There is a pervasive belief today that Christians are under attack in the United States of America. Christian bakers and florists are prosecuted for declining to provide services celebrating homosexual weddings. Christian hospitals have been forced to provide minors medical services they find immoral and contrary to the Christian faith. Christians witnessing to their faith outside of abortion clinics have been arrested and sentenced to prison. Even prayer has been outlawed. Our government has been weaponized against Christianity. These are today’s headlines. But are these headlines true?

• Are Christians being persecuted today just as they once were under Roman rule in the earliest days of Christianity?
• Are Christians being denied the right to exercise their beliefs in a manner consistent with their beliefs?

Or is Christian oppression and persecution a myth, a fanciful fabrication? Are Christians’ claims to be victims essentially rhetorical political tools to marginalize others and to impose a specific Christian ideology on all others, including other Christians?

These are the questions I ask and the answers I seek - maybe you as well. Today’s topic will challenge many popular assumptions and beliefs. I hope that with this analysis of our history, national culture, and Christian faith, we can reassess what we believe, reclaim what we value, and reconsider how we should conduct ourselves in the sacred interactions we call life.