Anti Christians

Anti-Christian sentiment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about negative attitudes towards Christians. For criticism of the doctrines and practices of Christianity, see Criticism of Christianity. For acts committed against Christians because of their faith, see Persecution of Christians.
Anti-Christian sentiment is an opposition to some or all Christians, the Christianreligion, or the practice of Christianity. Christophobia or Christianophobia are also according to Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) names for "every form of discrimination and intolerance against Christians".[1]
Anti-Christian expressions
Vandalism
The vandalism or defacement of Christian symbols or property is one form of the expression of anti-Christian sentiment. If the defacedor vandalized object is considered holy by Christians, such as the Bible, the Cross, or an image of Christ or a saint, the case becomes that of desecration. Such destruction may also be illegal if it violates property rights or hate crime laws. Arson directed at Christian meeting places or churches is often considered a hate crime.[2] However, churches may also be targeted for reasons unrelated toanti-Christian sentiment, especially racism.[3]
An aggravating factor in the burning of a church in Minnedosa, Manitoba was that two of the arsonists were fans of National Socialist black metal music with anti-Christian themes, according to the Crown.[4] Vandals stole a wooden statue of Virgin Mary, from the Saint Albert the Great Parish of Calgary, Canada in August 2008 detached her hands,tried to incinerate it, and threw into a ditch along the nearby 22x Highway.[5] In 2010, vandals daubed graffiti and attempted to burn down the White Church of Baildon, West Yorkshire, marking the church with the sign of the pentagram and scrawling anti-Christian graffiti upon it.[6][7]
Music
Some fans of black metal and death metal music declare open hatred of Christianity. Headliners of the blackmetal genre have claimed responsibility for inspiring (if not necessarily perpetrating) over fifty arsons directed at Christian churches in Norway from 1992 to 1996.[8] The most notable church was Norway's Fantoft stave church, which the police believed was destroyed by the one-man band Burzum, Varg Vikernes, aka "Count Grishnackh".[8]
Examples of anti-Christian sentiment in politics and cultureUnited Kingdom
Mark Pritchard, the Member of Parliament representing the English constituency of The Wrekin, instigated a debate in the House of Commons on 5 December 2007 on the issue of Anti-Christian sentiment, describing the phenomenon as 'Christianophobia'.[9] Introducing the debate, he said it was about "how anti-Christian sentiment is increasing, not decreasing; why many Christians feelthey are not getting a fair hearing when it comes to Christianity in the public square; and what many people of all faiths and no faith see as the increasing marginalisation of Britain’s Christian history, heritage and traditions through the actions of Whitehall Departments, Government agencies, local authorities, the charity commissioners, or other sectors of society."[10] One example whereanti-Christian sentiment was evident was when a church building was wrecked by squatters which included the adding of anti-Christian graffiti to the walls.[11]
Norway
6 June 1992. The Fantoft stave church, a wooden structure originally built in 1150 in Fortun, when the Vikings converted to Christianity, and moved to Bergen in 1883, burned down.[12] At first the fire was attributed to lightning andelectrical failure. In January 1993 Varg Vikernes, aka Count Grishnackh, was interviewed by a local journalist in his apartment decorated with 'Nazi paraphernalia, weapons and Satanic symbols'. According to Vikernes, black metal fans had declared war on Christianity and Norwegian society and was responsible for eight church burnings as part of an ongoing terror campaign. He used a photo of the...