{"id":4089,"date":"2018-03-23T22:44:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T05:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/?p=4089"},"modified":"2018-03-23T22:44:29","modified_gmt":"2018-03-24T05:44:29","slug":"religious-persecution-is-as-old-as","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/03\/religious-persecution-is-as-old-as\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious Persecution Is As Old As\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A blog on religious persecution and the real source of discrimination against Scientology or any other religion, by Scientologist Sandra Lucas<\/a>, published courtesy of\u00a0 STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination)<\/a> where it first appeared.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Roman<\/p>\n

Gaius Cornelius Tacitus<\/a>, a senator and historian of the Roman Empire, described the Christians in 64 AD as a \u201cclass hated for their abominations<\/a>\u201d and guilty of \u201chatred of the human race,\u201d an accusation he also leveled against the Jews. It stated that the Christian religion was not a religion but a deadly superstition and thus worthy of suppression.<\/p>\n

And while his words may not be known by many, the killing of Christians in Roman arenas is a better-known fact.<\/p>\n

Some 2,000 years later, Christians are still persecuted and killed for their beliefs in numerous countries.<\/p>\n

They are not the only ones who have felt the madness of religion haters.<\/p>\n

Jews have been slaughtered by the millions across the world.<\/p>\n

Muslims are imprisoned in Burma.<\/p>\n

Hindus are murdered in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

Mormons were hunted and killed as they fled west.<\/p>\n

The list of atrocities is too long to confront.<\/p>\n

God Forbid (literally) that one has any sort of religion in China. Ask any Falun Gong followers and they will tell you about the horrors of being incarcerated and shocked in psychiatric hospitals and where women are forced to abort babies.<\/p>\n

The list of atrocities is too long to confront.<\/p>\n

The year 1954 marked the arrival of the newest world religion, Scientology.<\/p>\n

And like all great religions, it is attacked, lied about and vilified.<\/p>\n

As a Scientologist, I don\u2019t take it seriously. At least I am not fighting for my life, and as the saying goes, stick and stones\u2026 and so forth.<\/p>\n

\"Scientology
Scientology Volunteer Ministers providing relief after Hurricane Harvey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I know who I am and I know my friends. We are the good guys. We are the people who drop everything to go for weeks to Texas after\u00a0Hurricane Harvey<\/a>\u00a0to provide succor to those who are suffering.<\/p>\n

We are the ones who give of ourselves to\u00a0aid those struggling with drug addiction<\/a>, and\u00a0teach the young one<\/a>s before they even think of starting down that road.<\/p>\n

We are the ones who travel the world to\u00a0teach others human rights<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0morality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Scientologists
Scientologists encourages a child to pledge to live drug-free.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We are the people who do all we can to make the world a better place.<\/p>\n

And I have plenty of friends who are non-Scientologists who know these facts about us.<\/p>\n

I also know that those who attack people of good character are people with things to hide, with skeletons in their closets.<\/p>\n

I have discovered through the school of hard knocks that the louder the false accuser, the bigger their crime.<\/p>\n

So next time you hear someone making outlandish claims against\u00a0Scientology and Scientologists<\/a>, ask yourself this simple question: what have those people done that they don\u2019t want the rest of us to know?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A blog on religious persecution and the real source of discrimination against Scientology or any other religion, by Scientologist Sandra Lucas, published courtesy of\u00a0 STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination) where it first appeared. Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, a senator and historian of the Roman Empire, described the Christians in 64 AD as a \u201cclass hated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1265,1290,1308,1457,1374],"tags":[1266,1285,3],"class_list":["post-4089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discrimination","category-drug-prevention","category-scientology-humanitarian-campaigns","category-scientology-volunteer-ministers","category-stand","tag-discrimination","tag-religious-persecution","tag-scientology"],"yoast_head":"\nReligious Persecution Is As Old As\u2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A blog on religious persecution and the real source of discrimination against Scientology or any other religion, by Scientologist Sandra Lucas, published courtesy of\u00a0 STAND (Scientologists Taking Action 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