#persecution

Persecution is the first law of society because it is always easier to suppress criticism than to meet it. ↗

— Howard Mumford Jones

#because #criticism #easier #first #first law

Religious tolerance is something we should all practice; however, there have been more persecution and atrocities committed in the name of religion and religious freedom than anything else. ↗

— Walter Koenig

#atrocities #been #committed #else #freedom

Once you attempt legislation upon religious grounds, you open the way for every kind of intolerance and religious persecution. ↗

— William Butler Yeats

#every #grounds #intolerance #kind #legislation

Continuous persecution of widows and orphans is a crime. Even the Bible says there is a specific place in hell for those who oppress widows. ↗

— Imelda Marcos

#continuous #crime #even #hell #oppress

The dictum that truth always triumphs over persecution is one of the pleasant falsehoods which men repeat after one another till they pass into commonplaces, but which all experience refutes. ↗

— John Stuart Mill

#always #another #commonplaces #dictum #experience

The truth is, the secular world isn't too enamored with Jesus. And they're not too enamored with someone who is leading people to Jesus. So if you're out there talking about people's sins, and you're talking about righteousness, you will get pushback. Jesus Himself did. The apostles did. I mean, there's persecution all up and down the line. ↗

— Pat Robertson

#apostles #did #down #enamored #get

The Christians tried to separate themselves from the Jewish crowd so they wouldn't be the recipients of the persecution of the Romans. And the way they did it was to say, the Jews killed our hero too. And so Christians began to define themselves over against the orthodox party of the Jews as a way of surviving against the Roman onslaught. ↗

— John Shelby Spong

#began #christians #crowd #define #did

I never saw, heard, nor read, that the clergy were beloved in any nation where Christianity was the religion of the country. Nothing can render them popular, but some degree of persecution. ↗

— Jonathan Swift

#beloved #christianity #clergy #country #degree

It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists' ] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy. ↗

— Richard Wurmbrand

#courage #persecution #preaching #courage

If outside forces and culture were the reasons behind declining and non-influential churches, we would likely have no churches today. The greatest periods of growth, particularly the first-century growth, took place in adversarial cultures. We are not hindered by external forces; we are hindered by our own lack of commitment and selflessness. ↗

— Thom S. Rainer

#persecution #attitude