Originally posted by Ullr
Oh well now that's original. Yeah let's have a discussion about the USA's horrendous record of persecution.
From a religious standpoint this country was founded upon the concept of religous freedom. Was it not persecuted Christians that left Europe and settled in the New World to escape religous persecution?
Really, what are you babbling on about?
i see you have nothing to say with regard to the fine record of those who were persecuted under the Nazis, who rather than take up arms in respect of Christ and the sanctity of life, refused to war on their Christian brothers and walked the walk. why is that? are you unaware, perhaps you dont know anything about it? are the Americans so uniformed that they do not know what happens in the outside world? have you been outside of your own country? perhaps your own state then?
extract from wikipedia
Throughout the history of Jehovah's Witnesses, their beliefs, doctrines and practices have engendered controversy and opposition from governments, communities, or religious groups. Many Christian denominations consider their interpretation and doctrines to be heresy. Thus some religious leaders have accused Jehovah's Witnesses of being a cult. Members of the religion have also met with objection by governments for refusing to serve in the military, particularly in times of war. Many individuals view their door-to-door proselytizing as intrusive. These issues have at times led to persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States.
Political and religious animosity against them has at times led to mob action and government oppression, in countries such as the United States, Canada and Nazi Germany. According to the eminent jurist Archibald Cox, in the United States, the Witnesses were "
the principal victims of religious persecution... in the twentieth century... Although founded earlier, they began to attract attention and provoke repression in the 1930s, when their proselytizing and numbers rapidly increased"
This opposition so enraged local authorities, the American Legion, and other protectors of patriotism that the Witnesses were the only group during the World War II period to endure the kind of vigilante violence that had been so prevalent during World War I.
Mob attacks upon Witnesses occurred in 335 communities in 44 different states in the six months running from May to October 1940 alone. Many of the injured were women and children.
In 1940, the Court ruled in an 8-1 decision that a school district's interest in creating national unity was sufficient to allow them to require students to salute the flag. The Supreme Court's Gobitis decision unleashed a wave of virulent anti-Jehovah's Witness persecution across the nation. Lillian Gobitas later characterized the violence as
“open season on Jehovah’s Witnesses.” The American Civil Liberties Union recorded 1,488 attacks on the Witnesses in over 300 communities between May 1940 and October 1940.
One Southern sheriff told a reporter why Witnesses were being run out of town: "They're traitors; the Supreme Court says so. Ain't you heard?"
Angry mobs assaulted Witnesses, destroyed their property, boycotted their businesses and vandalized their houses of worship. Less than a week after the court decision, a Kingdom Hall was stormed and torched in Kennebunk, Maine.
American Legion posts harassed Witnesses nationwide. At Klamath Falls, Oregon, the American Legion started to harass the Witnesses assembled with requests to salute the flag and buy war bonds. Then they attacked the Witnesses and besieged the hall, breaking windows, tossing in stink bombs, ammonia and burning kerosene rags. The Witnesses' cars were disabled and many overturned. The Governor was compelled to call out the state militia to quell the mob which reached 1,000 at its peak. Witness missionaries were chased and beaten by vigilantes in Texas. Their literature was confiscated and even burned.
would you like some more? there are literaly hundreds of such accounts, perhaps you may live in a vacuum, it does not mean that others also are in this state of inebriation.
land of freedom from persecution, my goodness you people must buy your culture in a jar! next time you post, feel your bum and check your vital signs.
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