The Complexity of Persecution

So I saw this yesterday, and I had this strange feeling of deja vu, like I had seen it somewhere before.  And I probably had, because it was posted in September, but as I read through it, I got this rather too comfortable feeling of being right.  I am regularly alarmed at how many Americans think they are being persecuted, and I'm not just talking about my eight year old daughter.
But I have learned to be suspicious whenever I feel the warm embrace of smarmy self-righteousness, which sort of oozes out of these 10 questions.  I'm not one to write off valid points if they are made in a snarky tone, but the tilt of these question is so obviously against the more conservative forms of religious paranoia my moderate alarm started going off.  Let's be honest, we are all prone to feeling persecuted when we run into people who do not agree with us.  Liberals do it too, and it usually results in some version of "political correctness," which forces us to banish some previously acceptable word into the realm of insensitive language.  This in turn feeds the persecution fantasies of conservatives who remember the good old days when you could call a spade a spade, (I am aware that the word spade was also a derogatory racial term, that is a pointed example (and that was a pun, ain't words great?)).
But all of this really doesn't amount to persecution, and it certainly doesn't amount to religious persecution.   What it amounts to is the fact that the human race has relatively recently emerged from pre-technological feudalism/tribalism, and we're still learning to use our words instead of our sticks and stones.
I'm talking about America here, not elsewhere.  There is enough religious persecution to go around: Christians persecute Muslims when they have the numbers, Muslims persecute Christians when they have the numbers, the Chinese (who always have the numbers) persecute Christians and Buddhists (or perhaps more precisely Tibetans), Jews persecute Palestinians, and pretty much everyone persecutes Jews if given half a chance.
And this is the problem with American people running around shouting persecution: we live in one of the most persecution free countries in the entire world.  Freedom from persecution was a MAJOR issue for the strange chaps in powdered wigs who wrote our constitution.  Primarily because they were doing their thing at the end of almost three centuries of Christians of various sorts persecuting EACH OTHER.  First it was the Catholics persecuting the Protestants, then it was the Protestants persecuting each other.  So a bunch of guys who didn't agree on a whole lot said that the government that they were putting together wasn't going to favor one particular religion, no way, no how, just not gonna happen.
I know it's kind of a bummer when the authority figure doesn't make you feel extra special.  I know it feels like tolerating folks that are different from you is just too much to ask, but let me tell you it doesn't amount to persecution.
I read this morning that a group of Islamic militants attacked a college in Nigeria, killing enough people that if it had happened in America it would be a cause for a national day of grieving, ala Columbine, Sandy Hook or 9-11.  Read that article, because that is what persecution looks like.  The name of the group that committed this atrocity: Boko Haram, which means, "Western education is sinful."
I had a friend in seminary who was from Nigeria, and he asked me to pray for the election that was going on there.  If the Muslim candidate one, it meant that Sharia law would be enacted and Christian communities would be persecuted.  The election narrowly went in favor of a Christian, which meant that there would be no enactment of Sharia law, and that my friend would be able to return to Nigeria and continue to pastor his churches without fear of the government turning against him.
But that does not mean the persecution and the violence ended, if you read the article above, you will see that Boko Haram is displeased with the Christian president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.  The President is guilty in their eyes of sanctioning excessive force in an attempt to halt the attacks of groups like Boko Haram.  Violence breeds violence, and innocent people usually end up suffering.
Which is why it's really a pretty good idea to not have the government taking sides in matters of religion.  There are enough political and economic reasons for people to hurt each other, why on earth would we need to add God's name to the list of reasons we have to hate others?
Listen humans, we're all guilty of getting itchy trigger fingers around folks who are different from us.  Add a little paranoia and fear into the mix, which too many of our media outlets are only too happy to provide, and you've got a volatile mix.  Our Constitution may not be perfect, but the "establishment clause" is a major step forward in the creation of a "more perfect union."  It gives us a way out of the quagmire of constant violence and reprisal in the name of gods.
The next time you feel persecuted because the ACLU wants the nativity scene off the lawn of the town hall, or because they want to build a mosque down the street from your house, stop.  Stop right there and pray for Nigerians, Sudanese, Israelis and Palestinians, anyone who disagrees with the Taliban, or any non-Muslim living in a place where there is Sharia law.  Pray for the people, and pray for the oppressors, because that's what Jesus told us to do.  Pray that somehow, someway, we humans will find our way out of the violent darkness, see if that doesn't take the edge off of your righteous indignation.