Everyone is offended these days. Muslins… Jews… Atheists… Blacks…Hispanics… Homosexuals… Native Americans… You name it. The list goes on and on and on. In fact, we are not even surprised any more when lawsuits are filed and complaints are registered over “offenses” real or imagined.
Sultaana Freeman, a Muslim, was offended when she was told to show her face when having her Florida driver’s license picture taken. An Orlando judge ruled that Sultaana had to remove her veil. Sultaana sued, and last year, the Fifth District Court of Appeals agreed with the original ruling.
We can only assume that she is still offended.
In another absurd example, officials in Arapahoe County, Colorado, have threatened to fire Mike Gray, a county employee, if he doesn’t stop offending Hispanics. Gray, who has a lawn care business on the side, says that since some of his customers complained about the difficulty they had communicating with lawn care workers who could not speak English, he thought it would be good advertising to paint a sign on his equipment trailer that read, “Lawn services done with pride by an English-speaking American.” He also had the audacity to wear a baseball cap to work with the words “U.S. Border Patrol” across the front.
An official letter from Gray’s supervisor informed him that his conduct was “reprehensible and discriminatory to our non-English speaking and/or Hispanic workforce.” It went on to inform him: “You are in violation of guidelines which ensure a workplace free from harassment and sensitive to the diversity of employees. You are required to permanently remove your cap from the workplace. It is offensive and harassing. Your business sign, if on work premises, must be completely covered at all times. This behavior is inappropriate and any further incidents of this nature may result in further disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.”
No word on whether any of the offended Hispanics are in the country illegally.
And then there is the case of the $325,000 haircut. It seems that the producers of Steven Spielberg’s “Into the West” television series are being sued because they cut an 8-year-old girl’s hair in violation of the customs of the Mescalero Apache Indian tribe.
I am not making this up.
“It’s part of our culture not to cut a girl’s hair until her coming of age ceremony,” said Danny Ponce, the girl’s father. “The only ones allowed to do that are the parents. Nobody asked for permission.”
Ponce has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, claiming $75,000 in damages and $250,000 for emotional distress.
“I’m offended” has become the new national slogan. Everyone, it seems, is expected to be offended. Everyone, that is, except Christians, the last group against whom discrimination is still acceptable. From media to our public institutions, the prejudice is blatant, but nowhere more so than in our government schools.
In his bestselling book, “Persecution,” David Limbaugh discusses the war against Christianity in the United States. In case after case, he tells of public schools committing blatant discrimination against Christians. Examples include banning Christmas while accommodating everything from Islamic Ramadan to Winter Solstice to Kwanzaa, the silly, contrived religion supposedly dating back to Africa.
At Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, site of the 1999 student massacre, ceramic tiles were placed above student lockers in tribute to those who died that day. Of the 2,100 tiles, 90 were systematically removed by school officials because they had messages written on them like “God is Love” and “4/20/99, Jesus wept.” These messages were deemed “objectionable.”
In a Hampton, Virginia, high school, a club known as “Warriors for Christ” was sponsoring a can drive to raise funds for the local YMCA women’s shelter. School administrators changed the name of the drive from “Easter Can Drive” to “Spring Can Drive.” Why? Because they feared the word “Easter” could be offensive.
These are just a few of the many examples of favoritism being shown to other beliefs, groups and creeds in our courts, schools and other institutions. Christ told His church to expect persecution from the world, but this is America, where equality and justice are constitutionally guaranteed. It is time for American Christians to be offended.
Copyright by Doug Patton
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Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has worked as a political speechwriter, communications consultant and advisor to conservative Republican candidates and elected officials, as well as public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including www.TheConservativeVoice.com and www.GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at dougpatton@cox.net.
