The Handmaid's Tale

This painting, called "A Fair Puritan," is by E. Percy Moran, a US artist who created it in 1897. We've come a long way since that time, with respect to the image of Christians in our nation. Recently I wrote that Christianity is being demonized in the US. In the guest post below (used by permission), Philip Irvin shares one chilling example of a grotesque caricature of conservative Christians in pop culture that should concern us all.

(This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA)

Suppose a TV series presented a dystopian world where a religious group imposed something more severe than Shariah law. In this religious world, women were not only brutally subjugated and ritually raped but were also legally prohibited from working outside the home, owning property, handling money, or even reading. What would be the response to this series?

If the religious group were identified as Muslims, all those involved would be strung up by their thumbs and denounced as Islamophobiacs.

However:

If instead, the series vented its venom at conservative Christians, you would find that “the series [The Handmaid's Tale] garnered extremely positive reviews and won the 2017 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, along with seven other Emmy Awards from 13 nominations."  

Please consider what would have happened if this level of venom were vented on any other group. What if the oppressing group were gays, blacks, or even not-in-the-news Hindus? But because this demonizes Christians it wins critical acclaim.

“The Birth of a Nation,” a movie about the Civil War and its aftermath, portrayed black men as unintelligent and sexually aggressive toward white women while portraying the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic force. This movie is credited with being one of the events that inspired the “second era” Ku Klux Klan that was formed in the same year, since the original Klan had died out decades earlier.

Do not be deceived into thinking that The Handmaid’s Tale is just harmless entertainment. Such a publicly acclaimed, grossly hostile representation of Bible-believing Christians is reminiscent of the displays of growing hostility toward Jews in pre-war Germany. This should cause conservative Christians concern.

Postscript by CO:

Recently, conservative Christian organizations have been dropped from credit card processing companies because they are deemed “hate groups” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. See the Ruth Institute and American Vision. 

For further SPLC branding, see D. James Kennedy Ministries. Other organizations painted by the "hate group" brush include: Traditional Values Coalition, Family Research Institute, and American Family Association.

This should give every evangelical church and conservative Christian service organization "cause for concern," as Philip Irvin put it. Is it only a matter of time before the "hate group star of David" is painted on your church or favorite Christian service organization? 

By the way, would your church or favorite Christian service organization qualify for the SPLC “hate group” list? 

If not, why not?

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