According to a March 2015 article by author George Yancy (What Christianophobia Looks Like in America), the American National Election Studies, which conducts a national survey of voters before and after every presidential election, found that approximately one-third of all respondents rated conservation Christians lower than any other religious or racial group. Yancy himself conducted an online survey of nearly 4,000 people in 2009. Yancey's survey was focused on the same demographic group that had rated conservative Christians poorly in the ANES survey, namely highly educated, white and politically progressive. The results revealed an extreme amount of negativity toward Christians similar to the ANES survey, but with some extremist remarks in the respondents answers to open-ended questions. Among these extremist remarks were: “Churches and houses of religion should be designated as nuclear test zones”, “Kill them all, let their god sort them out”, and “The only good Christian is a dead Christian.” Yancey concludes, “I cannot determine by my data the percentage of Americans with such a level of vitriol, but judging by the comments, it’s not a trivial amount.”
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In January 2015, Atlanta, Georgia fire Chief Kelvin Cochran was fired from his job by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Mayor Reed received complaints regarding a book that Chief Cochran wrote and published titled “Who Told You That You Were Naked? The Book contains passages from the Bible which point out that homosexuality is a sin. After receiving the complaints from pro-homosexual individuals, Mayor Reed publicly stated, “I am deeply disturbed by the sentiments expressed in the paperback regarding the LGBT community,” and that Chief Cochran's Bible based beliefs on homosexuality were “not representative of my personal beliefs, and is inconsistent with the administration's work to make Atlanta a more welcoming city for all citizens—regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, race, and religious beliefs.”The Mayor also went on record saying that he was worried that the Bible verses that Chief Cochran included in his book would lead to accusations of discrimination. Mayor Reed then suspended Chief Kelvin for 30 days, ostensibly to conduct an investigation into Chief Kelvin's “judgment and management skills.” At the end of the 30 day suspension, Mayor Reed fired Chief Kelvin. Interestingly, Chief Kelvin is a 34 year veteran fire fighter, who not only served two terms as Atlanta's Fire Chief, but was also appointed by President Obama as the U.S. Fire Administrator for the United States Fire Administration. And Mayor Reed claims he is investigating Chief Kelvin's “judgment and management skills.” It would appear that, given Mayor Reed's statements that Chief Kelvin was fired simply because of his sound Biblical beliefs. Beliefs that Mayor Reed does not share.
Sources: Bible Citation Costs Atlanta Fire Chief His Job by Kate Shellnutt, http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/january/bible-citation-costs-atlanta-fire-chief-job-kelvin-cochran.html Atlanta fire chief suspended after distributing his religious book to employees by Abby Ohlheiser, November 26, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/11/26/atlanta-fire-chief-suspended-after-distributing-his-religious-book-to-employees/ On April 2, 2015, New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow wrote an article titled “Religious Freedom vs. Individual Equality.” [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/opinion/charles-blow-religious-freedom-vs-individual-equality.html] His column was specifically about the recent Indiana and Arkansas RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) bills and the uproar created by those who oppose them. Throughout his article, Mr. Blow derides and trivializes the Christian faith by openly referring to Christians as “bigots,” and the Christian faith as nothing more than opinions. Mr. Blow also uses his article to imply that Christians should be willing to deny their faith and deny God in order to preserve the “liberty” of homosexuals.
 Well, at least in some circumstances and probably more circumstances than you might think. In the state of Colorado, it is entirely possible that you could be arrested simply for possessing or displaying a Bible.
As of November 2014, Colorado Revised Statutes, 24-34-701 stated that the publishing of discriminative matter was forbidden. It went on to say that, no person, whether owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent, or employee of any place of public accommodation –– and “place of public accommodation” is defined as, “any place of business engaged in any sales to the public and any place offering services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to the public, including but not limited to any business offering wholesale or retail sales to the public; any place to eat, drink, sleep, or rest, or any combination thereof; any sporting or recreational area and facility; any public transportation facility; a barber shop, bathhouse, swimming pool, bath, steam or massage parlor, gymnasium, or other establishment conducted to serve the health, appearance, or physical condition of a person; a campsite or trailer camp; a dispensary, clinic, hospital, convalescent home, or other institution for the sick, ailing, aged, or infirm; a mortuary, undertaking parlor, or cemetery; an educational institution; or any public building, park, arena, theater, hall, auditorium, museum, library, exhibit, or public facility of any kind whether indoor or outdoor.” In fact, it quite literally means anyplace the public uses, with the exception of “churches, synagogues, mosques, or other place that is principally used for religious purposes.” –– may not “publish, issue, circulate, send, distribute, give away, or display in any way, manner, or shape or by any means or method” … “any communication, paper, poster, folder, manuscript, book, pamphlet, writing, print, letter, notice, or advertisement of any kind, nature, or description that is intended or calculated to discriminate or actually discriminates against any … sexual orientation … or against any of the members thereof … that the patronage, … presence, … at such place by any person or class of persons belonging to or purporting to be of any particular … sexual orientation … is … objectionable or not … desired … .” This law effectively bans the publishing, issuing, circulating, sending, distributing, giving away, or displaying any Christian Bible, since the Bible clearly states that homosexuality is objectionable. This places the Bible squarely within the context of the letter of this law. This means that it is illegal to have a Bible in a public library in Colorado. It is illegal for a chaplain in a convalescent home to hand out a Bible in Colorado. It is illegal for the owner of a barbershop to leave their personal Bible out in plain view in their own shop in Colorado, or, for that matter, any employee of any business to carry a pocket New Testament in their shirt pocket while working. In any public place in Colorado, other than a house of worship, the Bible is illegal. |
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