Mike Pence Warned Liberty University Grads to "Be Ready" to be Persecuted

[MineralMan]

Our Dominionist Vice President is sounding the alarm to graduates from Liberty University. He warned them about the "persecution" they're going to face from "secular liberals" when they get out there in the world.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/05/mike-pence-liberty-university-commencement/

Vice President Mike Pence, in a commencement speech on Saturday, told the graduating class at Liberty University that they were about to enter a world where they “need to be prepared to meet opposition” for being Christian.

“Some of the loudest voices for tolerance today have little tolerance for traditional Christian beliefs,” Pence said, calling himself “a brother in Christ.” “As you go about your daily life, be ready.”

According USA Today, during his address in Lynchburg, Virginia, the vice president cautioned students that they’d be asked to not just tolerate things that violate their faith, but to endorse them.

“Throughout most of American history, it’s been pretty easy to call yourself Christian,” Pence said. “It didn’t even occur to people that you might be shunned or ridiculed for defending the teachings of the Bible. But things are different now.”

More at link...

Oh, yes, left-wing atheists are standing just off-campus to persecute these young folks as soon as they set foot outside of the protective security at their Christian college. The word is out, and convoys of liberals are heading their way to persecute them.

Oh...wait...never mind. That's not true. Sorry, I lost control of my imagination there for a minute...

Have a strong stomach? Here's Pence's entire address at the Liberty University commencement:

[dameatball]

1. What a bunch of nonsense. That propaganda is destructive and shameful.

[MineralMan]

2. Yes it is, indeed!

[gordianot]

3. This is just another right wing contrarian message.

Accuse others of what you intend to do yourself. Bigoted racist need this internal justification. It is unfortunate that the entire premise of this meme in no way follows what has been identified as Christian values.

[KayF]

4. onward Christian snowflakes n/t

[sprinkleeninow]

5. "Be ready" to be prosecuted?

Oops, read that wrong. 🙄

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Oh and those Sheepskins you get today,

well,they will entitle you maybe a Job offer from the Republican Party,cause it is worthless in a Competitive Interview Market Place.

[mitch96]

7. "Our Dominionist Vice President"

Sounds like ISIS rhetoric to me... My religion against your religion...
m

[MineralMan]

9. Except that it is our little denomination against everyone else.

The Dominionist Christians are scary as the dickens. Their vision of the future is a bleak and dark vision. Most of us wouldn't fare well at all in the world they have planned.

[Blue Owl]

8. Don't forget -- it's Mike Pence's favorite day today

Mother's Day...

[MineralMan]

10. LOL! It would be funny if it weren't so scary.

[underpants]

11. Well they've already been swindled into a debt to Liberty U

Oh yeah, they get a piece of paper too.

[MineralMan]

12. I have a nephew who got a degree from Liberty University.

He took courses mostly online. But, he went there to the commencement ceremony. That was about four years ago. His degree hasn't gotten him a job, though. He's still struggling to support his family.

Eventually, I'm almost certain he's going to start his own church - some variation of a Southern Baptist church.

[TlalocW]

15. In Broken Arrow, OK, a suburb of Tulsa

There is a religious "college" called Rhema University. A friend of mind described them as, "Pissing off everyone for 11 months of the year and then getting back into everyone's good graces with their Xmas display." (It is quite impressive) They actively encourage their students not only to witness to people but to hold Bible studies with the public while they "bankrupt" them so that while it's not the majority of students, of course, but a good many of them when they graduate can't afford to move anywhere and have the beginnings of a church so a spot in a strip mall is often rented, and the church starts there, and it eventually continues to grow until it can build its own building (oftentimes a steel-sided jobber), and of course, the church is very supportive of Rhema, sending them donations and encouraging the flock to send their kids there so the process can begin anew.

TlalocW

[underpants]

16. Liberty isn't that aggressive

It's more subtle but it's there. I'd guess it's passive aggressive but I hate that phrase.
I swear they are going to be triggered at some point. They are all over the public sector here.

[underpants]

18. I run into them all the time

As I posted below I don't see much activity from them in spreading the word at work but then maybe they get to know me and don't take a run at bringing me over.

They are all through the public sector as I've encountered them. I don't think they've reached the level to influence policy yet. Some of that could be from how relatively new the school is (especially in its present massively growing form) or from th education they get their or the people who end up there. I do think that's their goal in some way and they will have infiltrated many parts of the state government to support whatever they come up with.

I can't say I've been very impressed with any of their work. They do have quite a righteousness about them. Not entitlement just an air of not possibly being wrong about anything.

Oddly Monica Goodling at DoJ went to Regent which is Robertson's school. As far as I know she reached a level higher than any of the Liberty people - aside from elected officials.

[CaptYossarian]

13. If he only knew how to be a Christian.

[MineralMan]

14. Mother is teaching him.

[CaptYossarian]

24. I saw her once in the movie "Carrie".

[Adsos Letter]

17. I'm a Christian.

My wife and I both give financial support to Americans United for Separation of Church & State, and the ACLU.

The only (and I repeat ONLY) persecution I have ever been subject to was from two other Christians. Both were Assembly of God members, and both instances were work related.

Long story short (not that short it turns out) the one AOG guy managed a paint store that our company frequented. My wife and I belong to a Protestant denomination that some fundamentalists consider heretical, and when he learned the denomination I belonged to he refused to sell me paint, and threatened to toss me out of his store.

As I was leaving, I saw another painting contractor (who I later discovered was also a Christian) approach the guy, and both got into a heated conversation which I could not hear, but only observe from the cab of my truck.

Before I could drive off, the AOG guy came out and practically begged me for forgiveness. I never did learn what was said between the two, but I never had trouble in there again. Still, it was an eye opener.

The other AOG guy was a direct supervisor who created a pretty hostile working environment for me, primarily because my denomination teaches (and I believe) that real freedom of conscience is dependent on maintaining a separation between Church and State that denies the formulation of laws or policy based on religious doctrine.

Both guys had pretty strong Dominionist beliefs.

[MineralMan]

21. That's a bizarre story.

What a way to do business...

[Adsos Letter]

22. I was left pretty much speechless and humiliated by it.

I had never experienced anything even close to it.

It really was an eye-opener for me. I honestly held to (and continue to hold to) a belief system that abhors persecution of anyone, but sometimes it takes a personal experience to drive the point home.

[underpants]

19. Side note on Liberty - Jerry and his school was kept afloat by Rev. Moon.

I'm sure a lot of people know the story but Moon was a BIG donor to the right going back to Nixon.
Falwell was the perfect white "Godly" face to get on the new cable news system (CNN) but his school was bleeding money. They needed to make him "successful" to add importance to his message (like the bulk buy of books by Coulter and others early on). Jerry had every deed to every home from every widow at Thomas Road Baptist in fact his young volunteers used to go door to door trying to get people to offer money or their home to support the church. He also grifted jewelry off them. I know of the door to door and jewelry directly. He was still buried in debt.

Liberty will officially say that a broker administered the financing but the fact that it came from Rev. Moon and the ridiculously low rate defies that.

[MineralMan]

20. Very interesting!

[Major Nikon]

23. Sounds kinda familiar

Anyone remember the 11th Commandment?

[guillaumeb]

25. What about the right wing atheists?

What does Pence think about them?

[MineralMan]

27. How would I know that?

I don't know Pence, and don't care to know him.

Why are you attempting, once again, to try to divert the conversation with a lame whataboutism? You don't even bother to disguise it. It's in the title of your reply, "What about..."

Can you not do better than that? I wonder...

[struggle4progress]

26. "Don says Vlad wants me to tell you to be very afraid and buy more Russian guns"