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-27309340405305475302016-07-01T19:37:56.248-05:002016-07-01T19:37:56.248-05:00I am afraid your not getting it 123, and I suspect...I am afraid your not getting it 123, and I suspect you will not until it happens to you or someone you love. My own states "Human Rights Commission" burdened a women and her family with financial bankruptcy when she would not participate in an unholy liturgy of a "gay wedding" (she was a wedding photographer). If you think the commission would not have extracted criminal penalties (jail, etc.) if they had the power then you have more than your head buried. <br /><br />It is tempting to say "well, they did not hang her on a cross like they do in the middle east" and that is true, but persecution is persecution (rather "hard" or "soft"). If I took away your ability to provide for your family you would not say something so flippant as "well, for me to complain about this is simply bellyaching about minor infringements on our historic status".<br /><br />Obviously, you are viewing this in an abstract and historical sense - a sociological view where one group is on the out and another is on the in and REAL people are not REALLY harmed. You are mistaken, but again you will not realize this until you get out of your head. I actually pray that this does not happen to yourself or anyone close to you and you can tool along in blissful ignorance and abstract (and quite nonsensical) thought!Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16152024447008244670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-24960786597639067642016-07-01T17:44:47.285-05:002016-07-01T17:44:47.285-05:00I agree that "it would be a mistake to projec...I agree that "it would be a mistake to project your experience on to everyone else", and that examples of supposed discrimination are "atypical". Claiming they are otherwise is exactly my point. I would argue what is being experienced is a change in status from privileged majority status, and that it is shameful to claim it is discrimination or persecution in contrast to real examples of such. Claiming some sort of Kristallnacht turning point is going to happen is a straw man; you might as well be warning of alien invasion and the rise of the robots because you know it could happen and I heard some stories. I find it the height of irony that people are worried about how we will be treated when we are the minority while defending our traditional treatment of minorities. We'd have less to be concerned about and show ourselves in a far better light were we to spend more energy defending the rights of true religious and cultural minorities than in bellyaching about minor infringements on our historic status.123https://www.blogger.com/profile/14514075641944568806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-57871983059101172322016-07-01T09:37:26.861-05:002016-07-01T09:37:26.861-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16152024447008244670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-55949520459569063622016-07-01T09:37:09.764-05:002016-07-01T09:37:09.764-05:00123 & Flambeaux,
Your experience in corporate...123 & Flambeaux,<br /><br />Your experience in corporate America are for now (Thank God) is typical. However, it would be a mistake to project your experience on to everyone else would it not? I assure you that the (for now atypical but growing ever more typical) experiences of some folks (I personally know of a couple in my own parish) are not the result of "other reasons" or "Fox News".<br /><br />However, I fully realize that for many people the until-it-happens-to-them syndrome is going to be their defacto disposition. Perhaps at some point we will have a Kristallnacht moment.<br /><br />Again, track Rod Dreher's work - he is not making it up...Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16152024447008244670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-60198942688757945812016-07-01T09:06:44.548-05:002016-07-01T09:06:44.548-05:00My experience over the last 15 years is similar to...My experience over the last 15 years is similar to 123's.Flambeauxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00133131881423202010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-72865302267637006802016-06-30T18:50:56.680-05:002016-06-30T18:50:56.680-05:00I work for a major, international, publicly traded...I work for a major, international, publicly traded company. I have icons of St. Phanourios and the Donskoi Theotokos in my office, and I have typically also had a church calendar with icons hanging up, as well (we just moved, so I don't have everything up). No problems. I've done something like this for years, at various companies, and I'm not in the Bible Belt, a small city, or out in the country; I'm not in some satellite location or afterthought subsidiary, either; and I don't think I have ever worked for a practicing Christian (mainly Jews or atheists). I tend to think those who feel discriminated against are likely being pressured for other reasons, e.g., wearing an outsized cross like jewelry rather than as a reminder to take up one's cross, forgetting the office is a place of work first and foremost, or being kind of a blowhard when it comes to matters of faith. I haven't seen what these people are talking about, or am content to defuse and deescalate rather than dig in after watching too much Fox News.123https://www.blogger.com/profile/14514075641944568806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-47976875973632620622016-06-29T10:43:52.867-05:002016-06-29T10:43:52.867-05:00Rod Dreher has done a good job (in spite of his oc...Rod Dreher has done a good job (in spite of his occasional histrionics) tracking the erosion of religious liberty in the USA. Traditional Christians still largely have their heads in the sand about this, though I don't think anything of real practical value can be done - we are headed to a real persecution even if it is "soft" in the sense it will mostly be economic though I think criminal penalties are closer to a reality than most want to admit.<br /><br />The persecution of the evangelical wedding photographer by my states "Human Rights Commission" (oh, the irony) several years ago was actually a catalyst of many other states attempt at passing meaningful RFA, though in the end most of the caved to the pressure of Big Business (which is now run mostly by elitist "progressives"). <br /><br />In my area, the Federal government is the main employer. Folks in our church report how openly hostile some (but thankfully not all) are to people and expressions of faith (such as the wearing of a cross). They are almost uniformly silent about the issue, as their livelihood depends on "getting along" and of course the whole institution and cultural tide is against them.<br /><br />My wife and I are in medicine, and sooner or later it will there will be a requirement (who knows what direction it will come from - CMS, state board - it is hard to predict) for us to do something that we simply can not do.<br /><br />I could be wrong, but I get a sense that our hierarchs and clergy are a bit out of the loop as well (as far as I can tell). No doubt direct persecution of the churches will be the last to occur as there is a stronger legal and cultural tradition of liberty to overcome in this area. As much as I appreciate the OCA's latest directive, they should also be issuing encyclicals concerning the real erosion of liberty that is occurring (and of which their flocks are suffering) I think...Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16152024447008244670noreply@blogger.com