{"id":53570,"date":"2025-10-02T06:34:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T12:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/?p=53570"},"modified":"2025-10-02T06:34:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T12:34:26","slug":"church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSanctuary\u201d Must Mean Something Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/picture> Download Print-Friendly Version<\/a><\/p>\n

On a winter night in Montgomery, 1956, a young pastor stood at a pulpit preaching nonviolence while the movement\u2019s enemies slipped a bomb onto his home\u2019s front porch. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. learned his home had been bombed\u2014with his wife Coretta and their infant daughter inside\u2014he rushed home to find an angry, armed crowd gathering in the street. King raised his hands and pleaded for peace: <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>We must meet violence with nonviolence<\/span><\/i><\/a> \u2026 go home and don\u2019t worry. We are not hurt.\u201d<\/span><\/i> Then he sent people back to their families and back to their faith. The church remained the movement\u2019s shelter, and the movement remained the church\u2019s work.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is one of our nation\u2019s defining images of what sacred space is for. A sanctuary is not a fortress; it\u2019s a promise. It promises that there is at least one place where the human person is not a problem to be solved by force but a soul to be received, heard, and protected. It promises a time\u2011out from vengeance long enough for justice, mercy, and reason to do their work.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that promise has been pierced\u2014again and again.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the sanctuary is torn<\/b><\/h3>\n

The wounds are old. On a <\/span>Sunday morning in 1963<\/span><\/a>, terrorists placed dynamite under the steps of Birmingham\u2019s 16th Street Baptist Church. The blast killed four little girls and shook a nation awake. Their names\u2014Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley\u2014still invite us to say <\/span>never again<\/span><\/i> with our whole chests.

A sanctuary is not a fortress; it\u2019s a promise. That promise has been pierced–again and again.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div><\/span>The wounds are also terribly new. In Charleston in 2015, a white supremacist sat through Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME, accepted hospitality, and then executed nine disciples of Jesus\u2014including their pastor, State Sen. Clementa Pinckney. The murderer desecrated not only a sanctuary but the sacred practice of welcoming the stranger.<\/p>\n

Two years later, the deadliest church shooting in American history struck First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas\u2014twenty\u2011six slain, twenty\u2011two wounded\u2014on a Sunday that became a long Good Friday for a small town. That same autumn near Nashville, gunfire ripped through Burnette Chapel Church of Christ as worshipers were leaving morning service; one was killed, and several were wounded.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, at West Freeway Church of Christ, an attacker killed two congregants; the livestream captured the trauma of a sanctuary violated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2022, a gunman opened fire at St. Stephen\u2019s Episcopal in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, during a potluck, killing three retirees. That same spring in Laguna Woods, California, political hatred targeted a Taiwanese congregation meeting at Geneva Presbyterian; one man died shielding others as five were wounded.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then came this late summer: a school\u2011year Mass at Minneapolis\u2019s Annunciation Catholic Church was transformed into a scene of horror. Two children were killed. Twenty\u2011one people were wounded. A community of parents and grandparents in their Sunday best learned the meaning of intercession under fire.<\/span><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not only bullets and bombings that have pierced the promise of sanctuary.

It\u2019s not only bullets and bombings that have pierced the promise of sanctuary.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div><\/span>In the late 1960s, draft resisters in the Vietnam era sought refuge in churches. In Buffalo, federal marshals, FBI agents, and local police stormed a Unitarian sanctuary with blackjacks to seize young men who thought sacred space still meant something. The image\u2014lawmen forcing their way down the aisle\u2014became a scandal precisely because Americans sensed a taboo had been broken.<\/p>\n

For years afterward, our government tacitly restored a norm. But in January 2025, federal officials rescinded those \u201csensitive locations\u201d protections and announced that churches would no longer be treated as off\u2011limits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And now, as I write, we are once more confronted by blood on the sanctuary floor. On September 28, 2025, in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, a man rammed his pickup into a Latter\u2011day Saint meetinghouse, opened fire on worshipers, and set the building ablaze. Four were killed and eight wounded; the suspect died after an exchange of gunfire with police. Investigators say he harbored a hatred of Latter\u2011day Saints. Whatever the motive, we can say what it was: an act of targeted violence against a people at prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

If sanctuary is the promise, these are its betrayals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why sanctuaries matter\u2014still<\/b><\/h3>\n

Sanctuary is older than our nation and broader than our denominations. The Hebrew Scriptures created <\/span>\u201ccities of refuge\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u2014an early recognition that justice without mercy becomes mere force.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

American churches have tried. Black congregations made their sanctuaries waystations on the Underground Railroad because conscience and Scripture would not let them return the image of God in chains. Civil rights churches kept their doors open to people who had been beaten by deputies and attacked by dogs. In the 1980s and again in our own decade, congregations of every stripe opened basements and parish halls to immigrant neighbors facing sudden separation from their children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even those skeptical of religion should recognize what is at stake. Houses of worship are where communities knit trust, where hungry people find food, and addicts find companions who will not give up on them. When our cycles of violence treat churches like just another address\u2014or when hatred treats them like just another \u201csoft target\u201d\u2014it sends a message: there is no place you can assume a modicum of peace. That message corrodes the very social capital our neighborhoods need to be safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

What \u201cre\u2011enshrining\u201d sanctuary should look like<\/b><\/h3>\n

A renewal of sanctuaries in America does not require turning churches into islands above the law. However, it will require the re-entrenching of norms that the state respects. It requires recovering the moral wisdom that our law should serve.<\/span><\/p>\n

We can re\u2011establish a bright\u2011line norm against enforcement actions in sanctuaries. Congress can codify what was once policy into law: absent a true, immediate threat to life or a judicially\u2011authorized exigency, federal agents do not conduct arrests in churches, synagogues, mosques, or their immediate grounds. This would align enforcement with religious liberty and with long\u2011standing American instincts about sacred space.

Align enforcement with religious liberty and with long\u2011standing American instincts about sacred space.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div><\/span>We can do a good job of protecting our congregations without hardening our hearts. Congregations should continue the quiet work they already do\u2014accompaniment, crisis funds, counseling\u2014and, where prudent, coordinate with local authorities on safety plans. The best safety plans are the things our houses of worship should be best at. Welcome everyone who comes in. Ask their name. Shake their hand. Make them feel seen.<\/p>\n

Name and resist hatred for what it is. The Charleston murderer did not just kill; he desecrated hospitality offered across a color line. The Grand Blanc attacker allegedly nursed a bigotry toward Latter\u2011day Saints. We need moral clarity that the attack on a worshiping community is an attack on America’s promise to itself. Hate\u2011crime statutes and domestic\u2011terror tools should be used\u2014fairly, consistently, and without fear or favor\u2014to confront that reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then we need to turn hatred into love. An Amish community in Pennsylvania put this into practice when they <\/span>forgave and then helped the family<\/span><\/a> of the man who murdered many of their daughters. Similarly, Latter-day Saints have <\/span>raised more than $265,000<\/span><\/a> (at the time of publication) for the care of the family of the man who died while attacking their chapel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A plea<\/b><\/h3>\n

Return, for a moment, to the home of Martin Luther King Jr. Glass on the floor. A baby\u2019s cries. A crowd bristling with weapons. And a pastor who refused to let his people become what their enemies hoped they would become. King did not deny the danger or minimize the evil; he simply insisted on a better way. That choice\u2014on a porch, in the dark\u2014saved lives that night, and arguably the movement itself.

The promise of sanctuary will never be perfectly kept … but the alternative is a country where nothing is sacred.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div><\/span>Think, too, of the names that fill our modern litany of sorrow: the Emanuel Nine in Charleston; the saints of Sutherland Springs; the Burnette Chapel wounded; the elders of Vestavia Hills; the Taiwanese Christians in Laguna Woods; the families of Annunciation in Minneapolis; and now, the Latter\u2011day Saints in Grand Blanc. Each congregation gathered for an ordinary grace\u2014scripture, sacrament, singing\u2014and each had that grace violated by a hatred that cannot understand how sanctuaries work.<\/p>\n

We need sanctuaries. We need places where the command \u2018<\/span>do not harm here\u2019<\/span><\/i> holds.<\/span><\/p>\n

The promise of sanctuary will never be perfectly kept; the list of violated spaces proves that. But the alternative is a country where nothing is sacred\u2014not our neighbors, not the truth, not even the peace we claim to seek. That is not a future worthy of our children, or of the God so many of us worship.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why must sanctuary matter again? Violence pierced sacred space, yet renewal remains possible through mercy and clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[475,498],"tags":[204,178,334,394,343,112,99,360,1165,1180,194,96,13,159,1149],"coauthors":[243],"class_list":["post-53570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gospel-fare","category-tolerance","tag-civil-war","tag-compassion","tag-extremism","tag-genocide","tag-guns","tag-hate","tag-hate-crimes","tag-human-rights","tag-martin-luther-king-jr","tag-pacifism","tag-peace","tag-religious-persecution","tag-victims","tag-violence","tag-war"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChurch Shootings and the Broken Promise of Sanctuary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Church shootings expose sacred space as fragile; we press for renewed sanctuary norms, lawful protection, and mercy that turns hatred into care.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Sacred Trust Shattered by Church Shootings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Church shootings shatter the promise of sanctuary, yet sacred space remains vital. Renewal demands protection in law, courage in community, and love stronger than hate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Public Square Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-02T12:34:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"C.D. Cunningham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"C.D. Cunningham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"C.D. Cunningham\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/db9a4bc0ba1950d880cc840dd9b35640\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cSanctuary\u201d Must Mean Something Again\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-02T12:34:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1542,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Civil war\",\"Compassion\",\"Extremism\",\"Genocide\",\"Guns\",\"Hate\",\"Hate Crimes\",\"Human Rights\",\"Martin Luther King Jr\",\"Pacifism\",\"peace\",\"Religious Persecution\",\"Victims\",\"Violence\",\"War\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Gospel Fare\",\"Tolerance\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/\",\"name\":\"Church Shootings and the Broken Promise of Sanctuary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-02T12:34:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Church shootings expose sacred space as fragile; we press for renewed sanctuary norms, lawful protection, and mercy that turns hatred into care.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\"An LDS meetinghouse with a lit steeple and police tape conveys both sacredness and violation after church shootings.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/dialogue\\\/tolerance\\\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cSanctuary\u201d Must Mean Something Again\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Public Square Magazine\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Public Square Magazine\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Public-Square-Logo-Primary-WHT-Background-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Public-Square-Logo-Primary-WHT-Background-1.png\",\"width\":2195,\"height\":416,\"caption\":\"Public Square Magazine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/db9a4bc0ba1950d880cc840dd9b35640\",\"name\":\"C.D. Cunningham\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e96faf2250e561fff62e53e3990ea5264856fbc5b246099134b96d7e58766b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g9d3ec925d67dcc6403e43ee640f1c502\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e96faf2250e561fff62e53e3990ea5264856fbc5b246099134b96d7e58766b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e96faf2250e561fff62e53e3990ea5264856fbc5b246099134b96d7e58766b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"C.D. Cunningham\"},\"description\":\"C.D. Cunningham is a founder and editor-at-large of Public Square magazine.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/author\\\/ccunningham\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Church Shootings and the Broken Promise of Sanctuary","description":"Church shootings expose sacred space as fragile; we press for renewed sanctuary norms, lawful protection, and mercy that turns hatred into care.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Sacred Trust Shattered by Church Shootings","og_description":"Church shootings shatter the promise of sanctuary, yet sacred space remains vital. Renewal demands protection in law, courage in community, and love stronger than hate.","og_url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/","og_site_name":"Public Square Magazine","article_published_time":"2025-10-02T12:34:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"C.D. Cunningham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"C.D. Cunningham","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/"},"author":{"name":"C.D. Cunningham","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#\/schema\/person\/db9a4bc0ba1950d880cc840dd9b35640"},"headline":"\u201cSanctuary\u201d Must Mean Something Again","datePublished":"2025-10-02T12:34:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/"},"wordCount":1542,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg","keywords":["Civil war","Compassion","Extremism","Genocide","Guns","Hate","Hate Crimes","Human Rights","Martin Luther King Jr","Pacifism","peace","Religious Persecution","Victims","Violence","War"],"articleSection":["Gospel Fare","Tolerance"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/","name":"Church Shootings and the Broken Promise of Sanctuary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-02T12:34:26+00:00","description":"Church shootings expose sacred space as fragile; we press for renewed sanctuary norms, lawful protection, and mercy that turns hatred into care.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg","width":700,"height":350,"caption":"An LDS meetinghouse with a lit steeple and police tape conveys both sacredness and violation after church shootings."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/dialogue\/tolerance\/church-shootings-broken-promise-sanctuary\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cSanctuary\u201d Must Mean Something Again"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/","name":"Public Square Magazine","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#organization","name":"Public Square Magazine","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Public-Square-Logo-Primary-WHT-Background-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Public-Square-Logo-Primary-WHT-Background-1.png","width":2195,"height":416,"caption":"Public Square Magazine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#\/schema\/person\/db9a4bc0ba1950d880cc840dd9b35640","name":"C.D. Cunningham","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e96faf2250e561fff62e53e3990ea5264856fbc5b246099134b96d7e58766b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g9d3ec925d67dcc6403e43ee640f1c502","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e96faf2250e561fff62e53e3990ea5264856fbc5b246099134b96d7e58766b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e96faf2250e561fff62e53e3990ea5264856fbc5b246099134b96d7e58766b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"C.D. Cunningham"},"description":"C.D. Cunningham is a founder and editor-at-large of Public Square magazine.","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/author\/ccunningham\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/publicsquare._A_painting_in_the_style_of_Anders_Zorn_of_a_subur_b1fd2f21-d60d-4490-9734-78f7036a64e8.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53570"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53593,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53570\/revisions\/53593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53570"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=53570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}