The West and Christendom; are we losing control

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) -- Our concept of religious liberty has been long held in the Western world. It traces its history back to October 312 when Maxentius and Constantine were duking it out for control of the Roman Empire. On the eve of the deciding battle at the Bridge of Milvian, Constantine saw a large cross in the sky with the words “In hoc signo vinces” (In this sign you shall conquer).

          Constantine had the cross painted on his warriors’ shields and he defeated Maxentius the next day. Four months later the now Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan (313) which granted legal status to Christianity which ultimately led to it becoming the approved religion and its spread over the entire known world.

          Recently the Family Research Council (FRC) published a report, “Free to Believe? The Intensifying Intolerance Toward Christians in the West” which might possibly indicate that the United States and many of our Western allies are trying to turn the clock of liberty backwards.

          We recently had on our radio program Ariella Del Turco, director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the FRC, where we discuss the report.  

          The report, which can be found at frc.org., is interesting in that it reports on numerous actions taken by governmental agencies to curb religious liberty, much of it began by using the pandemic to place restrictions on public worship by closing churches, prohibiting religious services – some of which were drive-in services conducted by low power FM signals that could be heard on car radios, and the follow-up harassment of ministers and their congregants.

          I’m sure most of you remember those days: Churches closed but strip clubs left open; churches that remained open were sharply limited by impossible attendance limitations; singing of hymns prohibited, etc. All, of course, in the name of fighting the pandemic. Yet some of these prohibitions continued in other forms long after.

          The report shows an alarming number of anti-religious demands made by supposed “tolerant” government agencies whose effect was to limit liberty. It ticks off case after case of anti-liberty actions taken by government officials.  

          “I don’t think we did more than just scratch the service,” she said of the 31-page report. “After COVID we noticed more and more different religious freedoms violated across the world. We were looking at governments that were supposed to be free and democratic who were going after Christians.”

          The report covered 34 nations in which 16 were found to have a total of 160 individual violations of religious liberty. “It gives us a good picture of what’s taking place across the Western world. … When you see all these things together it paints a different picture; its looking more like a trend,” she said.

          These attacks on religious liberty can be divided into two areas. The first goes to the issue of gender, sexuality, and marriage. This includes teachers and school counselors who refuse to follow their institutions approved use of pronouns, or who ban them from discussing with parents their child’s gender transition. This also includes making public comments against such progressive rules. For example:

          In Canada a pastor was arrested twice for protesting in silent prayer outside of a public library during “drag queen story hour.” In another Canadian city a teen was arrested for protesting against biological males using the girls’ restroom. In Norway a Christian organization was denied a community grant due to its views on marriage. In Sweden a kindergarten was threatened with a fine for allowing lunchtime prayers.

          In England a priest was arrested for silently praying outside an abortion facility and a school chaplain was dismissed and blackballed for telling students they can make up their own minds about sexuality. Apparently it is against the law to pray silently in public since there are numerous reports of people arrested or harassed by police for praying silently in a public venue.

          Additionally a teacher was fired and found guilty of “unacceptable professional conduct” for presenting a Christian view of sexuality.

          A lot of the same activity is mirrored in the United States: A 14-year old high school girl was suspended for objecting to biological boys in the girls’ locker rooms, and when her father backed her up on Facebook, he was fired from his job as girls’ soccer coach. In another school a teacher was fired for speaking out against pornographic books in the library promoting same-sex relationships. Another library speaker was shut-down for voicing the Christian belief on gender. And a high school coach was fired for saying males and females are biologically different.

          Another area dealt with religious animas in general:

          Those people attending drive-in services had their license plate numbers copied by police in several countries, including the U. S. In Canada the Department of National Defense recommended that military chaplains not be hired from denominations that will not ordain women. A student was fired from a campus newspaper due to her Catholic beliefs.

          In France the government condemned a broadcast network for airing the film Unplanned because it promoted Christian values. In Sweden a 15 year-old boy was told to remove his cross necklace because it could offend, meanwhile students from other faiths were allowed to wear their religious symbols.

          In England a doctor was investigated for praying with a patient and an actress was dismissed from her leading role over her biblical Facebook post and at least one teacher was fired for the same offense. A Christian man was visited at his job by police investigating a complaint that he had posted a transphobic tweet. The police left him with a warning to “check his thinking” next time.  

          In the U. S. an Oregon city threatened a church with fines for giving free meals to the homeless. A Vermont Christian school was excluded from a state tuition program and ejected from the state’s athletics association due to its promotion of Christian beliefs. In Wyoming a Christian homeless shelter was threatened by the government for only hiring Christian applicants.

          In Oregon a woman was prevented from adopting due to her Christian beliefs, and a fire department chaplain was fired for expressing his religious beliefs on a personal blog. During COVID a Mississippi school principal ordered a third grader to remove her mask that said “Jesus loves me” while other masks with messages were allowed.

          As I indicated above, these are just a few of the incidents reported but it should give you a sense of what Arielle meant when she talked about the picture that develops once you start putting all these incidents together. Finally, as she pointed out, this is not an exhaustive list, it is only those published and known to the authors.

          Perhaps we need a modern day Constantine who can recognize and act on the sign in the sky.

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(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/. The episode discussed was 402)