How do people "live out" their Christianity in countries where religion is unpopular?

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WillPhillips said:
Especially in the US, where Christians hold the power, and it’s very difficult to live as an open Muslim.
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What power?
Abortion on demand, porn-inspired ads, same-sex ‘marriage’, stirring up wars. If Christians had any power, then why are those problems in America? The Christians-hold-power red herring gets old when one looks at what has actually happened.
 
Well in the US, declaring a non-Christian worldview (like atheist or Muslim), is political suicide. Christians control the majority of literally all aspects of government, from local house/senate seats to governors to (obviously) congress, Supreme Court (majority Catholic btw), and executive branch (if you call the Trump administration Christian, as they claim). In the US, such comedy is quite clearly, punching up…to those who are in power.
 
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WillPhillips said:
Christians control the majority of literally all aspects of government, from local house/senate seats to governors to (obviously) congress, Supreme Court (majority Catholic btw), and executive branch (if you call the Trump administration Christian, as they claim)
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That’s the problem. It’s a cultural Christianity rather than a Christianity that’s based on faith. Someone merely claiming they’re Christian doesn’t make them Christian. It underscores my recurring point on CAF, which is to look beyond mere labels.
Plenty of politicians claim to be ‘Christians’ but look closer and you’ll see plenty of frauds and those who’ve deluded themselves.
 
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You can label others as “not true Christians” all you want. Point I’m making is that such comedy is “punching up” to self proclaimed Christians…who are clearly in power.
 
WillPhillips said:
You can label others as “not true Christians” all you want.
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That ‘labelling’ is mere objective consideration of evidence of faith according to the Bible. So the people who are ‘punching up’ are in reality punching at nothing because they’re actually at the top but they need a punching bag.
 
ATraveller said:
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WillPhillips:
You can label others as “not true Christians” all you want.
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That ‘labelling’ is mere objective consideration of evidence of faith according to the Bible. So the people who are ‘punching up’ are in reality punching at nothing because they’re actually at the top but they need a punching bag.
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You do realize pretty much everyone thinks they are being objective, right?

And again, comedians punch up to the vast majority of people in power who state openly their claim to be Christian.
 
WillPhillips said:
No, it shows they’re not willing to punch down to the little guy. Comedy that does that is rightly booed off stage in today’s world.
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Let me adjust my reply. Not only are the comedians ignorant and superficial, their audiences are the same.
 
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WillPhillips said:
I see. Good luck with your view of those “ignorant folk.”
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Thanks but it’s the ignorant folk who need it more as they can’t seem to look at social and cultural issues in an in-depth manner when evaluating the evidence in front of them. Some of that is because of circumstance (job and/or family stress, time constraints) and for others, willful ignorance.
 
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I don’t think its about mocking “power” though because they don’t usually just mock the Catholic Church as an institution but mock Catholics/Christians and Jesus in general.
There’s quite a few comics that makes jokes about Jesus (interestingly never about Mohammed though) and these jokes are usually not even particularly witty but just mean spirited or suggesting Jesus was delusional etc.
Ie:“low hanging fruit”.

Why don’t they just think "I’m atheist but I’ll respect all others for their religious beliefs and be tolerant ".
Instead they choose to mock people’s spiritual beliefs on stage (actually,they usually limit that to Christians and not Hindu’s,or Muslims or Buddhists etc)…

Regarding Christians in political power-I understand that the situation is different in USA.I am living in Australia however and here I wouldn’t consider most of the politicians here as being Christian.
Maybe they were once in the past,but not anymore and most of them support gay marriage etc.
Maybe Christianity in US still has some power(?) but here in Australia,I think it’s pretty much dead.
 
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Rozellelily said:
I am living in Australia and although I am not really religious (just Catholic baptised) at the same time I do really see that religion (particularly Christian) is pretty unpopular in Australia and people don’t usually talk much about religion in every day life such as workplace,or at the shops etc…

So for people who are “very Christian” in countries that are now quite “liberal” (pro gay marriage etc) and often look down on religious as bigots etc how do you live it out in your everyday life without talking about it?

Is thee a way that people can show people “Christian” without necessarily talking Christianity?

I hope that makes sense!
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Prayer and corporal works of mercy are things Christians can do that - generally - won’t be criticized.
But yes, Matthew Kelly points out in a survey among thousands of dedicated, practicing Catholics that evangelization is overwhelmingly rated the most difficult thing to do.

Some intro-level ways you can evangelize: make the sign of the cross before a meal, including if you are in public. If permissible, keep a simple religious object at your workplace. And yes, for the average post-Christian nation, these two things are sufficiently terrifying 🙂 They are also two actions that flow naturally out of our love for God.

Silence and prayer will prepare your soul. That is always the foundation.

Peace.
 
LOL what power?
That may have been true many decades ago, but certainly not today.
 
A lot of people accuse Christianity of being just as violent as Islam.

If they believe that they should also be afraid of mocking Christianity.
 
Rozellelily said:
I don’t think its about mocking “power” though…
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But it is. Again, I’m just letting you know how it’s viewed. Perhaps “privelege” is a better word for it than power. And that power/privelege is definitely why comedy tends to punch that direction (whether the institutions or its followers). Comedy tends not to work if it’s making fun of people viewed as underprivileged. Imagine jokes about someone who is disabled for example. Culturally it offends our sensibilities and is typically seen as mean (not funny). Same goes for the focus on Christianity…and the lack of focus on other groups (i.e. black/brown folks, women, religious minoritites, etc). Just letting you know why it’s generally seen as ok, in a comedy context.
 
Didn’t take long for the Marxist drivel to infiltrate the thread :roll_eyes:
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
LOL what power?
That may have been true many decades ago, but certainly not today.
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Losing power/privelege quickly, yes.

As for power, there are lots of reasons that contribute to the acceptance of such comedy…over-representation in politics, significant lobbying power, significant wealth, etc. It’s considered punching up because other groups don’t have these advantages. In the US, it’s quite clear but other western countries may be less so as religious beliefs continue to decline.
 
Well, as somebody who isn’t in the habit of going around mocking any group, I posit that if you aren’t mocking everybody, you shouldn’t be mocking anybody.

The one exception is in-group humor, like Black comedians joking about black subculture, or Jewish people using Jewish humor. They understand where the boundaries are, and include themselves in the jokes.
 
Not trying to defend mockery.

Some people here seem genuinely confused as to why Christianity can get singled out by comedians. I’m just pointing out that it’s because they feel they are punching up. And western cultures tend to frown on punching down.
 
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