Freedom Magazine Covers California Bill to Protect Worshippers From Abuse and Intimidation

Faith leaders across California and the nation are increasingly confronting a reality no house of worship should ever face: parishioners being harassed, threatened, or intimidated simply for trying to attend services.

Today, Freedom Magazine, published by the Church of Scientology, covered a developing legislative effort in California aimed at addressing that very concern. The article, “California Moves to Protect Worshippers From Abuse and Intimidation,” by Logan H. Merrill, reports on Assembly Bill 2664, a measure designed to create clearer protections around churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious facilities.

The bill comes in response to repeated incidents targeting worshippers and religious communities. As Freedom Magazine reports, one such incident involved a mob blocking the entrance to a church in Carlsbad, California, shouting abuse at a pastor, his children, and other families attempting to attend services.

For the thousands of clergy, ministers, rabbis, imams, chaplains, and lay leaders who follow IMFC, the issue is not abstract. Across faith traditions, houses of worship are meant to be places of refuge, prayer, and community. Yet increasing hostility toward religious communities has made many leaders confront difficult questions about safety, access, and the right of their congregants to worship without fear.

AB 2664: Clear Boundaries Around Sacred Spaces

Freedom Magazine explains that current California law prohibits disturbances inside a house of worship or “so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the meeting.” However, that language can be difficult to enforce because it does not clearly define the protected space around a religious facility.

Assembly Bill 2664 would replace that ambiguity with defined boundaries, establishing protections within:

• 100 feet of entrances to religious facilities; and

• 8 feet of individuals attempting to enter those facilities.

The purpose is not to prohibit peaceful protest or public expression. Rather, the bill seeks to ensure that worshippers can enter and leave religious services without being surrounded, threatened, blocked, or verbally abused.

California Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, the bill’s sponsor, described the situation in terms familiar to many religious communities. As quoted by Freedom Magazine, she stated:

“Frankly, this is our lives every day when we show up to worship in our synagogue. We have seen here in California that people who are entering their synagogues or mosques, churches and other places of worship, as they enter, they are surrounded. They are yelled at.”

A Broad Religious Liberty Concern

The Freedom Magazine article also notes that this issue is not confined to one religion or one state. Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Scientology and other faith communities have all reported hostility, intimidation or targeted disruption.

The article cites troubling figures, including:

• At least 1,384 acts of hostility against American churches since 2018;

• 6,274 incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault recorded by the ADL in 2025;

• Roughly 100 swatting incidents affecting California Churches of Scientology;

• And surveys showing that 29 percent of American Muslims report fearing for their personal safety.

These numbers reflect a growing challenge for all who care about religious freedom and public safety. When worshippers begin to wonder whether it is safe to attend services, religious liberty itself is weakened.

Protecting Worship While Preserving Free Speech

One important aspect of AB 2664 is that it seeks to protect both religious exercise and constitutional freedoms. Robert Trestan, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s West Division, testified in support of the bill, stating:

“Assembly Bill 2664 has one simple goal: to ensure that people of all faiths have the freedom to worship without fear. This bill does not ban peaceful political expression and protest. But rather, it is intended to ensure that worshippers can safely exercise their right to pray, while protecting the freedom of speech and assembly.”

That balance is essential. The right to speak, protest, and assemble must be preserved. But those rights do not include physically obstructing worshippers, intimidating families, or turning the entrance to a sacred space into a gauntlet of abuse.

Why This Matters to House-of-Worship Leaders

For leaders of houses of worship, AB 2664 highlights an urgent, practical, and moral question: how can religious communities remain open, welcoming, and accessible while also protecting congregants from harassment and intimidation?

The answer will require cooperation among faith leaders, civil rights organizations, legislators, and law enforcement. It will also require public recognition that attacks on one faith community threaten the safety and liberty of all.

Freedom Magazine’s coverage brings attention to a legislative effort that many religious leaders will want to follow closely. Whether in California or elsewhere, the principle at stake is universal: no one should be afraid to enter a house of worship.

Houses of worship must remain places of peace, refuge, and spiritual renewal — not targets for abuse, threats, or obstruction.