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123-532: Under Richards, the organization focused mainly on education, but under the leadership of Samantha Smoot (1998–2004), it broadened its focus to include hate crimes and gay rights . As of July 2023, Val Benavidez is the president. The TFN has opposed the attempts of Don McLeroy and other religious conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education to mandate that Texas high schools offer Bible classes and change history textbook standards, arguing that many of

246-751: A bias crime ) is crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group . Examples of such groups can include, and are almost exclusively limited to race , ethnicity , disability , language , nationality , physical appearance , political views , political affiliation , age , religion , sex , gender identity , or sexual orientation . Non-criminal actions that are motivated by these reasons are often called " bias incidents ". Incidents may involve physical assault, homicide , damage to property, bullying , harassment , verbal abuse (which includes slurs) or insults , mate crime , or offensive graffiti or letters ( hate mail ). In

369-496: A Christian required daily courage, "with the radical choice of Christ or the world being forced upon the believer in countless ways". "Christian attendance at civic festivals, athletic games, and theatrical performances were fraught with danger, since in addition to the 'sinful frenzy' and 'debauchery' aroused, each was held in honor of pagan deities. Various occupations and careers were regarded as inconsistent with Christian principles, most notably military service and public office,

492-410: A crime in a special category. Other scholars trace the precedent for killing Christians to Nero. Barnes explains that, though there was no Roman law, there was "ample precedent for suppressing foreign superstitions" prior to Nero. Precedent was based on the strong feeling that only the ancestral Gods ought to be worshipped. Such feeling could "acquire the force of law", since the ancestral customs –

615-561: A crime, that was generally known at that time. Herbert Musurillo, translator and scholar of The Acts of the Christian martyr's Introduction says Ste. Croix asserted the governor's special powers were all that was needed. Due to the informal and personality-driven nature of the Roman legal system , nothing "other than a prosecutor" (an accuser, including a member of the public, not only a holder of an official position), "a charge of Christianity, and

738-423: A governor willing to punish on that charge" was required to bring a legal case against a Christian. Roman law was largely concerned with property rights, leaving many gaps in criminal and public law. Thus the process cognition extra ordinem ("special investigation") filled the legal void left by both code and court. All provincial governors had the right to run trials in this way as part of their imperium in

861-610: A heightened sense of vulnerability towards future victimization. In many ways, hate crime victimization can be reminder to victims of their marginalized status in society, and for immigrants or refugees, may also serve to make them relive the violence that drove them to seek refuge in another country. A 1999 U.S. study of lesbian and gay victims of violent hate crimes documented that they experienced higher levels of psychological distress, including symptoms of depression and anxiety , than lesbian and gay victims of comparable crimes which were not motivated by antigay bias. A manual issued by

984-528: A misconception that the law addressed hate crimes more generally as opposed to incitement in particular. In 2019, a UN rappourteur told Irish representatives at the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination , meeting at UN Geneva , to introduce new hate crime legislation to combat the low prosecution rate for offences under the 1989 act – particularly for online hate speech – and lack of training for

1107-605: A need to incorporate biases and ideological factors. Hate crime laws generally fall into one of several categories: Since 2006, with the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime , most signatories to that Convention – mostly members of the Council of Europe – committed to punish as a crime racist and xenophobic hate speech done through the internet . Discriminatory acts constituting harassment or infringement of

1230-527: A new superstition without the authorization of the Roman state. Bryant agrees, adding, "This situation is strikingly illustrated in the famous correspondence between Emperor Trajan (98-117) and Pliny the Younger". Trajan's correspondence with Pliny does indeed show that Christians were being executed for being Christian before AD 110, yet Pliny's letters also show there was no empire–wide Roman law, making Christianity

1353-552: A part of it, but the Roman religious practice of adopting foreign gods and practices into its pantheon did not apply equally to all gods: "Many divinities were brought to Rome and installed as part of the Roman state religion, but a great many more were not". This characteristic openness has led many, such as Ramsay MacMullen to say that in its process of expansion, the Roman Empire was "completely tolerant, in heaven as on earth", but to also go on and immediately add: "That [tolerance]

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1476-522: A penalty-enhancement for crimes involving discrimination on the basis of gender, supposed race, color, descent, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, civil status, birth, fortune, age, religious or philosophical beliefs, current or future state of health and handicap or physical features. The Act also "provides for a civil remedy to address discrimination." The Act, along with the Act of 20 January 2003 ("on strengthening legislation against racism"), requires

1599-713: A penalty-enhancement statute for reasons like repeating a crime, being especially cruel, using others' helpless states, playing a leading role in a crime, or committing a crime with racist, xenophobic or especially reprehensible motivation (Penal Code section 33(5)). Austria is a party to the Convention on Cybercrime, but not the Additional Protocol. Azerbaijan has a penalty-enhancement statute for crimes motivated by racial, national, or religious hatred (Criminal Code Article 61). Murder and infliction of serious bodily injury motivated by racial, religious, national, or ethnic intolerance are distinct crimes (Article 111). Azerbaijan

1722-538: A person's dignity on the basis of origin, citizenship, race, religion, or gender (Penal Code Article 313). Courts have cited bias-based motivation in delivering sentences, but there is no explicit penalty enhancement provision in the Criminal Code. The government does not track hate crime statistics, although they are relatively rare. Armenia has a penalty-enhancement statute for crimes with ethnic, racial, or religious motives (Criminal Code Article 63). Austria has

1845-781: A recently published EU "Report on Racism" finds that racially motivated attacks are frequent in Germany, identifying 18,142 incidences for 2006, of which 17,597 were motivated by right-wing ideologies, both about a 14% year-by-year increase. Relative to the size of the population, this represents an eightfold higher rate of hate crimes than reported in the US during the same period. Awareness of hate crimes in Germany remains low. Article Law 927/1979 "Section 1,1 penalises incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence towards individuals or groups because of their racial, national or religious origin, through public written or oral expressions; Section 1,2 prohibits

1968-491: A relatively high level. Terrorists' most persuasive message is that of fear; a primary and strong emotion, fear increases risk estimates and has distortive effects on the perception of ordinary Muslims. Widespread Islamophobic prejudice seems to contribute to anti-Muslim hate crimes, but indirectly; terrorist attacks and intensified Islamophobic prejudice serve as a window of opportunity for extremist groups and networks. Sociologists Jack McDevitt and Jack Levin 's 2002 study into

2091-666: A report by Southern Methodist University biblical scholar Mark A. Chancey , which found: a blatant sectarian bias, distortions of history and science, numerous factual errors, poor sourcing reveal a curriculum that is clearly inappropriate for the 1,000 public schools the NCBCPS claims use its materials. In a survey commissioned by TFN, "94% of Texas scientists indicated that claimed 'weaknesses' of evolution are not valid scientific objections to evolution (with 87% saying that they 'strongly disagree' that such weaknesses should be considered valid)." Hate crimes A hate crime (also known

2214-517: A set of religious practices that were not only different, but corrosive to society, "disturbing a man's mind in such a way that he is really going insane" and causing him to lose humanitas (humanity). The persecution of "superstitious" sects was hardly unheard-of in Roman history: an unnamed foreign cult was persecuted during a drought in 428 BC, some initiates of the Bacchic cult were executed when deemed out-of-hand in 186 BC, and measures were taken against

2337-485: A synthesis of these theories provides a more well-rounded scope of the motivations behind hate crimes, where he explains that social, cultural, and individual factors interact to elicit the violence behavior of individuals with low self-control. Additionally, psychological perspectives within the realm of behaviorism have also contributed to theoretical explanations for the motivations of hate crimes particularly as it relates to conditioning and social learning. For instance,

2460-537: Is "scant" evidence of martyrdom when using Roman Law as the measure. Historian Joseph Plescia asserts that the first evidence of Roman law concerning Christians is that of Trajan. T. D. Barnes and Ste. Croix both argue there was no Roman law concerning the Christians before Decius and the third century; Barnes agrees that the central fact of the juridical basis of the persecutions is Trajan's rescript to Pliny; after Trajan's rescript, (if not before), Christianity became

2583-510: Is a law intended to deter bias-motivated violence. Hate crime laws are distinct from laws against hate speech : hate crime laws enhance the penalties associated with conduct which is already criminal under other laws, while hate speech laws criminalize a category of speech . Hate speech is a factor for sentencing enhancement in the United States, distinct from laws that criminalize speech. The term "hate crime" came into common usage in

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2706-510: Is a party to the Convention on Cybercrime, but not the Additional Protocol. Belarus has a penalty-enhancement statute for crimes motivated by racial, national, and religious hatred and discord. Belgium 's Act of 25 February 2003 ("aimed at combating discrimination and modifying the Act of 15 February 1993 which establishes the Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight against Racism ") establishes

2829-526: Is covered under the Indian Penal Code. The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 created the offence of inciting hatred against a group of persons on account of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the Traveller community (an indigenous minority group), or sexual orientation. Frustration at the low number of prosecutions (18 by 2011) was attributed to

2952-439: Is criminalized and carries a fine or a prison sentence of not more than two years. The prosecution need not prove that an actual danger to an ethnic group is caused but only that malicious message is conveyed. A more aggravated hate crime, warmongering ( Finnish : sotaan yllyttäminen ), carries a prison sentence of one to ten years. However, in case of warmongering, the prosecution must prove an overt act that evidently increases

3075-408: Is generally agreed that from Nero's reign until Decius 's widespread measures in 250, Christian persecution was isolated and localized. Although it is often claimed that Christians were persecuted for their refusal to worship the emperor, general dislike for Christians likely arose from their refusal to worship the gods of Rome which many of the emperors claimed to be or take part in sacrifice, which

3198-777: Is highly associated with white suppression of African Americans in the South, and periods of weak or nonexistent police authority , as in certain frontier areas of the Old West . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the violence against people of Chinese origin significantly increased on the background of accusation of spreading the virus.  In May 2020, the Polish-based "NEVER AGAIN" Association published its report titled The Virus of Hate: The Brown Book of Epidemic , that documented numerous acts of racism, xenophobia , and discrimination that occurred in

3321-480: Is inadmissible in criminal law, sanctionable motivations being exhaustively enumerated. Although Danish law does not include explicit hate crime provisions, "section 80(1) of the Criminal Code instructs courts to take into account the gravity of the offence and the offender's motive when meting out penalty, and therefore to attach importance to the racist motive of crimes in determining sentence." In recent years judges have used this provision to increase sentences on

3444-579: Is no one theory that can completely account for hate-motived crimes. However, Mark Austin Walters previously attempted to synthesize three interdisciplinary theories to account for the behavior of hate-crime offenders: 1. Strain Theory : suggests that hate crimes are motivated by perceived economic and material inequality, which results in differential attitudes towards outsiders who may be viewed as “straining” already scarce resources. An example of this can be seen in

3567-502: Is no systematic monitoring or data collection on discrimination in Georgia." The German Criminal Code does not have hate crime legislation, instead, it criminalizes hate speech under a number of different laws, including Volksverhetzung . In the German legal framework motivation is not taken into account while identifying the element of the offence. However, within the sentencing procedure

3690-481: Is seen as coming from the much older Republican principle that it was a capital offense to introduce a new superstition without the authorization of the Roman state. Sherwin-White adds that this theory might explain persecution in Rome, but it fails to explain it in the provinces. For that, a second theory is needed. The second theory, which originated with German scholars, and is the best-known theory to English readers,

3813-443: Is that of coercion (curtailment). It holds that Christians were punished by Roman governors through the ordinary use of their power to keep order because Christians had introduced "an alien cult which induced 'national apostasy', [and] the abandonment of the traditional Roman religion. Others substituted for this a general aversion to the established order and disobedience to constituted authority. All of [this] school seem to envisage

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3936-475: The Mos maiorum – were the most important source of Roman law. In Joseph Bryant's view, "Nero's mass executions ... set [such] a precedent, and thereafter the mere fact of 'being a Christian' was sufficient for state officials to impose capital punishment". Barnes says "Keresztes, goes so far as to claim that 'there is today an almost general agreement that the Christians, under normal circumstances, were not tried on

4059-680: The Battle of Edessa during the Roman–Persian Wars . His successor, Gallienus ( r.  253–268 ), halted the persecutions. The Augustus Diocletian ( r.  283–305 ) began the Diocletianic persecution , the final general persecution of Christians, which continued to be enforced in parts of the empire until the Augustus Galerius ( r.  305–311 ) issued the Edict of Serdica and

4182-686: The Garda Síochána on racially-motivated crimes. The rapporteur's points came during a rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and racist attacks in Ireland and were based on recommendations submitted by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and numerous other civil society organisations . Reforms are supported by the Irish Network Against Racism . The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill known as

4305-481: The Great Persecution which lasted from 303 to 312/313, governors were given direct edicts from the emperor. Christian churches and texts were to be destroyed, meeting for Christian worship was forbidden, and those Christians who refused to recant lost their legal rights. Later, it was ordered that Christian clergy be arrested and that all inhabitants of the empire sacrifice to the gods. Still, no specific punishment

4428-600: The United States during the 1980s, but it is often used retrospectively in order to describe events which occurred prior to that era. From the Roman persecution of Christians to the Nazi slaughter of Jews , hate crimes were committed by individuals as well as governments long before the term was commonly used. A major part of defining crimes as hate crimes is determining that they have been committed against members of historically oppressed groups. As Europeans began to colonize

4551-452: The West ; cross burnings in order to intimidate black activists or drive black families out of predominantly white neighborhoods both during and after Reconstruction ; assaults on lesbian , gay , bisexual and transgender people; the painting of swastikas on Jewish synagogues ; and xenophobic responses to a variety of minority ethnic groups . The verb " to lynch " is attributed to

4674-462: The criminal law of the United States , the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines a hate crime as a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. Hate itself is not a hate crime but committing a crime motivated by bias against one or more of the social groups listed above, or by bias against their derivatives constitutes a hate crime. A hate crime law

4797-763: The "Hate Crime Bill", prohibiting hate speech or incitement to hate crimes based on protected characteristics, is in its Third Stage at the Seanad , Ireland's upper house , as of June 2023 and the Irish Times reports it is likely to become law in late 2023. It has drawn concern from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and from across the political spectrum (specifically from Michael McDowell , Rónán Mullen , and People Before Profit ), as well as internationally, from business magnate Elon Musk and political activist Donald Trump Jr. Paul Murphy of People Before Profit said

4920-496: The "blood and body" of Christ and referring to each other as "brothers" and "sisters"." Early Christian communities were highly inclusive in terms of social stratification and other social categories, much more so than were the Roman voluntary associations. Heterogeneity characterized the groups formed by Paul the Apostle , and the role of women was much greater than in either of the forms of Judaism or paganism in existence at

5043-562: The Attorney-General of the Province of Ontario in Canada lists the following consequences: Hate crime victims can also develop depression and psychological trauma . They suffer from typical symptoms of trauma: lack of concentration, fear, unintentional rethinking of the incident and feeling vulnerable or unsafe. These symptoms may be severe enough to qualify as PTSD . In the United States,

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5166-622: The Augustus Maximinus Daza ( r.  310–313 ) died. After Constantine the Great ( r.  306–337 ) defeated his rival Maxentius ( r.  306–312 ) at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in October 312, he and his co-emperor, Licinius , issued the Edict of Milan (313), which permitted all religions, including Christianity, to be tolerated. Roman religion at the beginning of

5289-542: The Celtic Druids during the early Principate . Even so, the level of persecution experienced by any given community of Christians still depended upon how threatening the local official deemed this new superstitio to be. Christians' beliefs would not have endeared them to many government officials: they worshipped a convicted criminal, refused to swear by the emperor's genius, harshly criticized Rome in their holy books, and suspiciously conducted their rites in private. In

5412-528: The Christian apologist Tertullian , some governors in Africa helped accused Christians secure acquittals or refused to bring them to trial. Overall, Roman governors were more interested in making apostates than martyrs: one proconsul of Asia, Arrius Antoninus , when confronted with a group of voluntary martyrs during one of his assize tours, sent a few to be executed and snapped at the rest, "If you want to die, you wretches, you can use ropes or precipices." During

5535-584: The East. With the publication in AD 313 of the Edict of Milan , persecution of Christians by the Roman state ceased. The total number of Christians who lost their lives because of these persecutions is unknown. The early church historian Eusebius , whose works are the only source for many of these events, speaks of "countless numbers" or "myriads" having perished. Walter Bauer criticized Eusebius for this, but Robert Grant says readers were used to this kind of exaggeration as it

5658-592: The Great soon came into power and in 313 completely legalized Christianity. It was not until Theodosius I in the latter 4th century, however, that Christianity would become the official religion of the Roman Empire. In the New Testament (Acts 18:2-3), a Jew named Aquila is introduced who, with his wife Priscilla, had recently come from Italy because emperor Claudius "had ordered the Jews to leave Rome". Ed Richardson explains that expulsion occurred because disagreements in

5781-547: The Icelandic Penal Code states "Anyone who in a ridiculing, slanderous, insulting, threatening or any other manner publicly abuses a person or a group of people on the basis of their nationality, skin colour, race, religion or sexual orientation, shall be fined or jailed for up to two years." Iceland is a party to the Convention on Cybercrime, but not the Additional Protocol. India does not have any specific laws governing hate crimes in general other than hate speech which

5904-592: The Roman Empire Christians were persecuted throughout the Roman Empire , beginning in the 1st century AD and ending in the 4th century. Originally a polytheistic empire in the traditions of Roman paganism and the Hellenistic religion , as Christianity spread through the empire , it came into ideological conflict with the imperial cult of ancient Rome . Pagan practices such as making sacrifices to

6027-488: The Roman Empire (27 BC - 476) was polytheistic and local. Each city worshipped its own set of gods and goddesses that had originally been derived from ancient Greece and become Romanized. This polis-religion was embedded in, and inseparable from, "the general structures of the ancient city; there was no religious identity separate from political or civic identity, and the essence of religion lay in ritual rather than belief". Private religion and its public practices were under

6150-557: The Roman government simply saw Christians as a sect of Judaism prior to Nerva 's modification of the tax in 96. From then on, practicing Jews paid the tax while Christians did not, providing hard evidence of an official distinction. Part of the Roman disdain for Christianity, then, arose in large part from the sense that it was bad for society. In the 3rd century, the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry wrote: How can people not be in every way impious and atheistic who have apostatized from

6273-430: The Roman synagogues led to violence in the streets, and Claudius banished those responsible, but this also fell in the time period between 47 and 52 when Claudius engaged in a campaign to restore Roman rites and repress foreign cults. Suetonius records that Claudius expelled "the Jews" in 49, but Richardson says it was "mainly Christian missionaries and converts who were expelled", i.e. those Jewish Christians labelled under

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6396-599: The Romans for a long time tolerated the highly exclusive Jewish sect, even though some Romans despised it. Historian H. H. Ben-Sasson has proposed that the "Crisis under Caligula " (37–41) was the "first open break" between Rome and the Jews. After the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73), Jews were officially allowed to practice their religion as long as they paid the Jewish tax . There is debate among historians over whether

6519-403: The Romans of impiety when they refused. Refusal was punished by arrest, imprisonment, torture, and executions. Christians fled to safe havens in the countryside and some purchased their certificates, called libelli. Several councils held at Carthage debated the extent to which the community should accept these lapsed Christians . The persecutions culminated with Diocletian and Galerius at

6642-430: The Romans, "The prejudice became so instinctive that eventually, mere confession of the name 'Christian' could be sufficient grounds for execution". Historian Joyce E. Salisbury points out that "The random nature of the persecutions between 64 and 203 has led to much discussion about what constituted the legal basis for the persecutions, and the answer has remained somewhat elusive   ..." Candida Moss says there

6765-704: The Supreme Court has accepted the claim that hate crimes cause 'distinct emotional harm' to victims. People who have been victims of hate crimes avoid spaces where they feel unsafe which can make communities less functional when ties with police are strained by persistent group fears and feelings of insecurity. In the United States, hate crime has been shown to reduce educational attainment among affected groups—particularly among black, non-Hispanic victims. A review of European and American research indicates that terrorist bombings cause Islamophobia and hate crimes to flare up but, in calmer times, they subside again, although to

6888-541: The actions of Charles Lynch , an 18th-century Virginia Quaker . Lynch, other militia officers, and justices of the peace rounded up Tory sympathizers who were given a summary trial at an informal court; sentences which were handed down included whipping, property seizure, coerced pledges of allegiance, and conscription into the military. Originally, the term referred to the extrajudicial organized but unauthorized punishment of criminals. It later evolved to describe executions which were committed outside "ordinary justice". It

7011-413: The basis of either the ius coercitionis [(the governor's 'power of arrest')], or the general criminal law, but on the basis of a special law introduced during Nero's rule, proscribing Christians as such". This theory gives great weight to Tertullian, and Nero's older resolution forbidding the introduction of new religions, and the even older Republican principle that it was a capital offense to introduce

7134-573: The basis of nationality, race, colour, sex, language, origin, religion, sexual orientation, political opinion, or financial or social status, if this results in danger to the life, health or property of a person, are punishable by a fine of up to 300 fine units or by detention". Finnish Criminal Code 515/2003 (enacted 31 January 2003) makes "committing a crime against a person, because of his national, racial, ethnical or equivalent group" an aggravating circumstance in sentencing. In addition, ethnic agitation ( Finnish : kiihotus kansanryhmää vastaan )

7257-539: The basis of racist motives. Since 1992, the Danish Civil Security Service (PET) has released statistics on crimes with apparent racist motivation. Under section 151 of the Criminal Code of Estonia of 6 June 2001, which entered into force on 1 September 2002, with amendments and supplements and as amended by the Law of 8 December 2011, "activities which publicly incite to hatred, violence or discrimination on

7380-659: The bill created a " thought crime " by its criminalisation of possessing material prepared for circulation where circulation would incite hatred. Pauline O'Reilly , a Green Party senator said that the existing legislation was "not effective" and outdated, adding that the Gardaí saw a rise of 30% in hate crime in Ireland." Data published by the Gardaí showed a 29% increase in hate crimes and hate-related incidents from 448 in 2021 to 582 in 2022. The Gardaí recognise that "despite improvements, hate crime and hate related incidents are still under-reported". Persecution of Christians in

7503-419: The centre to collect and publish statistical data on racism and discriminatory crimes. Belgium is a party to the Convention on Cybercrime, but not the Additional Protocol. The Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (enacted 2003) "contains provisions prohibiting discrimination by public officials on grounds, inter alia, of race, skin colour, national or ethnic background, religion and language and prohibiting

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7626-407: The city, they would not have found much official legal guidance on the matter of the Christians. Before the anti-Christian policies under Decius beginning in 250, there was no empire-wide edict against the Christians, and the only solid precedent was that set by Trajan in his reply to Pliny: the name of "Christian" alone was sufficient grounds for punishment and Christians were not to be sought out by

7749-401: The coercion theory, but some scholars have attributed all Christian persecution to a single criminal charge, notably treason, or illegal assembly, or the introduction of an alien cult". In spite of the fact that malicious rumors did exist, this theory has been the least verified of the three by later scholarship. Joseph Plescia says persecution was caused by an ideological conflict. Caesar

7872-404: The constituent elements of the criminal offence of Incitement to hatred towards a group of persons or to the curtailment of their rights and freedoms and general aggravating circumstances include attacking a so-called different group of people. Such a group of people can then, of course, be also defined by sexual orientation, age or health status. A certain disparity has thus been created between, on

7995-510: The control of public officials, primarily, the Senate. Religion was central to being Roman, its practices widespread, and intertwined with politics. Support for this form of traditional Roman polytheism had begun to decline by the first century BC when it was seen, according to various writers and historians of the time, as having become empty and ineffectual. A combination of external factors such as war and invasions, and internal factors such as

8118-464: The courts in Bulgaria." The Croatian Penal Code explicitly defines hate crime in article 89 as "any crime committed out of hatred for someone's race, skin color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other belief, national or social background, asset, birth, education, social condition, age, health condition or other attribute". On 1 January 2013, a new Penal Code was introduced with

8241-491: The customs of our ancestors through which every nation and city is sustained? ... What else are they than fighters against God? Once distinguished from Judaism, Christianity was no longer seen as simply a bizarre sect of an old and venerable religion; it was a superstitio . Superstition had for the Romans a much more powerful and dangerous connotation than it does for much of the Western world today: to them, this term meant

8364-451: The deified emperors or other gods were abhorrent to Christians as their beliefs prohibited idolatry . The state and other members of civic society punished Christians for treason, various rumored crimes, illegal assembly, and for introducing an alien cult that led to Roman apostasy . The first, localized Neronian persecution occurred under Emperor Nero ( r.  54–68 ) in Rome. A number of mostly localized persecutions occurred during

8487-607: The discourse surrounding some people's apprehension towards immigrants, who feel as though immigrants and/or refugees receive extra benefits from government and strain social systems. 2. Doing Difference Theory : suggests that some individuals fear groups other than their own and, as a result of this, seek to suppress different cultures. 3. Self-Control Theory : suggests that a person's upbringing determines their tolerance threshold towards others, here individuals with low self-esteem are often impulsive, have poor employment prospects, and have little academic success. Walters argues that

8610-455: The early church occurred sporadically and in localized areas from the start. The first persecution of Christians organized by the Roman government was under the emperor Nero in AD 64 after the Great Fire of Rome and took place entirely within the city of Rome. The Edict of Serdica , issued in 311 by the Roman emperor Galerius , officially ended the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity in

8733-454: The early third century one magistrate told Christians "I cannot bring myself so much as to listen to people who speak ill of the Roman way of religion." Roman pagans falsely accused Christians of participating in an incestuous orgy after blowing out the lights. This same libel was used by Christians against heretical sects and spread into the Islamic world where it remains today. Persecution of

8856-618: The emperor Decius issued a decree requiring public sacrifice, a formality equivalent to a testimonial of allegiance to the emperor and the established order. There is no evidence that the decree was intended to target Christians but was intended as a form of loyalty oath. Decius authorized roving commissions visiting the cities and villages to supervise the execution of the sacrifices and to deliver written certificates to all citizens who performed them. Christians were often given opportunities to avoid further punishment by publicly offering sacrifices or burning incense to Roman gods, and were accused by

8979-547: The emperor. Bacchic associations were dissolved, leaders were arrested and executed, women were forbidden to hold important positions in the cult, no Roman citizen could be a priest, and strict control of the cult was thereafter established. This became the pattern for the Roman state's response to whatever was seen as a religious threat. In the first century of the common era, there were "periodic expulsions of astrologers, philosophers and even teachers of rhetoric... as well as Jews and...the cult of Isis". Druids also received

9102-507: The end of the second century, the Christian apologist Tertullian complained about the widespread perception that Christians were the source of all disasters brought against the human race by the gods. They think the Christians the cause of every public disaster, of every affliction with which the people are visited. If the Tiber rises as high as the city walls, if the Nile does not send its waters up over

9225-459: The end of the third and beginning of the 4th century. Their anti-Christian actions, considered the largest, were to be the last major Roman pagan action. The Edict of Serdica , also called Edict of Toleration by Galerius , was issued in 311 in Serdica (today Sofia , Bulgaria ) by the Roman emperor Galerius , officially ending the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity in the East. Constantine

9348-469: The establishment of, and membership in, organisations which organise propaganda and activities aimed at racial discrimination; Section 2 punishes public expression of offensive ideas; Section 3 penalises the act of refusing, in the exercise of one's occupation, to sell a commodity or to supply a service on racial grounds." Public prosecutors may press charges even if the victim does not file a complaint. However, as of 2003, no convictions had been attained under

9471-527: The faith of the Gospel the Christians incurred the supposed guilt of an unnatural and unpardonable offense. They dissolved the sacred ties of custom and education, violated the religious institutions of their country, and presumptuously despised whatever their fathers had believed as true, or had reverenced as sacred. Many pagans believed that bad things would happen if the established pagan gods were not properly propitiated and reverenced. Bart Ehrman says that: "By

9594-443: The fields, if the heavens give no rain, if there is an earthquake, if there is famine or pestilence, straightway the cry is, 'Away with the Christians to the lions!" Roman religion was largely what determined Romanness . The Christian refusal to sacrifice to the Roman gods was seen as an act of defiance against this cultural and political character and the very nature of Rome itself. MacMullen quotes Eusebius as having written that

9717-434: The formal nature and political manipulation of traditional religion, is said to have created the slow decline of polytheism. This left a vacuum in the personal lives of people that they filled with other forms of worship: such as the imperial cult , various mystery cults , imported eastern religions, and Christianity. The Roman approach to empire building included a cultural permeability that allowed foreigners to become

9840-403: The government. There is speculation that Christians were also condemned for contumacia —disobedience toward the magistrate, akin to the modern "contempt of court"—but the evidence on this matter is mixed. Melito of Sardis later asserted that Antoninus Pius ordered that Christians were not to be executed without proper trial. Given the lack of guidance and distance of imperial supervision,

9963-447: The governor's personal opinion. While some tried to rely on precedent or imperial opinion where they could, as evidenced by Pliny the Younger's letter to Trajan concerning the Christians , such guidance was often unavailable. In many cases months' and weeks' travel away from Rome, these governors had to make decisions about running their provinces according to their own instincts and knowledge. Even if these governors had easy access to

10086-581: The judge can define certain principles for determining punishment. In section 46 of the German Criminal Code it is stated that "the motives and aims of the perpetrator; the state of mind reflected in the act and the willfulness involved in its commission" can be taken into consideration when determining the punishment ; under this statute, hate and bias have been taken into consideration in sentencing in past cases. Hate crimes are not specifically tracked by German police, but have been studied separately:

10209-521: The law. Violent action, cruelty, and coercion by threat made on the basis of the victim's actual or perceived national, ethnic, religious status or membership in a particular social group are punishable under article 174/B of the Hungarian Criminal Code. This article was added to the Code in 1996. Hungary is a party to the Convention on Cybercrime, but not the Additional Protocol. Section 233a of

10332-404: The management of hate-crime offenders. However, risk management for hate-crime offenders is an important consideration for forensic psychology and public safety in order to decrease the potential for future harm. Forensic risk assessments are designed to evaluate the likelihood of re-offending and to aid in risk management strategies. While not specifically designed for hate crime offenders, some of

10455-428: The manufacturing of idols, and of course all pursuits which affirmed polytheistic culture, such as music, acting, and school-teaching (cf. Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition 16). Even the wearing of jewelry and fine apparel was judged harshly by Christian moralists and ecclesiastical officials, as was the use of cosmetics and perfumes". In Rome, citizens were expected to demonstrate their loyalty to Rome by participating in

10578-875: The most common risk assessment tools used to assess risk for hate-crime offenders include the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG; ), the Historical Clinical Risk Management 20 (HCR-20; ) and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; ). Research has shown that assessing and addressing risk posed by hate-crime offenders is especially complex, and while existing tools are useful, it is important to incorporate bias-oriented factors (Dunbar et al., 2005). That is, hate-crime offenders do tend to score high risk on tools including both static and dynamic factors, but severity has been found to not be solely related to these factors, illustrating

10701-641: The motives for hate crimes found four motives, and reported that "thrill-seeking" accounted for 66 percent of all hate crimes overall in the United States: In a later article, Levin and fellow sociologist Ashley Reichelmann found that following the September 11 attacks, thrill motivated hate crimes tended to decrease as the overall rate of violent crime decreased while defensive hate crimes increased substantially. Specifically, they found that 60% of all hate motivated assaults in 2001 were perpetrated against those

10824-501: The name Chrestus . "The garbled Chrestus is almost certainly evidence for the presence of Christians within the Jewish community of Rome". Richardson points out that the term Christian "only became tangible in documents after the year 70" and that before that time, "believers in Christ were reckoned ethnically and religiously as belonging totally to the Jews". Suetonius and Tacitus used

10947-562: The normal ties between religion, tradition and public institutions like cities and nations". McDonald adds that Christians sometimes "met at night, in secret, and this also aroused suspicion among the pagan population accustomed to religion as a public event; rumours abounded that Christians committed flagitia , scelera , and maleficia — "outrageous crimes", "wickedness", and "evil deeds", specifically, cannibalism and incest (referred to as " Thyestian banquets " and " Oedipodean intercourse ") — due to their rumoured practices of eating

11070-490: The offenders perceived to be Middle Eastern and were motivated mainly by a desire for revenge. Levin and McDevitt also argued that while thrill crimes made up the majority of hate crimes in the 1990s, after September 11, 2001, hate crimes in the United States shifted from thrill offenses by young groups to more defensive oriented and more often perpetrated by older individuals respond to a precipitating event. The motivations of hate-crime offenders are complex. Therefore, there

11193-513: The one hand, those groups of people who are victimized by reason of their skin color, faith, nationality, ethnicity or political persuasion and enjoy increased protection, and, on the other hand, those groups that are victimized by reason of their sexual orientation, age or health status and are not granted increased protection. This gap in protection against attacks motivated by the victim's sexual orientation, age or health status cannot be successfully bridged by interpretation. Interpretation by analogy

11316-467: The other through civil law. The current Czech criminal legislation has implications both for decisions about guilt (affecting the decision whether to find a defendant guilty or not guilty) and decisions concerning sentencing (affecting the extent of the punishment imposed). It has three levels, to wit: Current criminal legislation does not provide for special penalties for acts that target another by reason of his sexual orientation, age or health status. Only

11439-409: The outcomes of the trials of Christians varied widely. Many followed Pliny's formula: they asked if the accused individuals were Christians, gave those who answered in the affirmative a chance to recant, and offered those who denied or recanted a chance to prove their sincerity by making a sacrifice to the Roman gods and swearing by the emperor's genius . Those who persisted were executed. According to

11562-626: The pagans "have thoroughly persuaded themselves that they act rightly and that we are guilty of the greatest impiety". According to Wilken, "The polytheistic worldview of the Romans did not incline them to understand a refusal to worship, even symbolically, the state gods.". MacMullen explains this meant Christians were "constantly on the defensive", and although they responded with appeals to philosophy and reason and anything they thought might weigh against ta patria (the ancestral customs), they could not practice Roman religion and continue fealty to their own religion. Abel Bibliowicz says that, amongst

11685-896: The pairing of verbal stimuli in the media contributed to widespread prejudice towards all Arab individuals in a process that is known as semantic generalization, which refers to how a learned behavior can generalize across situations based on meaning or other abstract representations. These occurrences continue today with the social and political discourse that contribute to the context in which people learn, come to form beliefs, and engage in behavioural actions. Although not all individuals with prejudicial attitudes go on to engage in hate-motived crime, it has been suggested that hate-crime offenders come to learn their prejudices through social interaction, consumption of biased news media, political hate speech, and internal misrepresentations of cultures other than their own. Compared to other types of offending, there has been relatively little research directed towards

11808-914: The penalties for violent attacks leading to permanent disability were raised from 10 years (for non-hate crimes) to 15 years (for hate crimes). "There is no general provision in Georgian law for racist motivation to be considered an aggravating circumstance in prosecutions of ordinary offenses. Certain crimes involving racist motivation are, however, defined as specific offenses in the Georgian Criminal Code of 1999, including murder motivated by racial, religious, national or ethnic intolerance (article 109); infliction of serious injuries motivated by racial, religious, national or ethnic intolerance (article 117); and torture motivated by racial, religious, national or ethnic intolerance (article 126). ECRI reported no knowledge of cases in which this law has been enforced. There

11931-422: The populace happy; thus when unrest against the Christians arose in his jurisdiction, he would be inclined to placate it with appeasement lest the populace "vent itself in riots and lynching." Political leaders in the Roman Empire were also public cult leaders. Roman religion revolved around public ceremonies and sacrifices; personal belief was not as central an element as it is in many modern faiths. Thus while

12054-460: The practice of the Christian religion. The origin of this is most commonly attributed to Nero, but sometimes to Domitian". This has evolved into a 'common law' theory which gives great weight to Tertullian's description of prosecution resulting from the 'accusation of the Name', as being Nero's plan. Nero had an older resolution forbidding the introduction of new religions, but the application to Christians

12177-510: The private beliefs of Christians may have been largely immaterial to many Roman elites, this public religious practice was in their estimation critical to the social and political well-being of both the local community and the empire as a whole. Honoring tradition in the right way – pietas – was key to stability and success. Hence the Romans protected the integrity of cults practiced by communities under their rule, seeing it as inherently correct to honor one's ancestral traditions; for this reason

12300-454: The procedure as a direct police action, or inquisition against notable malefactors, arrest, and punishment, without the ordinary forms of trial". A third school asserted that Christians were prosecuted for specific criminal offenses such as child murder, incest, magic, illegal assembly, and treason – a charge based on their refusal to worship the divinity of the Roman emperor. Sherwin-White says "this third opinion has usually been combined with

12423-606: The proposed changes violate religious freedom and the separation of church and state. TFN has also closely followed the activities of the Board of Education and activists on other education issues, such as the teaching of evolution in public schools. In 2005 TFN criticized the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools curriculum for promoting a fundamentalist Christian view and violating religious freedom. It commissioned

12546-415: The province. In cognitio extra ordinem , an accuser called a delator brought before the governor an individual to be charged with a certain offense—in this case, that of being a Christian. This delator was prepared to act as the prosecutor for the trial, and could be rewarded with some of the accused's property if he made an adequate case or charged with calumnia ( malicious prosecution ) if his case

12669-488: The recognition of a hate crime based on "race, skin color, religion, national or ethnic background, sexual orientation or gender identity". The Czech legislation finds its constitutional basis in the principles of equality and non-discrimination contained in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms. From there, we can trace two basic lines of protection against hate-motivated incidents: one passes through criminal law,

12792-457: The reign of Marcus Aurelius ( r.  161–180 ). After a lull, persecution resumed under Emperors Decius ( r.  249–251 ) and Trebonianus Gallus ( r.  251–253 ). The Decian persecution was particularly extensive. The persecution of Emperor Valerian ( r.  253–260 ) ceased with his notable capture by the Sasanian Empire 's Shapur I ( r.  240–270 ) at

12915-466: The restriction by public officials of the language rights of the citizens in their relations with the authorities (Article 145/1 and 145/2)." Bulgarian criminal law prohibits certain crimes motivated by racism and xenophobia , but a 1999 report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance found that it does not appear that those provisions "have ever resulted in convictions before

13038-430: The risk that Finland is involved in a war or becomes a target for a military operation. The act in question may consist of In 2003, France enacted penalty-enhancement hate crime laws for crimes motivated by bias against the victim's actual or perceived ethnicity, nation, race, religion, or sexual orientation. The penalties for murder were raised from 30 years (for non-hate crimes) to life imprisonment (for hate crimes), and

13161-461: The rites of the state religion which had numerous feast days, processions and offerings throughout the year. Christians simply could not, and so they were seen as belonging to an illicit religion that was anti-social and subversive. McDonald explains that the privatizing of religion was another factor in persecution as "Christians moved their activities from the streets to the more secluded domains of houses, shops and women's apartments, severing

13284-403: The same treatment, as did Christians. A. N. Sherwin-White records that serious discussion of the reasons for Roman persecution of Christians began in 1890 when it produced "20 years of controversy" and three main opinions: first, there was the theory held by most French and Belgian scholars that "there was a general enactment, precisely formulated and valid for the whole empire, which forbade

13407-405: The seminal work of John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner illustrated that hate, a form of prejudice, was a conditioned emotional response. Later on, the work of Arthur Staats and Carolyn Staats illustrated that both hate and fear were learned behavioral responses. In their experiment, Staats and Staats paired positive and negative works with several different nationalities. The pairing of verbal stimuli

13530-427: The terms "superstitio" and "impious [profani] rites" in describing the reasons for these events, terms not applied to Jews, but commonly applied to believers in Christ. The Roman empire protected the Jews through multiple policies guaranteeing the "unimpeded observance of Jewish cult practices". Richardson strongly asserts that believers in Christ were the 'Jews' that Claudius was trying to be rid of by expulsion. It

13653-443: The time. Early Christians were told to love others, even enemies, and Christians of all classes and sorts called each other " brother " and " sister ". This inclusivity of various social classes and backgrounds stems from early Christian beliefs in the importance of performing missionary work among Jews and gentiles in hopes of converting to a new way of life in accordance of gospel standards ( Mark 16:15-16, Galatians 5:16-26 ). This

13776-515: The wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as cases of spreading hate speech and conspiracy theories about the epidemic by the Alt-Right . Hate crimes can have significant and wide-ranging psychological consequences, not only for their direct victims but for others of the group as well. Moreover, victims of hate crimes often experience a sense of victimization that goes beyond the initial crime, creating

13899-449: The witty essayist reports in his scathing essay ... he issued a promulgation designed to scare them, saying that Pontus was full of atheists and Christians who had the hardihood to utter the vilest abuse of him; these he bade them drive away with stones if they wanted to have the god gracious. Tertullian 's Apologeticus of 197 was ostensibly written in defense of persecuted Christians and addressed to Roman governors. In AD 250,

14022-518: The world from the 16th century onwards, indigenous peoples in the colonized areas, such as Native Americans , increasingly became the targets of bias-motivated intimidation and violence . During the past two centuries, typical examples of hate crimes in the U.S. include lynchings of African Americans , largely in the South , lynchings of Europeans in the East , and lynchings of Mexicans and Chinese in

14145-465: The worshippers of Dionysus and their practice of Bacchanalia as far back as 186 BC because it "took place at night". Private divination, astrology, and 'Chaldean practices' were magics associated with night worship, and as such, had carried the threat of banishment and execution since the early imperial period . Archaeologist Luke Lavan explains that is because night worship was private and secret and associated with treason and secret plots against

14268-504: Was a form of conditioning, and it was found to influence attitude formation and attitude change. These studies are of interest when considering modern forms of prejudice directed towards ethnic, religious, or racial groups. For instance, there was a significant increase in Islamophobia and hate crimes following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Simultaneously, the news media was consistently pairing Islam with terrorism. Thus,

14391-608: Was common in Josephus and other historians of the time. By the mid-2nd century, mobs were willing to throw stones at Christians, perhaps motivated by rival sects. The Persecution in Lyon (AD 177) was preceded by mob violence, including assaults, robberies and stonings. Lucian tells of an elaborate and successful hoax perpetrated by a "prophet" of Asclepius, using a tame snake, in Pontus and Paphlagonia. When rumor seemed about to expose his fraud,

14514-403: Was insufficient. If the governor agreed to hear the case—and he was free not to—he oversaw the trial from start to finish: he heard the arguments, decided on the verdict, and passed the sentence. Christians sometimes offered themselves up for punishment, and the hearings of such voluntary martyrs were conducted in the same way. More often than not, the outcome of the case was wholly subject to

14637-517: Was not easy for Christians to hide their religion and pretend to Romanness either, since renunciation of the world was an aspect of their faith that demanded "numerous departures from conventional norms and pursuits". The Christian had exacting moral standards that included avoiding contact with those that still lay in bondage to 'the Evil One ( 2 Corinthians 6:1-18 ; 1 John 2: 15-18 ; Revelation 18: 4 ; II Clement 6; Epistle of Barnabas, 1920). Life as

14760-459: Was only half the story". MacMullen says the most significant factor in determining whether one received 'tolerance' or 'intolerance' from Roman religion was if that religion honored one's god "according to ancestral custom". Christians were thought of badly for abandoning their ancestral roots in Judaism. However, how religion was practised was also a factor. Roman officials had become suspicious of

14883-421: Was perceived by the opponents of Christianity as a "disruptive and, most significantly, a competitive menace to the traditional class/gender-based order of Roman society". Edward Gibbon argued that the tendency of Christian converts to renounce their family and country, (and their frequent predictions of impending disasters), instilled a feeling of apprehension in their pagan neighbors. He wrote: By embracing

15006-472: Was prescribed by these edicts and governors retained the leeway afforded to them by distance. Lactantius reported that some governors claimed to have shed no Christian blood, and there is evidence that others turned a blind eye to evasions of the edict or only enforced it when absolutely necessary. When a governor was sent to a province, he was charged with the task of keeping it pacata atque quieta —settled and orderly. His primary interest would be to keep

15129-426: Was seen as divine. Christians could accept only one divinity, and it wasn't Caesar. Cairns describes the ideological conflict as: "The exclusive sovereignty of Christ clashed with Caesar's claims to his own exclusive sovereignty." In this clash of ideologies, "the ordinary Christian lived under a constant threat of denunciation and the possibility of arraignment on capital charges". Joseph Bryant asserts it

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