Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

The United States and Christianity have long been synonymous with one another. The nation's founding documents are filled with references to the Christian God and his providence. As a result, the protection of religious freedom in the U.S. has been a long-held priority. That may be changing, however, and the security of being a Christian in America may be in jeopardy. In a recent blog post for the Family Action Council of Tennessee titled “The End of Christianity As We Know It,” David Fowler speculated that “a costly Christianity” could be coming to the U.S. Fowler cites pushback against religious freedom-themed bills in Indian and Tennessee as evidence of the changing tide in America. Bills designed to protect student counselors-in-training from having to counsel clients in opposition to their own religious beliefs and business owners from being forced by judicial law to perform services that violate their religious beliefs are now targeted with scorn.
The ramifcations of this are enormous, as Christians could face legal punishment for their beliefs. When that happens, all notions of a “safe” Christianity in this country are off. Jesus promised his disciples that they would be at odds with the world. Why should we expect any different?