Are you a religious extremist? For years, world leaders have been endlessly proclaiming that we need to eradicate “extremism,” but what actually is “extremism”? Many would point to the ISIS jihadis over in the Middle East that are beheading people that don’t agree with them as examples of religious extremists, and I think that very few people would argue with that.
But our politicians (especially the liberal ones) rarely use the term “Islamic terrorists” anymore. Instead, they tend to use the term “religious extremists,” and that has a much, much broader connotation. In fact, if you are a Bible-believing Christian, you are probably included in that category.
Most Bible-believing Christians would never think of themselves as being similar to radical jihadis in the Middle East, but that is precisely how many of their fellow Americans very them. The Barna Group has just released a shocking new study which found that 45 percent of all “non-religious” Americans believe that “Christianity is extremist.”
The perception that the Christian faith is extreme is now firmly entrenched among the nation’s non-Christians. A full forty-five percent of atheists, agnostics, and religiously unaffiliated in America agree with the statement “Christianity is extremist.” Almost as troubling is the fact that only 14 percent of atheists and agnostics strongly disagree that Christianity is extremist. The remaining four in ten (41%) disagree only somewhat. So even non-Christians who are reluctant to fully label Christianity as extremist, still harbor some hesitations and negative perceptions toward the religion.
Even more troubling is what the study discovered about how the general population views specific religious activities. There has been a tremendous shift in society, and behaviors that were considered to be completely mainstream a few decades ago are now considered to be “extremism.”
Are you ready to take a test? Look over the Barna infographic that I have shared below very carefully. Have you ever participated in any of these “extremist activities”?
If you have ever participated in any of the activities listed in category 1 or category 2, you are a “religious extremist” according to most Americans.
Of course every single one of the behaviors in category 2 would potentially apply to me, so I guess that would make me an “extremist” according to this definition.
This is where our society is heading. Of course “Christian extremists” are not normally put into prison in the United States quite yet, but hatred toward our faith in rapidly rising in society. Church attendance is dropping like a rock, the Christian faith is relentlessly mocked in movies and on television, and incidents of hostility toward Christians have doubled over the past three years.
And the truth is that even the federal government and the military are rapidly turning against Bible-believing Christians. For example, the slide that I have posted below comes from a U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief that described “Evangelical Christianity” and “Catholicism” as examples of “religious extremism”:
Once this came out, there was a huge uproar, and some people got into trouble over this. But it should be exceedingly alarming to people of faith that U.S. military personnel were being trained that evangelical Christians are on the same level as the Ku Klux Klan.
And of course this is far from the only example of this phenomenon. In fact, Christians have regularly been described as “extremists” and “potential terrorists” in official U.S. government documents since the day that Barack Obama first stepped into the White House.
Below is a list of 72 types of Americans that are considered to be “extremists” and “potential terrorists” in official U.S. government documents. To see the original source document for each point, just click on the link. As you can see, this list covers most of the country:
1. Those who talk about “individual liberties”
2. Those who advocate for states’ rights
3. Those who want “to make the world a better place”
4. “The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule”
5. Those who are interested in “defeating the Communists”
8. Anyone who possesses an “intolerance toward other religions”
9. Those who “take action to fight against the exploitation of the environment and/or animals”
10. “Anti-Gay”
11. “Anti-Immigrant”
12. “Anti-Muslim”
14. “Opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians”
15. Members of the Family Research Council
16. Members of the American Family Association
18. Members of the American Border Patrol/American Patrol
19. Members of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
20. Members of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition
21. Members of the Christian Action Network
22. Anyone who is “opposed to the New World Order”
23. Anyone who is engaged in “conspiracy theorizing”
24. Anyone who is opposed to Agenda 21
25. Anyone who is concerned about FEMA camps
26. Anyone who “fears impending gun control or weapons confiscations”
28. The sovereign citizen movement
29. Those who “don’t think they should have to pay taxes”
30. Anyone who “complains about bias”
31. Anyone who “believes in government conspiracies to the point of paranoia”
32. Anyone who “is frustrated with mainstream ideologies”
33. Anyone who “visits extremist websites/blogs”
34. Anyone who “establishes website/blog to display extremist views”
35. Anyone who “attends rallies for extremist causes”
36. Anyone who “exhibits extreme religious intolerance”
37. Anyone who “is personally connected with a grievance”
38. Anyone who “suddenly acquires weapons”
39. Anyone who “organizes protests inspired by extremist ideology”
40. “Militia or unorganized militia”
41. “General right-wing extremist”
42. Citizens who have “bumper stickers” that are patriotic or anti-U.N.
43. Those who refer to an “Army of God”
44. Those who are “fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and international in orientation)”
45. Those who are “anti-global”
46. Those who are “suspicious of centralized federal authority”
47. Those who are “reverent of individual liberty”
48. Those who “believe in conspiracy theories”
49. Those who have “a belief that one’s personal and/or national ‘way of life’ is under attack”
51. Those who would “impose strict religious tenets or laws on society (fundamentalists)”
52. Those who would “insert religion into the political sphere”
53. Anyone who would “seek to politicize religion”
54. Those who have “supported political movements for autonomy”
55. Anyone who is “anti-abortion”
56. Anyone who is “anti-Catholic”
57. Anyone who is “anti-nuclear”
60. Those concerned about “illegal immigration”
61. Those who “believe in the right to bear arms”
62. Anyone who is engaged in “ammunition stockpiling”
63. Anyone who exhibits “fear of Communist regimes”
65. Those who are against illegal immigration
66. Those who talk about “the New World Order” in a “derogatory” manner
67. Those who have a negative view of the United Nations
68. Those who are opposed “to the collection of federal income taxes”
69. Those who supported former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr
70. Those who display the Gadsden Flag (“Don’t Tread On Me”)
71. Those who believe in “end-times” prophecies
Are you starting to get the picture?
There is a systematic attempt by the radical leftists that dominate our society to demonize Bible-believing Christians. They want to portray us as “religious extremists” who are just as dangerous as ISIS is.
Given enough time, they would not just come after us with words. Throughout history, we have seen the same thing happen with so many other groups. First they were marginalized, then they were demonized, then they were criminalized, and then ultimately they were marked for elimination.
If you are a Bible-believing Christian, you need to get ready for intense persecution, because it is most definitely heading our way.
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