Attacks on churches in the USA tripled during the first three months of 2023, new data has revealed.
The Family Research Council (FRC) found that there were 69 incidents during the first quarter of the year, a sharp rise from 24 during the same period in 2022.
The Hostility Against Churches report called the attacks “symptomatic of a collapse in societal reverence and respect for houses of worship and religion”.
Sharp rise
More incidents were reported between January and March this year than in the whole of 2018, when 50 attacks on churches were reported.
The majority were acts of vandalism, with one causing around $40,000 (£32,000) in damages. At least one church was marked with satanic symbols.
At a church in Kentucky, vandals wrote “TRANS PWR” in black spray paint on the front of a church the day after the House of Representatives passed a bill to protect children from harmful ‘sex-swap’ procedures.
Tragic
Three gun-related incidents on church property were reported in the first three months of 2023, including the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville.
Ten instances of arson or attempted arson were also reported. One church in Texas was set on fire, causing $200,000 (£160,000) in damages.
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