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[Muhligan]

How many of you actually believe you’re being oppressed because you’re a Christian?

[jimwalton]

There is a lot of intellectual and cultural ostracism in America for being a Christian. We're treated (on forums such as reddit) as bloomin' idiots who can't think their way out of a paper box. We know that Christians who are up for positions (such as federal judges) are ridiculed for their faith as if their Christianity makes them mentally incompetent. We know that many Christian groups are being banned from university campuses. We know that Christian businesses are harassed and protested against, with lawsuits and some attempts to force them to close. Some have defined Christianity as a mental illness, some as fascism. The SPLC has labelled Christianity as a "hate group," and Mark Potok said, "I want to say plainly that our aim in life is to destroy these groups, completely destroy them." In Canada a case went to the Supreme Court to prevent any Christian from being a lawyer.

So there definitely is some oppression. I wouldn't use the term "persecution" here in the U.S., but censorship, harassment, and attempts at marginalization are alive and well.

[Righteous One]

> The SPLC has labelled Christianity as a "hate group,"

I'm definitely not a fan of the SPLC, but can you provide a citation for this particular claim about them?

[jimwalton]

I don't have the specific source, but just a reference in my notes that says, "Christian Churches and Christian organizations were labeled 'hate groups' by the SPLC for being anti-LGBT. Said Former SPLC spokesman and senior fellow Mark Potok in 2007: 'Sometimes the press will describe us as monitoring hate groups. I want to say plainly that our aim in life is to destroy these groups, completely destroy them.' "
This website (https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2017/09/01/southern-poverty-law-center-our-aim-in-life-is-to-destroy-these-groups-completely-n53297) has an embedded Youtube where he said it at an event in Michigan in 2007.

[Righteous One]

OK, I was already aware of SPLC labeling specific Christian organizations as 'hate groups', but it would be a different thing for them to label Christianity (as a whole) as a 'hate group'.

[jimwalton]

Evaluating the rhetoric of Mark Potok, I don't perceive a lot of difference. The ideology of these Christian organizations is the ideology of Christianity in general. It's the ideology of mainstream conservative Christianity that he hates. He indicates that anyone who disagrees with LGBTQ+ activism is a "hate group," because in the eyes of the SPLC belief in traditional marriage equates to stigmatizing gay people. And if any organization, institution, or people group has a problem with "radical Islamic terrorism," they are a hate group. It's a tiny step to extrapolate his hateful, violent rhetoric from certain Christian groups and organizations to all Christians in general.