What Does the Rise in Violence Against Christians Really Reflect?

By Bill Wilson

A recent survey by the Program on Public Values at Trinity University shows some disturbing signs for America - that overall, Christianity in America is on a steady decline - some ten percentage points over the past two decades to 76%. Most of the decline comes from the liberal protestant denominational churches - Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and United Church of Christ. Further bad news is that the Muslim cult has doubled its numbers from .3 of a percent to .6 of a percent. But good news is that some Christian groups-Evangelical/Born again Christians - have grown from 2.5 million in 2001 to over 8 million today. The Catholic Church is holding its ground.

What is alarming, if not surprising, is that those who hold no religious beliefs has increased by nearly five million to over 34 million adults in seven years. The trend in this country is away from belief in God. And that would also mean that people's moral bearings are more and more based on their own personal idea of right and wrong. The old communists used to say that with three percent of the population, they could successfully complete a revolution. Those with no religious beliefs are now 15 percent of the population. And our country reflects not only a lack of moral direction and confusion over the one true God, but also a disdain and contempt for Christians.

Case in point is yet another report that has been issued in the wake of recent violence against Christian churches. Recently, the Religion News Service reported that "violent crimes accounted for five percent of claims filed with one insurer that had 40,000 churches as clients." According to Jeff Hawkins, executive director of the Church Security Network, during the first two months of 2009, churches have described more than 140 acts of violence to the Network. Hawkins says that every church needs a security plan for "evacuation in the case of an indoor danger, shelter in the case of an outdoor danger, medical emergencies, lost or missing children, and violent confrontations."

Places that were once considered safe from violence - the mother's womb, a church sanctuary, Sunday school services, for example - are no longer safe in this nation. Now we as Christians can blame the leftists in the school systems, immoral government, the unjust court system, and the general decline of society, but where does the blame squarely rest? Could it rest on the still vast majority of Americans - some 76% of the adult voting population - who claim to be Christians, but have swallowed satan's bait hook line and sinker about separation of church and state? Joshua 24:15 says, "Choose you this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Let's get busy.

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