This will be a very difficult blog for me this week. The Pew has always taken great care to keep politics out of the gospel, and I am proud of the fact that we have done a pretty good job at just that. We are not perfect and it’s highly possible in the past out of 680 blogs somewhere we may have slipped up a bit, but it’s only fair to tell you this week everything you read here is intended. We’re gonna get right into it, based on reports released in 2025 and early 2026. There’s been a high volume of hostility and violence against Christian churches with significant incidents occurring globally and in the United States. An Open Door report released in January 2026 found 3,632 churches were attacked looted damaged or burned worldwide between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025. The information that I share here with you this week is available on the Internet. You can Google it and that in itself is maybe one reason why it’ll be a little bit skeptical or you might want to check. But according to the report, there has been a record persecutions of Christians. The 2025 World Watch List indicated record levels of violence and oppression against Christians, with 15 countries reaching extreme persecution levels, in India alone there were 700 attacks on Christians in 2025 along with increased vandalism and disruptions of prayer meetings, particularly around Christmas. A look at Europe reveals a report covering 2024 with data that extends into 2025 which noted a sharp rise in violence against Christians in Europe, with 94 arson incidents against churches in 2024, a third of which were in Germany. Here in the United States   2024 into 2025 the trend has seen 415 acts of violence, that information was released by the family research council and it documented 415 acts of hostility against US churches in 2024, which included 284 cases of vandalism, 55 cases of arson and 28 gun related incidents. To try and keep things a little bit in perspective there were reports that indicated a slight decrease from 2023, incidents remain significantly higher than in 2018 and 2022. We continue to see in 2025 ongoing vandalism, such as anti-catholic graffiti, arson in states like Ohio, and attacks in Pennsylvania. There were 500+ attacks on Catholic churches those figures are covering May 2020 through early 2025 on US Catholic churches. When we get to the motives for such actions, many of those motives are really not known for sure, but they have been linked to ideological disputes over issues such as human sexuality, with a decline and incidents related to abortion according to the Family Research Council. All of these actions are not without consequences. Projections for 2025 suggest a potential record number of churches will be closed in the US, with estimates to go up to 15,000 churches, may close, driven by   declining attendance and financial issues. And now the hard part.

He is in the opinion of the Pew the result of the Hate Factor.  Society has a fancy word for what’s going on and that word is misotheism, I may have spelled that wrong if I did, I apologize, but it’s considered to be a conscious, active hatred of God, often manifesting and rebelling against divine authority. It’s linked to self and a desire to indulge in personal desires, with God perceived as a threat to ones ability to do it “their way.”Now, if we look at this from a biblical perspective, the scripture highlights that this is a hallmark of the unconverted and an, active, hostility towards God and his followers. It is seen as a violation of the first commandment. Now, in the interest of being fair, I have noticed over the years self included that a lot of good church people have the habit of wanting to do it..“our way.”This attitude usually takes the form of expressions that uses profanity, harboring, wicked thoughts, and a very cynical attempt to challenge the divine. These kind of people many times prefer the darkness over the light. We have a contrast here between the divine hatred versus the human hatred. In a theological context, God’s hatred is not viewed as a sinful emotional reaction, but rather a firm opposition to sin evil and injustice it is described as a protective stance against things that destroy us from flourishing. People of this ilk see that which is good and of God as being bad and hurtful. Now human hatred. We’re looking at hatred that includes hating God to be considered a sin, often fueled by pride and a selfish desire to ignore divine law. So what’s the answer?  honors God through obedience and service, so there you have it friends. Consider this…ordinary love is not going to get the job done. This may not resonate well with some of you, but we’re talking about a love that is not intended to foster tolerance. The church, has become enamored with the word inclusiveness. I invite you to look that up in the dictionary. From Matthew 22:37-40

 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.”

I am simply pointing out that to love God in the manner that is described in the above verses, requires more than just lip service and agreement. We must learn to live our lives in a fashion that emulates the life of Jesus Christ. This is not an easy thing to do, and there will be many instances when we fail, but if we continue to strive for that goal, salvation will be ours. So all I’m really saying is tolerance is not love, it is a failure on our part as Christians tolerate this type of behavior or we should learn from Genesis that when something bad confront us do like Joseph, don’t walk away… run away. If we learn and strive to live as God would have us live then and only then will these other verses come together.

39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

All the hate that we see in this world today, as Christians, we cannot continue to tolerate our excuse in any way this ungodly behavior in our world today.  The truth is that today…People Hate God…  and the people that believe. Join us in the Pew next week for a look at … A Nonanxious Presence.

Life is Good 

jk