Attacks on Christian churches have nearly tripled in the last four years, according to a 84-page report released by Family Research Council (FRC) in December.
Between January 2018 and September 2022, FRC found 420 documented acts of hostility against 397 separate churches in the United States.
Many cases included incidences of vandalism, bomb threats, arson, and gun-related violence.
“The report documents one homicide, numerous arsons, bomb threats (real and fake), and a pervasive desecration of holy items. Vandals regularly smashed crosses, statues, and headstones in cemeteries; vandalized carvings of the Ten Commandments; set fire to a Nativity scene; and smeared feces on a statue of the Virgin Mary,” according to the Washington Stand, FRC’s news outlet.
“They tore up a Bible and desecrated an American flag in a Primitive Methodist church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Denver’s Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church suffered two drive-by shootings this August. Smashed windows and spray-painted doors became ubiquitous. The number of assaults peaked this May through July but has remained elevated compared to historical figures, which usually number in the single digits,” the report continues, noting that each individual act of violence and vandalism could cost tens of thousands of dollars in damage. READ MORE
