The word persecution is being mentioned a lot these days. Over the past year there has been an enormous increase in televised violence, murder, verbal and physical abuse committed by multiple groups across the world who seek to persecute others or are being persecuted. The media has saturated the airwaves, and the cyber-sphere has sent a flood of digital downloads presenting episode after episode of people being maligned, physically or mentally abused for a variety of reasons. Consider these examples:
30 Coptic Christians beheaded in Libya by ISIS- Muslim on Muslim atrocities
- Individual persons being beheaded by Islamic terrorist groups for being considered infidels
- Violence against homosexuals
- The LGBT community protesting sometimes intensely what they feel is a violation of their civil rights by conservative groups to practice their self-described sexual orientation
- Hatred of America by anarchist militias
- The so-called “war on women’ being promoted by feminists’ groups to Bible believing Christians upholding a biblical view of marriage in a pizza parlor in Wisconsin.
Being reviled, hated or maligned for a multitude of reasons seems to be on the rise. The most common word in the New Testament for persecution is the Greek verb dioko which means to hunt down, harass, mistreat or abuse. It can vary from verbal threats to physical/emotional abuse to severe beating to murder. Continue Reading →
