I was inspired to write this article after seeing the trailer for "God’s Not Dead 2." Even though this movie has not yet been released, the trailer speaks volumes about the message of the movie. It seems to be talking about this perceived persecution of Christians in America. I’m still surprised that even though these theories have been debunked time and time again, these ideas still persist.

I’d like to say that I am a strong supporter of everyone’s right to or not to profess any religious belief. With this said, I do not believe that Christians in America are being persecuted on a mass scale. How can a mainstream belief like Christianity be persecuted on a large scale? What do they think constitutes persecution? Let us go through a few of their claims.

Children cannot pray in school anymore.

This claim is not just false, but absurdly false. You need to only look at the supreme court decision Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District to understand why this claim is false. In this case, a school district was trying to restrain a student’s right to have freedom of speech and the Supreme Court ruled that the school district had violated that student’s rights to freedom of expression. This was brilliantly summed up by Justice Abe Fortas statement about the case: “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” This freedom of expression also extends to any religious beliefs that a student may profess.

So any student can pray in school, and legally there is nothing that can be done about it. There was even a school in my hometown where a group of students gathered outside the cafeteria every day and prayed and it was completely legal. As long as a school administration does not make this prayer mandatory, it is completely legal. As long as we use this voluntary system of prayer, not only are the rights of individuals retained, but the neutrality of the school is also ensured.

Also, if Christianity is really being persecuted, how then are they able to have all these private schools that profess Christianity as a core belief of their academics? According to the Council for American Private Education, there are 30,841 private Christian schools in America, representing about a quarter of all American schools. So if Christians were really persecuted on a mass scale, how can they make up a quarter of schools in America?

Religion is not allowed in the classroom.

This claim is also false. Religious beliefs can be professed in the classroom as long as they are not being stated as facts. There are plenty of college courses that deal with religion on an academic basis. This should be the same way that we tackle religious issues in a public school. Talking about people's religious beliefs is essential to relating to our fellow human beings. Having said that, these views should not be taught as if we were in Sunday school. If you want to learn a particular religion's dogma as a matter of fact, then I suggest you go their respective institutions

It also speaks volumes about what kind of society these religious advocates want. Simply put, they want a theocracy where the state and religion are hand in hand, where there is no wall of separation that protects the individuals from the tyranny of the majority. We have already tried Christian theocracies in medieval Europe, and it did not turn out to be a society that protected the freedoms of their citizenry. If you want a modern example of a theocracy, look at Iran, which is a society which subjugates women and does not protect free expression that is outside the bounds of the official belief.

Christians are being forced to comply with actions that violate their faith.

This claim has become particularly popular after the Kim Davis story that happened earlier this year. To this I simply say that Kim Davis is a public servant. In addition to the standard oath, she also swore to uphold section 228 of the Kentucky Constitution, which included the phrase, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth, and be faithful and true to the Commonwealth of Kentucky so long as I continue a citizen thereof, and that I will faithfully execute, to the best of my ability, the office of ... according to law.” So when she took office, she agreed to uphold current and future laws. She also agreed to uphold the Constitution of the United States, which says that government should not have any official stance on religion. So if Kim Davis found that she could no longer live up to this commitment, she should have left her office. Instead of doing this, she stayed in office and willingly ignored her commitment to the people of Rowan County.

So are Christians being persecuted in America on a mass scale? Considering the preceding arguments, I would have to say no, I don’t think so. Does it happen on a individual basis? Maybe, but I highly doubt that it is a significant number. Simply put, I don’t believe this is even an issue in America. So let's stop making movies about it and stop trying to say that this is happening all over America.