trunks2k

I'm from Connecticut and I remember that case against the people in New Milford. A lot of religious people thought it was some sort of atheist conspiracy to stop people from praying. But it was really a zoning problem. People were concerned that the "praying parties" at the house would cause a fire hazard (due to large numbers of people being in the house on a regular basis) and that all the people at the house would block the street because of all the cars being driven there. The government and neighbors, I think had a real case and the parties should have been stopped or told to move to a more appropriate location. Culd de sacs are not a good place for a large amount of cars to be parked at on a very regular basis. But, if I remember, the court ruled in favor of the people that were praying. There was no evil conspiracy about it, but it was sure as hell made out to be one, especially by the people that were hosting the parties.

I really think that Chrstians have some sort of wird guilt complex going on. They feel so guilty about being the persecuter, that they have some sort of unconcious psychological feeling that they also must be persecuted.

lpetrich

Or more likely, they crave victimhood status -- or are even showing that the only relationship that they can understand is persecution.

Ysabella

I think the neighbors had a valid complaint in New Milford, but I find no record of whether they actually approached the family holding the prayer meetings with their concerns before calling cops and complaining to the city. I'm not sure they handled it very well, perhaps they could have avoided all this kerfuffle. Also, the current protection is just an injunction, and has caused a review of the zoning laws under RLIUPA or whatever it is; the family still could be told to hold the meetings elsewhere, or find another place to park the cars. I mean, 40 cars in a 7-house cul-de-sac? I can see how that would keep an ambulance from reaching someone in an emergency.

I can see how people can get more mileage out of feeling persecuted. Many humans enjoy causing drama, and some of them are drawn to Xtianity - like a story I read recently about someone's Aunt coming to a funeral and telling the family how none of them were saved, they were all going to Hell, and their dead son was already in Hell. We all need attention, some people find it in creative ways.

d'Naturalist, I am in fact American living in Holland. Just to be clear I changed my profile a bit. Euromutt, however, is actually Dutch.

d'naturalist

Ahhh, kind of like An American in Paris, only with wooden shoes. Works either way -- it's good to get the POV from around the world from both residents and visitors.

theyeti

I think that in order to be a good Xtian fundie, you have to know how to be a hypocrite. It's not just with the persecution thing, but with everything else as well. They are constantly blaming the rest of the world for the things that they themselves are most guilty of.

theyeti

Viti

I think you hit the nail on the head here. It's an attention and drama thing.

My Baptist SIL told me the other day how the church provided her "with support and understanding" she just COULDN"T find amongst her family and friends...while wringing her hands and looking anguished...gimme a break!

vaelarin

From my own experiences as an ex-fundie, I'm going to have to agree with this sentiment.

It truly is the ultimate in cult mentality. You enslave the person through fear, engage their paranoia by teaching them that everyone is out to get them (whether the "Devil" or the "world"), reenforce their dependance upon the group by separating them from the rest of society emotionally/physically/mentally, and teach them that because of the group they are somehow chosen or more special than everyone else, giving them the feeling that they by doing 'right' now have some self worth.

Celsus

I don't disagree with your points, but are you sure China has the lowest percentage of atheists outside the US? My roommate in Ghana is from China, and he was adamant that there are no True Believers in China, whether Muslim, Xtian, Falungong or Buddhist. He comes from the Manchurian north and reckons no one in China believes in God. We did have a terrific time taking the piss out of Christianified Ghana though.

Kvalhion

Christians who claim to be persecuted (and I do agree that they want to feel that way) should be forced to read through this classic bit in the humor section here on infidels - <a href="http://www.infidels.org/misc/humor/lioaca.html" target="_blank">Life in our anti-christian America</a>

While funny, it's true. Any Christian to reads that and claims to be persecuted in this country should be flogged.

Vorkosigan

I thought I only compared China and the US, and didn't refer to other countries. Probably I just miswrote. In any case, I meant that there are probably fewer (or at least as many) atheists in China as in the US -- and this is under a Communist government. Using a loose definition of religious vs irreligious, more than 90% of the population adheres to some religion (although some of these religions might be considered atheist). Vietnam recently published a white paper in which the Party admitted its anti-religion campaigns were a failure and religion is growing fast. Ironically, if the Chinese and the Vietnamese had never persecuted religion, it would probably have no adherents.