Persecution is ancient history (NC-17)

... and persecution continues today.  It spreads broadly, and note the persecution of Christians and Shiites by ISIS.  Adults and children have been abducted, raped, beheaded, crucified, and worse because they didn't profess the right religion.  

The Obama administration has formally recognized the genocide.  

(CNN)  Secretary of State John Kerry said on April 15th that the United States has determined ISIS' action against the Yazidis and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria constitutes genocide.  "My purpose here today is to assert in my judgment, (ISIS) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims," he said, during a news conference at the State Department.

Kerry said that in 2014, ISIS trapped Yazidis, killed them, enslaved thousands of Yazidi women and girls, "selling them at auction, raping them at will and destroying the communities in which they had lived for countless generations," executed Christians "solely for their faith" and also "forced Christian women and girls into slavery."

'Hundreds' of Yazidi women killing themselves in ISIS captivity

ISIS 'forced pregnant Yazidi women to have abortions'

Persecution in practice is an extraordinary wickedness that permeates today's world.  It must not be confused with simple crime or conflict. It is inhumanly perverse and requires an appropriate response.