Factchecking claims that 400 churches were burned to the ground in France
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Hello and thanks for downloading the More or Less podcast. We're the programme that looks at the numbers in the news, life and social media posts of 1990s British pop icons. I'm Tim Harford. Sometimes a topic comes up that's so good we keep resurrecting it and sending it back out onto the airwaves. This week that topic is religious persecution. Or rather, the claims made about attacks on churches. You might recall that we covered the topic at the beginning of the year when we looked into whether something tweeted by a member of a band called Right Said Fred was right. Too long, didn't listen? Here's a potted version. Basically, an unspecified member of the Fred band, using their joint account, claimed that there had been 9,000 attacks on churches in the UK.
We found that the number actually included crime recorded on the grounds of any religious establishment. That's mosques, churches, synagogues, etc. Plus graveyards, cemeteries, church buildings, car parks. The crimes were mainly burglaries and thefts, and also included things such as drug dealing, sexual assaults and graffiti. But it turns out that this was just one claim about church attacks, among many that are percolating through the internet like the world's least appetising cup of coffee. Lizzie McNeill did the original report and now, like a Jedi, returns. Hi Tim. You're back.
As was foretold.
So what do you have for us this week?
What claims are being made about church attacks in France?
Well, actually, this brings us back to social media, because I've noticed the same number circulating. People claiming that 400 churches have been burnt down in, insert, country here.
Have you malfunctioned again?
No, I just mean people on Twitter then insert whatever country after it.
So there were only 400-odd churches and chapels burnt to the ground in France. Only 400? This is 400 too many. Just this past year, there have been 400 documented instances of hostility against churches in the US.
Was anyone ever arrested for burning down one of the 400 churches in Canada?
It does seem very odd that in all of these places it's 400 churches.
Arsonists work in mysterious ways. But yes, it is suspicious, largely because it isn't true, at least not for countries like Canada or France. In parts of Nigeria, Christians are experiencing high levels of violence, but they are not included in these claims.
Noted.
Shall we go through these one by one?
Please do.
Well, let's start with France. After Notre Dame suffered a catastrophic but accidental fire in 2019, a map started circulating on social media that allegedly showed the number of Christian churches in France that had been burnt down.
And did it?
No. Like the UK stat, the map actually charts all crimes recorded in churches, but also graveyards, church halls, church schools, cars parked near churches, and in one incident, a scout hut. Oh. The map comes from Christianophobie, a French website that goes through news reports to record incidences of alleged Christian persecution in France and around the world. There are indeed hundreds of incidents on the map and on their website. I counted over 1,900 that occurred in France over the past nine years.
So around 200 crimes a year?
Yeah, ish. Now, I've been through all of these incidents on their website and some are pretty uncompelling as examples of religious persecution. For example, one that appears on the map was a scout hut that was targeted and had tents stolen. Another was a report from the diocese that they were worried about the electrical wiring in the church. But there have also been incidents of anti-Christian graffiti, services being interrupted and theft as well as arson.
But the quotes specifically state that 400 churches had been burned to the ground.
Yeah, they did say that. I went through all the incidents of fire in their reports. First things first, there weren't even 400 fires.
How many were there?
120. 26 of these were due to electrics or candles. Two were caused by homeless people lighting fires even near churches or while squatting in an abandoned church. 25 are listed as unknown.
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