Kerby Anderson

A new report from the Family Research Council documents that there have been more than 400 “acts of hostility” against churches in the US since 2018. If I had written the report, I think I would have used other words than “acts of hostility,” but this rather tame description is probably best.

These attacks have taken place in 45 different states and in Washington, DC. Most of those attacks have been what they refer to as “pro-abortion acts of hostility.” As I have mentioned in previous commentaries, this includes acts of vandalism and arson. But it also includes bomb threats, assaults, and gun-related incidents.

As you might imagine, many of these attacks have been at pro-life pregnancy centers. There have also been attacks at churches, including disruption of services. The report noted that “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 issues related to human dignity and sexuality.”

The report noted that the Family Research Council wasn’t the only organization confirming such violent acts. The FBI keeps records of hate crimes, including those motivated by an anti-religious bias. In the most recent years with available data, the FBI reported 240 anti-Christian hate crimes. This was a notable increase from previous years.

Tony Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council but has also served as a commissioner of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. He has seen what has happened in other countries. “As the mainstream culture moves further and further away from a biblical worldview, I’ve witnessed the hostility to moral truth creep closer to our shores.”

We need to call upon law enforcement to be more diligent to protect people of faith and their property.