Contact: J.P. Duffy or Alice Chao, 866-FRC-NEWS or 866-372-6397

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, Family Research Council released Hostility to Religion: The Growing Threat to Religious Liberty in America, a report documenting dozens of new incidents of government hostility to religion in America in just the past three years. The updated report, with 69 cases added since 2014, finds a 76 percent increase in religious freedom violations since the first edition. The report is available as a free download at www.ReligiousHostility.org.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins made the following comments regarding the increasing incidents of government-based hostility toward religious expression:

"The recent spike in government driven religious hostility is sadly not surprising, especially considering the Obama administration's antagonism toward biblical Christianity. The report underscores the legitimacy of the actions taken by the Trump administration to end the policies and practices in federal agencies that fan the flames of this religious intolerance. The increase in reported cases not only reflects the growing hostility, but also the growing courage of Christians, especially young Christians, to defend both their faith and their freedoms.

"This report is designed to quantify the threat to our First Freedom and to challenge Americans to use their God-given freedoms to protect these freedoms we enjoy as Americans. We will continue to advocate and work for our government to return to the proper and healthy understanding of religious freedom, the freedom to believe and live according to those beliefs," concluded Perkins.

Travis Weber, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, added the following comments:

"While every section of the report shows an increase in the suppression of religious freedom, the area section dealing with human sexuality showed the greatest increase in the level of hostility to religious beliefs. This trend was apparent in the last report, and following the Supreme Court's decision redefining marriage, is even clearer now. In a society like ours, we must be the guardians of our own freedom. Anyone who desires freedom in the future must take note of what these trends tell us about our freedom right now--relative to where we have come from--in order to protect freedom going forward," concluded Weber.

Download the report at ReligiousHostility.org