we ... ourselves are the site of true worship
I agree with this 100 percent. We are also the site of access to the divine. The name of that which we commune with in our inner being might differ, but I think ultimately we all worship the same God.
I'm curious to know about the colossal exception to U.S. persecution of the church.
My ancestors could not even read the Bible, on pain of death, for about 246 years. The Bibles that they were preached to from were missing 90 percent of the Old Testament, 50 percent of the New Testament -- any possibility that they should know that God freed His people, again and again, was denied them, along with the restrictions on how Christian masters in all times were ordered to behave without cruelty or beating, and certainly never allowed to rape and murder their slaves (Ephesians, Colossians) and that a curse had been placed by God on those who had their fields reaped without paying proper wages (James 5). They could be lynched for even going into the wrong church building -- no less a person than Robert E. Lee had to prevent that once upon a time in Virginia, late in the 1860s. People went to churches in one place and bombed Black churches in the Civil Rights Era. Only two denominations -- the Quakers and the Mennonites -- had a track record of honoring their fellow African American Christians' right to read and worship and be with their fellow Christians from 1619 to 1865, and that can be pretty much extended down to 1965. Today, certain people are trying to deny the Christianity of African Americans if we vote Democrat -- Donnie Swaggart is a leading proponent of this idea, but he is hardly alone.
There were in 1865 approximately four million enslaved Africans in 1865, and the census numbers suggest there are 12 times as many African Americans now. We have primarily identified as Christian pretty much the whole way ... so there is your massive exception, well documented for 400 years.
I see what you mean. I would not have thought of any of that as persecution of Christians, but as racial oppression in the specific arena of religion. I mean only that it's happening not because of religion but because of race.
I see where you are coming from ... the challenge is that when we look at how Christians are persecuted in the world, it matches up ... denial of access to Scripture, denial of freedom to worship ... with this twist: because the humanity of Africans was denied, that made it possible for Christians to justify persecuting other people of the same faith with the same cruelty that Christians are persecuted in other countries now. It's not just religion -- but being a fellow Christian is no defense against the cruelty people who claim Christ were and are practicing. AGAIN: right now, there are big-time Christian preachers teaching their people that I can't be a Christian because I might vote Democrat on Tuesday -- that actually crosses race, and will allow certain Christians to justify themselves in mistreating -- you guess it -- fellow Christians of any race. Any Catholic who knows American history can tell you: it's not just race. It's a pool of people who claim Christ and think He left them as the gatekeepers to who can pass His gates -- enough of them have been in power so that YES, the U.S. has viciously persecuted millions of Christians under various pretexts.
I see that now. It's a new thought to me, a new awareness of what happened (and is happening).
It is not a pleasant thought ... but it relates to a deeper understanding of why the buildings are being abandoned ... but Christ's people will always find a way. My people gathered in the woods to worship for 246 years ... the Negro Spiritual is the record ... we had to form our own churches and denominations for the same reason, but, unfortunately, the building can still be a trap ... meanwhile, I find that I can meet Christians anywhere and still be in good fellowship, across races, because the worship place is US, not the building. In the U.S., the buildings are being abandoned for very, very deep reasons. Some are sick of gatekeeping Christians who hate other Christians ... some have been badly hurt because people come into the building but still do all the things there that evil does ... many are seeking the true old-time religion that does not burden the people with keeping up the institution that has not in this country even cared for all of the Christians.
I personally am still in church ... but mine is a church that loves the Lord and shows it by serving the community, without discrimination, and that is why I stay. But if that building was closed -- and it was, for 15 months in 2020 and 2021 -- we would find a way to keep doing that because that is what the Lord has called us to. It's not about the building. The building is not the Church. The people in Christ are, out of every tribe and nation, under God Who is no respecter of persons. Wherever that is denied, it does not matter how big and beautiful the building is -- no one will be safe with the gatekeepers.
Did not mean to leave you hanging last night. I went to bed.
I admire your passion. :)
Hope you got good rest, and I understand.
Thank you ... do this for me ... take that admiration and consider the depth of history and survival out of which it comes ... let it inform you of the true nature of the humanity of people said to be less than, and consider not the past, for nothing can be done there, but a just and righteous future for all, and what additionally that may look like now that you have a bit more information.