DATA SAYS: Violent Acts Against Churches Spiraling Upward in America
A new analysis by the Family Research Council (FRC) finds acts of violence against churches in the United States are rapidly heading upward, “vandalism, arson, gun-related incidents, bomb threats, and more.”
According to the analysis reported by FRC’s Arielle Del Turco, there were at least 436 acts of hostility against churches in the 11 months of 2023 from January through the end of November.
Incidents Per Year, January 2018 – November 2023.
“This was more than double the number of incidents in all 12 months of 2022, which was 195. It also marked the second consecutive year that saw more than twice the number of incidents of the year before.
“There were at least 96 incidents in 2021, 55 in 2020, 83 in 2019, and 50 in 2018. Over the entire reporting period for this report, from 2018 to 2023, acts of hostility appear to have increased in frequency over time,” Del Turco reported.
“Although the motivations for many of these incidents remain unknown, the rise in crimes against churches is taking place in a context in which American culture appears increasingly hostile to Christianity. Criminal acts of vandalism and destruction of church property may be symptomatic of a collapse in societal reverence and respect for houses of worship and religion—in this case, churches and Christianity,” Del Turco continued.
“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 political issues related to human dignity and sexuality,” she writes.
Most of the hostile acts involved vandalism of church property.
“To conduct this research, FRC analyzed open-source documents, reports, and media outlets to assess the number of acts of hostility against churches that have taken place since 2018. We looked at incidents of vandalism (including the destruction, defacement, ransacking, and theft of property), arson, and arson attempts. Gun-related incidents that took place on church property and bomb threats (including false ones) made against churches were also included. Most of the incidents identified were acts of vandalism.
“From January 2018 to November 2023, there were at least 709 occurrences of vandalism, 135 arson attacks or attempts, 22 gun-related incidents, 32 bomb threats, and 61 other incidents (assault, threats, interruption of worship services, etc.). In 39 cases, multiple types of hostility occurred (e.g., vandalism and arson).”
Go here to read the full report.