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In spite of the widely held belief that violence is antithetical to Christ's teachings, some Christian adherents have at times persecuted, [[tortured]], and killed others over doctrinal and ethnic differences. Few would deny the role of Christianity in the [[Crusades]], the [[Inquisition]], and the [[Witch hunts]] that acted as a means to exterminate nonchristians between the [[Dark Ages]] and the early settlement of the USA. [[Anti-Semitism]], which remains in some denominations today, has also been a powerful force at various times in Christian history, sometimes resulting in great violence.
<!--Just because persecution is based on doctrin or scripture does not make it any less persecution-->Some Christians in the United States, even today, have actively persecuted minorities such as [[Atheist]], [[Pagan]]s, and [[Homosexual]]s. [[Atheist]] are far less persecuted in the west today than they were in the mid-19th century but Atheist still suffer some forms of persecution in America. In fact the former United States president George Bush Sr, in response to a question by Robert Sherman, said "I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God." This Statement is considered by Atheist to be persecution against them by the highest executive authority in the United States. [[Homosexual]]s are also still persecuted by some denominations, with slogans such as "[[God Hates Fags]]" and even violence.<!--Two direct examples of religious persecution (The quote by George Bush Sr. and the God Hates Fags movement) have been given. These are direct examples of persecution by self proclaimed christians, making them relevant to the issue of Christian persecution. These facts will be represented in the article as examples of persecution. Removing them will be percieved as an attempt to whitewash active Persecution by some christian groups, directly inspired by a POV--> Some Christians in the west strongly oppose allowing [[homosexual]]s equal rights, such as the right to marry, the right to [[adopt]] children, the right to employment in positions of authority (such as the teaching profession), and minority protection from [[hate crimes]].
Conflicts within Christianity itself have led to persecutions of one Christian group by another. [[Protestantism|Protestants]], [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholics]] and other Christians have persecuted each other. In the second half of the [[20th century]] the violent conflict between armed political groups among the [[Unionists (Ireland)|unionist]] and [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] communities in [[Northern Ireland]] carried a strong element of [[sectarianism]] between Protestants and Roman Catholics.
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