"Religious Persecution"...seriously??

I've heard much discussion the past few days about a high school boy who dropped to one knee and pointed to heaven after a touchdown.  The ref assessed a 15 yard penalty for his end-zone celebration.  All the hubbub seems to be coming from people who are very upset calling this 15 yard penalty religious persecution.

Here is the "offense" in action:

 

Seriously?  Religious persecution?  We in America don't even fully understand what religious persecution is.

Asia Bibi is currently sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy because she told a group of women that Jesus Christ was the true prophet of God.

Last week three Christians were killed in Iraq where Christians have been frequent targets of Islamic extremists.

This, my friends, is religious persecution....a 15 yard penalty...hardly.  Was the call a little harsh considering the entire "celebration" took just a couple seconds, maybe; however, the WIAA has rules against end-zone celebrations.  All he had to do was drop the ball and he would not have been penalized.  Holding on to the ball, he would have received the same penalty if he did a back flip or the funky chicken.  The rules of the game are the rules...we shouldn't expect a free pass from the rules because of our belief system.

If you want to read about religious persecution happening across the globe check out Voice of the Martyrs.