Hate Crimes and the Abolition of Religion

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Hank Unplugged podcast, reflects on an opinion piece in the Charlotte Observer, “Church Vandalism Is Soaring; Here’s Why We All Should Care.” The article begins with the words “Satan lives here”—these hateful words, along with graffiti and swastikas, spray-painted on a Cathedral in Denver. We are shocked, as we should be, when we read about such incidences. But as vandalism of this nature becomes increasingly commonplace, the shock wears off. The authors suggest that 2021 will set a record for hate crimes, as “religiously motivated attacks” increase. Why? The authors posit the Christian opposition to abortion as one motivation for such attacks. We shouldn’t be surprised. Karl Marx wrote, “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.” A rank materialist, Marx believed that “the physical facts fix all the facts” (as the atheist philosopher Alex Rosenberg pithily puts it). But Marx was wrong—Christianity is not an illusion. When you look at the heavens you see God’s “eternal power and divine nature,” and in seeing that, as Paul wrote, we are “without excuse” (Romans 1:20). Christians must become equipped to exercise truth and experience life. See Samuel J. Aquila and Tim Busch, “Church Vandalism Is Soaring; Here’s Why We All Should Care,” Charlotte Observer, November 21, 2021, https://www.pressreader.com/similar/281779927385288