Those who persecute are those who turn to or condone violence against minority religions. People like Steve Hassan, Margaret Singer and Rick Ross, write bigoted books like Mein Kampf and, like Hitler, persecute new religious movements. Hassan, Singer, Ross and many other bigots testify in courts of law to send leaders and members to jail and have the goal of ultimately crushing the organizations they have determined as abusive. Countries like Germany and Japan even have banned some minority religions. The key to understanding persecution is to understand the nature of religion and the nature of violence.
Religions often ask for vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
The lifestyle of religious people has always gone against the grain. Religious pioneers are usually the most non-conformist of all. They demand sacrifice. Hassan and his ignorant friends haven't got a clue to what religion is and therefore make the same mistakes persecutors have done for thousands of years. Every one is to be accountable for his own actions, and no man is to be laid under a suspicion or odium for the fault of another.