Faith under attack: the increasing number of violent acts against Christian churches in the US

By John Lucas Alves da Silva

It was the morning of March 27 this year.

Everything was going along to be another quiet day in Nashville, in the US state of Tennessee, until at 10 o’clock (local time), the police received a call.

People claimed that they had heard gunshots coming from The Covenant School, a private Christian school linked to the ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church.

That day, police officers said that when they arrived at the school, they heard gunshots on the second floor of the building, and there they found the shooter with two rifles and a pistol.

According to witnesses, the perpetrator entered the school by shooting through the glass doors of the building and fired several shots, which hit three children and three adults: six lives were lost, and six stories were interrupted.

The American police suspect that the main motive that led Audrey Hale, a transgender person, to carry out such an act was to have “anger at the school for having been forced to attend it when she was young.

This same growing anger and hatred toward Christian institutions is one of the main reasons for the ongoing concern of the Family Research Council (FRC), which released its first quarterly report on acts of violence against churches in the US in April.

The figures indicate that acts of hate, like the one that Hale committed against Christian institutions, follow a sad upward trend.

The survey revealed that 69 incidents occurred in the first quarter of 2023 alone, nearly three times higher than the number recorded during the same period last year.

During the first three months of 2018, when the survey began, 15 acts of hostility against churches were reported.

In 2019, the FRC counted 12; in 2020, it counted none, but in 2021, that number rose to 14, and in 2022 24 cases were added.

The FRC warned that 2023 could have the highest number of violent acts against Christian churches in six years of research if the first quarter’s rate endures.

According to the institution, most incidents this year occurred in January, with 43 cases; 14 occurred in February and 12 in March.

Vandalism was the most common type of violence, followed by arson attacks, firearm attacks, bomb threats, and other occurrences.

The report also indicated that these acts of hostility occurred in 29 US states, with North Carolina – governed by Democrat Roy Cooper – recording the highest number of incidents (seven), followed by Ohio and Tennessee, with five cases each.

“Some people seem increasingly comfortable attacking churches, using a larger social problem to marginalize core Christian beliefs.”

“Among these people, we can include those who address controversial political issues related to human dignity and sexuality,” the report pointed out.

The director of FRC’s Religious Freedom Center, Arielle Del Turco, expressed her concern about the growing anger and frustration directed at churches.

She stressed the need for unity in defending religious freedom and for people to worship and live their faith freely, without fear of attacks against their churches or communities.

“The growing anger and frustration directed at the edifices of [Christian] churches point to a larger spiritual battle and a growing hostility toward Christianity,” he stressed.

The motivations behind the violent acts range from personal anger to political issues, while others are unexplained.

However, all the incidents represent a worrying trend and have the potential to be intimidating.

In December 2022, the FRC had already released an extensive publication documenting a sharp increase in cases of violence against churches in the United States.

Analyzing available data from the past five years, the FRC counted 420 acts of hostility against Christians between January 2018 and September 2022.

The acts identified include vandalism, arson, and bomb threats.

Last year alone, between January and September 2022, the report identified 137 acts of violence against churches.

Compared to the previous year (2021), when 96 incidents had been reported, the increase was approximately 42%.

The FRC warned in the report that growing “anger and division” in American society endanger churches and erode the right to religious freedom.

“When members of a congregation feel targeted by people living in their communities, or when churches begin to bear the brunt of some people’s outrage over political events, the very ability to live out their faith safely begins to come under attack,” it pointed out.

CASES

As the report showed, incidents of vandalism are a majority among the acts of hostility reported against churches in the first three months of 2023.

People with mental illness conditions committed some of these assaults. Others appear to have been motivated by anger directed at the targeted church.

Several cases also involved robberies. Some are still under criminal investigation and are being treated as hate crimes.

Many acts of vandalism are unexplained destructions, such as that of a piece that showed an outdoor birth scene. In it, stones were thrown through a window.

In Memphis, Tennessee, vandals broke into Holy Nation Church and shattered the sanctuary’s stained glass windows.

They also stole equipment that the church uses to broadcast its online services.

In the report, the local pastor pointed to larger problems faced by young people dealing with their emotional distress.

“I don’t hold grudges,” said pastor Andrew Perpener Jr. “These things are just a manifestation of a larger pain,” he argued.

In other incidents, one can already note the deep anger directed at churches.

In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, vandals broke into Dellabrook Presbyterian Church on Valentine’s Day (celebrated in the US on February 14) and fired a fire extinguisher throughout the church.

The ventilation system and air conditioner collected the powdery residue from the extinguisher and spread it throughout the building, causing about US$40,000 in damage.

Luellen Curry, who works at the church, told a local news station that she didn’t understand the motivation.

“I keep wondering why. That shows a lot of anger. Were they angry at us? Were they angry at the churches? Were they angry at God? I just don’t understand why anyone would do that,” he said.

In February, vandals broke into the Jesus Is Alive World Center in Reading, Pennsylvania, and destroyed sound equipment, a pulpit, and the church’s century-old stained glass windows.

In addition, they also damaged a piano and television, threw chairs around the building, and set off a fire extinguisher, ruining the carpet.

Still, Pastor Isaiah Adio told local reporters that he would not give up his dedication to the local community.

“We will continue to do what we are doing for the body of Christ and our community,” he stated.

In some acts of vandalism, messages were left. At least one church was vandalized with satanic symbols.

A pro-life sign before a church was vandalized with the abortionist message “Women’s body, women’s choice.”

On March 3, vandals wrote “Trans Power” with black spray paint in front of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

This incident occurred one day after the Kentucky House of Representatives passed a bill prohibiting minors from undergoing gender transition procedures.

In addition to the vandalism incidents, from January to March 2023, there have been ten cases of arson, attempted arson, or fires from unknown causes in American churches.

On January 3, the Portland Korean Church, a 117-year-old building that was empty in Portland, Oregon, was set on fire.

The 27-year-old suspect claimed that “voices in his head” threatened to maim him if he refused to burn down the church.

In another case, Goodwill Baptist Church, a historically black church in Austin, Texas, was set on fire in early March in an incident that police believed to be criminal, causing US$200,000 in damage.

In several other cases, the FRC pointed out that individuals have attempted to set fire to crosses or statues outside church buildings.

Between fire and vandalism, the report pointed out that three gun incidents occurred on American church property in the first three months of 2023, including the shooting at The Covenant School.

In one incident, two adults and two minors fired 50 shots from 9mm pistols at a Mennonite church building in Versailles, Missouri.

The damage to the property was considered a hate crime.

In another incident, an overnight shooting in the parking lot of Praise Temple Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, resulted in four people being referred to the hospital.

The report also detailed cases related to bomb threats.

The FRC recorded three incidents of such threats against American churches in the first three months of 2023.

On February 19, a person noticed a pipe bomb outside St. Dominic Catholic Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia Police Department’s bomb squad removed the 45-centimeter device but did not tell reporters if they believed the church was the target of the explosive.

On January 30, a suspect was charged after threatening to blow up Gracelife Chapel near Pevely, Ohio.

The suspect reportedly threatened a church employee, even sending a text that said, “I’m going to make your church disappear.”

Another incident involved a teenager calling a church in Nashville and making a false bomb threat.

In addition to the above cases, two incidents in the first three months of 2023 fell into the category classified by the report as “other.”

One was a violent attack on March 12, where a man was arrested for stabbing an unidentified person at Crossfire Church in Springfield, Oregon.

Church staff stated that the attacker attended the ministry and had never shown any signs of violence before the attack.

The staff attributed the assailant’s actions to drug use and expressed their frustration with Oregon’s increasingly lax drug laws – a US state governed by Democrat Tina Kotek.

Members of the church feel that the state government indirectly encourages the abuse of such substances through a lack of prohibitive laws and enforcement.

In the attack, the victim suffered non-lethal wounds to the head and neck.

The church’s pastor, Aaron Taylor, stated, “We are regularly affected by the fentanyl crisis in our community, which harms many people.”

However, he insisted the attack would not negatively affect the church’s ministry.

“We will never screen people who come to church. Instead, we will have very robust security and staff to deal with it,” he said.

SHY PRESS COVERAGE

Last year, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, an institution that fights for the right to religious freedom in the US, released a report in which it reported that only 37% of Americans have heard about the crisis involving attacks on Christian churches.

The low number reflects the lack of coverage by the traditional media, which hardly reports the cases, according to the institution.

While the lack of awareness of these attacks on churches nationwide is troubling, most Americans oppose violence against churches or places of worship.

Some 94% of respondents to the Becket Fund’s Religious Freedom Index 2022 took a stand against hostile acts and acts of violence against Christians.

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