Protecting religious liberties? Security concerns at places of worship in Chicago

•Security issues are a proxy for religious groups’ place in U.S. society.•Jewish and Muslim practice is being implicated by security threats.•Attending a place of worship has become a religious privilege. Following a number of high-profile attacks, security has become a key concern for diverse places of worship in the United States and abroad. However, the impacts of these threats on religious practice and community, and their relationship with questions of citizenship and belonging, remain under-explored. Through interviewing a range of religious leaders in Chicago, this investigation seeks to fill this gap in the literature. It first highlights the ways in which security issues now represent a proxy for religious groups’ place in American society, with Muslim and Jewish communities feeling especially vulnerable to attack and accordingly operationalizing a number of security policies. It subsequently demonstrates how these strategies are helping to reshape religious practice today, as congregating as a religious community becomes increasingly private and additionally requires members to both relinquish a degree of personal freedom and accept paying increased dues in order to cover the costs necessitated by security. The article concludes by addressing the unevenness of security concerns among religious communities, revealing how attending a place of worship confident of one’s safety has become a privilege not available to all.