Does the Air of Christian Persecution in America Encourage ISIS to Murder Christians?

 
by Michael Ware 

In the midst of tragedy and loss, it is typical for people to begin to assign blame. It is very easy for us to look to the most predominate and powerful to cast as scapegoat. They should have done this or that differently, we tell ourselves. They could have stopped this but did not; they are as guilty as the one doing this or that. But what we usually fail to do is to take responsibility ourselves for our portion. I think this might be the case with Tony Perkins
The Christian Post reports

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a prominent social conservative commentator, asserted Wednesday that the Obama administration’s limitations on religious freedoms domestically are “emboldening” the Islamic State’s attacks on Christians abroad.

I see Perkins point and to a certain degree I agree with him. We as the historically strongest nation in the world have been a deterrent to violence, the line of thinking goes. But really, have we been a preventive to violence against Christians. It seems that our record has been at best sketchy. Just off the top of my head I can think of the Christians bomb and slaughter by the Sudanese government and the Republican President Bush did not even mention an American response.

also will concede that Obama is not a fan of Christians and that in his administration our world position has weakened. But do we really think that he has made the world a less safe place to be for Christians? Has the activities in our country had the effect of encouraging and emboldening the enemies of the cross? Perkins does.“Ask Christian Wives, mothers and daughters overseas. Their husbands, sons and fathers are being beheaded or shot by radical Islamic jihadists like ISIS. They are being driven from their homes. Children are being martyred,” Perkins explained. “And our administration has done little to help, and for months resisted calling this massacre of Christians by Islamic jihadists what it is.”
But the question is how does Perkins link this to America’s attitude toward Christians?

“The same rampage of ‘political correctness’ that attacked Kelvin Cochran’s freedom to believe is coming to your state, your town, your church,” Perkins wrote. “Christians you know are targets… maybe Christians in your own home. The same rampage of hate that destroyed the career of Kelvin Cochran tells the killers in ISIS, who closely watch America’s domestic affairs,

Is it true that the rise in persecution in America has led to a rise in ISIS violence and that somehow Obama is to blame? Probably not. We must consider that we have allowed ourselves to sink to a level of depravity in this country that has permitted the situation we are currently in as a Christian community. We have naively believed that persecution could never come to our country.  And in our lack of vigilance and our love of the current culture, we have seen persecution come to America.
We also have to understand that we cannot stop all persecution of God’s people. There are going to wicked men with wicked hearts. The wicked people will continue to war against the church, no matter what America does. To think that ISIS looks to see what America’s attitude toward religious freedom in determining when and how they will persecute Christians is a self-important attitude.
We have to understand that nothing will change in this country until we repent. Obama nor any other person we put in the White House can save us, only God can. May he grant us repentance.