Brent Castillo
Posted on Thu, Mar. 06, 2008
Equal rights apply to Christians, too
Did you hear about the valedictorian whose microphone was cut during her graduation speech because she said she was inspired by Jesus?
Or about the administrator at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital who ordered the removal of Christian crosses from its chapel?
According to a new video series, "Speechless... Silencing the Christians," these incidents are examples of anti-Christian bias. They are highlighted in the 13-part series that was produced by the American Family Association and the Inspiration Networks. The series started airing last weekend and continues at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays on INSP (cable channel 49 in Wichita).
Hand me the remote, honey, we've got a show to watch.
There are two things that our politically correct culture still targets with glee: adult Caucasian males and conservative Christianity. The series doesn't defend white guys, but it does its best to raise awareness about the increasing bias against traditional Christian views. The creators of the series said they believe that many of these incidents are underreported by the mainstream media.
"We are not seeking to take away anyone's right to speak, or to claim that our rights are more important than any others," LeAnne Burnett Morse, executive producer of the show, told the AFA Journal. "But we are standing up and saying, 'If it's OK for you to stand in the street and say that homosexuality is normal, then it is our right to stand in the same street and say we believe it is a sin.' "
One such incident in Wichita garnered national attention. According to a lawsuit filed against the city of Wichita, outspoken pastor Mark Holick of Spirit One Christian Center went to the gay Pride Parade and Festival downtown last June to "speak about his religious views and distribute literature on the public sidewalks."
In the lawsuit, Holick says he was confronted by a group of police officers who asked him to move farther from the event. He says that when he questioned why he had to leave the sidewalk, he was arrested and taken into custody -- three minutes after his arrival. The city later dropped charges against Holick, but the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group, filed the lawsuit on Holick's behalf to guarantee it won't happen again.
"Exercising your First Amendment rights is not a crime," said Joel Oster, senior legal counsel for ADF, as the suit was filed in January. "Arresting Christians simply because they choose to exercise those rights in a public place is unconstitutional."
I'm a bit sensitive to this issue. When my wife spoke at her graduation ceremony at Wichita State University in 1993, she was specifically and repeatedly asked not to invoke the name of Jesus in her comments. Faith is an integral part of her life, as it is for many people, and not easily separated from school or work. I remember how torn she was about whether to oblige or to pass up the honor. She obliged, but she never should have been put in that position.
Reasonable expressions of faith in a public setting should not be stifled. We all have to endure hearing or seeing things we don't agree with. For some, that means tolerating gay pride parades or hearing "Jesus" or occasionally "Allah" at a public ceremony.
As "Speechless" executive producer Morse said, "We're standing up for fairness, not special treatment, and we're speaking out against persecution of any kind. Equal should be equal."
Brent Castillo appears in Opinion on Thursdays. Reach him at bcopinion@gmail.com.
Brent Castillo
Posted on Thu, Mar. 06, 2008
Equal rights apply to Christians, too
Did you hear about the valedictorian whose microphone was cut during her graduation speech because she said she was inspired by Jesus?
Or about the administrator at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital who ordered the removal of Christian crosses from its chapel?
According to a new video series, "Speechless... Silencing the Christians," these incidents are examples of anti-Christian bias. They are highlighted in the 13-part series that was produced by the American Family Association and the Inspiration Networks. The series started airing last weekend and continues at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays on INSP (cable channel 49 in Wichita).
Hand me the remote, honey, we've got a show to watch.
There are two things that our politically correct culture still targets with glee: adult Caucasian males and conservative Christianity. The series doesn't defend white guys, but it does its best to raise awareness about the increasing bias against traditional Christian views. The creators of the series said they believe that many of these incidents are underreported by the mainstream media.
"We are not seeking to take away anyone's right to speak, or to claim that our rights are more important than any others," LeAnne Burnett Morse, executive producer of the show, told the AFA Journal. "But we are standing up and saying, 'If it's OK for you to stand in the street and say that homosexuality is normal, then it is our right to stand in the same street and say we believe it is a sin.' "
One such incident in Wichita garnered national attention. According to a lawsuit filed against the city of Wichita, outspoken pastor Mark Holick of Spirit One Christian Center went to the gay Pride Parade and Festival downtown last June to "speak about his religious views and distribute literature on the public sidewalks."
In the lawsuit, Holick says he was confronted by a group of police officers who asked him to move farther from the event. He says that when he questioned why he had to leave the sidewalk, he was arrested and taken into custody -- three minutes after his arrival. The city later dropped charges against Holick, but the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group, filed the lawsuit on Holick's behalf to guarantee it won't happen again.
"Exercising your First Amendment rights is not a crime," said Joel Oster, senior legal counsel for ADF, as the suit was filed in January. "Arresting Christians simply because they choose to exercise those rights in a public place is unconstitutional."
I'm a bit sensitive to this issue. When my wife spoke at her graduation ceremony at Wichita State University in 1993, she was specifically and repeatedly asked not to invoke the name of Jesus in her comments. Faith is an integral part of her life, as it is for many people, and not easily separated from school or work. I remember how torn she was about whether to oblige or to pass up the honor. She obliged, but she never should have been put in that position.
Reasonable expressions of faith in a public setting should not be stifled. We all have to endure hearing or seeing things we don't agree with. For some, that means tolerating gay pride parades or hearing "Jesus" or occasionally "Allah" at a public ceremony.
As "Speechless" executive producer Morse said, "We're standing up for fairness, not special treatment, and we're speaking out against persecution of any kind. Equal should be equal."
Brent Castillo appears in Opinion on Thursdays. Reach him at bcopinion@gmail.com.