The New Nero

I thought I'd add on to the post about religious persecution from Saturday.  Cairns listed four categories of reasons that Rome persecuted the Christians.  It is interesting how they compare to biases against Christians today in America.

Political persecution: Christians had to choose between Christ and Caesar on pain of death.  
We don't quite have to choose between Christ and the President.  It is noticeable how liberals think that they can solve all the world's problems and how conservatives think that America is the promised land.  You already have to choose between creation and evolution in education or you will be seen as an unscientific naive person, despite the fact that evolution has never been scientific.

Religious persecution: Romans had tons of idols and rituals.  When Christians prayed to nothing visible, Rome equated that with atheism.  Also, Christians met secretly, causing rumors of incest, cannibalism, and unnatural practices.  
America has celebrities, talking heads, and ideologies that sit in the place of idols today.  They insist that they are atheists yet believe in horoscopes and whatever is popular at the time.  They scoff at the Christians who refuse to give into the libertine culture (just unfortunate virgins) or hate that we don't agree with them, though we've never done anything to them besides simply disagree with them.  And even within the Church, people will patronizingly smile at me when I say I believe the Bible as it says and hate that I can prove it right.

Social persecution: Rich folks hated them because the slaves loved them.  Christianity preached equality of all men, so the slaves would threaten their style.  They also did not take place in pagan gatherings, causing Rome to call them “haters of mankind.”  
We preach equality, so liberals get angry that we really want to give birth to our babies, keep our grandmas alive, raise down syndrome children as if it taxes the economy.  The liberals want to live for themselves and give up on people when they become to complicated.  Christians love all life and consider every one worth living.  So, somehow, we infringe upon their right to not have to feed an extra mouth.

Economic persecution: Idol makers started losing business.  They also got blamed for Roman destruction.  
Again, when Christianity becomes powerful, abortion clinics lose business, Playboy loses business, and Chick-fil-A and Tim Tebow get overworked with business.  They look on with jealousy and try to blame it on racism.   The best selling news stories do give only skewed exaggerations of Christian beliefs while the truth is only found on the internet for free.

And as for Nero, I think America lives under as much of a Nero as we've ever experienced.  He cares nothing for religious freedom, private property, nuclear families, and he supports everything that destroys America like Islam and homosexuality (you know, because they can't reproduce and carry on a culture in that lifestyle).  I don't know if I sound like Chicken Little, but it is interesting that there is so much anti-Christian sentiment in the government and the media.  But it also gives me hope that Christ is closer to returning to earth.