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Christian organizations sent a letter<\/a> to Politico after one of its reporters, Heidi Przybyla, condemned the beliefs of Christian nationalists.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one thing that unites all of them \u2026 as Christian nationalists \u2013 not Christians by the way, because Christian nationalist is very different \u2013 is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don\u2019t come from any earthly authority,\u201d Przybyla said<\/a>. \u201cThey don\u2019t come from Congress. They don\u2019t come to the Supreme Court. They come from God.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter<\/a>, signed by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Brian Burch of Catholic Vote, said that Przybyla \u201cdemonstrated a disqualifying lack of knowledge of the United States of America\u2019s founding documents and a profoundly prejudicial view toward American religious groups.\u201d<\/p>\n Przybyla\u2019s view failed to acknowledge that \u201cour own Republic was founded on the belief that our rights come from God, not earthly kings or government,\u201d Perkins and Burch wrote. \u201cThis understanding of the origin of human rights is clearly articulated in the Declaration of Independence and its proposition that \u2018all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.\u2019 And it has been reiterated and embraced by every President of the United States since George Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n The Christian leaders called Przybyla\u2019s unawareness of the Declaration of Independence \u201cdisturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of the reporter\u2019s historically inaccurate statements, \u201c[i]t is deeply disturbing \u2026 that she appeared unaware of the opening of the Declaration of Independence or to its references of \u201cthe Laws of Nature and of Nature\u2019s God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEqually concerning is Ms. Przybyla\u2019s smearing of the Christian faith reflected in her comments. Her statements constituted an attempt to spread misinformation about Christians by creating the perception that they hold unique beliefs that pose a distinct and, in her words \u2018extremist,\u2019 threat to our country,\u201d the letter added.<\/p>\n The letter concluded by urging Politico to confirm that offense is not a part of its structure. \u201cRhetoric like Ms. Przybyla\u2019s, which demonizes religious groups, is profoundly dangerous. It can motivate disturbed individuals who may be predisposed to commit violence against faith communities,\u201d it read. \u201cWe the undersigned believe that Ms. Przybyla\u2019s comments reflect a pervasive bias that not only prevents her from accurately and fairly covering issues related to religion and religious communities, but Politico\u2019s silence suggests it condones these attacks on people of faith. Ms. Przybyla owes people of faith an apology, as does her employer. Politico must confirm that such offensive comments have no place within its organization.\u201d<\/p>\n Criticism against Christianity comes as attacks against churches have surged<\/a> in the last year.<\/p>\n More than 436 hostile acts occurred against churches between January and November 2023, a number more than double the hostilities against churches in 2020 and eight times greater than in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cOur findings suggest that the rise in hostility we identified in our December 2022 report has neither slowed nor plateaued; rather, it has accelerated,\u201d the\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0from the Family Research Council said. \u201cThis could be due in part to increased public reporting on crimes against churches, resulting in more available data than in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n California churches saw the greatest number of hostilities in 2023, with 33. Texas had 28 incidents of hostile action, followed by Tennessee (26), Ohio (24), and Florida (23). Both New York and Carolina had 22 hostile events. Hawaii and Wyoming had zero hostile actions taken against churches throughout 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n