Though the U.S. has seen an increase in activists claiming to fight in the name of their religion, the God-fearing and neighbor-loving Christian persona has become a façade to promote the illegal and unjust treatment of American citizens.
America has gone through phases of highlighting various religions and societal norms, and this has led the country to push back against different causes and groups such as queer communities and other religions. It seems, though, that the land of the free has officially become one of firmly inflexible customs and intolerance for anything outside of pro-Aryan expectations.
The main ideologies of Christianity (outside of the typical loving your maker) include not murdering, committing adultery, stealing, falsely accusing, telling lies or envying other’s possessions. Despite 67% of America following Christianity, murder rates have risen since 2018 and about 50% of the population has cheated on their partner. Robbery rates have dropped over the past decade, though the number of rapes has continuously increased.
These stats showcase the clear display of violating the rules of the Bible, but they are not the only example of defiant Christians.
Within the first 22 days of February, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more people than in any moth over the last seven years. This increase is due to an uptick in reports to ICE, the closure of the southern border and the suspension of the asylum program.
It doesn’t seem very loving to deport the group of people who produce over $1.6 trillion in economic activity when we’re all immigrants reaping the benefits of stolen land. The Bible also stresses in various passages treating immigrants with compassion and emphasizes not devising evil against your neighbor who lives beside and trusts you.
“You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19); “You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who reside among you and have begotten children among you. They shall be to you as citizens of Israel; with you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel” (Ezekiel 47:22).
Trump has taken this power of deporting to another level. He recently reinstated the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority which allows sitting presidents to detain citizens of an ‘enemy nation.’ After making this decision, Trump transferred hundreds of immigrants, despite a federal judge issuing a temporary bar on the deportations.
The Bible warns against pride and claims kings of evil are abominations since the throne is established by righteousness. With a makeshift king hungrily grabbing more and more power, it is hard not to feel like it is about to get a lot worse before we can even think about things getting better.
I find most of my concerns are related to the opposition towards the LGBTQIA+ community, since queer hate crimes have nearly doubled since 2019. The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that businesses can deny customers expressive or creative services, a decision that allowed a homophobic website designer to refuse queer customers in a roundabout way.
Christians use the Bible to condemn queer people, but they take portions of the Bible out of context to do so. They ignore the Bible’s tolerance for slavery and child marriage to chastise anyone who doesn’t fit their premediated idea of a normal or good person.
People who call themselves Christians oftentimes ignore discussing issues like the expense of childcare, racial discrimination, poverty rates and lack of access to education when highlighting ‘threats’ to society. If they talked about these problems, they would have to acknowledge how little they care about their community and their lack of desire to be uncomfortable even if it means helping others.
I know not every religious person is bad. I know not every Christian is full of hate and devoid of compassion. It’s difficult to not lump them all together when so many are miserable egoists though. If you’re offended by my perception of your religion, make a change. Be who you say your religion makes you and stop blaming others for pointing out your shortcomings.
Stats I included in this article:
Murder rates: macrotrends.net
Adultery rates: americansurveycenter.org
Stealing rates: security.org
Immigrant contribution: cfr.org
Hate crimes: hatecrime.osce.org
