Anti-Faith Sentiment Growing at Alarming Rate

Religion Today | Updated: Oct 15, 2013

Anti-Faith Sentiment Growing at Alarming Rate

Hostility against Christian Americans is growing at an alarming rate, according to a new survey from the Family Research Council and Liberty Institute, CBN News reports. The Liberty Institute's Jeff Mateer noted that while last year's survey was based on 600 cases, "this survey that we're releasing right now is almost 1,200. So we've almost doubled in just one year." One such case involved college student Audrey Jarvis, who was asked twice to remove her cross necklace, or at least hide it, at a student orientation. "My supervisor came up to me out of nowhere and asked me to remove my cross necklace because he thought it would be offensive to incoming freshmen," she recalled. In another case, Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk got in trouble with his lesbian commanding officer when she ordered him to answer how he felt about gay marriage. "This is about religious freedom because I expressly stated that I had a religious conviction that wouldn't allow me to answer the question the way it was posed to me," Monk said. Former NFL running back Craig James found himself a victim of growing anti-faith sentiment when just one hour into a new job as a FOX Sports analyst, he was booted off the air. James and the Liberty Institute insist it was because a top network manager disapproved of a statement James made about gay marriage 15 months before in a political debate. "They knew who I was, what I stood for," James told CBN News. "And I'm being punished -- I was fired -- for my religious beliefs." With some 1,200 cases like these documented in the new Religious Hostility Survey, Mateer says he's frightened for his country. "The threats are increasing at a dramatic rate, and this survey demonstrates that," Mateer said. He noted that when believers fight back, they almost always win. So only by meekly accepting defeat will they let the enemies of religion triumph. "They've stated their objective is to remove God from our public life," he said. "Well, if we remain silent, that's going to happen."



Anti-Faith Sentiment Growing at Alarming Rate