Oh, my mother and reading American history helped me place the antiCatholicism in context. Ultra right wing and fascist Catholic groups formed during the late 1920 and 1930s. Father Coughlin was a good example. Protestants did not stoop to take on Jehovah's Witness. I don't know if Coughlin had ties to the Vatican or whether the VAtican encouraged him. These groups became a major political force, using physical violence and hatred to intimidate honest, decent people who did not share their narrow views.
The Witneses may have started with the religion is a snare and racket business. During the Red Scare and McCarthy era, normal people joined these groups. America was at such a disadvantage concerning China b/c all the Chinese experts in the State Department who saw strands of nationalism in Maoism were fired. Either Coughlin or the church selected the Witnesses to commit vigilante actions.
My mom was in the audience when Couglin's group broke into a convention at Madison Square Garden in NYC. She said that the good Christians breaking many criminal laws, deliberately targetted women and small children with ammonia bombs and heckling. My father was part of the Bethel force fighting them off with canes. She saw the Witness actions as exceptionally good. My guess is that canes were used to get around NY's concealed weapons law.
Because of groups, such as Couglin's, my father and other Witnesses have great trouble finding employment when they left Bethel. My father sepnt too many years at Bethel to cover his employment gap.
I hope that someone with more knowledge of this time period can place the events in larger context. It was not only Couglin. Many Catholic groups violently attacked Witnesses and deprived them of basic common law and constitutional rights. This is why I admire the ACLU, in general.