Anti-Christian

Anti-christian sentiment is a negative bias against Christians or the religion of Christianity. Anti-Christian bias can be held by individuals or groups, and may be the result of prejudice or anti-Christian sentiment may accompany valid political and social opposition by individuals or groups to social and political movements motivated by a specific Christian sect's doctrines, and attempts at secularism or cosmopolitanism in Christian-dominated societies.

Anti-christian expressions

Vandalism

The vandalism or defacement of Christian symbols or property is one form of the expression of anti-Christian sentiment. If the defaced or vandalized object is considered holy by Christians, such as the Bible or the Cross, the case becomes that of desecration. Such destruction is illegal since it violates property rights or hate crime laws. Arson directed at Christian meeting places or churches, is one such hate crime.^[1] Churches are a target for hate crimes for various motivations, including anti-Christian sentiment.^[2] An aggravating factor in the burning of a church in Minnedosa, Manitoba was that two of the arsonists were fans of National Socialist black metal music with anti-Christian themes, according to the Crown.^[3]

Music

Some elements of the black metal scene declare open hatred of Christianity. Headliners of the black metal scene have claimed responsibility for inspiring (if not necessarily perpetrating) over 50 arsons directed at Christian churches in Norway from 1992 to 1996^[4]. Many of the buildings were hundreds of years old, and widely regarded as important historical landmarks. The most notable church was Norway's Fantoft stave church, which the police believed was destroyed by the one-man band Burzum, Varg Vikernes, aka "Count Grishnackh"^[4]. However, Varg would not be convicted of any arson offences, until his arrest for the murder of Mayhem guitarist Øystein Aarseth (Euronymous) in 1993. The death metal group Deicide, known for their anti-Christian sentiment, released "Once Upon the Cross," composed entirely of anti-Christian songs, including "Kill the Christian."

Examples of anti-Christian sentiment in politics and culture

United States

Christians of various denominations, including Ann Coulter and Jerry Falwell, claim that American society and the United States government discriminate against Christians. Commentators and Christian activists speak out against the increasing secular nature of American society, and what they see as the minimizing of formerly dominant Christian traditions, e.g. the War on Christmas popularized by Bill O'Reilly. Christian news sources often report incidents of censorship of Christian messages or expressions.

David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Institute, and Gabe Lyons of the Fermi Project published a study of attitudes of 16-29 year old Americans towards Christianity. They found that about 38% of all those who were not regular churchgoers had negative impressions of Christianity, and especially evangelical Christianity, associating it with conservative political activism, hypocrisy, anti-homosexuality, and judgmentalism.^[5] About 17% had "very bad" perceptions of Christianity.^[6]^[7]

Irreverent or, by some opinions, inappropriate depictions of Christian symbols in American art have received considerable attention and outrage, with works such as Andres Serrano's Piss Christ resulting in moves to cut public funding of art exhibitions that offend Christian symbols, and demands that offensive works be removed from private galleries, such as the Catholic League's 2007 campaign against Cosimo Cavallaro's My Sweet Lord, a 200 pound chocolate sculpture of Christ. The Lab Gallery where it being shown removed the work after it received anonymous death threats related to the sculpture's exhibition.

Accusations of anti-Christian bias in groups that have made no official statement denouncing Christianity is a common tactic associated with the Christian Right, in the United States and other countries with politically-active evangelical Christian populations.^{citation needed} For example, members of the Democratic party introduced a bill to the House of Representatives in 2005, opposing "coercive and abusive religious proselytizing" at the Air Force Academy. Representative John Hostettler, a Republican closely associated with the Religious Right, was quoted as saying, "Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians."^[8]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is a state that purports to follow the precepts of Islam. They include a number of serious restrictions on Christians, including but not limited to, and in no particular order:

In Saudi Arabia, diyya, the compensation of victims of bodily harm, is practiced as part of Sharia law. Payment due depends on the religion and sex of the victim. The compensation due to Christians and their families is half of what is due to Muslims.^[15] This means a murderer can buy off his crime, and avoid further punishment. Killing a Christian or a woman, according to Islamic law half as expensive as killing a Muslim male. The death penalty in Islam is up to the victim's family who can choose to accept blood money or seek a death sentence for the defendant. Saudi Arabia has been criticized by Muslims and non-Muslims for selectively applying Sharia and discriminating against the poor.

India

Several Indian states have passed anti-conversion laws primarily to prevent people from converting to Christianity. Arunachal Pradesh passed a bill in 1978. In 2003 Gujarat State, after religious riots in 2002 passed an anti-conversion bill in 2003.

In July 2006 the Madhya Pradesh government passed legislation requiring people who desire to convert to a different religion to provide the government with one-month's notice, or face fines and penalties.^[16]

In August 2006 the Chhattisgarh State Assembly passed similar legislation requiring anyone who desires to convert to another religion to give 30 days' notice to, and seek permission from, the district magistrate.^[17]

In February 2007 Himachal Pradesh became the first Congress Party ruled state to adopt legislation banning illegal religious conversions.^[18]

The recent wave of such laws in Indian states has been described as a gradual and continuous institutionalization of Hindutva.^[19] Some extremist Hindu groups accuse Christian missionaries of using fraudulent and exploitative inducements to lure poor and uneducated people to the faith, and have also launched movements to reconvert many tribal Christians back to Hinduism.

Most of the anti-conversion laws are brief and leave ambiguity under which persecution can be justified. Legal experts believe that both conversion activities and willful trespass by missionaries upon the sacred spaces of other faiths can be prosecuted under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, and as such there is no need for anti-conversion laws by individual states and they should be repealed. A consolidation of various anti-conversion or "Freedom of Religion" Laws has been made by the All Indian Christian Council.^[20]

Hindu extremist attacks against Christians, especially in the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa, have occurred in recent years in response to missionary activity by evangelical Christians.^[21] According to a report by the Center for Religious Freedom the attacks include the murder of missionaries and priests, the sexual assault of nuns, the ransacking of churches, convents and other Christian institutions.^[22] Graham Staines, an Australian missionary, and his 2 children were burned to death by a mob led by Dara Singh who had previously been involved in the cow protection movement and had earlier targeted Muslim cattle traders. He and his associates in the crime were active sympathisers of Hindu nationalist groups. The 2007 Orissa Violence again witnessed the persecution of Indian Christians by Hindu extremists. The attacks were targeted by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Hindutva groups at the Christian community in retaliation to the conversion of Hindus to Christianity. According to careful estimates, at least 70 churches and 600 houses were attacked and torched by Hindu extremists.^[23] Human rights groups consider the violence as the failure of the state government that did not address the problem before it became violent. The authorities failed to react quickly enough to save human lives and property.^[24]

China

United Kingdom

In 2006 London Police Association placed an ad in a newspaper depicting a picture of a Bible beside a pool of blood along with the slogan 'In the name of the Father' together with details of an increase in homophobic violence. Over 50,000 complaints were made to the police but after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police, they announced there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges.^[26]

A check-in counter worker for British Airways was put on unpaid leave after refusing to hide her cross necklace^[27], although the airline had permitted the wearing of turbans and hijabs.^[28] One Member of Parliament specifically complained of 'anti-christian discrimination' and over 100 MPs signed a House of Commons motion on the subject.^[29] British Airways later lifted its ban on visible crosses.^[30]

Canada

Indonesia

In Indonesia in 2006 Islamists beheaded three Christian girls, because of their faith. The perpetrators did not receive the death penalty but were punished with 13 years prison each for creating unrest. The murderer claimed that the beheaded girls were "Ramadam trophies" ^[32].

On going to jail, Hasanuddin said "It's not a problem (if I am being sentenced to prison) because this is a part of our struggle."^[33] Hasanuddin was the leader of the regional Islamic terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) for the Poso district.^[34]

Israel

Judaism traditionally has taken a very harsh view on proselytizing. Ever since the formation of the Jewish state, orthodox Jewish communities have come under scrutiny for the negative stereotyping and scapegoating of Christian minorities in the region, up to and including violent acts against Christian missionaries and communities.^[35] Israeli liberal journalist Isak Letz has chronicled numerous instances of Orthodox Jewish groups becoming increasingly active in their opposition to Jews converting to Christianity, including violent acts against converts. These attacks often go unpunished by Israeli authorities.^[35]. In general, Christian missionaries limit proselytism in Israel due to Christian Zionist beliefs. However, Orthodox Jewish groups have exaggerated claims of proselytism as a pretext to attack Christians in the region.^[35]

More recently, Jewish fundamentalist groups in Israel have stepped up attacks against evangelical Christian movements. In May 2008, hundreds of New Testaments were burned in Or Yehuda, Israel after having been collected, according to Or-Yehuda's deputy mayor, in an effort to stop attempts to distribute Christian literature in the city.[1]

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