This article is part 2 in our series on Christian persecution in America. You can read part 1 by clicking here.

A Jewish man invited 15 friends to his home for prayer to mark the Sabbath. One of his neighbors complained to the local authorities. The city issued a cease-and-desist order. Imagine inviting people to your home to pray being banned.

View Comments (0)

Who is praying on the wall?

The mayor of the city said the Jewish man was violating local zoning laws by hosting a religious assembly. The mayor then publicly asked his neighbors to watch his home for any sign of Jewish worship and report him to the city hall. The police went by regularly.

This scenario appears to be right out of the early persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany… before the concentration camps.

But it’s not.

An Invitation to Prayer is NOW a Supreme Court Case

It happened in red-state Ohio in 2021 to Daniel Grand, an Orthodox Jew living in University Heights. Grand sued the city for religious discrimination. Federal courts refused to hear the case until Grand got a special-use permit classifying his home as a place of “religious assembly.” The permit cost $400.

Grand does not believe he needs the government’s permission to pray within his own home. “What was the city doing in my life at all? What did I ever do that they showed up at my door?” Grand said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

In February 2026, Grand petitioned the Supreme Court. The Court agreed to hear his case, Grand v. University Heights. Oral arguments are set for Wednesday, December 9, 2026, at 11 am.

The Court will answer the questions… Did Grand have to exhaust the city’s permit process and receive a denial before he could bring his challenge to court? Or did the procedural hoops themselves constitute a violation of Grand’s religious liberty?

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is co-counsel for Grand. (You may recall from article 1 in this series that ADF is listed as a ‘hate group’ by the Southern Poverty Law Center.) ADF took the case because, as it says…

“Home-based religious gatherings are a vital part of how millions of Americans worship: weekly Bible studies, prayer groups, Shabbat minyanim, and fellowship meetings. If local governments can shut them down with a cease-and-desist order before anyone can challenge them in court, every single one of those gatherings is at risk. The outcome of Daniel’s case could have broad ramifications on whether government officials across the country can silence home prayer gatherings with a zoning law, harassment, and endless delays.”

According to the National Jewish Advocacy, which filed an amicus brief in support of Grand…

“When cities treat a home minyan as a land-use violation rather than a constitutionally protected exercise of faith, they risk repeating a broader historical pattern in which Jewish religious practice is singled out under the guise of regulation.”

So the question is… Is this historical pattern effectively used by Nazi Germany towards the Jews repeating in America today? And against Christians, too?

History Repeats

There is no doubt that antisemitism is on the rise here in America. It’s boiling over on college campuses, from the lips of elected Democrats and 2026 Congressional candidates, and pro-Hamas and pro-Palestine protestors.

Today, Christian persecution in America is also on the rise, as discussed in part one, The True Nature of Christian Persecution in America Today. And like it has always been for the Jews, there is a similar progression pattern of persecution against Christians in present-day America that appears to be replicating Nazi Germany.

First, as Hitler did to the Jews, Christians are in the first phase of persecution –reviling, hatred, and social discrimination.

Beginning in 1933, when Hitler came to power in Germany, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Reich Minister of Propaganda, used language to describe the Jews as a dangerous “subhuman race” and biological threat.

Media, art, literature, and educational institutions blamed Germany’s post-WWI problems on the Jews, calling them degenerate, profiteers, and an existential threat to Germany. The media also spread ugly stereotypes, fake stories, and violent anti-Semitic rhetoric. School textbooks indoctrinated students in the Nazi’s racial theories.

In other words, Jews had corrupted German culture, morals, and public health.

Remember COVID and the closing of the churches? Pastors who refused to close were often arrested, fined, and accused of putting lives at risk. Not the same, I know, as being labeled sub-human, but still accused of being a danger to public health.

Today, Christians are labeled hateful, oppressors, and bigoted simply for opposing sin. For praying for a spiritual awakening and revival in our nation, for Americans to repent and turn to righteousness, for textbooks to acknowledge Christian roots in our founding, for standing up for our biblical beliefs… for this, we are called “Christian Nationalists” and declared an existential threat to our democracy.

In 1933, Goebbels called for a national boycott of Jewish businesses. In America today, we’ve seen boycotts and complaints against Christian bakers, florists, and website creators from the LGBTQ activists. Today, social media and activist groups call for the boycott of Christian businesses such as Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby. Big Banks refuse to offer financial services to pro-life groups and other Christian-based non-profits, citing the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “hate group” designations of Christian organizations speaking out against abortion and the LGBTQ agenda.

You might call the years from 1933 to 1935 Hitler’s “testing of the waters.” Testing to see how far he could go in persecuting the Jews before the German people would resist. During this time, Hitler also forbade Jews the right to hold public office or work for the government, own farm land, invest in the stock exchanges, or work in the press or radio. Jewish entertainers were prohibited from appearing on stage or screen.

The German people did not resist, so Hitler went further. For Jews in Nazi Germany, social, political, and economic exclusion from daily life was not enough, because next came the second phase of persecution…

The Nuremberg Laws

In 1935, Hitler signed the Nuremberg Laws, which codified into law the ongoing persecution of the Jews. They stripped German Jews of their citizenship, along with their civil rights, including the right to vote. Jews were not allowed to marry non-Jews to prevent what Hitler called “race defilement.” Plus, the laws defined who a Jew was, declaring that one Jewish grandparent made you a racial Jew.

(In an ironic twist for the American Left, Hitler admired Planned Parenthood Founder, Margaret Sanger’s theories on eugenics, the racial cleansing of defective people, and creating a superior, racially pure society, and adapted them into his ‘Final Solution’.)

In addition to the Nuremberg Laws, other supplementary laws were passed. Jews were not allowed to work in medicine or education. If Jews wished to leave Germany, they must forfeit 90% of their wealth as a tax. Jewish businesses were closed. Jewish children were banned from schools. Jewish passports were stamped with a J.

These laws and the lack of resistance from the people or the German churches only escalated the Nazi persecution of the Jews. In 1938, the Nazis began sending Jews to concentration camps. By 1941, Jews were required to wear the yellow star of David on their clothes, and millions of Jews from across Europe were systematically shipped to ghettos and concentration camps. Six million were killed.

Christians and Jews are Intertwined

After WWII ended with Germany’s defeat, the Jews vowed: “Never Again.” Never again would they allow themselves to be targeted and exterminated. Yet they are… and so are bible-believing Christians.

Christians and Jews are intertwined. We worship the same, one true and living God… and that’s why the world hates us. The Jewish prophecies of a Messiah are fulfilled in Christ.

Jesus spoke of this in John 10: 14-16. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Jesus was speaking to the Jews about the inclusion of the Christians in His Kingdom. Paul also spoke of one unified church of Jew and Gentile in Romans 1:16 (NIV). For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned from the Nazi’s persecution of the Jews was that the German people did not protest, and most importantly, the German churches were silent.

Danger Ahead?

Today, we’re seeing an organized movement to vilify and silence Christians in the public square – phase one of the persecution timeline. Many examples are shown in Part One of the Series, which you can read here.

Are we inching towards phase two – legal discrimination against Christians? It certainly appears that way.

Fortunately, we have the Constitution and the First Amendment as a protective bulwark – “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

This freedom was so paramount to the Founding Fathers that it was the very first one mentioned in the Bill of Rights. We currently have a Supreme Court with a majority of ‘originalist’ justices who interpret the Constitution as it was originally written by the Founders.

On December 9, the Court will hear Daniel Grand’s case to hold a prayer meeting in his home without government interference with zoning laws. It has implications for every believing Christian and every religious faith practiced in America.

As the radical left gains dominance over the Democrat party, they are promising to pack the Supreme Court with four more justices. Imagine the damage a liberal court will do to religious freedom in America. The Democratic Socialists of America already speaks openly of its disdain for Jews and true Christians.

History shows that when socialists come into power – such as in Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba – they follow the same pattern. As you may know, Nazi was shorthand for the National Socialist Party.

First, socialists in power restrict the churches, silence religious leaders, and replace biblical truths with loyalty to the Leftist state and its ideology. The DSA goal is to replace God and His authority with the State and its authority. Same goal as Satan’s – his authority for God’s.

In our final article, we will look at the German churches’ failure to stand up to Hitler and his persecution of the Jews, and how we’re seeing that pattern repeating here in America as well.

Let’s Pray

Please pray that every Christian and every church will arise in this time of growing persecution and speak out boldly. We are in a spiritual battle. The time is urgent, and the time is now to stand against this hatred, theft of our religious freedoms, and persecution. Remember, the devil has come to you, having great anger, because he knows he has a short time. (Revelation 12:12.)

Pray for a great awakening and revival in our nation so we will turn from the path of wickedness and destruction. Pray that we will not compromise but tackle all of today’s issues with unwavering biblical truth and clarity… whatever it may cost us. The Lord is assisting us.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You (Psalm 33:20-22).

Share your prayers for the church in America below.

Belinda Brewster analyzes cultural, political, and world events from a biblical worldview. Belinda’s passion is to equip, support, and encourage parents and grandparents who are courageously battling against the spiritual and cultural forces impacting children and grandchildren. Photo Credit: Deportation of Jews from Würzburg to the Lublin district, 25 April 1942 (USHMM 46207).