"We didn't start the fire..."

Over my breakfast, I read about the First Martyrs of the Church in Rome.  We celebrate their feast day today.  American Catholic gives a great summary:

In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, many Christians were put to death because of their “hatred of the human race.” Peter and Paul were probably among the victims. (emphasis mine) 

"Wow," I thought, "It must have been crazy living in a time like that."  There were people so scared of Christians that they started fires, accused them of hating the human race, and killed them.  

Photo from Catholic.org

A few hours later, I heard the blessed news that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Christian-run Hobby Lobby.  In summary, Justice Alito said, "The Supreme Court holds government can’t require closely held corporations with religious owners to provide contraception coverage.”    

Then, The Examiner shared the reactionary Tweets from those hoping to see the Christian-run company burned to the ground.  I'll let you go to the link to read the most explicit Tweets.

"[L]iterally burn hobby lobby (sic) to the ground," one pro-abortion liberal screamed on Twitter.

"I hope all your stores burn to the ground," another person said.

"#HobbyLobby are scum of the earth. Burn every single one down, build a homeless shelter there instead," a third person said.

And then came this:

• "Why Does Hobby Lobby Hate Women?" 
• "Hobby Lobby - Women Lose, Religions Win"
• "Hobby Lobby Case Adds Yet Another Log to the 'War on Women' Bonfire"
• "Left on Twitter: 'War on Women' Continues"

Sound familiar?  Paranoid, scared people accusing Christians of hating humanity?  And then starting fires out of paranoia?

On this feast day dedicated to the Roman martyrs killed by a paranoid Christian hater in a fire, sing it with me and Billy!  "We didn't start the fire..."