According to Shackelford, the hostility can lead to violence, as in the case of the Aug.15 shooting at the Family Research Council headquarters, in which a gunman allegedly said he disagreed with the group’s beliefs before shooting an employee in the arm. He also cited the Aug. 5 shooting deaths of six people at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee.

A new report by the Family Research Council and the Liberty Institute claims that there’s been a rising pattern of hostility toward Christians in America over the past decade.

The 140-page “Survey of Religious Hostility in America,” prepared by the Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council, highlighted more than 600 examples illustrating what it characterized as religious animosity shown by judges, government bureaucrats, schools and secular groups. From ObamaCare mandates that force religious entities to pay for contraception, to children being punished for uttering prayers in school, the report’s findings shocked even those who commissioned it.

 “It’s a conflict of world views,” Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, told FoxNews.com. “These groups want people to check their faith at the door of the public square.”

Among the examples listed in the survey:

• ·  Matthew Reynolds, valedictorian for HLV Junior-Senior High School in Victor, Iowa, was told he had to give a ‘secular’ speech after he wished to attribute his success to his faith in Jesus Christ during his graduation speech.
• ·  A cross was removed from a veterans’ memorial in San Diego, after the U.S. ////////////////Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that the memorial was unconstitutional.
• ·  .Dr. Frank Turek, a Cisco employee, was fired for expressing his views on traditional marriage in his book, even though he never voiced his religious opinions at work.

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