Local, state and federal lawmakers are pushing for funding to protect houses of worship following a series of deadly shootings, signaling that the days of the church with its doors propped open at all hours may be over.
Sarah Levin, director of governmental affairs for the Secular Coalition for America, said grants for security at houses of worship needed also to be made available to nonreligious groups, as is the case with Department of Homeland Security grants.
She noted that many secular nonprofits, such as abortion clinics, also were targets of violence. “Favoriting the security of houses of worship over the security of other communities is not only violation of separation of church and state, it’s wrong,” she said.
