Leftist Attacks on Churches Have Almost Tripled in Four Years

22.12.2022 00:45

LifeNews.com

Attacks on Christian churches in the United States have almost tripled in the past four years, according to a new report from the Family Research Council.

Breitbart reports the conservative organization documented 420 acts of hostility against 397 different churches between January 2018 and September 2022, including shootings, bomb threats, arson, assaults and vandalism.

Coinciding with a rise in violence against pro-life organizations, 57 of the church attacks this year were attributed to pro-abortion motives, the organization found.

“The rise in acts of hostility against churches is cause for concern and reflects a larger societal trend of intolerance toward Christianity,” said Arielle Del Turco, assistant director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council and author of the report.

One church in Vandalia, Ohio had its Nativity scene set on fire. In another incident in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, someone left feces throughout a church building, ripped up a Bible and desecrated an American flag. In August, a congregation in Denver, Colorado found bullet holes in their church doors and windows on two separate days; no one was hurt.

This year in particular, churches saw a huge increase in attacks. According to the report, “The first nine months of 2022 saw more than double the number of reported acts of hostility against churches than occurred in the entirety of 2018.”

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Many of the attacks occurred around the same time as the George Floyd riots in 2020 and the leak of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision in May, the authors continued.

“When looking at recorded acts of hostility per month from 2018 to September 2022, it is notable that a spike in church attacks seemed to follow rises in political tension,” Turco wrote. “This happened during the protests and concurrent riots related to George Floyd’s death in May 2020 and following the leak of the Dobbs decision in May 2022. Overall, acts of hostility trended upward during the five-year reporting period.”

The FRC report referenced FBI “hate crime” data, which also shows a rise in attacks on churches in the past four years: “In 2021, the most recent year with available data, the FBI reported 240 anti-Christian ‘hate crimes,’” 213 in 2020, 217 in 2019 and 172 in 2018.

Other attacks in the report were documented based on local and national news reports.

The crime wave has prompted many churches and pro-life organizations to increase security measures. Nationally, Republican lawmakers also have been demanding action from the Biden administration to crack down on domestic terrorism against pro-life advocates and Christians. But, while the Biden administration has been aggressively working to expand the killing of unborn babies in abortions, it has done seemingly little to stop the violence and hostilities directed at pro-life advocates and churches.

Numerous pregnancy centers have been vandalized since May and at least five were victims of arson or attempted arson. According to Catholic Vote, at least 86 Catholic churches and 77 pro-life organizations have been victims of firebombs, vandalism and other attacks.

LifeNews also has been keeping track of reports of arson, vandalism, pro-abortion violence and other incidents targeting pro-life advocates since May. They include:

Michigan – Another Pregnancy Center Vandalized in Eastpointe, Pro-Life Leader’s Home Also Vandalized with Threat

Virginia – Pro-Life Advocate Attacked, Injured at George Mason University (TFP Student Action)

Pennsylvania – Pro-Life Advocate Attacked while Holding Sign Saying “Smile! You Survived Abortion!” at Gettysburg College

California – Pro-Life Student Display Vandalized at University of California San Diego (Students for Life)

Nebraska – Church, Pro-Life Students Receive Violent Threats from Pro-Abortion Activists (Omaha World Herald); Governor Condemns as Domestic Terrorism

Washington, D.C. – Radical Abortion Activists Disrupt Pregnancy Center Banquet Just Months after It was Vandalized

Indiana – Another Pro-Life Billboard Vandalized with Red Paint in Greenfield, Indiana (Prolife Across America)

South Carolina – Clemson University Pro-Life Student Group Gets Violent Threats for Hosting Students for Life Chief (The College Fix)

Pennsylvania – Carnegie Mellon University Republican Club Competition Display Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Campus Reform)

Alaska – St. Andrew Catholic Church in Eagle River Vandalized Twice Since Supreme Court Abortion Leak (Alaska Watchman)

New York – Ulster County Sheriff’s Office Investigates Vandalism of Pro-Life Billboard in Esopus, Third Time This Year (Daily Freeman)

North Carolina – Campbell University Pro-Life Student Leader Receives Violent Threats, Display Vandalized (Campus Reform)