Growing Christian Persecution

Many Christians in America are painfully aware of the horrible persecution that is inflicted on our brothers and sisters overseas by hostile governments and Islamic supremacists.

But what many don’t seem to realize is that there is growing hatred and violence against Christians here in America. And if it isn’t stopped, outright persecution isn’t far behind.

A shocking new report from the Family Research Council, which I led for 10 years, should set off alarm bells in the American Church.

The report covered all kinds of violence over the last six years, including arson, bomb threats, vandalism and even shootings. Sadly, there is a clear pattern. These attacks are not isolated incidents, and they are happening with greater frequency every year.

For example, there were 55 incidents of hostility toward churches in 2020. In 2021, there were 96 incidents. In 2022, there were nearly 200 attacks.

One explanation for why the number of attacks against churches doubled from 2021 to 2022 could be the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, triggering a wave of violence from pro-abortion extremists.

But what explains the fact that the number of attacks against churches doubled again last year to more than 430 incidents?

Make no mistake about it: This violence is motivated by unhinged forces on the political left. That’s why it gets so little attention from the left-wing media. That’s why the attacks in Texas and Tennessee by transgender individuals against Christians disappeared so quickly from the headlines.

Intolerant leftists routinely smear Christians as the “American Taliban” and “Christian nationalists.” They accuse us of being a “threat to democracy.”

They hate us because we believe in the sanctity of life, because we believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and because we believe in the biological, scientific reality that a person’s sex cannot change.

And as we have repeatedly warned, the persecution of Christians is not just violent attacks. Increasingly, it is coming from radical government policies that seek to marginalize and punish people of faith, whether it’s peaceful pro-life activists or parents just trying to raise their children according to their values.