Two years later the question should be "Why do Christians get so much grief?". America is gradually killing off religion in this country. I'm not saying it's a good or bad thing, but it's happening.
i totally agree... America is undergoing a transformation post 9/11. i think 9/11 has forced many of us to ask some tough questions about our beliefs... and how blindly we are willing to follow them (and to what end?).
How is America killing off anyone's right to be Christian? Where is the state stepping in and squashing Christianity (and the constitution)? On the contrary, how often do you see the state, or agencies/officials of it, endorse or validate Christianity, or religion in general?
The government is not doing anything to kill off religion, but there has been a shift in media, movies, and tv shows that depict Christians as hokey bible thumpers who live in a fantasy land. Being Athiest is in, being Christian is out.
I think it's up to Christians to dispel the notion that they're crazy people like Terry Jones (big extreme). Shouldn't be that hard, and it certainly isn't always the media's fault.
Hypocrisy? Show me any Christian group that exhibits the empathy, selflessness, passivity, tolerance, devotion to communal work, denial of material wants, sublimation of ego and quiet spirituality that the philosophy of Jesus Christ espouses. That would be profound; a denial of our instincts and a step towards a more evolved civilization. But but Socialism!
You won't see those guys on TV. But they're around. Often helping people in the more troubled parts of town. But their loud, obnoxious, judgmental brothers get all the attention.
That reminds me of a joke. What did the Buddhist Monk say to the hot dog vendor? Spoiler Make me one with everything..
Religion isn't going anywhere. Suburbanites will always want fancy weddings, moral superiority and a reason to put their kids in a suit. Minorities want to identify with something other than what we see in the mirror everyday.
It's not America doing it. It's knowledge. Also, it's definitely not just in America (very self-centered of yourself, no?).