Sunday, February 23, 1997

Faithful face fire in marketplace, business prof says

By BOB BRUCE

Senior Staff Writer

The Christian faith is under fire in the marketplace - and it is a growing trend, says Dr. Rick Lytle, a business professor at Abilene Christian University.

"I think the level of persecution is increasing for business people who stand for what they believe in," Lytle said.

Tolerance today seems to be applied to everyone in the American culture - except believers in Christ, he said.

Lytle, who has taught in ACU's College of Business for five years, spoke on "Faith in the Workplace" during the 79th annual Bible Lectureship last week.

"The minute you say you're a Christian business person, you give up your rights. You can't share your faith," he said.

Lytle, 38, has degrees from Hardin College in Arkansas, Oklahoma State University and Arizona State University. In the private business sector, he has worked in Michigan for Volkswagen and EDS and in Denver for Amoco Oil.

To tell someone they are in need of a savior has become a violation of free speech, Lytle said.

"As the freedom issue is pushed in the marketplace, Christian business people will be challenged," he said.

Lytle listed examples from business and government which he cited as restrictive:

-- U.S. West, the publisher of telephone books in 14 states, forced two nursing homes in Minnesota to remove the crosses on their logos before their ads were accepted, citing the 1989 Fair Housing Act.

-- A San Francisco ordinance which decreed that all organizations doing business with the city offer spousal benefits to same sex partners and unmarried couples. Currently United Airlines is wrestling with the issue, Lytle said.

-- An Alabama judge refused to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom, resulting in a suit by the American Civil Liberties Union. This prompted Gov. Fob James to threaten use of the state militia to protect the courtroom.

-- In Oregon, a painting business employee was fired for laziness. The jobless worker sued his ex-employer, who witnessed regularly to employees - alleging religious harassment - and won. The ruling was overturned and is now pending before the state supreme court.

-- And the EEOC - the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission - suggested in 1994 that religious harassment be covered under the 1964 Civil Rights Act but dropped the idea because of public outcry.

Lytle identified secularism and separation of church and state as largely to blame for the growing trend against Christians in the workplace.

"The idea of separation of church and state is a fairly recent concept, introduced into our thinking in the 1940s," he said.

Prior to that, Lytle said America's Christian heritage was openly stated, going back to colonial days, including the first grant from Queen Elizabeth I and the Mayflower Compact.

Lytle said the shift to secular thinking in the 1960s and '70s led to the removal of prayer and the Ten Commandments from schools, the approval of legal abortion and legal attacks on display of religious symbols.

A similar mindset created a 1995-96 pocket calendar issued by the National Education Association which Lytle said included these days of observance:

-- Aug. 9 - Mohammed's birthday.

--Oct. National Coming Out Day for gays and lesbians.

-- Oct. 23 - The Hindu Festival of Lights.

-- Dec. 1 - World AIDS Day.

-- Dec. 28 - The anniversary of Wounded Knee.

And last year a California education committee interpreted Thanksgiving this way: the Pilgrims were thanking the Indians for help with the harvest. No mention was made of offering thanks to God, Lytle said.

To get religion out of government, they'd have to "sandblast half of Washington," Lytle said.

But textbooks are another matter. Lytle said the secular textbook campaign in America has been far more successful and, as a result, his generation grew up studying school books stripped of America's religious heritage.

Lytle said many people his age are unaware that:

-- In 1892 the U.S. Supreme Court stated "this is a religious nation... we are a Christian people... and we are a Christian nation."

-- Benjamin Franklin stated "whoever will introduce in public affairs the principles of Christianity will change the face of the world."

-- John Adams said, "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly unadequate for the government of any other people."

"We need to stand up for what is right," Lytle said. "Liberty is the freedom to do right, not the freedom to get what you want."