John 16:3

These things they will do... because they have not known the Father or me.

This ignorance of God and Christ lies at the root of all spirit of persecution. Could the tender love of God as revealed in the Son, his long suffering and compassion, be known, it would end all intolerance. The hard-hearted, cruel and exacting, whatever they may pretend, do not believe in the true God and the Son. They may believe in some being whom they call God, but it is not the God who "so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son to save the world." They may believe in. being they call Christ, but it is not the tender, loving and compassionate Savior who taught, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." All intolerance is born of spiritual pride, selfishness and self-worship. The Pharisees, the most bigoted and self-righteous sect of the Jewish nation, were the bitterest opposers of Christ. The Papal church, which has held that salvation was only found within its fold, has always been. persecuting body wherever it was in power.