The prophecy says that there will be a falling away before the man of lawlessness is revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3). As an American, we can see that over the years Christianity has been fairly successful in overcoming some of the initial persecution it experienced. There are a couple Christian bookstores in my city where I can buy a Bible anytime I want. I have pleasant conversations about going to church with people at work who are Christian and not Christian. The worst I have really been accused of by secularists is that I am overzealous, but Christianity has some measure of respect where I am, so even when I am overzealous most people think it is still good that I am Christian rather than a drug dealer or some other something that creates a hazard to society.
Isaiah 9:7 says "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end." We can see that His government has increased significantly and a religion that once suffered great persecution now has some degree of influence.
John 10:10 says, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
We can see that places where Christianity has increased, there has also been a corresponding increase in the quality of life.
Therefore, the persecution that we are witnessing is beginning with the accusation that neither of these two things had anything to do with the status of the Western world. Christianity had nothing to do with this. The increasing influence of the western world was just some random manifestation that could have happened anywhere. It has nothing to do with what the Bible said would happen. It was not because so many people believed the Bible before. It was some random evolution.
The world is trying to strip Christianity's influence the way Joseph's brothers stripped Jacob of his coat of many colors and sold him into slavery. They did this through deception. Jacob would have never expected his brothers to betray him, and so Christian persecution will come through deception as well.
Deception that will lead to a falling away and with this falling away will come persecution, but a falling away is required because there is still too much power in the name of Jesus to take what we have gained by force.
In conclusion, it is not beatings that you are looking for when you are investigating Christian persecution in the modern sense. You are looking for people who lie about Christianity. They are the ones persecuting the church in the modern world.