I posted this on Gather.com, thought you guys might like to read it.  

For many years Christians have used the alleged persecution of christ and christians to show their struggle and hardship in trying to worship their god in peace. They state that for 300 years in Roman times they were persecuted and killed for their beliefs. Is this true or just religious propaganda? Does being persecuted for your beliefs mean that your beliefs are somehow validated? That seems to be what christians would like us to believe.

Let’s take a moment to talk about what christians call the persecution of their religion. To understand where this all began we must start at the beginning. It all started with Jesus himself and the way he spread the word of god. You must also understand what life was like in Rome in these times.

Rome was a structured society with laws, public services, branches of government, and was probably the most civilized place on earth at that time. Christians would have us believe that it was a barbaric time but history shows that is not the case. They had sewer systems, fresh water delivery systems, sports arenas, paved streets, businesses, a roman form of stock market, book stores, shoe stores, banking, and most of the things you’d expect to find in any city in the U.S. As you can imagine a complicated society such as this had lawyers, bankers, senators, magistrates, business owners, landlords, and tenants.

Keeping Rome a peaceful society was a difficult task and was the responsibility of the Praetorian Guard, the roman police force. It was thier job to combat street gangs and to deal with rioting. The military was not allowed to enter the city, at least not as an organized uniformed group. In times of war the Praetorian Guard would become part of the army but only as parts of other units. Outside of Rome but in roman territories, police work was mostly in the hands of the military.

The religious beliefs in Roman times were very flexible. It was widely understood that each individual in Rome believed in the god or gods of their choice. Privately you could worship any god you choose including the christian god if applicable. Publicly it was mostly the Roman gods that were worshiped and had statues or temples built for them. It was a peaceful coexistence of peoples religious beliefs. Freedom of and from religion.

So what happened that caused Jesus to be so persecuted. Was it because Romans did not like their god? Was it because Romans did not want christians to have their own religion? Of course not. The truth is they didn’t care what religion a person chose to believe. It was simply not important. As long as you don’t insult their religion they didn’t care what you did in the privacy of your own home.

This is where the propaganda stops and the truth begins. You see ‘Jesus’ and eventually his followers were not satisfied with practicing their religion quietly in the privacy of their own homes. Jesus would go to a busy intersection in Rome or in a Roman territory, and preach his religion. This however was not the problem, the problem is that he would tell the general public that their gods were fake gods and that there was only one god, the christian god.

You can imagine the problems this caused. The general public either react by engaging in a public debate or they would complain to the Praetorian Guards and the guard would force Jesus and his followers to move along and stop causing a civil disturbance. The more followers of christianity there were the more of a problem this became. The christians would simply move on to a new area and start the civil unrest all over again.

Since the christians kept disobeying the authorities the Praeterian Guards and Soldiers had to take harsher measures. They started with fines and imprisonment. The christians took this as a sign of persecution. The roman ‘police’ saw this as nothing more than civil disturbances and did not care about their religious beliefs.

Believing this was a sign of persecution the christians did not stop but in fact increased their disturbances. The ‘police’ had no choice but to take harsher actions to stop these civil disturbances. They started using banishment, corporal punishment, and threats of death. It wasn’t until the 3rd Century that the Roman government began to pass laws against christians.

Again the christians continued to play the victim and continued to disrupt society and insult all other religions. Jesus and his followers were given yet another warning that if they did not cease their actions they would be put to death. Jesus believing he was the son of a god did not fear death and believed it would make his followers believe even more if he were killed.

After the death of Jesus the christians went underground as they did not have the same lack of fear from death as Jesus. The problem of public neucance however was not quite solved but they were forced to hide in the shadows and chose their ‘victims’ more carefully. The methods had changed but not the mission.

Christians claim that for 300 years they were persecuted. In fact christians were given more leniency for their crimes in those 300 years than they would ever be given today.

I am an atheist and I live in Texas. If I went to a busy street corner in a major city in Texas and preached atheism do you think I would be embraced with open arms as the christians believe they should have been in Roman times or do you think I would be threatened with arrest if I did not go home. If I simply moved to a different part of the city then I’m sure the same thing would happen. Eventually word would get around and the next time the police would not just tell me to move on they would imprison me and charge me with a minor offense. I would serve my time, pay a fine and be released.

So here I am back on another street corner maybe in a different city preaching atheism yet again. This time when the police arrive they check my I.D. and see that I have already served time in jail for the same offense. This time I get no warning just off to jail I go. This time because it is my second offense I get even more jail time, pay a fine and get released.

So here I am again… new street corner, new city, same old song and dance. By this time I’ve made the evening news. I get spotted before I even set up my soap box. I start in with my anti-religious rant and sure enough Woop! Woop! The police arrive. This time however it’s not just a minor offense, because this is my third charge for the same crime I am charged with a felony. This time I must sell my house to pay my legal fees and in the end I still serve time in jail only for a much longer period of time. I serve 2 years and again I am released on parole this time.

Well you’d think I’d have learned by now but here I am… in another city, on yet another corner. I actually think twice about it this time. Am I really doing any good? I seem to be spending more time away from the people I’m trying to reach than with them. But I really really believe I’m right so here we go again… Ok cops show up, this time I’m breaking my parole by committing a crime. I am immediately sent back to prison and charged yet again with another felony and even more time.

I could go on with this but needless to say if I keep breaking the law I will lose my life just as Jesus did. Maybe I won’t be crucified, maybe I’ll just be raped repeatedly and victimized in prison for the rest of my life but the outcome is the same. Personally I think I’d take the 30 minutes of pain and torture over a lifetime of it. Jesus doesn't know how good he had it.

Maybe it would be worth it. Maybe if I wrote a book and preached to the other prisoners in jail that my beliefs would spread even after I die in prison. Maybe I’d be remembered as the son of no god. Think about it, someday, hundreds of years from now someone might hit their thumb with a hammer and use my name in vane. I too could be a household curse word.

Naaaah… I’m smarter than Jesus. I can get my point across without breaking any laws. I don’t have to get myself killed and others along with me to do that.

So now comes the RRS, the Rational Response Squad. Corny name I admit but I’m sure having a mexican name in Jerusalem 2000 years ago didn’t go over so well either. The RRS aren’t breaking any laws, they didn’t force their way on to fox news and blaspheme their viewers gods against their wills. Are they causing civil unrest? It’s early yet. The jury is still out but we can only hope.

Right now the RRS are in the early stages of the twelve step persecution complex. The commoners are complaining to the Praterian Gaurds (Youtube, Gather) asking for the rebel rousers to be removed from the street corner (website) where they are being disruptive. They have yet to be banished from the Internet. YET!

Well if being persecuted validates my beliefs then I guess I’m right after all. I mean I only have about a million or more pieces of evidence proving that evolution is true. Zero pieces of evidence that religions are true. Isn’t it funny how all religions require faith but offer not one shred of proof. Funny how that works ain’t it.

In conclusion, I accept your persecution as it brings me closer to Jesus.

God Bless the RRS!