IMO: Why Christians Paint Themselves as Victims

I had an epiphany of my own on the bus home from work today.

I've been reading Michael Shermer's Why We Believe, and I just finished the section dealing with Ghost Dances, Cargo Cults, and other "messianic myths".

Well, I think we call all agree that Christianity is "messianic". I mean, they all but invented the word, right?

But the thing is - the messiah is always coming to rescue his oppressed people from their oppression - from the powers that be, not the powers that will be. Yes?

So how can Christians deserve their Messiah if they are the powers that be?

So this means they have to convince themselves that they're still the downtrodden. (Unlike their forebears - or non-fundamentalist contemporaries - who were content to be building Christ's Kingdom on Earth, they have to hate the World. Or at least say they do.)

Okay, so maybe it's a little bitty epiphany, but it makes sense to me.

Now if only we could get them to actually agree to be the oppressed minority....