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SAN DIEGO -- Americans have talked a lot lately about the ugly phenomenon of political violence. As well we should; people should not feel unsafe because of what they believe.

Nevertheless, now we need to pivot and confront something we don't want to talk about because it can be even uglier: religious violence. People also should not feel unsafe because they are believers.

Of course, like its political counterpart, the idea that someone might attack another human being because of their religion is not new. It happens on the regular, all over the world. The problem is that when targeted acts of religious violence occur, the tendency of political figures and media observers is to focus on the religion of the victims. We don't often consider the possibility that this might be an attack on religious people in general.

I get it. Who wants to think those thoughts? It's a terrifying idea. If you think Americans are divided now, imagine how fractured our society would become if -- in addition to the existing fault lines (Black vs. white, rich vs. poor, immigrant vs. native-born, etc.) -- we had to conceive of the possibility that we could also wind up in different camps based on whether we worship.

At a dinner party, or a youth soccer game, we might talk with friends about how there seems to be a disturbing spike in violence against Jews or Catholics or Muslims. We blame the easy availability of guns, or the fact that we don't pay enough attention to mental health. Since many shooters fit the same profile -- i.e., a young white male who feels isolated from society -- we might also talk about whether some demographic groups are more deadly than others.

But human beings tend to think narrowly. We center on the incident at hand, and we don't imagine that we could be looking at only a small piece of a full-blown crisis. We see what we see. We don't think about what we might be missing.

And we're certainly not ready to have scary conversations about whether people could be targeted because they believe in a higher power, pray daily or visit a house of worship.

But look at the evening news. It's getting harder and harder for Americans to avoid having those conversations.

On Sunday, Sept. 28, four people were killed and several others were wounded when a man opened fire at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, and set it ablaze in what officials labeled "an act of targeted violence." The suspect -- who was identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, a former Marine -- was killed by police. According to people who knew him, Sanford was known to express animosity toward Mormons.

On Aug. 27, two children (an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old) were killed and 19 other people, including 16 children, were injured when an assailant later identified as Robin Westman, 23, fired through the windows of Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Westman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The shooter -- who fired a rifle, shotgun and pistol -- left behind writings and videos that revealed an array of grievances and violent obsessions.

Jewish advocacy groups report a recent uptick in threats against their community. In the last decade, there have been attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh and in Poway, California.

Then there are threats that, thank goodness, never become a reality.

A 32-year-old Lynchburg, Virginia, man named Macin Horstemeyer is currently facing terrorism charges, accused of threatening to target a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan, with an AR-15 rifle. Horstemeyer made threats on YouTube videos relating to murdering Black people and individuals who practice Islam.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass recently posted on X that she has ordered police to increase patrols near houses of worship.

What in the world is going on here? My two-bit theory is that believers are -- due to their faith -- centered and certain. And that makes them a target for those who aren't either one of those things.

After the shooting at the Mormon church in Michigan, CNN anchor Danny Freeman said the quiet part out loud.

"This shooting of course follows other attacks on houses of worship," Freeman told a guest. "Are we imagining it? Are we actually seeing a rise in what seems to be targeted violence against places of worship?"

We might well be. God help us.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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