Free Republic

Fleeing East Africa for Italy in a rickety rescue boat, 15 Christian asylum seekers were thrown to their deaths last week by fellow refugees because they weren’t praying to Allah. We’re shocked by reports of innocents murdered for their beliefs and orange-jump-suited victims marching to their deaths because, as Americans, we’re safe from such persecution. Our freedoms evolved in part from an infamous, hysteria-induced episode in 17th century Puritan Massachusetts where anyone suspected of witchcraft was persecuted. The Salem Witch Trials became a cautionary tale about the dangers of false accusations and contempt for due process, and an allegory for...