US sees marked rise in hostility towards places of worship

Acts of vandalism and destruction of church property in the US have almost tripled in nearly five years, an investigation has found.

The American policy group Family Research Council (FRC) identified a “noticeable increase” in “acts of hostility” against churches across the US, with the number of documented incidents rising from 50 in 2018, to 137 in 2022.

Among the buildings targeted were those belonging to Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic and Pentecostal churches.

Vandalism

FRC identified 342 acts of vandalism, 58 arson attacks or attempts, 12 shootings or gun-related incidents, 11 bomb threats, and 19 other occurrences of religious hostility – including assault – between January 2018 and September 2022.

The FRC investigation also found that at least 57 pro-abortion acts of hostility against church buildings had occurred between January 2022 and September 2022.

Report author Arielle Del Turco acknowledged that the report was not comprehensive and believed the total number to be “much higher”.

Marginalising Christian beliefs

Commenting on the findings, Del Turco said: “Make no mistake, acts of hostility against churches are a matter of religious freedom.”

She added that the documented instances were indicative of “a more grievous assault” on the “ability to choose and live out one’s faith safely, both at church and in the public square”.

She also suggested that the “lashing out against church buildings” pointed to a “larger societal problem of marginalizing core Christian beliefs”, including “issues related to human dignity and sexuality”.