The Christian church [in its true identity] does not persecute; any more than a lily scratches the thorns, or a lamb pursues and tears the wolves, or a turtledove hunts the hawks and eagles, or a chaste and modest virgin fights and scratches like whores and harlots.
The facts never speak for themselves. They have to be interpreted in terms of some understanding of where they come from and what the relation between them is.