A War on Christianity?

"That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV)

After our class discussion on Thursday concerning a change of the name and content of the English Literature Department here at Messiah, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how Christianity is viewed in our world today.

I must first admit that I am torn at the thoughts of making the English Department at Messiah wholly centered on Christianity and Christian Literature. I worry about what this will mean for me when I graduate. What will it mean to tell a possible employer that I graduated with a degree in Christian Literary studies? Will this gravely affect how, when, and where I get a job? How will I be able to explain that I am still just as qualified as the next person to teach English Literature even though my degree has the word Christian in front of it? Will employers judge me because of the Christian label I posses?

There are so many personal and selfish worries I have over the change of name for our English Department at Messiah. However, that is just what they are: Selfish. I have come to the realization through being obsessed with these questions that I fear persecution in the name of Jesus Christ, the man I claim to give my life to and follow. What does this mean for my Christianity? If I am not willing to allow my studies to be Christ-centered because I am afraid of how the world will respond, what does this say about my faith?

Simple. I am a coward.

Christians in other parts of the world are physically tortured, sexually abused, beaten, and killed because they proclaim themselves to be Christians. This is not even close to the same level of "persecution" that might be endured if Messiah students endorse Dr. Power's proposal for the English department. So maybe we will have a difficult time finding a job at first. Is this really too much of a hardship to endure for the sake of truly owning and proclaiming our Christianity?

I know it would be easy to say that there are other ways we as Christians can make this proclamation and it should be left out of our English education. However the truth is, our Christianity should be the center of every single aspect of our lives. We go to a Christian school, a Christian school named Messiah College. Why as students, did we choose to spend $30,000 to come here. Maybe for some it was for the facilities or a specific major or the scenery. I know for myself, it was to be in an environment where my faith can permeate every single particle of my life; most importantly, my education.

Why are we as Christians so afraid to own our Christian label? We stand by and let the world assume we are all close-minded, judgmental fanatics. By not standing up and saying "I am a Christian, and I am going to break the mold of what you believe a Christian is" we endorse the secular view of Christianity which is forcing us to be silent.

As students at Messiah College, we represent the next generation of Christians in this nation. Will be choose to silently endorse a negative view of Christianity or learn what it means to own our faith and endure hardships because of it?

I know this seems like a heavy topic to come out of our class discussion of the English department, but these are the issues I believe are the heart of the issue.

Just some things to think about....

Also, I found some articles discussing what some would deem "a war on Christianity." I am not exactly sure how I feel about this topic yet but wanted to share what I found in case anybody would like to do some further reading:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-03-26-religion_x.htm
http://atheism.about.com/b/2005/02/07/war-on-christianity.htm
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/9/29/153253.shtml