Jamie Foxx Calls Obama 'Our Lord and Savior,' Was that appropriate? (If you missed it, click on the pic and hear it for yourself.

Okay, perhaps you might enjoy taking a look at the status of Christianity, by Romans, in the first century CE.


Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan

It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. For who can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the more mature; whether pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the offenses associated with the name are to be punished.

Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished. There were others possessed of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to be transferred to Rome.

Soon accusations spread, as usually happens, because of the proceedings going on, and several incidents occurred. An anonymous document was published containing the names of many persons. Those who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ--none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do--these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.

They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food--but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition.

I therefore postponed the investigation and hastened to consult you. For the matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms. But it seems possible to check and cure it. It is certainly quite clear that the temples, which had been almost deserted, have begun to be frequented, that the established religious rites, long neglected, are being resumed, and that from everywhere sacrificial animals are coming, for which until now very few purchasers could be found. Hence it is easy to imagine what a multitude of people can be reformed if an opportunity for repentance is afforded.




Seutonius
Punishment by Nero was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition.


Tacitus:
Yet no human effort, no princely largess nor offerings to the gods could make that infamous rumor disappear that
Nero had somehow ordered the fire. Therefore, in order to abolish that rumor, Nero falsely accused and executed
with the most exquisite punishments those people called Christians, who were infamous for their abominations.
The originator of the name, Christ, was executed as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of
Tiberius; and though repressed, this destructive superstition erupted again, not only through Judea, which was the
origin of this evil, but also through the city of Rome, to which all that is horrible and shameful floods together and
is celebrated.
Therefore, first those were seized who admitted their faith, and then, using the information they provided, a vast
multitude were convicted, not so much for the crime of burning the city, but for hatred of the human race. And
perishing they were additionally made into sports: they were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to
them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime
lamps.
Nero gave his own gardens for this spectacle and performed a Circus game, in the habit of a charioteer mixing with
the plebs or driving about the race-course. Even though they were clearly guilty and merited being made the most
recent example of the consequences of crime, people began to pity these sufferers, because they were consumed not
for the public good but on account of the fierceness of one man.

No, Moon was convicted of filing false federal income tax returns. In fact, the Unification church is still practiced. In fact the "church" he established is still in existance in the US and the federal government has helped it, more than it has helped mainstream churches


Wikipedia:

Since 2008, US government has provided aid in planning, development and coordination of the Global Peace Festival[57] of the Unification Church. Georgetown University students took part in it, among many.[58][59] UC held youth events in collaboration with UN-HABITAT and The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Kenya.[60][61] Year later, 5 representatives of the Unification Church (Universal Peace Federation) attended an annual (international ministerial-level) session of UN-HABITAT in its headquarters.[62] In April Moon, then 88 years old, appointed his youngest son, Hyung Jin Moon, to be the leader of the church and movement, saying, "I hope everyone helps him so that he may fulfil his duty as the successor of the True Parents."[63]

Main article: United States v. Sun Myung Moon
United States v. Sun Myung Moon

In 1982, Moon was convicted in the United States of filing false federal income tax returns and conspiracy. His conviction was upheld on appeal in a split decision. Moon was given an 18-month sentence and a $15,000 fine. He served 13 months of the sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury before being released on good behavior to a halfway house.[53]

The case was the center of national freedom of religion and free speech debates.[54] Prof. Laurence H. Tribe of the Harvard University Law School argued that the trial by jury had "doomed (Moon) to conviction based on religious prejudice."[55] The American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A, the National Council of Churches, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference filed briefs in support of Moon. [56] Many notable clergy, including Jerry Falwell and Joseph Lowery, signed petitions protesting the government's case and spoke out in defense of Moon.[57][58]