I see where you are coming from ... the challenge is that when we look at how Christians are persecuted in the world, it matches up ... denial of access to Scripture, denial of freedom to worship ... with this twist: because the humanity of Africans was denied, that made it possible for Christians to justify persecuting other people of the same faith with the same cruelty that Christians are persecuted in other countries now. It's not just religion -- but being a fellow Christian is no defense against the cruelty people who claim Christ were and are practicing. AGAIN: right now, there are big-time Christian preachers teaching their people that I can't be a Christian because I might vote Democrat on Tuesday -- that actually crosses race, and will allow certain Christians to justify themselves in mistreating -- you guess it -- fellow Christians of any race. Any Catholic who knows American history can tell you: it's not just race. It's a pool of people who claim Christ and think He left them as the gatekeepers to who can pass His gates -- enough of them have been in power so that YES, the U.S. has viciously persecuted millions of Christians under various pretexts.