Well stated, thank you. I'm adding your book recommendation to your reading list.

I looked into the subject a couple years ago when wrote an article about the mythical roots of early Christian persecution. And I say myth, because a lot of poular belief about the early Church and persecution is not grounded in reality. Certainly, some Christians were persecuted in the early days of the Church by the Romans, but much of that history is skewed, ignoring the reality that during most of pre-Christian Roman history, Christians were ignored or officially tolerated.

The narrative connecting Nero's brief persecution madness with a struggle against Christian dominance centuries later is ahistorical to say the least.

Fox's Book of Martyrs, a go-to Evangelical Christian tale of persecution, actually focuses more on internecine tales of Christians killing one another over doctrinal disputes. But I was raised on it and on the unquestionable notion that Christians face persecution wherever they happen to live.

Missionary stories often reinforced this notion, while ignoring the cultural genocide Christian missionaries commit or try to commit.

The Christian persecution complex is an odd notion, especially in the United States where Christians wield strong political power and don't hesitate to use it against those they see as insufficiently obedient to Christian moral edicts.

We might do well to look to history, to understand that after the Christian Church took power in the Roman empire, they unleashed a bloodbath against "pagans" who refused to convert.

That bloodbath made any previous persecution of Christians look like child's play.

As a gay man and LGBTQ advocate, I find myself immersed daily in hate directed agaisnt me by individual Christians and by organized Christianity. I find the idea that Christians are persecuted to be both laughable and dangerous.