Liberty Institute, a conservative law firm, said that religious persecution has been growing in the US, as seen in increasing instances of attacks on practice of Christian faith.
The group publishes an annual survey reporting the acts of religious hostilities around the country, and found an astounding 133 percent rise in communal intolerance over the past two years. After the US Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages, the institute saw an even sharper surge in discrimination, which has led to a 400 percent spike in requests for legal assistance in such grievances.
"At Liberty Institute we have seen our requests for legal help go up 400 percent just since the Supreme Court's gay marriage decision," Jeff Mateer, General Counsel at the law firm, told the congregants at the Values Voters Summit in Washington on Saturday.
He said that prior to the court's decision, there used to be just about 15 requests in a week, but afterwards, the average number of law suits grew to about 60-75.
Cases such as a 5-year-old girl asked to stop praying over her meals by the school authorities, and senior citizens threatened to have their federally-funded meals withdrawn for praying over food, are pouring into their law firm, according to The Washington Times. Government officials fighting against the senior citizens said that letting them pray over the meals violate "separation of church and state."
Meanwhile, the state of Georgia fired Dr. Eric Walsh from a position initially offered to him in health department after the officials saw his sermons at a church, where he serves as a lay Pastor, voicing his views on gay mariages and evolution.
Craig James, former national broadcaster at Fox Sports was dismissed from his job for having a traditional view on marriage, even though he never talked about it on television.
US Air Force Sgt Phillip Monk and Navy Chaplain Wes Modder also came under fire at their respective institutions for holding religious beliefs on marriage. Sgt Monk was laid off his duties because he disagreed with his commander's views, while Chaplain Modder got a restraining order for answering a question on marriage from a biblical perspective at a personal counseling session.
Liberty Institute has published Religious Liberty Protection kits to inform people about their religious rights in institutions ranging from schools and churches to public services.
Kelly Shackelford, President and CEO of Liberty Institute, expressed her concern about the growing religious intolerance in the country.
"Although I am excited to support people of all faiths in the battle for their rights, I find it incredibly sad that we live in a time where religious liberty kits are even necessary. This threat to religious liberty affects not only religious individuals, but society as a whole... Religious liberty is still our first freedom. Americans must not be intimidated into surrendering our First Amendment rights." she said.
