The Orca’s Thumb

Christians often make a big deal of the fact that the Church rarely persecutes people anymore (with the exception, of course, of abortionists and homosexuals).

But, as Robert Ingersoll points out in “Heretics and Heresies,” it’s only because they don’t have the power to do so anymore:

Let it be remembered that all churches have persecuted heretics to the extent of their power. Toleration has increased only when and where the power of the church has diminished.

When the church had the power to kill heretics, they did. Now they don’t have the power, so they can’t.

Why do we live in a tolerant society? Because we have a secular government with a separation of church and state. If we had the Christian Government that many evangelicals dream of, toleration would swiftly decrease as they regulated their morality and beliefs.