Hostility to Christian views on sexuality rises by more than 100 percent, says new report

A new report released by the Family Research Council (FRC) has indicated that there has been a 114 percent increase in documented hostility toward Christian views on marriage and sexuality in the last three years.

The report, titled "Hostility to Religion: The Growing Threat to Religious Liberty in the United States," highlighted instances in which Christians faced hostility over their views on sexuality as well as incidents wherein their First Amendment rights were violated.

The FRC noted that religious freedom violations were already "significantly high" when the first edition of the report was released in July 2014.

"The first edition — spanning over a decade — contained 90 incidents. Yet 69 new incidents have been added in the short time since the last report. That is a 76 percent increase in just under three years," the group stated, as reported by The Christian Post.

The report's first section, titled "Attacks on Religious Expression in the Public Square," cited the case of Russell Vought, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to be the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.

During his confirmation, Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Vought of being bigoted because of his blog post where he stated that Muslims "do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned."

The FRC noted in the report that the senator appeared to be applying a religious test on Vought, even though it is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.

One of the cases highlighted in Section II, titled "Attacks on Religious Expression in Schools in Universities," was that of Moriah Bridges, a student who was forbidden from delivering her prepared remarks for the graduation closure at Beaver High School in Pennsylvania in June because they invoked the "Heavenly Father."

According to the FRC, she chose to abide by the school's instructions, but she contacted First Liberty Institute and sought to discuss the incident with school officials.

In Section III, titled "Censure of Religious Viewpoints Regarding Sexuality," the FRC drew attention to the case of Edie and David Delorme, a Baptist couple who owns Kern's Bake Shop in Texas. The couple reportedly received threats on social media and Yelp after they declined to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding because of their religious convictions.

The FRC noted that the bakery was never threatened with a lawsuit, but it continues to receive criticisms from LGBT activists.

Among the new cases included in Section IV, titled "Suppression of Religious Viewpoints on Sexuality Using Nondiscrimination Laws," was that of the Tennes family, Catholic farmers who were prohibited from selling their produce at a farmer's market in East Lansing, Michigan in September because they indicated on Facebook that they will not host same-sex weddings on their farm.

The FRC explained that the figures indicated in the report are "conservative estimates" and are likely much higher because some religious freedom violations affected more than one person or entity, but was only counted as one incident.