Attacks on churches escalated in the first quarter of 2023 consistent with a years-long trend of rising vandalism, arson and shootings, none worse this year than the deadly rampage at the Covenant School in Nashville.
The Family Research Council’s supplemental first-quarter update to “Hostilities in Churches,” its December report, recorded 69 attacks on churches from January to March, nearly three times the number carried out against houses of worship during the same period in 2022.
“If this rate continues, 2023 will have the highest number of incidents of the six years FRC has tracked,” the conservative organization said in the report released Monday.
The vast majority of the incidents were vandalism. The report identified 53 episodes of property destruction and graffiti; 10 incidents of arson, arson attempts or fires with unknown causes; three gun-related incidents; three bomb threats; and two other attacks. Some incidents fell in more than one category.
The attacks occurred in 29 states, led by North Carolina, which saw seven episodes, followed by Ohio and Tennessee with five each. There were no incidents reported in 21 states or the District of Columbia.
“The anger and division that increasingly characterize American society are endangering churches and eroding religious freedom,” said Arielle Del Turco, the council’s director of the Center for Religious Liberty, who authored the report.
“When congregants feel targeted by members of their communities or church buildings bear the brunt of outrage over political events, the very ability to live out one’s faith safely is under attack,” she said.
Several incidents had transgender connections.
The suspect in the shooting at the Covenant School, a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, was a female who identified as male. Three children and three adult staff were killed in the massacre.
The spray-painted message “TRANS PWR” was found March 3 on St. Joseph Catholic Church in Louisville, days after the Kentucky House passed a bill to ban gender-transition procedures on children.
A Jan. 3 fire destroyed the 117-year-old former Portland Korean Church building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Charged with first-degree arson was 27-year-old Cameron David Storer, who identifies as female, goes by the name Nicolette Fait, and suffers from schizophrenia, according to local news reports.
FRC‘s New Report Shows Escalating Attacks on Churches in First Three Months of 2023. https://t.co/W3rJlwWyHo
— Family Research Council (@FRCdc) April 10, 2023
“Criminal acts of vandalism and destruction of church property are symptomatic of a collapse in societal reverence and respect for houses of worship and religion — in this case, churches and Christianity,” Ms. Del Turco said.
“Some people 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 said.
The 69 attacks represented a significant surge from previous years studied by the council. The first quarter of the year saw 15 attacks in 2018; 12 in 2019; none in 2020; 14 in 2021, and 24 in 2022.
The group recorded 191 incidents for the entire year in 2022; 96 in 2021; 54 in 2020, the year marked by pandemic lockdowns; 83 in 2019, and 50 in 2018.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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