5 PEOPLE WHO WERE PUNISHED TO THE MAX FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVED IN

Now more than ever, families and friends are torn apart by differing beliefs, be them political, religious, or ideological.

For some people, their beliefs did more than ruin familial relationships. Some paid with their jobs, their freedom, or even their lives. Keep reading to check out a is list of five (or more) people who were punished to the max for their beliefs.

1. NELSON MANDELA

Unfortunately, this generation probably knows Nelson Mandela as the father of the Mandela Effect, but he was much more than an internet phenomena. 

Mandela was born in 1918 and began his career as a politician and social activist in his 20s. He was jailed in 1962 for 27 years because of political offenses. Along with eight other African National Congress members, he was convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government.

The only problem was that he was trying to dismantle the apartheid system, which was a racial segregation of the races that forced black Africans to live in reserves and kept them from begin sharecroppers. Luckily, Mandela went on to serve as South Africa's first black president from 1994 to 1999.

2. AUNG SAN SUU KYI

Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Myanmar, a land between Thailand and Bangladesh. After spending several years abroad, she became a dedicated activist against the dictator regime of U Ne Win. By 1989, she was placed under house arrest. She wasn't released until Nov. 2010. 

During her imprisonment, she received the 1991 Nobel Prize for Peace. She was a member of the parliament for the National League for Democracy and later became the de facto head of Myanmar as the country's state counsellor.

3. DALTON TRUMBO

I didn't know much about Trumbo until I attended a production at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville. He was a Hollywood screenwriter who lived his 20s-30s during the Great Depression. Because of the obvious and crippling financial inequality of the time, many people began to turn to communism (an idea that all property is owned and used by the collective public).

Members of the film industry, including Gary Cooper, Walt Disney, and John Wayne formed the Motion Picture Alliance of American Ideals to combat "communist" tones in screenplays and movies.

By 1947, the U.S. government had formed the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which quizzed members of the film industry about their ties to the communist party. Some refused to answer, including Trumbo. They became the Hollywood 10. After serving time in prison for contempt, Trumbo and the others were blacklisted. He wrote under pseudonyms and the names of fellow writer friends. He wasn't recognized for his work until a few years before he died.

Best way to learn more: ​See Trumbo at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre from now until March 17. Purchase your tickets online at CFRT.org!

4. MOST PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

It is undeniable that many people who involved themselves in the American Civil Right's movement faced prison time or even death for speaking in the name of equality. 

Notably, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated for speaking out against the inequality and mistreatment of African Americans. Other notable people who were mistreated include:

- Rosa Parks (Pictured): Refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a bus. Was threatned with violence.
- Rev. George Lee: One of the first African American to register to vote in Humphreys County. He used his platform at church to encourage his congregation to register to vote. White officials of the time offered him protection if he stopped his campaigning, but he declined the offer and was killed.
- Viola Gregg Liuzzo: A white woman who was transporting  marchers from different parts of Alabama to join the now-famous Selma marches. She was shot and killed by a Klansman in a passing car.

5. JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES

Jesus' death is well-recorded in the Bible, making them widely known to the people who know about him. But, what about his apostles? Let me tell you some of the deaths suffered by Jesus' followers:

- Peter: crucified upside down at his request because he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ.
- Paul: Beheaded.
- Andrew: Crucified.
- Stephen: Stoned to death.
- Thomas: Speared by four soldiers.
- Matthias: Burned alive.
-Matthew: Stabbed to death in Ethiopia.
- James: Clubbed to death.

Best way to learn more: Passion of the Christ movie.