Religious Hostility Report Published in the US
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This updated edition of the Survey of Religious Hostility in America is a testament to the radical shift in our culture’s worldview that started with the rise of secularism following World War II and has accelerated with each passing year of the twenty-first century. While by no means exhaustive, this survey now presents over 600 incidents of religious attacks and hostility in the United States—most of which occurred within the past 10 years.
Examples of the increasing hostility to religion described in this survey include:
- A federal judge threatened “incarceration” to a high school valedictorian unless she removed references to Jesus from her graduation speech.
- City officials prohibited senior citizens from praying over their meals, listening to religious messages or singing gospel songs at a senior activities center.
- A public school official physically lifted an elementary school student from his seat and reprimanded him in front of his classmates for praying over his lunch.
- Following U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ policies, a federal government official sought to censor a pastor’s prayer, eliminating references to Jesus, during a Memorial Day ceremony honoring veterans at a national cemetery.
- Public school officials prohibited students from handing out gifts because they contained religious messages.
- A public school official prevented a student from handing out flyers inviting her classmates to an event at her church.
- A public university’s law school banned a Christian organization because it required its officers to adhere to a statement of faith that the university disagreed with.
- The U.S. Department of Justice argued before the Supreme Court that the federal government can tell churches and synagogues which pastors and rabbis it can hire and fire.
- The State of Texas sought to approve and regulate what religious seminaries can teach.
- Through the Affordable Healthcare Act (ObamaCare), the federal government is forcing religious organizations to provide insurance for birth control and abortion inducing drugs in direct violation of their religious beliefs.
- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs banned the mention of God from veterans’ funerals, overriding the wishes of the deceased’s families.
- A federal judge held that prayers before a state House of Representatives could be to Allah but not to Jesus.
These examples—indeed, all of the examples presented in this survey—are but a few of the innumerable acts of hostility to religion occurring in the United States each year.
To aid the reader in understanding how these hundreds of incidents are related, this survey is divided into three broad categories: attacks on religious liberty in the public arena, attacks on religious liberty at the school house, and attacks against churches and ministries.
Executive Summary: http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF12H60.pdf Download the full report at: www.LibertyInstitute.org OR www.ReligiousHostility.org
Executive Summary: http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF12H60.pdf Download the full report at: www.LibertyInstitute.org OR www.ReligiousHostility.org