Persecution?

Reading Sparki's post from last Friday regarding Abdul Rahman and his fate in the hands of the Afghan government for his conversion to Christianity, got me to thinking along with her in regards to the "persecution" we Americans, particularly the religious, perceive ourselves to be under at times. This subject is especially in the forefront of my mind as I began reading Four Witnesses by Rod Bennet over the weekend. The trials, tribulations and the persecutions that the early Church were under on a daily basis make our supposed troubles look pathetic. True, we must always be vigilant to assure that our rights are not taken away by the secular politicians, press, etc., but come on...we have it easy. The last time I checked there were no Coliseums serving Christians to the lions daily; no Nero's, etc. I finished reading Forgotten Catholic Heroes on Thursday night, so perhaps I've just got martyrdom on the brain. Yet I cannot help but muse at how quickly those of us who benefitted from the trials and struggles of our ancestors so quickly resort to hyperbole whenever a perceived injustice is thrown at us. One only need to look at the constant cries of "It's Selma all over again" by those "civil" rights leaders who profit mightily from it, or "It's Florida 2000 all over again!" by disgruntled Democrat voters in New Orleans, etc., etc., etc.

Again...we must all be vigilant so that we do not revert back to those eras of injustice as history does repeat itself if left unchecked. But Sparki makes a good point in the end: does suffering a paint scratch on our pro-life bumper sticker, or does getting a sneer from a co-worker, or (my personal favorite) does getting screamed at by a hysterically unbalanced person in his car at 11:30pm while praying a rosary outside of Planned Parenthood add up to being persecuted? In today's overly-litigious and touchy-feely society I suppose it does. But I suspect that Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch or Justin Martyr and there fellow Christians of the first and second century would beg to differ.