American Christianity Under Assault: Discrimination, Decline Or A Cultural Shift?
(ANALYSIS) The question of whether Christianity is under attack in the United States is a complex and deeply polarizing one.
To some, it appears that Christian practices and values are being increasingly marginalized in public life. In some cases, churches are even coming under attack. That’s largely a right-wing talking point.
To others, the assertion is overstated, with accusations of Christian nationalism rooted in a desire to maintain historical dominance rather than address centuries-old oppression. That’s a left-wing talking point.
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To fully understand this ongoing debate, one must consider the historical role of Christianity in America, the legal protections for religious freedom (despite the spread of secularism) amid a decades-old culture war highlighted by societal shifts starting in the 1960s.
As a result, Christianity in the United States is certainly undergoing a transition. It is moving from a position of cultural centrality to one of pluralistic coexistence, especially since new waves of immigrants over the last 30 years who are Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists move to the United States.
In a 2022 post, veteran journalist Richard Ostling, a regular Religion Unplugged contributor, observed:
“Christian nationalism” became common coinage in the U.S. fairly recently, usually raised by cultural liberals who view it with alarm, and often with “White” as an added adjective. The term is not generally embraced by those considered to be participants.
As journalist Samuel Goldman remarks, to describe something as Christian nationalism “is inevitably to reject it.”
The Merriam-Webster definition of plain “nationalism” is “loyalty and devotion to a nation” but adds this important wording, “especially a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups.”
“Nationalism” is not the same as “patriotism,” the natural and benign love and loyalty toward one’s homeland that characterizes all peoples and countries, including huge numbers of non-nationalists on America’s religious left as well as the right. Nor is it the same thing as either political or religious conservatism but is instead a narrow faction within those broad populations.
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A Protestant nation?
Christianity, especially Protestantism, has played a dominant role in the cultural and political fabric of the United States. The early settlers were Christians seeking religious freedom from the British monarchy.
As the United States prepares to celebrats its 250-year founding next summer, it should be noted that many of the Founding Fathers – such as Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams – practicing Christians.
For generations, this cultural dominance meant that Christianity dominated our society and culture. Various denominations flourished. Widespread immigration from Europe in the late 1800s and early 1900s from Ireland, Italy and Poland led to the growth of Catholicism. Other forms of Christianity – with the spread of Methodists, Baptists and Quakers – became powerful forces over the course of two centuries.
Many U.S. Christians today can still remember a time when faith was central to public life. Over the last 60 years, and a shift away from these values, has created two narratives. Some Christians see the shift as a form of attack, something exasperated by actual crimes committed against houses of worship. At the same time, this secular shift is seen by those who support it something ideal for a nation with no state religion.
Society’s embrace of secularism (while ignoring people of faith has helped), for example, has fueled the success of news websites such as Religion Unplugged. We have made it our mission to “cover religion in public life and in people’s lives” when so many other sites have largely ignored such a thing.
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The First Amendment and religious freedom
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of the press, along with the free exercise of religion and protection against governmental establishment of one. This dual principle — oftentimes at tension with one another — is at the very heart of many legal battles involving Christianity today.
Supreme Court decisions have increasingly emphasized the separation of church and state. At the same time, the Court has protected religious freedom. Again, there is tension between the two freedoms.
Legal recognition of same-sex marriage, for example, raised concerns among some Christian business owners, pastors and institutions who believe such mandates conflict with their religious convictions. At the same time, cases such as the 2018 case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission — in which a Christian baker declined to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple — is further proof of this conflicts.
Christianity has also become a political force starting in the 1980s. The Religious Right have allied themselves with Republicans since the days of President Ronald Reagan. In recent years, those same groups have backed President Donald Trump. As a result, this fight has become a political one pitting conservatives against progressives.
Data shows perceptions on whether Christianity is under attack in America varies widely – and most depending on what side of the political right or left you fall on.
According to a Pew Research survey from this past May, 43% of Americans say that evangelical Christians face at least “some” or “a lot” of discrimination. This is a smaller share than the 74% and 72% who say the same about Muslims and Jews, respectively.
A separate April 2024 Pew study found that only 14% of U.S. adults believe evangelical Christians face a lot of discrimination, far less than the 44% who say this about Muslims and 40% about Jews.
Pew found that the divide is also partisan. The Pew study also showed that 57% of Republicans believe evangelical Christians face at least some discrimination, compared with only 31% of Democrats.
Churches under attack
Unlike China or Iran, Christians in the U.S. can worship freely – although attacks against churches and the government shutdown of churches during the pandemic are used as examples of tyranny.
But churches have become a larger focus following two high-profile incidents. In August, a shooter opened fire at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a school Mass, killing two children and injuring 17 before committing suicide. The motive remains unclear, though hate content was found.
Last month, a gunman targeted a Mormon church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, crashing a truck into the building, setting the church ablaze and killing four people. The attacker, a former Marine, had expressed anti-Mormon views and was killed by police.
One recent attack was thwarted after authorities said a New Jersey man was arrested on Oct. 5 outside of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C., had a “fully functional” arsenal of explosives that he threatened to detonate. After D.C. Metropolitan
Police officers took Louis Geri, 41, into custody, they discovered he had “multiple suspicious items, including vials of liquid and possible fireworks” inside a tent he erected on the steps of the cathedral. He was only caught following a security sweep hours before an annual Mass to mark the start of the Supreme Court’s new term.
Since May 28, 2020, there have been at least 528 attacks against Catholic churches alone in the United States, according to statistics maintained by CatholicVote, a conservative group.
Last month, Phil Lawlor, writing for Catholic Culture, noted the following:
CatholicVote tracks the number of reported acts of arson and vandalism at Catholic churches in the US. Many—perhaps most—such acts are not reported.
At least in my experience, most pastors prefer to handle anti-Catholic attacks quietly, without involving the police or the media or even diocesan superiors. If the damage is minor—not enough to warrant an insurance claim—the parish repairs the damage without filing a report. The statue is repaired (or removed and replaced); the pews are refinished; the doors are repainted; the exterior walls are sand-blasted. The less known about the attack, the better, pastors reason.
What is gained, after all, by calling public attention to an ugly incident? Parishioners will be upset; some may even be frightened off. Contributions may decline; who wants to pay for the restoration of a statue that may be toppled again next week? Teenage vandals might revel in the publicity their deeds receive, and other miscreants might decide to imitate them.
”If you make a public issue of it, you just make your parish a target,” one priest explained to a parishioner, as he arranged for repairs to a statue that had been pulled off its pedestal — not for the first time — in the little garden outside the church. Right or wrong, that line of reasoning ensures that the number of such incidents will always be under-reported.
My guess — and it can only be a guess — is that the actual number of times a Catholic church has been vandalized since 2020 is easily double the figure provided by the CatholicVote tracker. In saying this, I do not mean to criticize CatholicVote, which is doing a valuable service by calling attention to the disturbing trend in anti-Catholic violence. On the contrary I mean to reinforce that message, because if the whole truth could be known, it would be even more dramatic.
From 2000 to 2024, crime data shows there were 379 incidents and 487 deaths at religious congregations and religious community centers. Most involved a single victim, but some — like the recent ones in Michigan and Minnesota — killed or injured many people.
About seven in 10 incidents involved guns, accounting for three-quarters of the deaths. Firearm cases averaged about 1.4 deaths each, compared with 1.1 for cases that did not involve guns.
Depending on whom you ask, the attack on churches are caused by different factors: Gun violence? Mental illness? Anti-Christian sentiment? All of the above?
Without knowing the cause – or causes – there is no way to stop it. It throws us all into an endless cycle of violence. As long as Americans remain divided by political loyalties and ignore the real issues, meaningful solutions will remain out of reach.
Clemente Lisi is executive editor at Religion Unplugged.