For hundreds of years, churches doubled as sanctuaries. The vulnerable and the persecuted knew they could seek asylum in the house of the Lord and took solace in knowing that they would be insulated from outside forces.

Further back in time, as King David lay dying, an ambitious son who had tried to seize the throne fled to the tabernacle and clung to the altar, trusting that sacred ground would keep him safe from an attack by an equally ambitious brother he had come to fear.

Houses of worship function a little differently today, but even in 21st-century America, citizens seeking to escape the rancor of divisive rhetoric always knew they could take refuge in their religious institutions. Parishioners might hear a sermon about civic responsibility or the best way to combat bigotry, but churches, mosques and synagogues were safe havens. Houses of worship were immune from the partisanship and political pressure that exert so much influence in the day-to-day lives of their congregants.

That all changed this month when the

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