There is no war against Christianity.

There are a lot of people who have been convinced that there is.

Do you believe there is a war on Christians?

There isn’t you know.

Religious freedoms exist when, and ONLY when, the freedom of one person to practice their religion does not impact the ability of another person to have their freedoms.

There was a scare spread around the internet and other sources that Democrats wanted to put into law the rules of Islam.  This was not true and the reaction has triggered many social conservatives to put into law rules that OBLIGATE others to live by their laws of Christianity – which takes away the freedom of others and, in fact, does not even represent the ‘laws’ of all Christian denominations.

The house version of the tax bill attempts to establish life at conception.  Not having a legal status for a fertilized egg is good law.  It does not make ANYONE who believes that life begins at conception to act against THEIR religion.  But making that law FORCES EVERYONE to follow the beliefs of some – and in a way that will remove birth control and many fertility treatments from being legal.

The focus on making abortion illegal attempts to put into law a rule that saws that the health of the mother, once pregnant, is up to the government to protect because the potential life of the UNBORN is more important than the life of the MOTHER. Having abortion legal and safe does not force anyone to act against THEIR religion.  But making it illegal FORCES everyone to follow the beliefs of some.

Having full human rights to all humans – including those with different genders, sexual preferences, races and religions follows the fundamental premise of how our country was formed.  While the words ‘all men are created equal’ originally applied in law only to white men that owned property [who could vote, we fought a war to make that fundamental principle apply to ALL men and the side that felt our country should allow some people to own others LOST.  [yes, Confederacy was about preserving slavery not State’s rights].

And now the ‘single issue voter’ who votes only for those they feel will overturn Roe vs. Wade and make abortion illegal are openly declaring that they would prefer someone who was known to prey on underage girls if that will ensure that their cause of making abortion illegal is supported.  Or they might defend or at least look the other way to the actions of groups that would have only the White Christian men in positions of power and authority – with all others being lessor.

And there are others that feel the same about removing the rights of the LGBT community.  And they will back those that promise to remove those rights no matter what.  Protecting the freedoms of the LGBT community does not FORCE anyone to change how they act or who they love – it just ensures space for others to make their OWN choice.

As we go into the holiday season, I call on Christians to act from the real meaning of the season.

Act from LOVE.

Do good unto OTHERS.  Show them LOVE.

And when someone says Happy Holidays – they are NOT declaring war on Christmas or Christians.  They are accepting that many other religions have their OWN holidays at this same time.  Or they are expressing their own PERSONAL freedom to celebrate this time of year as they wish.  [Side note – all of the major religions are based on love and treating others with respect.  Look it up].

Respond Merry Christmas to align with your own beliefs – but don’t hate those that do not follow suit.  They are not your enemies.

They are just different.

Show them LOVE and ACCEPTANCE.

That is the meaning of the season – PEACE on EARTH doesn’t come from hate, fear or judgement.  It comes from LOVE.

And we could all use more LOVE and KINDNESS and RESPECT.