US under fire for attack on religious freedom in its backyard

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 20

The US, which last week graded countries on the Freedom of Religion index, has come under attack for shortcomings on this score.

Estimates said 617 worshipers were killed at houses of worship in the US in 20 years, between 1999 and 2019. This includes the murder of six members of Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and the murder of nine members of the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015.

Minority religious places of worship were not the sole targets, between 2000 and 2020, American churches experienced 19 fatal shootings. According to the official statistics, hate crimes rose to their highest numbers in two decades in 2020, with more than 1,000 religion-based incidents.

These attacks have led to demands for increasing the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NPSG) which allows any at-risk nonprofit organisation, including houses of worship and other religious institutions, to seek financial support to help protect itself from violence.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said the increased funding for the NPSG program will allow additional marginalised groups to secure their communities.

Max Sevillia from the Anti-Defamation League estimates that 80 per cent of Protestant pastors say their church has some security measures in place.

“The threat of violence is now a tragic feature of religious life in America, forcing many faith leaders to become ad hoc security planners. But safety, and all that it entails, is an expensive and complex process that most houses of worship simply cannot afford,” he said while seeking higher NPSG funding.

Recently, the Congress appropriated $ 90 million for this program this year and $180 million next year. “The problem is that even though the program’s funds have increased, the money available has not kept pace with the scale of the problem,” said Sevillia.

The Build Back Better budget has promised $100 million in funding, which, in addition to the $180 million appropriated, brings the amount closer to the $360 million that is necessary to meet the demand. “But at a time of increased vulnerability to hate-motivated violence by domestic extremists, Congress must support this funding,” he says.