“You will be objects of hatred by all people because of my name,” said Jesus.

Luke 21:12-17; Matt. 16:24, 25.

² These words well characterize the lives of Christians from the first century on. Today we witness their fulfillment in the lives of Jehovah’s witnesses around the world. They have been banned in many nations. They have suffered vicious persecution. Thousands of their homes have been burned and hundreds of their Kingdom Halls have been demolished. Their women have been brutally beaten, and their menfolk have died from beatings or have been killed outright. Their children have been unjustly taken away from them. This because they insist on worshiping God in the manner that Jesus and his apostles did, that is, by keeping themselves neutral as to the political affairs of this world.​—John 17:16; Jas. 1:27.