Attacks On Christian Churches EXPLAINED In 5 Mins

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Attacks On Christian Churches EXPLAINED In 5 Mins"

The Michael Knowles Show – January 24, 2026

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Overview

In this focused episode, Michael Knowles examines why leftist movements throughout history have repeatedly targeted Christian churches. Using a recent incident in Minneapolis—where protestors disrupted a church service—as a starting point, Knowles provides a historical survey of anti-Christian violence tied to the political left, tracing events from the French Revolution to twentieth-century communist regimes. The episode's main theme is the persistent and ideologically motivated attacks on Christianity by left-wing groups, both past and present.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recent Attack in Minneapolis

• Incident Recap:
  A leftist group invaded a church in Minneapolis, disrupted the service, and harassed congregants in protest against the deportation of criminals and federal immigration law enforcement.
• Public Reaction:
  Knowles notes widespread shock at the direct targeting of a religious service for political protest.

“Recently a leftist mob in Minneapolis invaded a church, stopped the service and harassed the Christian congregants until they were forced to leave.” (01:22)

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2. Historical Precedent: The Left and the Church

• Pattern of Anti-Church Actions:
  Knowles asserts that targeting Christianity is a recurring feature of leftist movements, stretching back to the origins of the political left.

• French Revolution Origins:

  • 1789 National Assembly Split:
    Political factions were divided into 'left' (opposed to king and church) and 'right' (loyal to religion and monarchy).
  • Baron de Goville Quoted:
    Those loyal to religion and the king kept to the right to avoid the left’s “shouts and oaths and indecencies.” (Referencing French historian Baron de Goville)

  “The term first appeared in 1789, when members of the French national assembly divided themselves between the left and the right of the Hall... Those who were loyal to religion and the king took up position to the right of the chair so as to avoid the shouts and oaths and indecencies that enjoyed free reign in the opposing camp.” (01:53)

  • De-Christianization and Violence:
    The revolution saw destruction of churches, looting, forced renunciations by clergy, and mass executions.

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3. Anti-Christian Violence by Leftist Regimes

• Paris Commune (1871), France:
  Closure of churches, desecration of religious sites, execution of clergy.

• Russian Revolution:
  Bolsheviks implemented state atheism, destroyed 40,000+ religious sites, and executed thousands of priests with “particularly sacrilegious methods.”

  “...executed thousands of priests through particularly sacrilegious methods, such as boiling in tar, the consumption of melted lead in mock Holy Communion, and crucifixion.” (03:03)

• Mexico (Early 20th Century):
  Government attacks included bombings of sacred Christian artifacts, church closures, and execution of clergy.

  “In 1921, an employee of the president... placed a bomb beneath the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe... The bomb exploded, but the tilma... managed to survive intact, even as the bomb destroyed the altar steps and bent brass candlesticks.” (03:35)

• Spain (Spanish Civil War):
  Systematic destruction of churches, rape and murder of nuns and priests, and staged executions of Christian symbols.

• Soviet Bloc (Post WWII):
  Mass imprisonment and execution of clergy, imposition of atheism.

• China (20th Century):
  Up to 700,000 Christians killed, including thousands of clergy, public executions of missionaries.

  “...Chinese Communists of the era, who imprisoned and killed an estimated 700,000 Christians, including tens of thousands of priests and pastors, and publicly executed missionaries.” (05:06)

• North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia (Khmer Rouge):

  • Labor camps, torture, forced famine, and attempts to erase Christianity entirely (e.g., Cambodia’s ‘Year Zero’ policy, inspired by the French Revolution’s calendar reset).

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4. Intellectual and Philosophical Roots

• Key Radical Thinkers Quoted:

  • Diderot: “Man will only be free when the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.”
  • Voltaire: “Crush the infamous thing.” (Referring to the Church)
  • Jacques Hébert: Called priests “your enemies” and advocated for their persecution.

  “For years the French had been reading Diderot, who proclaimed, ‘man will only be free when the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.’ And Voltaire, who said of the church, ‘crush the infamous thing.’ And later Jacques Hebert, who demanded that the national assembly, ‘declare openly that the priests are your enemies.’” (05:40)

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5. Conclusion: Recurring Pattern and Warning

• Knowles argues that leftist revolutions consistently begin by targeting the church and that unchecked, these movements escalate into broader violence and repression.

• Cites the execution of Jacques Hébert—who helped spur anti-clerical violence—during the very reign of terror he helped inspire as a cautionary tale about revolutionary excess.

  “That's how leftist revolutions end. If they're not stopped where they begin, which always seems to be with a mob taking aim at a church.” (06:23)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Historical Origin of 'Left' and 'Right':
  “[The] term first appeared in 1789... those who were loyal to religion and the king took up position to the right... to avoid the shouts and oaths and indecencies that enjoyed free reign in the opposing camp.” (01:53)
• Graphic Historical Descriptions:
  “Executed thousands of priests through particularly sacrilegious methods, such as boiling in tar, the consumption of melted lead in mock Holy Communion, and crucifixion.” (03:03)
• Enduring Pattern:
  “If they’re not stopped where they begin, which always seems to be with a mob taking aim at a church.” (06:23)

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Timeline of Key Segments

• [01:22] – Introduction of Minneapolis incident
• [01:53] – Origin of left/right political terms during French Revolution
• [02:30–05:10] – Survey of anti-Christian violence from 18th-20th centuries (France, Russia, Mexico, Spain, Central/Eastern Europe, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia)
• [05:40] – Philosophical drivers behind anti-Christian sentiment
• [06:23] – Conclusion: Revolutionary attacks often begin with the church

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Overall Tone

Knowles’ tone is brisk, urgent, and polemical, employing vivid historical examples and direct quotations to argue that attacks on Christian churches are not isolated incidents but deeply rooted in the ideological history of the political left.

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Transcript

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Recently a leftist mob in Minneapolis invaded a church, stopped the service and harassed the Christian congregants until they were forced to leave. Many people were shocked by the antics. The mob, in this case, said that they were protesting the deportation of criminals and the enforcement of federal immigration law. So why would they target a church? The answer is simple. Leftists always target the church. That has been true, going all the way back to the very origin of the political left in the French Revolution. The term first appeared in 1789, when members of the French national assembly divided themselves between the left and the right of the Hall. As Baron de Goville described, we began to recognize each other. Those who were loyal to religion and the king took up position to the right of the chair so as to avoid the shouts and oaths and indecencies that enjoyed free reign in the opposing camp. Almost a quarter millennium later, not much has changed. After the leftists won the revolution, they embarked on a campaign of de Christianization, destroying thousands of churches, looting religious property and forcing priests and nuns to renounce their vows when they weren't being murdered en masse. When French socialists briefly overthrew the government again and established the Paris Commune in 1871, they quickly closed all churches in the city, desecrated religious sites, and executed the archbishop along with dozens of other clergy. Churches fared even worse after the Russian Revolution when the Bolsheviks implemented state atheism, stole church Property, shuttered over 40,000 monasteries and churches, and executed thousands of priests through particularly sacrilegious methods, such as boiling in tar, the consumption of melted lead in mock Holy Communion, and crucifixion. By that same time, Communists in Mexico had long sought to destroy the church in that country. And in 1921, an employee of the president, Luciano Perez Carpio, infamously placed a bomb beneath the tilma of Our lady of Guadalupe, a then 400-year-old garment that had converted some 10 million natives to Christianity, thanks to what believers consider to be a miraculous image of Mary. The bomb exploded, but the tilma, which naturally ought to have disintegrated centuries earlier, managed to survive intact, even as the bomb destroyed the altar steps and bent brass candlesticks. After the smoke cleared, a twisted brass crucifix was left, appearing to hug the artifact as if to protect it. Perhaps a second miracle. Nonetheless, Mexican leftists eventually did succeed at closing churches, banning religious displays, and executing hundreds of priests. A few years later, their communist cousins over in Spain unleashed their own red terror against Christians, destroying thousands of churches, raping nuns, and murdering upwards of 7,000 priests, monks and nuns, often by burning them alive. In the early days of the Spanish Civil War, leftist regime supporters posed for a photograph of firing rifles at a statue of Jesus in a mock execution. They blew up what remained of that monument with dynamite. The following month, from the end of World War II until the fall of the Berlin Wall, leftists in Central and Eastern Europe imposed atheism, sending tens of thousands of clergy to prisons and labor camps, where they were frequently tortured and killed. But all of that was child's play compared to the Chinese Communists of the era, who imprisoned and killed an estimated 700,000 Christians, including tens of thousands of priests and pastors, and publicly executed missionaries. In North Korea. During that time, the Kim regime sent hundreds of thousands of Christians to labor camps to be tortured and starved. In Vietnam, communists shuttered churches and imprisoned clerics. In Cambodia, Communists under Pol Pot endeavored to exterminate religion entirely, as they claimed to reset history, history which had previously been measured in the years ad anno Domini, the year of Our Lord resetting it to year zero. The Cambodian Communists borrowed the idea of setting the calendar to year zero from the French revolutionaries, who had abolished Christian dating and declared year one on the first Vendemier. And how could the French left do otherwise? For years the French had been reading Diderot, who proclaimed, quote, man will only be free when the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest. And Voltaire, who said of the church, crush the infamous thing. And later Jacques Hebert, who demanded that the national assembly, quote, declare openly that the priests are your enemies. Hebert would go on to lose his head in the reign of terror that he had championed. That's how leftist revolutions end. If they're not stopped where they begin, which always seems to be with a mob taking aim at a church.

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