Hostility against churches in the United States appears to be on the rise, according to a recent Family Research Council report that identified 436 incidents against churches in 2023, more than double the amount reported by the group in 2022 and eight times the number identified in 2018.
The conservative Christian advocacy organization released its latest “Hostility Against Churches” report this month, which FRC updated to include hostility incidents from the calendar year 2023.
The organization has collected data about acts of hostility against churches since 2018, identifying 915 such incidents over the past six years.
Pastors, Do Not Tie Your Reputation To A Political Leader
Between January and November 2023, FRC reported that at least 315 occurrences of vandalism, 75 arson attacks or attempts, 10 gun-related incidents, 20 bomb threats and 37 other incidents took place at churches. According to the report, 17 of the incidents fell into more than one category, with vandalism and arson being the most common combination.
“There is a common connection between the growing religious persecution abroad and the rapidly increasing hostility toward churches here at home: our government’s policies,” FRC President Tony Perkins said in a Tuesday statement.
“The indifference abroad to the fundamental freedom of religion is rivaled only by the increasing antagonism toward the moral absolutes taught by Bible-believing churches here in the U.S., which is fomenting this environment of hostility toward churches,” he continued.
How Angels Protected Pioneer Christian Missionaries In Tibet
According to FRC, the rise in hostility against churches has “neither slowed nor plateaued” since its inaugural report in 2022 but has “accelerated” instead.
Reported hostile acts against churches were “widespread” across 48 states and the District of Columbia in 2023. Incidents were more likely to occur in states with larger populations, the report notes.
While Hawaii and Wyoming had no reported incidents, California had the most, 33, while Texas was second with 28 incidents.
The report documented an act of vandalism in June that caused over $100,000 in damages to the Fowler United Methodist Church, a historically black church in Annapolis, Maryland. Vandals ripped pages from Bibles and hymnals, scattering the torn pages across the floor and pews.
U.S. Presidents Who Looked to God for Guidance
In addition to ripping the upholstered pews and taking down a large wooden cross, the vandals removed a Christian flag from its stand and stripped the church’s outdoor sign of its lettering.
In Ohio, several incidents appeared to be related to Issue 1, a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to establish a right to abortion. According to the report, someone pulled a “Vote No” sign out of the ground at Cincinnati’s St. Monica-St. George Church and threw it in a dumpster. In a separate incident at another Cincinnati-based church, St. Bartholomew Church, someone removed between six and eight “Vote No” signs and replaced them with “Vote Yes” signs.
The report lists a couple of acts of vandalism with “anti-Israel or antisemitic sentiment” after the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 surprise attack against Israel. In November, a “We stand with Israel” sign was spray-painted with the words “Israel’s Genocide” on the property of The Church at Decatur Heights in Decatur, Georgia.
Churchgoers Are Happier and “Very Satisfied”, Research Reveals
The report notes a dozen incidents “included satanic imagery or symbols.”
Continue Reading on The Christian Post
“Forgive Us Lord, They Do Not Know What They Do” – Putin Prays For America And The West (Video)
