A better parallel would be the anti-Catholic rhetoric of the 1800's-1960's.
Maybe they deserved it? The inquisition stuff wasn’t so nice. If an idealogy or religion gets out of control, it needs to be put into control or eliminated. Otherwise it’ll destroy everything it touches.
Haven’t we learned this enough throughout history?
Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. My own (Protestant) grandparents, Democrats to the core, refused to vote for Jack Kennedy in 1960 because they just knew he was taking orders from the Vatican. They weren’t alone.
That ignorance lives on now, it’s just moved on to new targets.