There is something chilling about watching Angel Studios’ documentary “Live Not By Lies!” 
It is not merely a recounting of history, though it does that with remarkable clarity — testimonies of men and women who survived totalitarian communism in Eastern Europe echo across the decades with a resonance we ignore at our peril. 
What is most unsettling about the adaptation of Rod Dreher’s bestselling work, however, is the gnawing realization that their warnings have already become our reality.
The film introduces us to brave Christians who, under Soviet rule, faced surveillance, intimidation, and prison — simply for refusing to pretend that evil was good. As they share their stories, one can’t help but feel the familiarity of it all: the demand to affirm ideologies we know to be false, the punishment for dissent, the slow corrosion of the conscience. The question is no longer “Could it happen here?” but “How far has it already gone?”
The same dynamic Dreher exposes—state and cultural forces colluding to crush dissent — is alive in the contemporary West.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Live Not By Lies | Official Trailer | Streaming April 1 | Angel Studios" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lJh8wJKAnm8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Consider Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a woman who was arrested not for vandalizing property or committing acts of violence, but for the silent crime of praying in her head near an abortion facility in Birmingham, England. No slogans, no placards — only the private communion of her thoughts with God. She was questioned by police, searched, charged, and brought before a court. She was found innocent – but promptly arrested again weeks later for the very same thoughts in the very same place. Thankfully, after a long and grueling investigation, Isabel won compensation from the police with support from ADF International.
Then there’s Adam Smith-Connor, an army veteran who stood silently and imperceptibly in prayer near another facility in Bournemouth in memory of his lost son. He too was interrogated by police and criminalized for the contents of his conscience – worse, leading to a conviction and a criminal charge. Adam was ordered to pay £9,000 to the court – amounting to perhaps the most expensive three minute prayer in history.
<div id="attachment_624329" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-624329" class="size-large wp-image-624329" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-1024x574.png" alt="Credit: Alliance Defending Freedom." width="1024" height="574" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-1024x574.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-300x168.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-768x431.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-1536x861.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-2048x1148.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Alliance Defending Freedom.</div>
These cases are the canaries in the coal mine. They warn us of what happens when the state arrogates to itself the power to police interior conviction. In the novel “1984,” George Orwell called this “thoughtcrime.” Today in Britain, it is called a “buffer zone,” but the principle is identical: certain beliefs must not merely be suppressed — they must be eradicated from the public square.
“Live Not By Lies!” is a clarion call to rediscover moral courage. Dreher draws on the legacy of Vaclav Havel, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and countless ordinary Christians who refused to live by the lie. They were forced to pretend that the Party was infallible, that Marxism was inevitable, that the State was God. Today, our cultural commissars demand our allegiance to a different set of dogmas — that biological sex is a construct, that unborn life is disposable, that faith belongs behind closed doors and never in public life. But the impulse is the same: bow, or be broken.
The documentary is a reminder that resistance begins not with grand gestures, but with the refusal to speak untruth. When the authorities came to interrogate believers in Prague, they demanded not only compliance but confession: “Say that you agree. Say that you believe.” Many would not. For this, they lost jobs, were blacklisted, even imprisoned. Yet their refusal to say what they did not believe was the seed from which freedom eventually grew.
<div id="attachment_943085" style="width: 417px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.angel.com/watch/live-not-by-lies"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-943085" class="size-large wp-image-943085" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-407x576.jpg" alt="Angel Studios" width="407" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-407x576.jpg 407w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-212x300.jpg 212w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-1086x1536.jpg 1086w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-1448x2048.jpg 1448w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-scaled.jpg 1810w" sizes="(max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px" /></a>Angel Studios</div>
How many today are willing to pay that price? We like to imagine ourselves as different — more sophisticated, more democratic, more tolerant. But the evidence mounts that our culture is simply addicted to a softer form of totalism: enforced conformity through the threat of professional ruin, reputational assassination, or — if you dare to pray silently — criminal prosecution.
There is no more potent illustration of this drift than the prosecutions of Vaughan-Spruce and Smith-Connor. In each case, the state claimed to be protecting “vulnerable women,” yet no evidence was presented that these individuals harassed or intimidated anyone. The real issue was that their mere presence — and their silent prayers — expressed a conviction the state deems intolerable. The Soviets called it “anti-Soviet agitation.” We call it “interference.” In both cases, the thought itself is the crime.
Some will say these comparisons are overwrought. They are not. For the Christian who believes God is Lord of both conscience and public life, there is no partition between belief and expression. The attempt to criminalize that wholeness — to tell a person they may think but not manifest their convictions — is precisely what totalitarian systems have always done. Dreher’s work, and this film, make clear that it begins with a creeping fear to speak, and ends with a culture that cannot remember how.
If we are to resist, we must start by telling the truth. No law should compel a citizen to lie — whether about the humanity of the unborn, the nature of marriage, or the sanctity of prayer. And no government has authority over the secret dialogue of the soul with its Creator. To surrender this is to surrender everything.
* * *
Lois McLatchie Miller (@LoisMcLatch) is a Scottish commentator and Senior Legal Communications Officer for Alliance Defending Freedom UK.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Propaganda poster : Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Lenin and Stalin, 1953.

‘Live Not By Lies’: A Documentary Whose Warnings We Dare Not Ignore

Angel Studios

Books

Communism

Documentaries

England

Entertainment

Great Britain

As we celebrate July 4, it’s important to go back a few weeks and recall what happened on June 14. On that day, we saw one portion of our country take time to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of our nation’s army, and a different portion protest what they seem to believe is a rising monarchy in our nation’s capital.
Now, there have always been differences of opinion among Americans. It’s one of the characteristics of a functional democracy. Over the past five years, however, we have experienced a fundamental division in our nation that must be confronted.
About 30 years ago, Jerry Porras and Jim Collins wrote a book called “Built to Last,” chronicling their research on organizations that thrive and survive over long periods of time. One of the most important durability-inducing elements they cite is the adherence to a small set of core values, inviolable traits that define the principles and behaviors around which the company’s founders built the organization. To reject or violate those values is to advocate for the organization’s demise.
While a country is not synonymous with a company, I am convinced that the same concept can be applied to a nation that wants to thrive and survive. I’m also convinced that a difficult conversation about America’s core values is long overdue.
It’s worth noting that core values are not the drivel that some companies produce using marketing jargon and wordsmithing to come up with a list of sugary, generic adjectives that will be palatable to just about everyone. Core values are the authentic principles that underlie the character of an organization — or a nation — over time.
For the better part of the past 50 years, the U.S. has been struggling with an increasing sense of confusion around its core values. Recently, however, that confusion has morphed into a serious and dangerous division, calling to mind Abraham Lincoln’s reference to the words of Christ, reminding Americans that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”
More and more people, like me, are concerned that our country will not be able to stand if we remain so divided. We cannot continue to go forward simply agreeing to disagree, or worse, not even acknowledge our disagreements and allow ourselves to be torn apart. It’s time that we, as a nation, face and answer a few basic questions before it’s too late.
What are those questions, the ones that underlie our values? Here are the most obvious ones.
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/">JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free</a></h3>
Are we founded upon Judeo-Christian values and dependent on God’s providence, or are we a nation that is essentially agnostic, removing faith in God from public life, education, and the military? It can’t be both.
Do we believe in freedom of speech, press, and religion, or are we willing to allow elected and unelected influencers to determine what are and are not acceptable words and beliefs? Again, these are incompatible.
Do we believe in a limited central government, or do we prefer a powerful, singular federal provider of rules and services? Pick one.
In light of these questions, I see two ways to move forward.
First, we can go back and honestly embrace the core principles that the founders believed would hold us together and keep us united, and then recommit to those principles, without apology. It’s as simple, and sometimes difficult, as that.
Or, second, we can dismiss the ideals of our founders and decide, after 249 years, to create a new country. We can roll the dice and bet that we can conceive of a better model than Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson and the others did.
What we can’t do, and what we’ve been doing for too long, is avoid these questions and let our core principles, and an entire nation, die a slow death as we drift further and further apart while the media, academia, and creative judges determine what America really is. We are a democracy, still, and we must choose our own path, or it will be chosen for us.
Now, there are many differences between companies and countries, not the least of which is the inability of countries to “fire” their own citizens, or even simply facilitate their departure. An organization’s CEO, on the other hand, can say to employees who don’t want to adhere to its core values that it’s time for them to work somewhere else. A nation cannot do that, and rightly so. However, if that nation wants to survive, it also cannot overly accommodate or apologize to those who oppose its values.
It’s worth noting that this challenge we face today existed at the very beginning of our nation, though to a lesser extent. Even then, there were those who had sided with the British or who would have preferred a monarchy, perhaps one led by George Washington. They were not all forced to leave the country, but they were required to come to terms with the principles of this experimental nation if they wanted to stay.
So, if we decide to recommit to our founders’ ideals — and I’m certainly in favor of that path — then we must politely and unequivocally say to citizens who dislike the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, or any foundational aspect of American life: “You don’t have to believe what we believe, practice any particular faith, or even celebrate the freedoms upon which we are founded. You don’t. But you do have to make peace with the reality of our core values and ideals, which are based on those things. Or you can make plans to live somewhere better suited to your preferences.” 
That is neither intolerant nor snarky; it is clear. And clarity is kind.
We must stop allowing people to pretend that the nation’s values are something other than they are, because there is nothing kind about that.
It&#8217;s ironic that the nations in the world today that have the most intolerant and unkind values are the ones that won’t even let people opt out and leave. Just look at North Korea and Cuba, though there are others. This is, of course, absurd.
But for a free nation like ours to bend over backward to accommodate those who hate what we stand for is equally absurd. So let’s make a decision so that we can reverse the trend toward divisiveness and disunity, and get back to rebuilding a nation around the values that have served us for 250 years.
* * *
Patrick Lencioni is one of the founders of The Table Group and is the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Patrick-M.-Lencioni/author/B001ILFMB2?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2&amp;qid=1751571498&amp;sr=8-2&amp;isDramIntegrated=true&amp;shoppingPortalEnabled=true&amp;ccs_id=3de65105-8f38-4be0-90f1-d7c66bb8daa2">author of 13 books</a>, which have sold over 10 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Fireworks on the Fourth of July, Washington, D.C.

Can We Still Agree On America’s Core Values? A Nation Divided On Independence Day

Democrats

Founding Fathers

Leftists

Liberals

Opinion

Republicans

United States

The following excerpt is taken from the new book &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Proportionality-Israels-Just-Gaza/dp/B0F841ZJTX">Beyond Proportionality: Israel&#8217;s Just War In Gaza,</a>&#8221; by Thane Rosenbaum (Wicked Son/Post Hill Press, May 2025).
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<h3>INTRODUCTION: “J’accuse!” — The Case Against Israel</h3>
At the turn of the nineteenth century, a political scandal in France galvanized public opinion all over the world. Known as the Dreyfus Affair, at its root was the inexorable display and mass hatred of Jews. This same antisemitic fervor, which a few decades later would materialize into the Holocaust, had been around for two millennia. Occasionally, it would manifest itself in pogroms and mass expulsions. Along the way, it went from latent to lethal, and emanated from a lie.
This time, however, the antisemitism was organized, sanctioned by the government, fueled by the press, and openly embraced by many people who regarded themselves as highly cultivated and civilized. Artists and intellectuals took a special interest in joining the mob. And it came pre-packaged with an easily disproved conspiracy theory involving a treasonous Jewish military officer.
Jews in France had long enjoyed the full panoply of civil rights. Indeed, during the French Revolution, France had become the first European nation to emancipate its Jewish population. For nearly a century, French Jews had participated in every facet of cosmopolitan life among the professional classes and cultural elite. But suddenly, they found themselves facing a backlash unlike anything they had experienced before.
The Dreyfus Affair made the unspoken hatred of Jews not just acceptable but fashionable. Seemingly overnight, Jews in France went from being socially accepted and having a sense of security to being on the receiving end of wild denunciations for their clannishness, duplicity, greed, and dual loyalty.
And much like Nazi Germany, the nerve center of these societal convulsions burned brightest on university campuses, in the pages of the mainstream press, and wherever artists and writers congregated. The fact that it all originated from an easily disprovable lie was of little concern. The case against Dreyfus was merely a pretext to something far worse.
<div id="attachment_942309" style="width: 417px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Proportionality-Israels-Just-Gaza/dp/B0F841ZJTX"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-942309" class="size-large wp-image-942309" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-407x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Post Hill Press/Wicked Son" width="407" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-407x576.jpg 407w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-212x300.jpg 212w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-1086x1536.jpg 1086w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-1448x2048.jpg 1448w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-12-29-PM-7049-scaled.jpg 1810w" sizes="(max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px" /></a>Credit: Post Hill Press/Wicked Son</div>
Captain Alfred Dreyfus was an officer on the French military general staff accused of passing state secrets to Germany — the despised aggressor nation that during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had humiliated France and annexed Alsace and Moselle. Someone had to be blamed, and Dreyfus, a high-ranking Jewish officer, fully assimilated yet perceived as a foreigner, was an easy fall guy even though there was no actual evidence of his wrongdoing. The French legal system relied upon forged documents — manufactured by military counterintelligence — to falsify his guilt. The letters were not even in Dreyfus’ handwriting.
That’s not to say there was no spy within the ranks of senior military officers. But it wasn’t Captain Dreyfus. Two years after he was court-martialed for treason and shipped off to Devil’s Island, a notorious tropical hellhole where many prisoners died of disease and malnutrition, the French Army uncovered evidence implicating the true culprit — Major Walsin Esterhazy, who had sold secret documents to the German Embassy. But by then the nation was awash in anti-Jewish bigotry. Dreyfus should have been exonerated instantly. Instead, he was returned to France to face a new trial, where he was once again convicted and given an enhanced sentence.
Newspapers around the world covered the trial and its aftermath. A slogan representative of the times referred to Dreyfus as “the Jew who is everywhere but belongs nowhere.” It should come as no surprise to learn that the Dreyfus Affair roughly coincided with the publication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, another forged document, this one alleging a Jewish conspiracy to conquer the world.
Events shifted dramatically when one of France’s leading intellectuals, the novelist and playwright Émile Zola, wrote a lengthy front-page essay — famously titled “J’Accuse&#8230;!” — in which he charged the French government and legal system with a coverup. Zola wrote, “Here&#8230;are the facts which explain how a miscarriage of justice could be made; and the moral evidence, the financial circumstances of Dreyfus, the absence of reason, his continual cry of innocence&#8230;the hunting for the ‘dirty Jews,’ which dishonours our time.” Given the public embarrassment to the nation’s institutions, Zola himself was brought to trial and convicted of libel. He fled to London.
Eventually, the obsession with Dreyfus dissipated. The French government and its people finally came to recognize that they had been handed a convenient excuse to shift blame away from France’s military and rest it instead with a familiar villain. National regret ensued, and by 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated, and his rank restored.
But anyone familiar with these events can’t help but see the parallel with what is happening today. The global reaction to Israel’s eighteen-month-long war in Gaza has had many of the same elements: heightened emotions, irrational arguments, distorted histories, the rejection of obvious truths, forged documents, falsified facts, misapplied laws, antisemitic stereotypes, and worldwide anti-Jewish rage. But instead of a single Jewish officer serving as the focal point, this time it was the Jewish state, and its professional military, who stand falsely accused — and with much the same imagery. Thus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often depicted as drinking the blood of Palestinian children.
Such fabrications are all the more paradoxical given the events that preceded and fully justified Israel’s retaliatory war against Hamas. These sensationalized condemnations completely overlook and ignore what started the conflict in the first place. On the morning of October 7, 2023, southern Israel was invaded — by land, air, and sea — by six thousand Palestinians from Gaza. Most were terrorists with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but many were ordinary civilians. It was a planned and coordinated attack that lasted several hours and targeted the concert-goers at the Nova Music Festival, most of whom were young peace-loving Israelis.
* * *
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<div class="a-cardui-content a-cardui-uninitialized _about-the-author-card_carouselItemStyles_peekableContent__hWM3i" data-a-max-height="80">
Thane Rosenbaum is an essayist, law professor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction titles, including the novels, &#8220;How Sweet It Is!&#8221;,&#8221; The Stranger Within Sarah Stein,&#8221; &#8220;The Golems of Gotham,&#8221; &#8220;Second Hand Smoke,&#8221; and &#8220;Elijah Visible.&#8221; His articles, reviews and essays appear frequently in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Huffington Post and Daily Beast, among other national publications.
</div>
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This excerpt from &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Proportionality-Israels-Just-Gaza/dp/B0F841ZJTX">Beyond Proportionality: Israel&#8217;s Just War In Gaza,</a>&#8221; by Thane Rosenbaum is published by permission from Post Hill Press/Wicked Son.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT

When Lies Turn Deadly: The Century-Old Script Behind Today’s Anti-Israel Fury

Anti-Semitism

France

Gaza

Israel

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Jewish

Middle East

October 7

The following excerpt is taken from the new book &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Butler-Untold-Assassination-Americas-Heartland/dp/1546009140/ref=sr_1_1?crid=38ZQJ31BTXE78&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yBjqsViUcuzSmJ0JQfFO_9pbEehSi-8OfBIfkv9uv-Eg2YesGVnshEb31LRcm_VyNV90yUlv9buV5-Eg4h3ANjvLeboA5BuUjGHF1yBXHxfXZoSn8Vchp7NkJJKFCPPN0JdICFPkw8GWPPCc2BBMMPqe_qSkBWh_hh_CkKUxGhVJA_Ayn3SjyWBemTcvmDq42l4iaEdSi5Ih0Lab_rtq0w.UQCO-toWBwgEMYzS_IK8UvoFWqL6oOP4CgnKEYfwSsE&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=salena+zito+butler&amp;qid=1751464363&amp;sprefix=salena+zito+butle%2Caps%2C170&amp;sr=8-1">Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America&#8217;s Heartland,&#8221;</a> by Salena Zito (July 2025, Center Street/Hachette Book Group)
* * *
<h3>They Shoot Presidents in Butler</h3>
George Washington was less than pleased.
It was December 26, 1753, well past dusk and the temperature had dropped dramatically as darkness fell. Thanks to the drop in temperature, the mix of sleet and snow would make travel perilous in the deeply forested wilderness of what is now present-day Butler County.
But Washington and his guide Christopher Gist were left with little choice; they had to move, and move quickly.
They needed to make their way to the forks of the Ohio River. Days later, Washington, then a young major in the Virginia militia, would write in his journal that fear coursed through his veins and spurred the urgency of their flight after he was nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet that whizzed past his ear just hours earlier.
Both he and Gist knew his assassin would be back to finish the job.
<div id="attachment_942151" style="width: 417px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/salena-zito/butler/9781668649909/?lens=center-street"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-942151" class="wp-image-942151 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-09-02-AM-8755-407x576.jpg" alt="Cover credit: Center Street/Hachette Book Group" width="407" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-09-02-AM-8755-407x576.jpg 407w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-09-02-AM-8755-212x300.jpg 212w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-09-02-AM-8755-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-09-02-AM-8755-1086x1536.jpg 1086w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-09-02-AM-8755-1448x2048.jpg 1448w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-02-Jul-2025-09-02-AM-8755-scaled.jpg 1810w" sizes="(max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px" /></a>Cover credit: Center Street/Hachette Book Group</div>
At twenty-one years old, Washington was on his first diplomatic mission, with direct orders from the Crown tucked in his saddlebag to basically tell the French to get off King George II’s land or face war with England.
In 1753, the British and French Empires were in the early stages of clashing over their colonial possessions. Britain’s North American colonies were mostly packed along the Atlantic coastline and then moved westward toward the Allegheny Mountains.
France’s colonial holdings were in the center spine of the country that began in New Orleans and ran up along the Mississippi River into the Great Lakes region toward the St. Lawrence River. Both empires claimed control of the vast expanse of what was then known as the Ohio Country, which began in present-day western Pennsylvania and West Virginia and spread due west across the states of Ohio and Indiana.
Washington was at the center of that clash of royal aspirations, which were largely spurred by greed in the form of an immense royal grant to the Ohio Company, whose largest investor was Robert Dinwiddie, Virginia’s royal (lieutenant) governor and the man who sent Washington on the mission.
The young Virginian’s destination was Fort Le Boeuf, just fifteen miles south of Lake Erie. In Washington’s possession was a note from London, signed by King George II, that read: “If the French were found to be building forts on English soil, they should be peacefully asked to depart. If they failed to comply, however, we do hereby strictly charge and command you to drive them off by force of arms.”
The trip from Virginia had been a daunting 250 miles of untouched wilderness. It involved scaling high ice-crusted ridges, slogging through thick brush, swamps, and dense forests with mounds of heavy snow, and navigating icy waterways. The journey was as difficult as one could imagine, not just because of the terrain but also because of a weather system that had pummeled Washington and Gist the entire way.
Washington arrived at Fort Le Boeuf on December 11. The fort system was rudimentary at best, made of scrap bark and planks and consisting of four buildings. The young soldier and French commander Capt. Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre had a cordial, diplomatic conversation despite Washington’s delivery of the Crown’s demand that the French vacate the Ohio Valley immediately.
Saint-Pierre made clear that he was not intimidated by the British and retained every right to arrest their traders who were poaching on French territory. “As to the summons you sent me to retire, I do not think myself obliged to obey it.”
Four days later, Saint-Pierre handed Washington a sealed message for Dinwiddie. It was then that Washington discovered that, although Saint-Pierre had filled Washington’s canoe with a generous amount of supplies for the journey home, the French commander had also bribed Washington’s Indian guides with food and drink to stay behind.
Washington was furious. He had not only been deceived by Saint-Pierre; he had also observed enough during his four-day wait for the commander to respond to Dinwiddie to know that France was building a large-scale fort system throughout the disputed territory. He also observed that they were building a formidable military operation, which was prepared to defend the land the French would take over.
Washington and Gist set off, anxious to deliver the news to Dinwiddie. However, their horses were so debilitated by the journey to Fort Le Boeuf that the men had to abandon them and continue on foot.
On the journey toward the outpost known as Murdering Town (in present-day Butler), they were heavily burdened by their backpacks. Along the way, they encountered several French Indians who quickly — probably too quickly, in hindsight — offered to help get them to the forks of the Ohio River. The battering snow and sleet, freezing cold, and rough terrain had worn Washington down, and when one of the Indian guides offered to carry his backpack, he took him up on it.
Gist, a skilled surveyor and frontier guide, immediately sensed something was off about the situation. He wasn’t wrong. As soon as the group came to a clearing, one of the Indians sprinted ahead of them into a meadow and then turned to face the two men before firing point-blank at Washington from fifteen paces.
The exact amount by which the French-aligned Indian missed Washington is unclear. Washington’s diary entry is vague, but the intent was obvious. The Indian guide wanted the young Virginian dead.
If muskets had contained rifling — grooves inside the barrel to make a bullet travel more accurately — 270 years ago, everything in the world would have changed at that moment.
There would have been no skirmish several months later in present-day Fayette County, Pennsylvania, between Washington’s regiment and French soldiers — a skirmish that led to the first shots fired in what would quickly escalate into the French and Indian War. It was a war that ultimately led to the Revolutionary War, when the British Crown tried to tax the colonists to pay for debt incurred during the first true world war.
There would have been no General Washington, no President Washington, and we might not have the country we call America today if that bullet had been only an inch closer.
* * *
Salena Zito is a veteran political reporter with more than twenty years of award-winning experience in print and broadcast journalism. With her trusty Jeeps that have clocked well over 400,000 miles on their odometers and a refusal to travel on interstates, Zito is a reporter who harkens to an older generation of journalism, one who listens to the stories of everyday Americans in places far outside the artificial bubbles of Manhattan and the Beltway. One of the last scribes of middle America, she famously popularized the root cause of their failed coverage and underestimation of Donald Trump by the phrase coined by Brad Todd saying, “The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.” Zito is a national political reporter for the Washington Examiner, and a special contributor to the Washington Post. She has been a columnist for the New York Post and has contributed to The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Excerpted from &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Butler-Untold-Assassination-Americas-Heartland/dp/1546009140/ref=sr_1_1?crid=38ZQJ31BTXE78&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yBjqsViUcuzSmJ0JQfFO_9pbEehSi-8OfBIfkv9uv-Eg2YesGVnshEb31LRcm_VyNV90yUlv9buV5-Eg4h3ANjvLeboA5BuUjGHF1yBXHxfXZoSn8Vchp7NkJJKFCPPN0JdICFPkw8GWPPCc2BBMMPqe_qSkBWh_hh_CkKUxGhVJA_Ayn3SjyWBemTcvmDq42l4iaEdSi5Ih0Lab_rtq0w.UQCO-toWBwgEMYzS_IK8UvoFWqL6oOP4CgnKEYfwSsE&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=salena+zito+butler&amp;qid=1751464363&amp;sprefix=salena+zito+butle%2Caps%2C170&amp;sr=8-1">Butler,</a>&#8221; by Salena Zito. (Copyright 2025) Used with permission from Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA – July 13: Former president Donald Trump r

They Shoot Presidents In Butler

assassination attempt

Butler

George Washington

Pennsylvania

Presidency

President Trump

Read The Entire First Chapter Of Ben Shapiro’s Upcoming Book: ‘Lions And Scavengers’

Read The Entire First Chapter Of Ben Shapiro's Upcoming Book: 'Lions And Scavengers'

Ben Shapiro

Bible

Daily Wire Shop

Europe

Rome

Western Civilization

A Leftist California bookstore is banning J.K. Rowling&#8217;s &#8220;Harry Potter&#8221; series but remains committed to sending &#8220;queer, affirmative&#8221; titles all over the country through an anti-book banning nonprofit.
Booksmith is located in San Francisco&#8217;s renowned Haight-Ashbury neighborhood — the epicenter of the 1960s hippie counterculture and the Summer of Love. It stopped selling &#8220;Harry Potter&#8221; books after Rowling announced the creation of the J.K. Rowling Women&#8217;s Fund. The fund <a href="https://jkrwf.org/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKdvNljbGNrAp26GGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAGJyaWQRMVhFYkVUMVlETmNnb3NRM2YBHpCylZCyqT-dSAcjqzcghgBSrl8tIO_sNX3dgcFvY5leoMkcTzlQEUHionpy_aem_HyMGvqrZM5nRn93ZKNrRMg">says</a> it &#8220;offers legal funding support to individuals and organizations fighting to retain women’s sex-based rights in the workplace, in public life, and in protected female spaces.&#8221;
Its website never mentions transgender-identifying individuals, but Booksmith <a href="https://www.booksmith.com/NotHP">claims</a> the fund is &#8220;dedicated to removing transgender rights.&#8221;
&#8220;With this announcement, we&#8217;ve decided to stop carrying her books. We don&#8217;t know exactly what her &#8216;women&#8217;s fund&#8217; will entail, but we know that we aren&#8217;t going to be a part of it,&#8221; a sign in the bookstore reads.
But ironically, Booksmith — a self-described &#8220;group of queer booksellers&#8221; — participates in the Books Not Bans program, which is dedicated to <a href="https://www.booksmith.com/BnB">mailing</a> &#8220;crates of queer, affirmative, necessary books all over the country,&#8221; it says, that are actively being banned.
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free</a>
&#8220;These are going to people who desperately need them but who live in book deserts and communities where new book bans are rolling out daily,&#8221; the store&#8217;s announcement said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t need to tell you things are serious out there: this is a lifeline for people whose lives and wellbeing are in danger. &#8221;
Books Not Bans, now a separate nonprofit, started at a different San Francisco <a href="https://www.fabulosabooks.com/#/">bookstore</a>, Fabulosa Books, that &#8220;[specializes] in LGBTQ+ books.&#8221;
Fabulosa Books also stopped selling Rowling&#8217;s work, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DLV4dvcyXYY/?hl=en">saying</a> on social media that the author &#8220;is devoting her life to nastiness.&#8221;
Books Not Bans has sent more than &#8220;2200 books to community groups around America,&#8221; according to a social media <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJvD5hUzNhs/?igsh=aGduY25yYWM4NDl5">post</a>.
One popular shipment is &#8220;All Boys Aren&#8217;t Blue,&#8221; which has been at the center of fights to keep sexually explicit books away from children, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-the-fight-to-shield-kids-from-graphic-material-in-a-deep-red-state">reported</a>. The book includes <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-time-to-unite-against-the-real-enemy">graphic descriptions</a> of anal rape and incest.
&#8220;[&#8216;All Boys Aren&#8217;t Blue&#8217;] was recently named the most banned book in America,&#8221; Books Not Bans said in a social media post. &#8220;We’ve sent &#8216;All Boys Aren’t Blue&#8217; to 20 different organizations all over America.&#8221;
Rowling has drawn criticism for her commitment to protecting women and women&#8217;s spaces, but the bestselling author has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/5-years-ago-j-k-rowling-took-a-stand-against-trans-activists-she-hasnt-backed-down">refused</a> to back down or apologize. In December, she celebrated the social media post that resulted in her becoming a global icon for women&#8217;s rights.
&#8220;Five years ago today and my only regret is that I didn&#8217;t speak out sooner,&#8221; Rowling <a href="https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1869544832370344245?s=43&amp;t=BDz6oekueqrSVJ50bM62xw">said</a> on social media. &#8220;To every girl and woman who&#8217;s paid a heavy price for fighting to retain their rights and boundaries, to every person striving to halt an appalling medical experiment on minors, I salute you. We will win.&#8221;

Assam Book Fair 2023-24

Liberals In California Are Banning Books Again

California

Censorship

J.K. Rowling

San Francisco

Social Issues

U.S.

Things are going so well for the Democratic Party that Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary under Joe Biden and someone who clearly knew the man was no longer mentally capable, has now decided she&#8217;s no longer a Democrat; she is now an Independent.
I know, I know, it&#8217;s a little late to run away from the sinking ship, especially when you&#8217;re the person who actually drilled the holes. 
But Karine Jean-Pierre is now trying to do just that — and make money off of it. She has a brand-new book coming out titled “Independent,” which is hilarious coming from the least independent person of all time.
According to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/04/karine-jean-pierre-leaving-democratic-party-00385060">Politico</a>:
<blockquote>Karine Jean-Pierre’s announcement that she’s leaving the Democratic Party — timed with the rollout of a new book — has detonated long-simmering grievances among her former White House colleagues about Jean-Pierre’s pursuit of celebrity and personal media exposure while serving as then-President Joe Biden’s press secretary.
The attention-grabbing ploy lit up Democratic and Biden alumni texting groups and reignited frustrations that burned for years about Jean-Pierre, according to seven former Biden administration officials granted anonymity to describe private conversations.</blockquote>
First of all, we should point out that everyone knew she was incompetent. For years I called her history’s worst White House Press Secretary because she was awful at her job, truly terrible, a joke.
And Democrats kept defending her.
Why? Because, of course, she was intersectional. She was a black lesbian who was also the White House Press Secretary even though she was wildly incompetent. We had a DEI hire covering for a dead man in the White House. And everyone in the Democratic Party thought this was perfectly fine until the moment it imploded on them.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2211?elementPosition=7&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
Politico continued:
<blockquote>One former official recalled that Jean-Pierre had joked about becoming an independent even while on the job in the Biden White House, an off-key comment for someone ostensibly serving as a major messenger for the Democratic Party. Another former official said that Jean-Pierre had begun working during the Biden administration with a New York-based publicist and had copied that person on official emails before some of Jean-Pierre’s White House colleagues intervened. “Everyone thinks this is a grift,” the first former official said of Jean-Pierre’s book project.</blockquote>
This is objective reporting because it happens to be true:
<blockquote>As Biden’s press secretary, Jean-Pierre’s halting, ineffectual briefings exasperated reporters and routinely offered material for the Republican Party’s main account on X. She frustrated colleagues throughout the West Wing for focusing on raising her own profile while leaving the hands-on management of media relations and the White House press shop to other aides. 
While it’s unclear how she will portray Biden or her time in the White House in the book, titled ‘Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,’ several former colleagues expressed confusion at how Jean-Pierre seemingly intends to paint Biden as a victim while pinning her own decision to leave the party on his “broken” White House.</blockquote>
This is going to be fun to watch Democrats tear each other apart over all of this.
This self-sabotage of the Democratic Party is the realistic response of a party of people who can&#8217;t build things. And right now, they are facing down a relatively impregnable Trump administration.
They&#8217;ve decided not to attack any of the vulnerabilities of the Trump administration. They&#8217;re spending all their time focusing inward, and they can&#8217;t help but do so because the reality is that their own politics are so broken and so angry and vicious and just anti-American in so many ways that they&#8217;re just tearing one another apart.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-JEAN-PIERRE-BRIEFING

Jumping Ship: Karine Jean-Pierre And The Democratic Party’s Meltdown

Jumping Ship: Karine Jean-Pierre And The Democratic Party's Meltdown

Biden Administration

Karine Jean-Pierre

White House

This September, Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro will release “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pg18nHlVX2neyh7VlgVdIKje9EBKlWHDPzfz2hz6y3Q3oyWp8Jv4YdfQyesgs3y-.a1CzqX5hmYc9zIJ3x9S3IyReflqRxvFeP5akr1dlPB8&amp;qid=1749148351&amp;sr=1-1">Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America (and Her Critics)</a>,” his first book in four years. Shapiro calls it, “My most important book, certainly my most passionate.”
In the wake of the horrific attacks on innocent Israelis on October 7, 2023, Shapiro was left shocked, not only by the barbaric acts of the terrorist group Hamas, but by the strange, disturbing response he witnessed from those in the West.
“Something deeply wrong had happened in the West,” says Shapiro. 
The host of “The Ben Shapiro Show” then spent the next year traveling the globe, visiting Auschwitz alongside Elon Musk, flying to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to meet with newly elected president Javier Milei, and speaking at Oxford University in England. It was what he saw on the streets of London that affected him most.
“Just last weekend, London saw a massive river of protesters,” writes Shapiro. “Hundreds of thousands strong, marching with their banners unfurled: the banners of terrorist groups and of communists and of transgender activists, gathered together to revolt against the civilization that has given them their rights and their prosperity and their power.”
“Lions and Scavengers” will release on September 2, 2025, and is published by Threshold Editions, the conservative publishing imprint of Simon &amp; Schuster, an imprint originally launched by Mary Matalin, the conservative wife of Democratic talking head James Carville.
The Harvard Law graduate&#8217;s new book is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pg18nHlVX2neyh7VlgVdIKje9EBKlWHDPzfz2hz6y3Q3oyWp8Jv4YdfQyesgs3y-.a1CzqX5hmYc9zIJ3x9S3IyReflqRxvFeP5akr1dlPB8&amp;qid=1749148351&amp;sr=1-1">now available for pre-order</a>. 
Not only that, customers can also order <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/lions-and-scavengers">AUTOGRAPHED copies of &#8220;Lions and Scavengers&#8221; now exclusively at the Daily Wire Shop</a>!
<div id="attachment_929955" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pg18nHlVX2neyh7VlgVdIKje9EBKlWHDPzfz2hz6y3Q3oyWp8Jv4YdfQyesgs3y-.a1CzqX5hmYc9zIJ3x9S3IyReflqRxvFeP5akr1dlPB8&amp;qid=1749148351&amp;sr=1-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-929955" class="wp-image-929955 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-384x576.jpg" alt="Cover Art: Threshold Editions/Simon &amp; Schuster" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-1360x2040.jpg 1360w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></a>Cover Art: Threshold Editions/Simon &amp; Schuster</div>
As leftist leaders continue to obfuscate the threats to Western civilization, Shapiro’s book could not have arrived at a better time.
Some say the West is experiencing 1930s Germany all over again, and Shapiro confirms that a new form of “Scavenger” is on the prowl. “The Scavengers have gathered, here in the beating heart of what was once the center of Western civilization, to bay for more blood, and to scream at a West that insists that defense against terror is the first right of all men.”
Shapiro also insists this is larger than the persecution of the Jews. “This is not mere anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is an age-old hatred rooted in a conspiracy theory; it takes many forms and has countless victims. This is something different. It is a united, coalitional hatred of the West.”
As a proven author with multiple #1 New York Times bestselling titles to his credit and as the host of one of the most widely listened-to podcasts, Shapiro has earned the authority to speak on this topic in this critical hour of world history.
While Shapiro’s “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pg18nHlVX2neyh7VlgVdIKje9EBKlWHDPzfz2hz6y3Q3oyWp8Jv4YdfQyesgs3y-.a1CzqX5hmYc9zIJ3x9S3IyReflqRxvFeP5akr1dlPB8&amp;qid=1749148351&amp;sr=1-1">Lions and Scavengers</a>” will illuminate the gathering storm facing the leaders of the West, his message, however, is not only for adults. &#8220;We need to be a civilization of Lions. We need to teach our children to be Lions, and to fight the Scavengers.&#8221;
Be prepared for the days ahead — reserve your copy of “Lions and Scavengers” now.

MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-21-PM-2847

Ben Shapiro Announces Release Of ‘Lions And Scavengers,’ His ‘Most Important Book’

Ben Shapiro Announces Release Of His 'Most Important Book'

Radical Islam

As a Coptic Christian born in Egypt and as a person who spent years in academia — including earning a Ph.D. from Emory University in Atlanta studying radical Islamic movements — I speak with authority when I warn against the menace of Islamism, which is overwhelmingly invading the West.
For decades, I’ve warned that this ideology is not just incompatible with Western civilization; it rejects coexistence entirely, seeking takeover. Now, Islamists have formed an unholy alliance with Marxists — two groups who would normally be at each other’s throats, yet now are uniting throughout Europe and North America for the purpose of wreaking havoc on the West. Their ultimate purpose is to build a seventh-century Arabian desert Utopia out of the wreckage of Western civilization.
Crimes against Jewish Americans continue to make headlines, from the killing of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senator-demands-feds-investigate-israel-embassy-shooting-as-domestic-terrorism?author=Nathan+Gay&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Senator+Demands+Feds+Investigate+Israel+Embassy+Shooting+As+Domestic+Terrorism">young couple</a> in Washington D.C. to the blatant antisemitic attack by an illegal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colorado-hits-egyptian-anti-israel-terror-suspect-with-charges-including-murder?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=51&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Colorado+Hits+Egyptian+Anti-Israel+Terror+Suspect+With+Charges+Including+Murder">Egyptian migrant</a> in Boulder, Colorado. The Jews, however, are the canaries in the coal mine. The larger target, where the sights of radical Islamists are locked, is Western civilization.
These incidents are not isolated; they’re harbingers of chaos fueled by open borders and judicial obstruction. Christians and moral people everywhere must wake up, discern the truth, and reclaim our culture before it’s lost. We must share Christ’s gospel boldly. Make no mistake about it: Even if Westerners themselves aren’t aware of it, Western civilization is the byproduct of the Christian reformation of the 14th century.
Radical Islam’s goal is clear: not compatibility, but a global caliphate. In &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1496431502/?bestFormat=true&amp;k=the%20third%20jihad%20by%20michael%20youssef&amp;ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_de_k0_1_16&amp;crid=385NJPDUXR79B&amp;sprefix=the%20third%20jihad%20">The Third Jihad,&#8221;</a> I explain how a holy war is underway, not only with terror but by stealth, with some even aiming to impose an Islamic State of North America by 2050. This “third jihad,” unlike the sword-driven first jihad (622–751) or second jihad (1302–1922), uses our freedoms — migration, legal systems, cultural sway — to infiltrate and dominate. The Quran’s call to “hijrah” (jihad by migration) urges Muslims to spread Islam, viewing relocation as sacred. In Europe, chants of “Allah give victory to Islam everywhere” accompany unassimilated enclaves. France’s nine million Muslims, with birthrates outpacing natives ten to one, are building mosques and shifting culture, often rejecting Western values. Britain’s Sharia councils erode sovereignty, operating as parallel legal systems. This isn’t integration; it’s conquest.
Violence isn’t the only threat. We now face cultural erosion. Radical Islamists exploit our systems. In &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Enemy-Aggressive-Secularism-Radical/dp/1496431456/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0">The Hidden Enemy</a>,&#8221; I noted, “The enemy without [radical Islam] seeks a caliphate; the enemy within [secular leftists] erases Judeo-Christian values.” Their alliance is stark: leftists, rejecting biblical truth, defend Sharia advocates like Linda Sarsour, who co-led the 2017 Women’s March alongside abortion and LGBTQ champions. Political correctness brands critics “Islamophobic,” shielding this pact. Secularism’s spiritual vacuum — evident since Jesse Jackson’s 1987 chant, “Western Civ has got to go!” — invites Islamists to fill the void, using welfare, courts, and media to advance their agenda. As Christianity fades, with Europe’s churches now museums, radical Islam sees our culture as “overripe fruit,” ripe for conquest. 
Recent events underscore the stakes. January 2025’s ISIS-inspired <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-agent-in-charge-who-said-new-orleans-attack-was-not-a-terrorist-event-reportedly-reassigned?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=FBI+Agent+In+Charge+Who+Said+New+Orleans+Attack+Was+%E2%80%98Not+A+Terrorist+Event%E2%80%99+Reportedly+Reassigned">New Orleans attack</a>, killing 14, exposed our vulnerability. In Cyprus, recent protests <a href="https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/05/03/turkish-cypriots-protest-over-what-they-say-is-turkeys-introduction-of-islam-into-educatio">accused Turkey</a> of imposing political Islam, eroding secular roots — a warning for the West. X posts amplify these concerns, decrying Sharia’s quiet spread. Pacifying radicals, as we did before the Taliban’s 2021 victory, breeds extremism. Historically, Christians stopped Islamic conquests at Tours (732) and Vienna (1683). Today’s fight is spiritual and cultural, yet many Christians stay silent, cowed by “tolerance.” As I have stated before, this deception is “from the pit of hell.” Excusing non-assimilation or Sharia zones surrenders our heritage. 
The open <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/border-crisis">border crisis</a> amplifies this. Over four years, lax policies and judicial blocks have imported chaos. The Boulder attacker, an illegal migrant, embodies the risk: unchecked entry brings ideologies that fuel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colorado-hits-egyptian-anti-israel-terror-suspect-with-charges-including-murder?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=19&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Colorado+Hits+Egyptian+Anti-Israel+Terror+Suspect+With+Charges+Including+Murder">antisemitism and violence</a>. If we don’t enforce borders, we’ll see more D.C. and Boulder tragedies. Radical Islam isn’t here to blend in — it’s here to dominate, as my decades studying its trappings confirm. 
So, what must Christians do? First, go to God’s Word, not headlines. Second, evangelize boldly. Understand the darkness of radical Islam, but love Muslim people. The gospel is our power, so we must find the courage to share Christ with Muslim neighbors. Third, fortify churches. Pastors must preach unapologetically, equipping believers to counter secularism and Islamism. Congregations should disciple families, mentor youth, and pray for God to move. 
The stakes are eternal. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus warned of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Radical Islam cloaks its takeover in tolerance, but its aim is a caliphate, not coexistence. Antisemitism will surge as unvetted migration grows. Yet hope endures. The early church faced Rome and won souls through love. We can, too. Christians, rise up. Share the gospel, love Muslims, defend our faith, and demand secure borders. Radical Islam banks on our silence — let’s prove them wrong.
 * * * 
Michael A. Youssef, Ph.D., born in Egypt, is senior pastor of Church of The Apostles in Atlanta and founder of the radio broadcast &#8220;Leading The Way,&#8221; reaching 190 countries. With degrees from Moore College, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Emory University, he’s authored over 50 books, including &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1496431502/?bestFormat=true&amp;k=the%20third%20jihad%20by%20michael%20youssef&amp;ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_de_k0_1_16&amp;crid=385NJPDUXR79B&amp;sprefix=the%20third%20jihad%20">The Third Jihad</a>.&#8221; He’s appeared on Fox News, CBN, and in The Wall Street Journal. His new book, &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Final-Call-Revelation-Ultimate/dp/1496486374/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=GjEWG&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.0fb2cce1-1ca4-439a-844b-8ad0b1fb77f7&amp;pf_rd_p=0fb2cce1-1ca4-439a-844b-8ad0b1fb77f7&amp;pf_rd_r=133-8344803-2786917&amp;pd_rd_wg=m8gZy&amp;pd_rd_r=251a523a-31f1-47f0-9867-3168baa1d786&amp;ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">God’s Final Call: How the Book of Revelation Pulls Back the Veil on Current Events and Our Ultimate Future</a>&#8221; (Tyndale, March 2025), recently released.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Islamic moon – the sign on the mosque

‘Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing’: Why Christians Must Wake Up To The Threat Of Radical Islam

'Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing': Why Christians Must Wake Up To The Threat Of Radical Islam

antisemitism

Christianity

Christians

Islam

Islamic Jihad

The following is an excerpt from the book &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/At-First-Light-Bravery-Amazing/dp/1642939595" target="_blank" rel="noopener">At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, And An Amazing Horse</a>&#8221; by Walt Larimore and Mike Yorkey (Knox Press, April 19, 2022). 
***
On Saturday evening, December 6, 1941, “Phil,” as Marilyn called him and as he now liked to be called, took her out for dinner at the Bungalow, a popular seafood restaurant in Biloxi, Mississippi that overlooked the calm, brown waters of the Mississippi Sound. The menu had something for every taste: fresh seafood, choice steaks, Southern fried chicken, Cajun specials, and even Chinese dishes. After enjoying the surf-and-turf special, the young couple decided to go to the cinema. 
Marilyn had wanted to see the romance, Johnny Eager, starring Lana Turner and Robert Taylor. In contrast, Phil had a yearning to watch Tarzan’s Secret Treasure, starring Maureen O’Sullivan alongside his favorite movie star, Johnny Weissmuller, one of the world’s fastest swimmers. They compromised with Ball of Fire, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck.
The next morning dawned clear with unlimited visibility and an unseasonably warm fifty-nine degrees predicted as the high. Rather than attending church together, which was their habit, Phil and Marilyn decided to play hooky. He picked her up early, and they trailered their horses to the nearby De Soto National Forest, where they rode through the gently rolling terrain. When they located Black Creek, Mississippi’s only National Scenic River, they followed the meandering ribbon of water until they found a wide white sandbar. There they set out a picnic lunch and talked for hours in the warm sunshine about their hopes and dreams—and, for the first time, about the prospects of a life together. 
Late in the afternoon, they returned to the stable and found a group of people gathered around a radio. “Whatcha listening to?” Phil asked. The men shushed him as he and Marilyn leaned closer to listen. 
The announcer blurted, “This is KTU in Honolulu, Hawaii. I am speaking from the roof of the Advertiser Publishing Company Building. We have witnessed this morning the severe bombing of Pearl Harbor by enemy planes, undoubtedly Japanese…. This is no joke. It is a real war… There has been serious fighting going on in the air and on the sea.” 
Phil and Marilyn’s eyes met, and he pulled her close. There was another second or two of static. Then the announcer continued, “We cannot estimate just how much damage has been done, but it has been a very severe attack.” 
The sound of rustling papers came through the small radio as the announcer took a deep breath. “Oh, this is much worse than we’ve heard up to now. The BBC is now reporting, and I quote, ‘At oh seven fifty-five local time, the first wave of between fifty and one-hundred-fifty planes struck the naval base for thirty-five minutes, causing several fires and untold damage to the Pacific Fleet. The Japanese squadrons dropped high explosive and incendiary bombs. A second strike followed at about oh nine hundred when a force of at least one hundred planes pounded the base for an hour,’ end quote.” 
Phil looked at his watch. This meant the attack had started just before 1 p.m. in Gulfport, located in the Central Time Zone. 
The broadcaster continued, “The BBC also says, and I quote, ‘The Times newspaper’s Washington correspondent says the U.S. government expects Germany and Italy to declare war on the U.S. within hours. Although the attack has shocked the American people, there is little doubt that it has been brewing for some years,’ end quote.” 
Marilyn began to cry; Phil pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her. “Oh, Phil,” she muttered, “This can’t be happening, can it?” He could only hold her close as a zillion thoughts raced through his mind. Their shared disbelief mirrored their astonishment.
The announcer paused a moment, and the clacking of a teletype machine could be heard. “This just in. This just in. Japan declares war! Japan declares war!” 
Someone whispered to the man. The pitch of his voice increased as he announced, “This wire is just in from Hirohito, the Emperor of Japan. Here are his words, and I quote, ‘We, the Emperor, hereby proclaim unto our loyal and valorous subjects that we have now declared war upon the United States of America and Great Britain,’ end quote.” 
Phil’s mind swirled. He thought, So, this is it. This is really it. Soon, I’ll be off to war. I’ll be going into battle. He couldn’t have imagined such a confluence of excitement and horror occurring in one moment. Marilyn continued to weep in his arms. 
“I have to get back to GCMA. Now!” he said. 
She nodded. They ran to the car and sped away. 
The next morning, Monday, December 8, the nation awoke to even more bad news: the extent of the damage from the surprise attack on Hawaii. At that point, no one knew that the Japanese attack had killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including sixty-eight civilians, and destroyed or damaged nineteen U.S. Navy ships, including eight battleships, and destroyed or damaged 328 aircraft. 
Not even the U.S. government was aware that the ship with the most lives lost, the battleship USS Arizona, would report 1,177 dead—meaning that about one half of those who perished at Pearl Harbor were on the Arizona. What everyone did know was that Japan also attacked the Philippines, Wake Island, and Midway on the morning of December 7. The only good news was that the three aircraft carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet had been out to sea on maneuvers. 
After a hastily arranged Protestant church service at GCMA, Phil received a call from his father. He had been working on the train running between New Orleans and Memphis. At a stop in Water Valley, Mississippi, Phil Sr. had been given a handwritten note:
Do not permit any Japanese to ride your train. Orders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Then Phil and his fellow cadets attended a solemn assembly at 11:30 a.m., during which they listened intently to the nationwide radio broadcast of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s address to a joint session of Congress inside the U.S. Capitol. The President started his speech with these memorable words: 
Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. 
After recounting details of the aerial assault, the President concluded his speech with this: 
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. 
With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.
The roars of approval and tsunami of applause from the members of Congress could be heard over the speakers, and was joined by the young GCMA cadets as they bounded to their feet, throwing their caps toward the ceiling, and hugging and swatting one another on the back. As the cheers faded, though, they became aware that America was about to face an extraordinary test—one that would potentially threaten her very being. The young men at GCMA knew that their training put them in a position to quickly make a difference and play a significant role in the days ahead.
The next five months flew by, and on a beautiful, cloudless, and calm seventy-degree Saturday, May 16, 1942, Phil graduated with honors from GCMA and the Reserve Officers Training Corps, or ROTC.
Before Pearl Harbor, he had planned to begin pre-med studies that fall, but with America in the midst of a global conflict against the Axis powers, he realized that he would not be studying medicine anytime soon. 
Philip Larimore Jr. understood that he was destined for war.

Pearl Harbor

From Picnic To Peril: How A Young Couple’s World Was Shattered By Japan’s Attack On Pearl Harbor

History

Japan

Military

World War II

An AI-generated list of recommended reading for the summer, published by the Chicago Sun-Times, included several books that don’t exist.
Per <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/nx-s1-5405022/fake-summer-reading-list-ai">NPR</a>, at least one edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer used the same flawed list, titled “Summer reading list for 2025.&#8221; Suggested titles included “Tidewater Dreams,” purportedly authored by Chilean American novelist Isabel Allende, which was described as her &#8220;first climate fiction novel.&#8221; Allende is a real person, but the suggested novel is not a book she or anyone else published.
Another suggestion was “The Rainmakers,” which is described as a story set in a &#8220;near-future American West where artificially induced rain has become a luxury commodity.” This faux novel was said to be written by 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner Percival Everett.
The outlet noted that only five of the 15 books suggested were real titles. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Chicago Sun-Times printed a &quot;summer reading list&quot; featuring real authors but mostly made up books, generated by a freelancer using AI.
This comes two months after the newspaper cut 20% of its staff. <a href="https://t.co/TLMbDxuey0">pic.twitter.com/TLMbDxuey0</a>
&mdash; Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) <a href="https://twitter.com/nick_kapur/status/1924999492824399991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We are looking into how this made it into print as we speak,&#8221; Victor Lim, marketing director for the Chicago Sun-Times&#8217; parent company, Chicago Public Media, said in a statement. He also noted that the content did not come directly from the newspaper’s staffers. 
&#8220;This is licensed content that was not created by, or approved by, the Sun-Times newsroom, but it is unacceptable for any content we provide to our readers to be inaccurate. We value our readers&#8217; trust in our reporting and take this very seriously. More info will be provided soon as we investigate.&#8221;
The article&#8217;s author, Marco Buscaglia, addressed the error, writing in an email to NPR, &#8220;Huge mistake on my part and has nothing to do with the Sun-Times. They trust that the content they purchase is accurate and I betrayed that trust. It&#8217;s on me 100 percent.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memorial Day Sale – Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
The paper also <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/press-room/2025/05/20/chicago-sun-times-response-to-may-18-special-section">issued a response</a> to subscribers, noting that the person responsible for the error had been terminated and promising the mistake would not happen again. They said subscribers would not be charged for the premium edition and said more care would be put into checking for AI-generated content in the future.
“We are in a moment of great transformation in journalism and technology, and at the same time our industry continues to be besieged by business challenges. This should be a learning moment for all journalism organizations: Our work is valued — and valuable — because of the humanity behind it,” the statement said.
“At Chicago Public Media, we are proud of our credible, independent journalism, created for and by people. And part of the journalistic process is a commitment to acknowledging mistakes. It is unacceptable that this content was inaccurate, and it is equally unacceptable that we did not make it clear to readers that the section was produced outside the Sun-Times newsroom.”

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times Published A.I.-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don’t Exist

Chicago Sun-Times Published A.I.-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don't Exist

Artificial Intelligence

Chicago

Journalism

Legacy Media

Media

Newspaper

Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan’s “The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness,” hit the No. 13 spot on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/hardcover-nonfiction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bestseller list</a> this week, showing, yet again, that readers are itching to soak up Klavan’s timeless wisdom. 
“<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Cain-Finding-Literature-Darkness/dp/0310368340" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Kingdom of Cain</a>,” which hit shelves on May 6, explores how people can obey the biblical command to “rejoice evermore” when the world is filled with so much evil. Klavan’s book quickly became the No. 1 book in Christian Death and Grief on Amazon before hitting the NYT bestseller list. 
“Delighted to tell you that ‘Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness’ has made the NY Times Bestseller List. Thank you all for picking up a copy. I hope you come to love it as much as I do,” Klavan <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan/status/1922789461164802089" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on social media on Wednesday. 
The book focuses on three murders throughout history “and the works of art that reveal the nature of their evil.” First, Klavan highlights the killing of French con man Jean-François Chardon and his mother by the thief Pierre François Lacenaire in 1834, which Klavan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/murder-madness-meaning-how-can-we-rejoice-always-when-the-world-often-seems-so-broken?author=Daily+Wire+Shop&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Murder%2C+Madness%2C+Meaning%3A+How+Can+We+%E2%80%98Rejoice+Always%E2%80%99+When+The+World+Often+Seems+So+Broken%3F">says</a> sparked “the beginning of a startling century-long dance between art and reality.” Then, the author shifts to the murders committed in the American Midwest in the 1950s by psychopath Ed Gein, the murders that inspired the novel “Psycho” written by Robert Bloch, which then went on to inspire Alfred Hitchcock’s movie of the same name. 
Finally, Klavan goes to the beginning: Cain’s murder of Abel, and how Cain’s presence continues throughout the Old and New Testaments. 
“The Kingdom of Cain” is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Cain-Finding-Literature-Darkness/dp/0310368340" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a>, and you can purchase signed copies of the bestselling book at <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/the-kingdom-of-cain?variant=42713621954620" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Wire Shop</a>.

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