No One Should Fear Violence in a House of Worship. Ohio Is Leading the Way.

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No One Should Fear Violence in a House of Worship. Ohio Is Leading the Way.

Journalist Don Lemon pleaded not guilty to federal charges tied to an ICE protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn. on Jan. 18. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Dr. Richard Rogers is from Flowery Branch, Georgia and serves AFPI as Vice Chair of American Values.

Across the country, churches are becoming targets. When people disrupt worship and nothing happens, when there are no meaningful changes or follow through, it tells the next group of agitators they can do it again. Ohio can change that by treating intimidation inside a sanctuary like what it is: unacceptable.  

“It takes an act of Congress” is an old American saying used when something feels nearly impossible. Unfortunately, that phrase is starting to apply to something that should never be difficult at all: ensuring peace and security inside houses of worship. 

Ohio State Reps. Tex Fischer and Jonathan Newman recently introduced House Bill 662, a proposal aimed at deterring intentional disruptions of religious worship. The goal is sound and urgent. Every American should be able to worship without fear, whether in a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple. 

If Ohio is going to lead the nation, it should do so in a way that reflects fidelity to the Constitution. House Bill 662 makes clear that people deserve real protection from intentional obstruction, trespass, threats, and intimidation in places of worship. 

These situations are not hypothetical. It became painfully real in St. Paul, Minnesota, where demonstrators stormed a Sunday service at Cities Church. Families sat in pews with children at their sides, uncertain whether the disruption would remain shouting or escalate into violence.

The message Americans are receiving is unacceptable: activists can turn worship into a spectacle and face little consequence. Obstructing a service or threatening worshippers isn’t a small matter. Yet too often, these incidents are brushed aside or reduced to minor charges. 

Ohio has a chance to lead by proving that protecting churches and protecting free speech are not in conflict. The First Amendment safeguards both. We can defend worshippers from real disruption while honoring the full protections of the First Amendment. 

House Bill 662 rightly recognizes that worship services are not stages for political theatrics, but time for worship. When people obstruct, intimidate, or intrude on these gatherings, it shouldn’t be brushed aside. The law should respond clearly and firmly. 

No one should be allowed to storm into a sanctuary and terrorize families during worship. At the same time, America’s constitutional tradition ensures that peaceful protest remains protected. 

As a pastor of a large congregation with multiple campuses and a television ministry, I understand the realities churches face. Houses of worship are private property. Churches have the right to ask disruptive individuals to leave, issue no trespass notices, and pursue criminal trespass charges when someone refuses to comply. 

But those protections only work when local justice systems are willing to enforce them. Too often, they are not. 

Pastors should not have to become legal experts in self-defense. Worshippers should not have to wonder if Sunday service—this sacred hour—will be shattered by rage, disruption, or violence. Houses of worship are open and welcoming by nature. That is their mission.  

Ohio can draw a clear line: punish intimidation and disruption, but don’t give government a tool that can be used to punish lawful speech. 

Protecting houses of worship is not partisan. It is a test of whether Americans can still gather, pray, and worship in peace, regardless of politics, denomination, or creed.  

Ohio has a change to set the standard for the entire country by protecting both sacred spaces and the Constitution.

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

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