Christianophobia
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Christianophobia, also called Christophobia, refers to a phobic attitude towards Christians, or Christianity in general. Christianophobia may involve opposing Christian missionaries, persecuting Christians for their beliefs, discrimination against Christians in political and scientific spheres, and blaming modern Christians for historical events like the Crusades, the Inquisition, colonialism, and the Holocaust.
The term originated with American legal scholar J.H.H. Weiler, and was described in better detail by George Weigel in his books, Is Europe Dying? Notes on a Crisis of Civilizational Morale and The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God.
In December 2004 Pope John Paul II argued that Christianophobia was spreading around the world and called on the UN to draft laws on Christianophobia, as it has done on Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
The UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva now speaks of "anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and Christianophobia." The use of the word Christianophobia has been proposed for use in the UN General Assembly.
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Some Possible (or merely perceived) Causes of Christianophobia in recent times
George Weigel attributes christianophobia today to a number of causes:
- The rejection of Christianity in favor of secular humanism by many European and American intellectuals in the 19th century.
- The experience of the Holocaust, which many European intellectuals concluded was the logical outcome of Christian bigotry through the centuries;
- The disappointment allegedly felt by European "leftists" over the collapse of European communism, which many "blame" in part on the church;
- The social rebellions of the 1960s, which opposed traditional authority of all kinds, both religious and secular;
- Pre-World War II church support for reactionary right-wing politicians, some of which would later collaborate with the Nazis – note that the post-war rise of the Christian Democrat movement was an attempt to break from this legacy
- Europe's present associations of "religiosity" with "America," and in particular with George W. Bush, who still scores reliably high negatives in opinion polls across the continent;
- Guilt by association with the political policies of the United States and West in general, particularly colonialism and the war on terror.
- Association of Christianity with ideologies of homophobia, heterosexism, and patriarchy--as well as the Christian Right's efforts to deny the rights of women and homosexuals.
Perceived effects of Christianophobia
Authors writing on the topic of Christianophobia have listed a number of effects of this perceived Christianophobia.
- Martydom: 45 million, or two-thirds of all Christian martyrs in the last 2000 years, were killed in the twentieth century, according to The New Persecuted: Inquiries into Anti-Christian Intolerance in the New Century of Martyrs.
- Negative media portrayals: Many perceive that Christians are consistently shown in an unfairly unfavorable light in movies and news, that their views are often caricatured and misrepresented, to make them seem irrational and extreme. For instance, Jewish movie critic Michael Medved stated in his book Hollywood vs. America that in seven years of reviewing Hollywood movies up to the year 2000, he had found not one favorable portrayal of a Christian;
- Exclusion of religious belief from politics: Many Christians perceive that the separation of church and state is often improperly used to exclude their beliefs and values from political discourse;
- Secularization of religious holidays: Many Christians perceive that Christianophobia drives governments and major organizations to replacing the classic Christian imagery of Christmas with generic "holidays" imagery, including replacing the Nativity with Santa Claus. [1] (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-1410786,00.html)
- Demographic suicide: According to Weigel, the wholesale rejection of Christianity has left Europe in a "crisis of civilizational morale," and suffering from the "demographic suicide" of below-replacement birth-rates. He traces the roots of the current decline in Europe to the widespread rejection of Christianity by the European elite in favor in atheistic humanism, in the belief that true liberation would come from jettisoning God from the public square. However, Weigel argues, this decision ravaged Europe, giving birth to two world wars, Hitler's Nazi Germany and Holocaust, Stalin's Russia and Great Purge, Auschwitz, the Gulag, and the Cold War. Weigel attributes the slaughter and mass murder of the 20th century to "Europe's enslavement by godless totalitarian ideologies." Weigel concludes that true freedom and democracy can only be achieved through Christian humanism - a philosophy that embraces the dignity and respect of the human person stemming from a belief in God.[2] (http://aei.org/publications/pubID.22139,filter.all/pub_detail.asp)
Note that many of these effects are seen by many — including Christians themselves — as hogwash and nothing more than atttempt by extremist Christians using religious intolerance to force their views on an unwilling minority of non-Christians (not to mention less-extreme Christians who do not share the extent of their views). This situation is not too different from those in other areas of the world where Christian minorities are in danger of having their own rights taken from them by non-Christian majorities — sometimes with laws protecting religious minorities, sometimes not. This latter case, especially when there are laws specifically targeted against Christians, could definitely be seen as persecution of Christians and possibly even true Christianophobia.
Criticism of Christianophobia
Christianophobia has been widely criticized on another front. First, critics assert that Christianophobia is a mere neologism by which Christians seek to maintain a double standard for themselves, advancing their own interests in different ways, depending on whether they are are in the majority or the minority. Further, many argue, while there is genuine persecution of Christians in the world, those proposing the use of the word "Christianophobia" tend to live in countries were no persecution takes place.
Criticism also comes from Christians. Alessandra Aula of Franciscans International said:
- “Obviously we have seen many countries where Christian minorities are in danger, but we don’t think this is the appropriate way to really ensure protection. What we fear is that this is the way to start eroding universal human rights. You will then have Sikhs and Buddhists and all the others coming and claiming rights. Where does it end?" [3] (http://atheism.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news%5Fsyndication/article%5F04127cri.shtml)
Critics further assert that many of the complaints about "persecution" are simply cases which, while seemily anti-Christian at first glance, are merely attempts to not let the Christian majority in the US get preferential treatment. Things like the forbidding of Christian nativity scenes on public grounds is one such example, and the recent fights over statues of the Ten Commandments in public courthouses are another (see Roy Moore and Van Orden v. Perry for details). These would all fall under separation of church and state. It is further argued that Christians exercise something of a double standard, as while complaining about persecution and their rights being trampled on, they would likely object to the spending of public money on such things as a Satanic black mass, a Wiccan public ceremoney of some sort, or something equally non-Christian to be held in public display on public-owned grounds, paid for with public money.
Further, they argue, many musics groups such as Marilyn Manson and Black Sabbath have been banned from certain venues not because their music is anti-Christian, but rather because it challenges the listener to take a closer look at their beliefs, rather than believing by simple "blind faith."
See also
- Persecution of Christians
- Religious intolerance
- Christian emigration
- Missionary
- Evangelism
- Anti-Catholicism
- Christianization
- Separation of church and state
- Christian views on witchcraft
- Christianity in Malaysia
- Christianity in Korea
- Christian politics in New Zealand
Categories: NPOV disputes | Christianity | Religious persecution | Phobias | Prejudices | Christian interfaith and secular relations
