Attacks on Churches Increased 800 Percent in Last 6 Years: Report

A report released by the Family Research Council (FRC) indicates an 800 percent increase in violent incidents against churches in the past six years. The Feb. 20 report (pdf), titled “Hostility Against Churches Is on the Rise in the United States,” shed light on the aggressive trend of increased attacks against churches, with data indicating that attacks on the places of worship doubled in 2023 over the previous year. According to the FRC’s 183 pages of findings, at least 915 acts of hostility against U.S. churches were identified between 2018 and 2023. FRC president and former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Tony Perkins said of the report, “There is a common connection between the growing religious persecution abroad and the rapidly increasing hostility toward churches here at home: our government’s policies....