The other day a friend of mine posted the attached picture on Facebook. Facebook hid the photo, labeling it as possibly being offensive material. I was able to give permission to see it, but when I tried later to see it again, I had to give permission – again. I consider myself to be a person who is sensitive to others when it comes to sharing my faith, and I try to speak about religion in generalities and Jesus when it is appropriate. I have also scoffed at the claims some Christians have been making that there is a war on Christianity in America. I find that to be ludicrous – the only Christians who I see being shut down are the hateful ones. The problem is that there are a lot of those around. And yet.
This behavior by Facebook makes me wonder about my beliefs on this subject. Is there a war against religion going on in America? I have long maintained that secularism and non-religious activities have been in competition with religious practices. Ask any Jew or Muslim and they will tell you all about how things like high school sports and cultural activities happen on Friday nights and Saturdays consistently, causing their faithful to choose between their faith and other obligations. Christians were protected by Blue Laws, which prohibited most activities on Sunday; in fact, you still can’t buy a car in Pennsylvania on a Sunday. As these Blue Laws have been removed – and rightly so – it has forced people of faith to choose between secular activities and religious activities – and religion is, mostly, losing. Churches that have chosen to expand worship options have done better, but even they are struggling. There are obviously more reasons for the demise of religion in America than this, but it has contributed to the struggle.
One of the bright spots in all of this is that I know that the people who are present in worship (online or in the pew) are there because they want to be, not because they have to be. We have so many choices, so being present and active in a faith community is a great gift to the church. The problem is that this country has been violating the Constitution for its entire existence, giving preference to Christians over other religions, and that, thankfully, is ending. But – it is also wrong to treat religious organizations, and religion in general, in unfair ways. If this picture I have posted here said something like, “And anyone who doesn’t follow Jesus is going to hell!”, then I could understand if Facebook flagged it as inappropriate. It doesn’t say that at all – it is just a statement of faithful discipleship.
All of us need to be vigilant against the misuse of power against or for any religion. We should not be allowing religion into public schools or courthouses or anything else funded by public dollars. We also should be aware when businesses allow their own biases to restrict people’s non-threatening religious practices. We were founded as a nation based on the rule of law, and one of the first rules was that we are free to worship, or not worship, in ways that do not injure others. Facebook did the wrong thing here. We need to protect our freedom of religion from them as well.
Prayer – Holy God, we seek to live in balance, living our faith as we choose. Keep us wary of those who would limit our freedoms. Amen.