This article is a horrible example of journalism. It’s loaded with conclusions and no facts to back it up.
It starts off with:
Churches have long been considered safe havens from the evil of the outside world. No more.
But no where in the article, does it ever state whether there has been a marked increase in criminal activity around churches. Sure, it states that security has increased at churches, but that’s different than actual crimes. The article states how churches reflect changes in the larger society, yet crime in the larger society has been trending downward for the last 10 years (see U.S. DOJ for data).
The article quotes from both James Cobble of Christian Ministry Resources (also at ChurchLawToday) and two people from GuideOne insurance. Both have a vested interested in hyping the threat to churches. Cobble’s interest is from selling consulting services to churches and GuideOne from selling insurance to churches.
At the minimum churches should be publicly sharing crime reports that happen on their property. That would at least allow journalists to have some facts back up their conclusions.
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This article makes me feel scared to go to church. I’m not scared that my child will be molested or kidnapped. These are always isolated incidents in communities that probably happens less frequently at churches than at local playgrounds. I have no facts to back this statement up, but hey, I’m not writing a newspaper article.
I’m afraid that I’m going to have to start submitting urine samples, have a psychological evaluation or somehow have my socialization skills questioned in order to be allowed to participate in worship. Heck, they might even asked how I’m politically registered!
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