Faith under fire
Hostility grows against U.S. churches, Christians
All Saints Catholic Church in Portland, Or. had vandalism of their church sign following the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. All Saints Catholic Church via the Catholic News Agency
There is growing hostility against churches and Christans in America.
This has been happening most of my lifetime, and I turned 56 on St. Patrick’s Eve.
When I have raised the point among liberals or progressives, their response has always been, “It’s all anecdotal. There’s no proof.”
Now there is. The Washington D.C.-based Family Research Council has been chronicling the growing hostility against churches of all theological stripes in America since 2018. It’s a whopping 8-fold increase in 6 years.
During my childhood and through the 2000s, the hostility toward people of faith focused on condescension, demeaning and belittling. Acts of hostility toward people of faith in the past dozen years are more intentional, bold, and aggressive.
It’s not difficult to see the path we are on when:
Lawlessness rules most American cities.
Elites who get in trouble are never held accountable, including Fulton County, Ga. District Attorney Fani Willis this week.
Covid tyranny had state agents act against churches, businesses, and individuals, with no accountability.
This was the scene inside Fowler United Methodist Church in Annapolis, Md. one day in June 2023. Facebook/Eastport United Methodist Church
The past 6 years, the FRC has analyzed open-source documents, reports, and media outlets to find “incidents of vandalism (including the destruction, defacement, ransacking, and theft of property), arson, and arson attempts. Gun-related incidents that took place on church property and bomb threats (including false ones) made against churches were also included.”
The FRC study that emerged in February states:
Although the motivations for many of these incidents remain unknown, the rise in crimes against churches is taking place in a context in which American culture appears increasingly hostile to Christianity. Criminal acts of vandalism and destruction of church property may be symptomatic of a collapse in societal reverence and respect for houses of worship and religion—in this case, churches and Christianity. Americans appear increasingly comfortable lashing out against church buildings, pointing to a larger societal problem of marginalizing core Christian beliefs, including those that touch on hot button political issues related to human dignity and sexuality. Attacks on houses of worship may also signal a discomfort with religion in general.
Imagine how church members or regular attendees might view the beheading of a statue at their Catholic parish. Or consider how they may interpret ripping the pages of Bibles, which is regarded by more than Christians as a sacred text. Or how they view someone who broke a stained-glass window with rich history at a local church.
From 2018 to 2021, the acts of hostility were always less than 100, twice in the 50s, rising to at least 195 in 2022 and at least 436 in 2023. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision on abortion became a key focus beginning in late June 2022 with 57 acts of vandalism, including:
All Saints Catholic Church in Portland, Or. with “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you.”
St. Patrick Catholic Church in Philadelphia, Pa. with two separate vandalism incidents, including one that read, “Abort the church.”
Some churches had services interrupted by protesters.
Historic St. Colman Catholic Church in Shady Spring, WVa. was destroyed by arson.
In recent years it has not been unusual to have church vandalism sprees in cities.
It made sense for FRC to measure this since its office was the scene of a crime on August 15, 2012. Floyd Corkins of Herndon, Va. entered the FRC offices armed with a 9 mm and two magazines to kill as many people as possible. Corkins was greeted by security guard Leo Johnson who was shot in the arm, but prevented Corkins going on his rampage. Corkins protested FRC’s position on LGBTQ issues. In September 2013, Corkins pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
FRC and numerous other Christian organizations have been targeted by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “hate” organizations, simply because they uphold biblical views of life, marriage, and other issues. Meanwhile, the hostility toward people of faith has become more aggressive.
Consider the following accounts.
On June 3, 2023, Damon Atkins stood on a sidewalk in Reading, Pa. to peacefully protest a Pride event. After a brief conversation with a police officer, Atkins was arrested. Upon starting to quote Scripture, the officer swiftly handcuffed Atkins. The man also described the harrowing events to CBN News.
The Reading Police emphasized that Atkins was not arrested for what he said, rather he was arrested for disorderly conduct. Meanwhile, the Berks County District Attorney’s Office dropped the disorderly conduct charges against Atkins.
However, Atkins has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in Philadelphia against the Reading mayor, police chief, and two Reading officers. The Lancaster Patriot reported the civil complaint::
The civil complaint alleges that Atkins’ constitutional rights were violated and the public comments by Tornielli were made ‘to further chill the speech of Americans who, as a redress of grievances, oppose what the City of Reading did to Atkins and people like him.’
There’s also the harrowing experience of Mark Houck and his family after an incident with someone confronting his son while protesting at an abortion clinic in Philadelphia. The FBI descended on his home, arrested him, and prosecuted him. Houck was acquitted in February 2023.
As I reported in my column in late February:
One week after Houck’s acquittal, the FBI’s Richmond Division concocted the absurd narrative that Catholics who prefer the Latin Mass are “white supremacists.” This was first reported by the website UncoveredDC. Imagine that. The FBI had “a leader” assert that a portion of traditional Catholics are “white supremacists.” It’s outrageous and laughable.
Jesus Christ tells His followers that they will be hated because they follow Him. Actions like this aren't a surprise. The more this hostility rises, there will be an inflection point where an act of violence will spring grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
The world has multiple examples, China, Iran, elsewhere in the Middle East, of increased persecution causing revival. If the intolerant left isn’t careful, the One they hate, Jesus Christ, will be the One who unleashes spiritual revival.
That will really make them mad.
