Friday, July 8, 2016

Blaming the Christians

From Seton Magazine:
Of course, as one can imagine, many of the show trials that preceded these sentences would have made Josef Stalin blush (if a trial took place at all). In imperial Rome, due process was the sign of the cross.

The goal was to crush Christianity, and the law was the most expedient means of accomplishment. The great apologist Tertullian notes that if a non-Christian were brought before a court for a suspected crime, he was tortured with the goal of getting him to admit he was actually a Christian.
Ironically, if a professed Christian were brought before a court for a suspected crime, he was tortured with the goal of getting him to renounce Christianity.

It would be a terrible understatement to say that Christians received a lion’s share of the blame for Roman society’s ills. Much more than that, Christianity essentially received all the blame; indeed, that was an institutional part of the societal framework.

Tertullian noted that Christians were being blamed not only for every class of crime (including, of course Christianity itself, which was a capital crime) but for every particular crime. Everything was seen as the fault of a Christian: agricultural misfortune, environmental changes, unlucky rolls of dice.

Everything.

Writing to the Roman leaders of his day, Tertullian railed: “If the Tiber has overflowed its banks, if the Nile has remained in its bed…your cry immediately is, ‘This is the fault of the Christians!’”
Imagine that.

Imagine a scenario in which Christians are blamed for environmental problems like droughts and rising tides. Imagine a scenario in which any and all societal ills (both real and imagined) like poverty are attributed to Christians and Christianity. Imagine a scenario in which a non-Christian commits a crime and the elites blame Christianity.

Sadly, we don’t have to imagine—just spend a few minutes on the internet. Christians are accused of everything from
When we see in the news that Christians are blamed by some elites for everything, it might be important to realize that this is not a new development. Our response should be what it has always been: practice our Faith with love and hope, increase our knowledge so that we may intellectually defend our beliefs, and speak up for those Christians who are being particularly attacked. (Read more.)
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