From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-
The Roman Catholic Church feels oppressed. Religious liberty is under siege. At this month's meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the group's president, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, declared, "We see in our culture a drive to neuter religion," which he attributed, ambiguously and ominously, to "well-financed, well-oiled sectors."
Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia gave a speech to college students declaring that the "America emerging in the next several decades is likely to be much less friendly to Christian faith than anything in our country's past. It's not a question of when or if it might happen. It's happening today."
When the Catholic Church declares that everything's going to hell, you have to take it seriously. Nevertheless, complaints about oppression of Christians in American society always amaze me. Practically everyone in the country is a Christian. (Jews are about 2 percent, Muslims the same.) Yes, of course, Archbishop Chaput is referring to believing, or at least to observant, Christians. But the United States is among the most observant countries in the world. Almost half of all Americans tell pollsters that they go to church at least once a week.
If anyone is trying to oppress Christians, he or she is doing a pretty lousy job of it. Christians -- believing Christians -- are everywhere you look. And even if you limit the discussion to oppression of Roman Catholics, I defy Archbishop Chaput to find much of this in our country in 2011.
Read more:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11331/1192462-109-0.stm#ixzz1euHDigiB
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