Xenophobia

 

The world's own downfall

 

Xenophobia is the extreme hatred or fear of strangers, people from other countries, or of anything that is strange or foreign. Based on this definition, racism and homophobia can also be called xenophobia.

 

It amazes me that in the world of today there are so many people that are xenophobic! All over the world people are still fighting each other purely because of this innate fear of other people. Of course this fear is not without its increasing evidences. Especially in Africa and the Middle East we can find groups that want to destroy other groups in order to claim their land. This is a real problem in the world. What happens in many countries in the west is that many people from Africa and the Middle East are literally invading the west illegally, bringing with them not just cultures that are strange, but in most cases unwanted criminal activities. Activities that include things like drugs, money laundering, robberies and many more. This is enough to strike fear into the most mild hearted person.

 

However, the greatest feelings of xenophobia in this world are not simply among different cultures; they are aimed straight at Christianity! How irrational are these fears of Christianity? In America the big thing now is the separation of church and state. Secularists are continuing their push to rid society of all Christian influences. The first victory for them was when prayer was disallowed in schools. It has now become so bad that groups like the UCLA--probably the most insecure group of secularists in the USA--are even trying to prevent children from wearing certain clothes to school, just because their T-shirts have Christian messages on them. They are also trying to rid Christ from Christmas. It has now become politically wrong to wish someone a merry Christmas. It has now changed to "Happy Holidays!" Why are they so scared of Christianity? Are they so insecure that they have to rid society from the presence of everything Christian before they can feel secure in what they believe or not believe? In the so-called most free country on planet earth, we see groups that shout "Freedom!" from the housetops trying their utmost to prevent freedom for those who claim to be Christians! These people, more than most others, suffer the most from xenophobia!

 

Christians do not wish that all of society must be ruled with an iron fist of religion. If that is what some Christians believe, then it certainly is not the Christianity that Christ brought to this planet! Christians want freedom in all spheres of life, not just for themselves but for all people. Even for those that hate Christianity and call themselves atheists or whatever other isms there are.

 

Why are people so afraid of Christianity and hate it so much? Is it because in Christianity they see (from deep within themselves) that God has reached out to a planet bent on its own destruction. They feel that God has no right to infringe on their "privacy" and that they have a "right" to live their lives like they want. Is it not also because people just love their own sin and destructive behaviour so much that they will rather not part with that sin to the point of death. They realize that if they have to acknowledge Christ, that they also have to acknowledge His complete "otherliness" and that He is not like them at all. This is what they fear! So, when people fear someone they cannot and will not understand, they soon start hating that person and all he stands for, even to the point of hating those who have stood up with and for that person. This is what we find when it comes to Christ and Christianity.

 

The fact is that Christianity has brought some of the greatest things to this planet. Things like hospitals, universities, freedom from slavery and freedom for women in many societies just to name a few.

 

What is it that they fear so much, if it isn't their own selves and their own shortcomings in the sight of a holy God!

 

Just thinking...