The Party Of White Christians

Howard Dean is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. This week, he placed himself in a big controversy by saying that "the Republican party was nothing but a party of white Christians". Howard Dean was not too far from the truth. White Christians do make up a large block of Republican voters. White Christians are normally against abortion, homosexual marriage, and other moral issues which places them in the Republican camp. Nevertheless, Howard Dean is wrong. The Republican party is made up of a lot of different people, many of them are not white nor Christian.

What I found interesting about this bit of information is just how acceptable it is to make a derogatory statement about white Christians. It seems to me that the white Christian is the last group of people that it is alright to say negative things about. Could you imagine what would have happened if the Republican National Chairman would say "the Democratic party is nothing more than a party of poor black people, or the Democratic party is nothing more than the party of homosexuals"? There would be immediate calls for his dismissal. He wouldn't last the night.

I guess we must chalk this all up to the words of Jesus. Jesus tells us that the world will hate the church. Thus we should not be surprised when a world leader says negative things about the church without anyone calling for his head.

So why does the world have such a distaste for Christians? Simply put, people who have strong beliefs and convictions scare those who do not. A person with strong beliefs makes those who do not feel uncomfortable. I believe that you must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to go to Heaven. For someone who does not hold to this viewpoint, this is an intolerable thought. My belief means that I do not believe that others, who do not agree with me, are right with God. It is easy to see why the world doesn't like us. We force them to examine their beliefs. We challenge the way they think. We cause them to have a personal confrontation. Of course they don't like us, who likes to be told they are wrong in the eyes of God.

Christians should expect more of this in the future. Though I am not a prophesy nut, I do not see things getting better anytime soon. Maybe we should take the negative comments as a badge of honor. Our Lord was crucified for who he was. As Christians we are to live like Jesus. Persecution, regardless of how silly or sophomoric it may be, will always be a part of the Christian life.