It may seem so in the United States, but we Christians here have had it so easy. We consider it persecution if someone says something askance about our religion. Certainly, we have some examples of this, the art exhibit in the Bronx with the Blessed Virgin covered with elephant dung, crucifixes in urine, and all sorts of blasphemous art. I think not. The Christian Religion has always been about persuasion, not coercion.
Real persecution does exist in the world.
Men, women and children sold into slavery in the Sudan because they are Christian, many who have given their lives in this century for the defense of the faith in Africa and Asia. There was real persecution of Christians in the Communist countries behind the Iron Curtain before it fell. The story of Thomas Becket tells us of the state trying to overrule the Church in matter of justice and the exercise of the church's rights. Thomas gave his life in defense of the common people and was remembered as their champion. Little wonder Henry VIII destroyed his shrine quickly.