The following is an edited transcript from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1893-children-terrified-leftist-mob-storms-church-in-minneapolis?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
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A very controversial statement — at least according to the internet — has just come out of Jerusalem. And not just from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the chief Catholic prelate there, but from the heads of the other historic churches as well: the Armenian Church, the Syriac Church, the Greek Orthodox Church — all the Apostolic churches of Jerusalem.
Here is what they said. In a statement titled On Unity and the Representation of the Christian Communities in the Holy Land:
<blockquote>The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land affirm before the faithful and before the world that the ﬂock of Christ in this land is entrusted to the Apostolic Churches, which have borne their sacred ministry across centuries with steadfast devotion. </blockquote>
Here is the controversial line:
<blockquote>Recent activities undertaken by local individuals who advance damaging ideologies such as Christian Zionism mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock. These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond, who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East.</blockquote>
The statement goes on for several more paragraphs and concludes with: “May the Lord, who is the shepherd and guardian of souls, grant wisdom for the protection of His people and the safeguarding of His witness in the sacred land.” 
It is signed by the patriarchs and heads of the churches in Jerusalem.
So what is this about?
We’ve heard a lot about Zionism — the nationalist ideology that arose in the 19th century and sought to return Jews to the Holy Land, where they had lived millennia earlier, though not in large numbers for quite some time. We’ve also heard about Christian Zionism, which is a specifically Christian theological take on that project.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1893-children-terrified-leftist-mob-storms-church-in-minneapolis?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
But who exactly are these “local individuals” sowing discord and undermining proper Christian authority?
I had to look into this, because as a Catholic I don’t exactly keep up with every niche Protestant trend. And I think the patriarchs are referring to a man named Robert Stearns, who styles himself “Bishop Robert Stearns.” He is not part of any Apostolic Christian community, but he calls himself a bishop anyway. He is also a vociferous advocate of Christian Zionism.
Here’s a sample of what he recently said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“Christian” Zionist Robert Stearns apologizes to Jews at Jerusalem Post conference for 2,000 years of “Christian history” hurting Jewish people.
He says it&#8217;s “irrelevant” if Jesus was the Messiah and claims to be part of a new Christian group “serving Zion.”
Follow: <a href="https://twitter.com/AFpost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AFpost</a> <a href="https://t.co/aHhMgOfpA3">pic.twitter.com/aHhMgOfpA3</a>
— AF Post (@AFpost) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFpost/status/2011500100624040442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @AFpost/X.com
I was trying to be sympathetic here, but this is just ridiculous. It violates the law of non-contradiction — a principle we’ve known about since at least Aristotle. Opposing statements cannot both be true in the same respect.
Christ’s return cannot be both His first coming and His second coming. It’s one or the other. And if you’re a Christian, I’m happy to break it to you: it will be the second coming. You actually have to believe that.
This attempt to be cute or accommodating doesn’t resolve anything. It just empties theology of meaning.
Stearns also claims that the existence of the modern State of Israel is of biblical and prophetic necessity — that it is required for the end times to unfold. I know plenty of people share this view. But here’s the thing: this theology is new. Really new. Less than two centuries old. It is not the traditional Christian position, and it is not the correct one.
Which brings us back to the Jerusalem statement.
Is it shocking? Is it anti-Israel? Is it a break with tradition?
No. Not at all.
In fact, the position expressed by the patriarchs lines up perfectly with long-standing Vatican teaching. Here is something from 1985 — forty years ago, and two decades after the Second Vatican Council. This declaration from the Vatican goes out of its way to speak respectfully of Jews and is in no way anti-Semitic:
<blockquote>The history of Israel did not end in 70 A.D., but continued, especially in the numerous diasporas, which led Israel to carry to the whole world a witness, often heroic, of its fidelity to the one God… while preserving the memory of the land of their forefathers at the heart of their hope.</blockquote>
That reference, by the way, is to the Passover Seder.
Notice what’s happening here. The Vatican is not talking about the Church as the new Israel — which Christians have always believed — but about the historical, earthly Israel of the Jewish people. It acknowledges their witness, their fidelity, and even their attachment to the land.
But then comes the key clarification:
<blockquote>Christians are invited to understand this religious attachment, which finds its roots in biblical tradition, without, however, making their own any particular religious interpretation of this relationship.</blockquote>
And just to make it unmistakable, the Vatican adds:
<blockquote>The existence of the State of Israel and its political options should be envisaged not in a perspective which is in itself religious, but in their reference to the common principles of international law.</blockquote>
Bingo.
That is exactly what the patriarchs of Jerusalem are reaffirming. And they are completely right.
This is why I would not call myself a Zionist, or a Christian Zionist, or any other kind of Zionist. Not because I dislike Jews — I don’t. Not because I oppose the State of Israel — I don’t.
I am broadly supportive of the nation-state of Israel but not because of Zionist religious claims, which I don’t believe are true. I do not believe Jews are entitled to the Holy Land because of a theological premise. As a Christian, I believe the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. Christ is the New Covenant. The Church is the spiritual Israel. Those Old Testament promises are fulfilled — not suspended, not postponed.
And I also don’t believe that occupying a piece of land 2,000 years ago grants a perpetual title deed. If that were the case, we’d have to hand Mount Rushmore back to the Lakota Sioux. I don’t believe that logic anywhere.
That said, I still broadly support Israel because I don’t like the alternatives. I don’t want Iran running the Holy Land. I don&#8217;t think the Muslims have been particularly protective of the holy sites. The Ottoman Empire is gone. Baldwin’s Kingdom of Jerusalem isn’t coming back anytime soon. The real-world options are limited.
From the standpoint of international law, the Jews were granted territory by the British Empire, recognized by the United Nations, and then defended it through war. Like it or not, under the modern nation-state system, that matters.
But that isn’t Zionism. And it certainly isn’t biblical prophecy.
You can support Israel without subscribing to the relatively novel theology of Christian Zionism. You can like Jews without turning geopolitics into eschatology.
I love the Jews. I grew up in New York. I’m extremely philosemitic. If you told me I had to choose between hanging out with the guys making pastrami sandwiches or the guys making shawarma, I’m choosing pastrami 100 times out of 100. Okay — 999 times out of 1,000.
And you can do that without embracing a theology invented in the 19th century and dressed up as ancient Christianity.
That is clearly what the patriarchs of Jerusalem are saying. And anyone pretending this is antisemitic, radical, or some kind of rupture with tradition is, frankly, completely insane.

Skyline of the Old City in Jerusalem from north, Israel.

Why Christian Zionism Is Not Traditional Christianity

Christianity

Israel

Jerusalem

Jesus Christ

Jews

Michael Knowles

Religion

Zionism

Most Americans want more faith in the public square and want to have more say over what their children learn in the classroom, according to a new survey of attitudes toward religious liberty released Friday.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty released its annual Religious Freedom Index, documenting a rise in support for Americans to practice their faith in public and private. The index surveyed over 1,000 Americans and asked them for their opinions on a range of topics from curriculum opt-outs to sharing faith in public.
“This year’s Index shows that Americans – and especially younger generations – increasingly share a vigorous vision of religious liberty, one that is not confined to churches and private homes but expressed openly in the public square,” Becket wrote in its report, which was first obtained by The Daily Wire.
Becket found that 73% of Americans believe that parents should be able to opt their kids out of public school curriculum. That is a ten point increase since 2021 and comes after the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-sides-with-parents-says-schools-cant-mandate-lgbt-curricula">ruled</a> last year that a group of Maryland parents should be allowed to take their kids out of classroom instruction involving LGBT and sexuality-focused materials. That case was brought by Becket on behalf of a coalition of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim parents.
The survey found that 62% of Americans supported that decision.
“When it comes to raising children, mom and dad know best. That common-sense idea commands overwhelming support, with nearly three-quarters of Americans agreeing that parents should have the final say on what their children are taught in public school. It’s a powerful reminder that in our nation, families—not government officials—are the primary educators of the next generation,” Eric Baxter, the vice president and senior counsel at Becket, told The Daily Wire.
More Americans also believe that Americans should be free to share their faith in public, including at work and school.
“[Fifty-seven percent] of Americans agree that religious freedom is inherently public, and that Americans should be free to share their faith in public spaces, such as at school, work, or on social media — a five-point rise since 2020,” the index found.
Notably, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-trump-guidance-allows-federal-employees-to-debate-religion-with-co-workers">new guidance</a> issued by the Trump administration last year made it clear that federal workers are allowed to invite their co-workers to church and share their religious beliefs with them.
The survey also found that a plurality of Americans (47%) believe that Christian counselors should be allowed to guide children away from gender-confusion, 58% say that bakers and cake artists should not be forced to create a product that violates their conscience, and 65% approved of a recent Supreme Court decision that sided with a Catholic charity that sued Wisconsin after it made it pay certain taxes that other religious organizations were exempt from.

Beautiful White Baptist Church in Crawfordville, George built in 1889

Americans Want More Faith In The Public Square, Back Parental Rights

Education

Religious Freedom

Supreme Court

The following is an edited transcript from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1890-breaking-scotus-delivers-massive-blow-to-the-trans-movement?elementPosition=6&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
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Scott Adams has died.
It is a sad story, though not an entirely unexpected one. And it’s important to note, Scott Adams did not kill himself.
Adams, the cartoonist behind Dilbert, was a defining cultural figure for decades. His comic strip was a genuine phenomenon — so much so that, flipping through old Dilbert panels, one can feel a kind of nostalgia, like being at a parent’s house. He was a delightful figure in American public life.
Adams did not stop at cartoons. He parlayed his success into a second career as a writer and thinker on persuasion, self-help, and politics. He became one of the earliest and most incisive commentators to notice something many others missed about Donald Trump: that Trump was not simply a big dummy saying big dummy things, but an extremely persuasive communicator. Adams could articulate that insight with unusual precision, in much more expansive terms.
In recent years, however, Adams became associated with a much darker subject: assisted suicide.
And yet, Scott Adams did not kill himself. Despite living in California, where physician-assisted suicide is legal under certain conditions, Adams ultimately chose not to end his life that way.
But he very nearly did.
In public discussions and on his own show, Adams spoke candidly about having been declared terminally ill, having received certification from doctors, having completed the paperwork, and even having obtained the lethal drugs prescribed for assisted suicide. At one point, he admitted that he had internally planned to take his own life on a specific date. That moment came and went. Adams did not take the drugs.
Here he is back in June of 2025 talking about it: 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Scott Adams Update: In May, he was in intense pain and didn’t expect to make it past today or tomorrow.
Now, his new cancer treatment has eliminated his pain and may extend his life by 1-2 years!⁰<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@scottadamssays</a> So do I feel like I’m on borrowed time? Got a little extra?
Oh… <a href="https://t.co/PWc2UR1pqN">pic.twitter.com/PWc2UR1pqN</a>
— jay plemons (@jayplemons) <a href="https://twitter.com/jayplemons/status/1939363100870005198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @jayplemons/X.com
For years prior, Adams had been one of the most vocal defenders of assisted suicide in public life. After his father’s death in 2013 — a death Adams described as painful and prolonged — he sought to defend assisted suicide in Reason magazine, writing:
<blockquote>I&#8217;m okay with any citizen who opposes doctor assisted suicide on moral or practical reasons, but if you have acted on that thought, such as basing a vote on it, I would like you to die a slow, horrible death too.</blockquote>
The argument was blunt: opposition to assisted suicide was, in Adams’s view at the time, complicity in torture.
But something changed.
Only after Adams had committed to the process — after he had received the drugs and contemplated using them — did he realize it was more complicated. He began to grasp what assisted suicide actually entailed. It was not, as it is often advertised, a clean or painless “going to sleep.” The process could involve vomiting, prolonged unconsciousness, and hours of dying while loved ones stood by, waiting, checking repeatedly to see whether the person was dead yet.
The act that had been sold as a mercy turned out to be something else entirely. Whatever pain the dying person sought to avoid would instead be imposed on family and friends. The poor family not only has to endure the scandal of watching a loved one kill himself, the very thing that is much more likely to persuade the loved ones around them to kill themselves. Suicide, after all, is not merely an individual act; it is a social contagion — it is long-documented as a contagion, especially among those who admire or identify with the person who chooses it.
Adams eventually summarized this realization while speaking to Dr. Drew Pinsky and Greg Gutfeld, saying, “It’s not as cool as I thought it would be.”
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1890-breaking-scotus-delivers-massive-blow-to-the-trans-movement?elementPosition=6&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
And there’s the irony of Scott Adams’s final chapter. A man who had spent years publicly advocating for assisted suicide ended his life by rejecting it. And in doing so, Scott Adams offered us one of the best examples of dying well. An amazing irony in the grand scope of Providence. 
He was calm. He was loving. He did not hide it. 
Today, we hide death. We institutionalize it. We rush through funerals and euphemize loss. We prefer not to look at dying at all. In earlier eras, particularly in the Middle Ages, a “good death” was understood as one in which a person knew death was coming, put their affairs in order, reconciled relationships, and prepared spiritually for what followed.
That is what Adams did.
We should pray for him. We should pray for his soul.
Though he was not a lifelong believer, Adams spoke openly near the end of his life about being persuaded by Pascal’s Wager and by his loving Christian friends. He did not pretend to believe. Instead, he adopted an attitude of humility that is almost shocking in its simplicity: I want to believe. I want to spend eternity with Jesus. If I wake up in heaven, that will convince me.
Some will quibble over the theology of those words. But there is something undeniably childlike about them — in the best sense. Not childish. Childlike. As Scripture reminds us, it is precisely this posture that Christ holds up as the model for entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
Adams could have scandalized the world. He could have taken his life and inspired others to do the same. Many people looked up to him as an “internet dad,” a guide through cultural and political chaos. His suicide would have rippled outward, causing real harm.
Instead, he chose restraint, honesty, and peace.
The reaction from the legacy media was, sadly, predictable. The New York Times and Boston Globe framed Adams’s death not with reflection or mercy, but with denunciation, labeling him racist even in death.
Here’s the breaking news alert from The New York Times:
<div id="attachment_1028183" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1028183" class="size-full wp-image-1028183" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-6.17.48-PM.png" alt="Screenshot: iPhone" width="865" height="222" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-6.17.48-PM.png 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-6.17.48-PM-300x77.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-6.17.48-PM-768x197.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Screenshot: iPhone</div>
This is what they do. Listen, we&#8217;re talking about the political Left which celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk. So, yes, when a prominent Right winger dies, they&#8217;re going to find some way to attack him, even in his death. If they&#8217;re willing to do it to Charlie, they&#8217;re willing to do it to anybody. It’s sad, but they will celebrate your death.
Contrast this with how the Right generally responds to tragedy: even when acknowledging wrongdoing or responsibility, there remains sorrow. There is room for grief.
The New York Times wants to define Scott Adams by his worst comments. But I don&#8217;t think their narrative sums up his life at all. Then again, I don&#8217;t believe most of what I read in the New York Times.

Scott Adams

Scott Adams, Assisted Suicide, And What It Means To Die Well

Assisted Suicide

Leftists

New York Times

Opinion

When my parents sent me to college at age 16, they were naturally nervous. But their nerves were calmed by the fact that I would be attending a Christian school — a school that avowed the same beliefs and values as they did.
As it turns out, that shouldn’t have reassured them.
According to a <a href="https://studentsforlife.org/2026/01/13/shocking-1-in-7-faith-based-schools-connected-to-abortion-industry/">stunning new report</a>, more than 1 in 7 Christian colleges directly violated their professed faith in the 2024-2025 school year by maintaining a relationship with Planned Parenthood or the abortion industry. That’s fully 1 in 7 colleges publicly proclaiming Christ while privately violating the most basic Christian value: the dignity of life.
That’s not counting the myriad of colleges that plaster the name of Christ on top of an otherwise completely secular school. The study, conducted by Students for Life of America’s Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement (IPA), only looked at schools directly affiliated with a Christ-centered denomination — schools that publicly affirmed faith in their mission statement.
Nor were the schools’ infractions minor in nature. More than one-fourth of the offending schools were Christian schools that referred students to Planned Parenthood as a “health resource.”
That fact would be distressing even if the schools in question were secular. Reports from outlets as left-wing as the New York Times document the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/15/us/planned-parenthood-clinics.html">abysmal standard of care</a> at Planned Parenthood facilities, including staff instructions to limit appointments to just 10 minutes in order to churn through as many patients as possible.
But for Christian schools, such referrals don’t just pose a threat to student health; they’re a direct betrayal of the faith they proclaim.
Students, parents, and donors expect schools bearing the name “Christian” to live out their faith. But IPA’s report shows just how many fall short of that calling.
And unfortunately, the problem is only growing. According to IPA, Christian schools have increased their support for abortion by 19.82% overall since the 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade. Since 2024, that support has increased by a full 38.63%.
And while some might seek to dismiss the problem as limited to a single rogue denomination, that’s simply not the case. IPA eliminated from its study schools belonging to denominations that have affirmed abortion — like the Disciples of Christ, Quakers, and Moravians. Even after eliminating those denominations, IPA found that over half the remaining denominations — those that have not expressed support for abortion — had at least one school with ties to abortion.
Clearly, the issue is not one that can be avoided by simply attending a school from a different denomination. For Christian pro-lifers seeking an education aligned with their values, the future seems grim.
But fortunately, the news isn’t all bad. According to IPA’s report, a full 50 ties between Christian schools and Planned Parenthood were severed during the 2024-2025 school year, thanks to interventions and awareness fostered by IPA. And after researchers reached out to offending schools in July 2025, four schools cut all ties to the abortion industry, and another four removed some.
This success points to the path forward. Higher education institutions depend on the support of students, parents, alumni, and donors. If these groups express undeniably—with their words and, if necessary, their pocketbooks—that they will not stand for compromise, Christian colleges will have no choice but to cut ties with the abortion industry or to stop falsely claiming the name of Christ.
I’m thankful that the school I attended, The Master’s University, a small Christian college north of Los Angeles, lives out its professed faith. Notably, it received an “A” rating in IPA’s report — meaning no ties to Planned Parenthood/the abortion industry were found. But the same should be true of all schools claiming Christianity.
If a student decides to attend a Christian school, they should know exactly what they’re getting: a school that affirms biblical truth, starting with the simple reality that every human life is sacred.
* * *
Mary Mobley is a press specialist and online editor at Students for Life.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US-VATICAN-RELIGION-POPE-UNIVERSITY

New Study: Planned Parenthood Has Quietly Invaded Christian Colleges

Abortion

Christian Colleges

Dobbs

Judeo-Christian Values

Planned Parenthood

Pregnancy

Christians in Syria saw the largest increase in persecution among any country in the world last year as regime change and terrorism threw the Islamic nation into chaos, according to the Christian organization Open Doors, which published its annual persecution watch list Wednesday morning.
The Open Doors <a href="https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/persecution/countries/">2026 World Watch List</a> revealed that Syria jumped up to No. 6 in overall Christian persecution, after coming in at No. 18 in last year’s list. Syria is now only behind North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, and Eritrea.
Open Doors CEO Ryan Brown told The Daily Wire that the recent political turmoil in Syria is the main contributing factor to the increase in persecution.
“With the fall of the Assad regime and as HTS [Hay&#8217;at Tahrir al-Sham] came into power, it created a lot of vacuums of control and authority,” Brown said. “The rule of law is weak in a number of areas, and in that, there’s just been a number of extremists that have just stepped into those voids.”
Brown pointed to multiple recent Islamic terror attacks targeting Syrian Christians, such as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jihadist-suicide-bomber-kills-20-wounds-dozens-more-at-orthodox-church" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suicide bombing</a> in June, when a terrorist opened fire on worshipers and then detonated a suicide vest, killing more than 20 Christians and wounding over 50 more. Christians in Syria are more likely to come under attack from Islamic terrorists who are fighting for control of certain areas in the unstable country, not from the government, which is now led by former HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
“The church is coming under attack especially in these areas where the government is not having a strong rule of law as part of this transition,” Brown added. “Traditionally, in some of these areas in Syria where the rule of law has not been strong, the tribalism becomes the ruling force and provides safety. Christian converts from Islam are typically rejected from these tribal infrastructures.”
It remains to be seen if al-Sharaa, a former terrorist leader, will tolerate Christians in Syria if he establishes a firm grip on the country. So far, the new Syrian leader has been actively seeking to take out Islamic terrorists that remain in Syria.
President Donald Trump met with al-Sharaa at the White House as he seeks to broker peace in the Middle East. The meeting marked the first time a Syrian leader and former jihadist met with the President of the United States.
Brown said the 12-spot change in Syria&#8217;s ranking between 2025 and 2026 was the largest year-over-year move for any country on the persecution watch list in more than a decade.
Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, Libya, and Iran round out the top 10 of countries where Christians experience the most persecution, meaning that eight out of the top 10 countries on the 2026 World Watch List are majority Muslim nations.
<h3>Nigeria Was The ‘Epicenter’ Of Violence Against Christians In 2025</h3>
More Christians in Nigeria, which came in at No. 7 on the list, were killed for their faith than in any other country. Open Doors reported that 3,490 Nigerian Christians were killed last year, which was an increase from the estimated 3,100 killed in 2024. For comparison, 1,359 Christians are estimated to have been killed for their faith in all other countries combined in 2025.
Brown told The Daily Wire that Nigeria didn’t rank No. 1 on the persecution list because Open Doors considers multiple factors, not just violence, when ranking countries.
“The World Watch List looks at danger, but looks at a number of other factors as well. Nigeria would be the deadliest place to be a Christian, not necessarily the most difficult because there are places in the country where Christians are able to freely worship,” Brown said. “But Nigeria continues to be an epicenter of violence in parts of the country, in parts of the middle belt as well as in the northern parts of the country.”
Recent violence against Christians in Nigeria <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-next-peace-push-focuses-on-nigeria-and-sudan-where-christians-are-killed-by-the-thousands?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump%E2%80%99s+Next+Peace+Push+Focuses+On+Nigeria+And+Sudan%2C+Where+Christians+Are+Killed+By+The+Thousands" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gained the attention</a> of President Trump, who has pressured the Nigerian government to do more to protect Christians and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-threatens-to-completely-wipe-out-the-islamic-terrorists-killing-nigerian-christians?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Threatens+To+%E2%80%98Completely+Wipe+Out+The+Islamic+Terrorists%E2%80%99+Killing+Nigerian+Christians" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to take out terrorists in the country if they continue to target them.
<h3>Iran Increased Pressure On Christians During Internal Turmoil And Conflict With Israel And U.S.</h3>
Iran, which ranks No. 10 on the World Watch List, has ramped up its crackdown on Christians in the country as they are viewed as “enemies of the state” and “agents of the West,” Brown explained.
The Iranian regime has arrested numerous Christians in recent months as it seeks to keep control amid growing tensions. The regime believes that Christians are influenced by the West and, therefore, plotting the overthrow of the government, and recent events have likely made the regime’s crackdown on Christians even harsher. Iran was humiliated in 2025 in its war with Israel and then by the United States, when President Trump ordered the U.S. military to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
Iran is in the midst of massive demonstrations as protesters have taken to the streets, mainly over the regime’s failure to address an economic collapse. Trump has warned that he could take more action against Iran if it massacres protesters. One report indicates that the Iranian government has killed at least 12,000 demonstrators.
<h3>China Continues To Target Christianity</h3>
China dropped from No. 15 on the list in 2025 to No. 17 this year, but the communist country remains brutal toward Christians. In September, the Chinese government began to monitor the online activity of Christians, especially clergymen, more closely.
“This was in continuation to the churches they closed down the previous year — there’s been an increase in that — but now looking to clamp down on some of the online activity of Christians in the area, making it difficult for them to communicate or to worship,” Brown said.
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-escalates-persecution-of-christians-with-more-shocking-arrests" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> earlier this month that China arrested more prominent church leaders, detaining at least seven Christians affiliated with the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, a city in southwestern China.
Brown said that people in China also face persecution from their local communities when they convert to Christianity, adding that many converts lose out on job or school opportunities, while some get their water or electricity cut off.
See the full list, and read a detailed report on each country in this year&#8217;s list <a href="https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/persecution/countries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Suicide Bombing Targets Church In Damascus, Leaving 20 Dead And Dozens Injured

2026 Watch List Reveals Biggest Increases In Christian Persecution Across The Globe

China

Christian Persecution

Iran

Islam

Nigeria

Syria

The former president of Ireland, Mary McAleese, has claimed baptism denies babies their human rights.
Her comments were highlighted in an article in the <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026/01/11/mary-mcaleese-baptism-is-a-key-catholic-recruitment-tool-it-denies-babies-their-human-rights/">Irish Times</a> with the headline: “Mary McAleese: Baptism denies babies their human rights.”
This woman is nominally Catholic, but doesn’t agree with the teaching or practice of the Catholic Church. I believe she is a canon lawyer, but somehow she was radicalized. She also says this is the real issue we need to focus on — the great injustice in the world today.
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No one is Catholic by birth and the notion of ‘Baptismal promises’ is risible, writes Mary McAleese <a href="https://t.co/8WopKFeMhi">https://t.co/8WopKFeMhi</a>
— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/IrishTimes/status/2010386279486136346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Credit: @IrishTimes/X.com
She’s not a prelate. She’s not a theologian. She’s a politician. And she says the real injustice, the real violation of human rights in our world, is not immigration, not foreign policy, not the economy, not how we treat the poor. It’s not even abortion, the wholesale slaughter of little babies, no — it’s baptism.
It’s difficult to see how one arrives at that conclusion or that obsession without demonic influence. Now, I’m not someone who says there’s a demon under every rock. We live in a world where the material and immaterial are not totally separable, nevertheless, I’m not demon-hunting all the time.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1889-president-trump-fights-anti-white-racism?elementPosition=6&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
It’s very difficult to understand how the former president of Ireland can say the great human rights violation of our time is baptizing babies. Because it is supposedly “bad.&#8221;
One could try to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you could argue that infant baptism is technically a violation of human rights because, after the Fall, humans deserve death. Sin and death pervade the world, and in our fallen nature what we deserve is death, and baptism saves us from death.
Many people have different views of baptism, but you do see it in Scripture. Our Lord <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2019%3A14&amp;version=RSVCE">says</a>, “Let the little children come to Me.” You see baptisms of children in the book of Acts multiple times. In 1 Peter 3:21, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%203%3A20-22&amp;version=NKJV">Saint Peter essentially says</a> baptism now saves you. There are many theological discussions about what that means exactly, but baptism is what demarcates us as Christians. Plenty of people disagree with infant baptism, but it is the traditional practice of the Catholic Church.
But setting those theological debates aside, the closest one could get to her argument is that baptism denies babies their human rights insofar as it saves them from the consequences of the Fall of man. And that’s a good thing. Isn’t that a good thing?
My last point: this woman, who says baptism violates babies’ human rights, supports abortion. She supports legally murdering babies in the womb, but not baptizing them once they are born. The only way to reach that conclusion is either to follow the perversity of liberalism to its end, or through demonic influence. I don’t see any other explanation.
And it really makes me raise an eyebrow at other Left-wing politicians.

Inauguration of Ireland’s New President Connolly

Former President Of Ireland Claims Baptism Denies Babies Their Human Rights

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The Daily Wire&#8217;s newest host Matt Fradd is launching the &#8220;new era&#8221; of his show &#8220;Pints With Aquinas&#8221; on The Daily Wire on Monday.
&#8220;I am so excited about this new era of Pints With Aquinas with The Daily Wire, and I&#8217;m especially excited about how many more people it&#8217;s going to reach,&#8221; Fradd told his audience.
&#8220;I can&#8217;t wait to show you guys the list of guests we have coming up,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I can&#8217;t wait to show you the brand new studio we built, it&#8217;s really lovely. It&#8217;s going to be as good as it&#8217;s ever been. Better, I hope.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/hosts/matt-fradd?utm_campaign=fradd&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_source=googlesearch&amp;utm_content=na_traffic&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=23434102972&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7hmqY536cRTLi3tQO60J1ihDWAogt6HUkPniSGlvKg10jSfdwSIaRQaApblEALw_wcB">WATCH MATT FRADD&#8217;S PINTS WITH AQUINAS</a>
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The first episode of Fradd&#8217;s long-form interview show features Dr. Brant Pitre for a conversation about the historical evidence that supports the Bible.
Fradd invited his followers to share the episode with &#8220;everybody who is not yet convinced of the reliability of the Bible and the divinity of the Lord Jesus,&#8221; and predicted it &#8220;will be life-changing for many.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/big-news-pints-with-aquinas-is-joining-the-daily-wire-in-2026?elementPosition=0&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Articles+by+Matt+Fradd&amp;rowType=Square+Carousel">MATT FRADD: WHY WE&#8217;RE JOINING THE DAILY WIRE IN 2026</a>
Fradd&#8217;s show has been running since 2016 and his catalogue features more than 500 episodes, many of which are now available on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/hosts/matt-fradd?utm_campaign=fradd&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_source=googlesearch&amp;utm_content=na_traffic&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=23434102972&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7hmqY536cRTLi3tQO60J1ihDWAogt6HUkPniSGlvKg10jSfdwSIaRQaApblEALw_wcB">The Daily Wire</a>. Among the episodes available are a conversation with filmmaker Nick Stumphauzer on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/pwa-251205?elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">fighting porn addiction</a>, an exploration of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/pwa-ep-550?elementPosition=9&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">why Muslims are finding Christianity</a>, and a sit-down with prominent Catholic priest Fr. Mike Schmitz that touches on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/pwa-ep-549?elementPosition=10&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">rising interest in Catholicism among young people today</a>.
Fradd announced on Monday that his show will now feature two episodes a week on Daily Wire.
&#8220;Our mission stays the same, to preach Christ and invite people into the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church.&#8221;

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The following is an adapted transcript excerpt from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1885-hammer-wielding-trans-leftist-arrested-trying-to-break-into-jd-vance-s-house?elementPosition=8&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
* * *
One of the OnlyFans models who slept with a thousand guys in one day, someone named Lily Phillips, has apparently just had a religious conversion.
I don’t know if that’s her real name or a stage name, but here is the question: Is Lily Phillips&#8217;s conversion sincere? And the broader question is how should Christians react to this?
Here&#8217;s the video of her baptism:
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THIS! OF model Lily Phillips gets baptized after viral 1,000-men stunt, says she is now seeking faith and redemption.
I pray this is genuine. No one is ever too far gone for Jesus Christ. 🙏🏾 <a href="https://t.co/bmpvDvXXyx">pic.twitter.com/bmpvDvXXyx</a>
— David J Harris Jr (@DavidJHarrisJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidJHarrisJr/status/2007111451232911551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Credit: @DavidJHarrisJr/X.com
There is a nice Kanye pop gospel song behind the video. She appears to be in either an Anglican or Episcopalian church and it&#8217;s a full immersion baptism in a bathtub. Her caption reads, “A day to remember forever.”
Now, some people are accusing her of being cynical. So why do I think she’s sincere? First of all, as you will see, she does not sound cynical to me. But even if she is, I always like to be on the side of credulity when it comes to these matters. Not to the point of absurdity, of course, but I always want to be on the side of grace when it comes to these things.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1885-hammer-wielding-trans-leftist-arrested-trying-to-break-into-jd-vance-s-house">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
Well, turns out she recently did <a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/why-onlyfans-star-lily-phillips-decided-to-be-rebaptized-excl/">an interview with US Weekly</a> where she explained her actions, saying:
<blockquote>I think for a while I’d kind of deviated from religion, and I think I was kind of in denial for a lot of it … Quite a big thing happened more in my personal life, where I kind of felt the need to start speaking to God again. I hadn’t really practiced faith for a while. I just wanted to get rebaptized to kind of reinstate my relationship with God.</blockquote>
So right off the bat, there is a major problem: you can&#8217;t get rebaptized. Baptism happens once. The Nicene Creed actually states this. All of the flavors of Christianity, even ones that are a little far flung from Orthodoxy, at the very least recognize the statement in the Creed that says, “I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” It’s one baptism, not two.
The reason you are only baptized once is that baptism is not a personal action of yours. Baptism is an action of God the Holy Spirit. It&#8217;s the grace of God coming down — and God doesn&#8217;t make mistakes. God doesn&#8217;t act insufficiently. It works. When God acts on you, when you are baptized, that leaves an indelible mark on your soul.
People do not have to be rebaptized. It&#8217;s like gay marriage — you can&#8217;t. Why? Because the sacrament works. But in our fallen, broken human life, we just feel like we need to do something more sometimes, and we get it wrong. But I get why people do it.
What she&#8217;s saying is, &#8220;I felt a calling to God,&#8221; and she reacted to that in a way that is silly at best and contrary to the religion at worst. But I think it comes from a good place, and I know other people who have done it.
She <a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/why-onlyfans-star-lily-phillips-decided-to-be-rebaptized-excl/">goes on</a>:
<blockquote>I definitely need to do that because I think that there are a lot of Christian girls who are in this industry … but people might not know it and they might not feel comfortable talking about it because of the judgment.</blockquote>
I totally believe that. I totally believe that there are a lot of girls who are baptized Christians who feel a pull toward Christianity, toward God, who work in pornography and all sorts of disreputable fields. Whether we&#8217;re talking about prostitution or whether we&#8217;re talking about law and finance — I&#8217;m sure there are all sorts of people who feel a tension between the work that they do and religious truth. However, here&#8217;s where it gets a little dicey, and I think this is why some people are attacking Lily Phillips. 
She <a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/why-onlyfans-star-lily-phillips-decided-to-be-rebaptized-excl/">says</a>, 
<blockquote>I’m definitely not claiming to be a traditional Christian at all. Obviously, I’m not against gay marriage. I am also pro-choice. So I definitely don’t have, necessarily, traditional values. But that doesn’t mean to say that I can’t be Christian. I would just hope that the Christian community welcomes me, because I guess everyone’s relationship with God is bespoke to them.</blockquote>
I think there are a lot of people who feel this way, at least in the early stages of their conversion. But we have to clear up a few things, so let’s break this down.
She says, “I’m not against gay marriage.”
Christianity does not permit so-called gay marriage. It is contrary to the Christian faith. The weird sex stuff broadly is contrary to the Christian faith. And even beyond questions of religious revelation, it just comes down to basic logic: two opposing things cannot be simultaneously true in the same respect, as per the law of non-contradiction. So, no, inasmuch as you believe these things of the world, you are opposing the Christian faith.
She says, “I am also pro-choice.”
The church, since the very beginning, has opposed abortion. You can see proscriptions against abortion in the UK, the very first catechism of the church, all the way back in antiquity, just after the Apostolic Age. You can&#8217;t do it. You can say that you&#8217;re Christian and you can say that you support killing babies, but those things are diametrically opposed. They&#8217;re totally in conflict with each other.
She then says, “So I definitely don’t have, necessarily, traditional values.”
What do we mean by “traditional values”? Are we talking about the traditions of China? No. Are we talking about the Chinese—some different values than we do here? Are we talking about the traditions of Islam, the caliphate? No. When we talk about traditional values in the English language, generally, we&#8217;re talking about the Christian tradition that built our civilization. So if you say, I&#8217;m Christian, but I don&#8217;t have Christian values, that&#8217;s confusing. She sounds confused by the twin darkness into which we are all born — ignorance and sin.
She says, “And I just hope the Christian community welcomes me.” 
We will welcome you. I will welcome you, at least. But not on your terms. But we will welcome you. We&#8217;re not going to force you to do something that is maybe extremely difficult or impossible for you to do. We&#8217;re not expecting you to radically transform everything about your life all at once, but if you want us to welcome you, that means you have to come to the church, which means you have to give your assent to the church.
If two things are going to join together, one of them has to change. The thing that&#8217;s going to change is not going to be the church. It&#8217;s going to have to be you, which is true for all of us.
Every time we go into church, every time we go into confession, every time we go to receive the Blessed Sacrament, every time we go to mass, every time we go into a chapel to pray, we are imperfect — all of us. And when we go there, we are saying, “I want to be transformed by you, Lord.” I don&#8217;t want you and your holy institution to be transformed into myself.
She says, “I guess everyone&#8217;s relationship with God is bespoke to them.”
True, but God is the same for everyone. Everyone&#8217;s relationship with God is bespoke. It&#8217;s not off the rack. It&#8217;s not one size fits all. You&#8217;re right about that. But God is the same for everyone because God is objectively real. He&#8217;s the real God. That&#8217;s why you believe in him in the first place. And yet a lot of people want to make false gods for themselves.
She goes on to say, “I&#8217;m going to take more of a backseat in work and stuff like that, just to really prioritize this.” 
Well, by work she means prostitution. She means pornography. She&#8217;s not going to give it up entirely yet, apparently. Too bad. 
But she does say, “I&#8217;m going to prioritize religion.” Good, love that. 
She then says,
<blockquote>Even though I travel so much, I don&#8217;t necessarily go to church a lot because I&#8217;m traveling, but it doesn&#8217;t mean I can&#8217;t pray and I can&#8217;t practice my religion outside of church. So I will definitely be doing that and taking that forward.</blockquote>
Well, you have an obligation to go to church on Sunday. You have an obligation to do that even if you&#8217;re not feeling it and don&#8217;t want to. You have an obligation to at least do that. You have other obligations too. But she&#8217;s right — you can pray outside of church, and you should. You have to live your faith all the other days of the week too. That&#8217;s true. However, when you don&#8217;t go to church, when you don&#8217;t practice your faith, when you sanction these kinds of awful things that are so harmful to people, you are making a choice to move away from God.
So, what should we do about the Lily Phillips conversion? Should we make her the Archbishop of Canterbury right away? Probably not. Should we put her on the podcast circuit? In this case, probably not just yet. This could take a little while.
Should we say you don&#8217;t have to change anything about yourself or what you believe to be a real, practicing Christian? No. She&#8217;s got to change, but I think we should encourage her.
This is my message to Lily Phillips: This is great news. Wonderful. I love it. I love hearing that this is happening for you. But you have got to keep going, young lady. You were in a very, very bad place and now, by God’s grace, you have apparently taken a step to get out.
It&#8217;s going to be a long journey, but God will be with you the whole way. So just keep going.

MixCollage-07-Jan-2026-06-38-PM-3272

OnlyFans Model Gets Baptized At Church. Should We Believe Her?

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The Chinese Communist Party has escalated its persecution of Christians by arresting more prominent church leaders and putting them in detention centers, The Daily Wire has learned.
At least seven Christians affiliated with the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, a city in southwestern China, were arrested on Tuesday, according to the church. The arrests began in the early morning and continued until evening.
Early Rain Covenant Church is a prominent evangelical Presbyterian church that has earned the ire of the Communist Party for being part of China&#8217;s underground church movement. The arrests of the Early Rain members come just a few months after the Chinese government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daughter-of-detained-pastor-warns-of-a-coming-wave-of-christian-persecution-in-communist-china">rounded up</a> prominent leaders at Zion Church, another well-known underground church.
Those arrested included Li Yingqiang, an elder at the church whose home in Deyang was searched, and preacher Dai Zhichao. Dai was arrested at the church office after being told by authorities he was not allowed to leave his home, according to the church.
“At around 11:00 a.m. on January 6, he was taken under control at the church office, then brought to his home where it was searched, after which he went out of contact. It has now been confirmed that he is at the Jinniu District Case-Handling Center,” a message from Early Rain said.
Others who were taken by authorities included elder Yan Hong, preacher Wu Wuqing, the family of Ye Fenghua, and deacon Zeng Qingtao.
A woman named Shu Qiong was also taken by police and charged with “suspected provocation and police disturbance,” according to a source familiar with the arrests. A photo obtained by The Daily Wire shows the police showing up at her home.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1024205" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="1280" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561.jpg 960w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561-432x576.jpg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561-768x1024.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></div>
One of those arrested was able to return home on Tuesday, according to the church. The church is currently locating lawyers for those arrested.
At the same time, police targeted the Early Rain Academy, a school operated by the church.
“The academy immediately organized teachers and students to evacuate and leave the site. Subsequently, the owner of the teaching site was summoned to the police station and pressured, and was informed that all items must be removed from the site by Friday,” the church said in a release.
The CCP’s targeting of Early Rain stretches back to 2018 when it began arresting prominent leaders, including Pastor Wang Yi. Wang was convicted in 2019 of subverting the government and sentenced to nine years in prison. While still imprisoned, he was just awarded a Democracy Service Medal by the National Endowment for Democracy.
Corey Jackson, who heads up the advocacy organization Luke Alliance, said the arrests were part of a broader pattern of targeting of unregistered churches. He said in recent months that more pastors were being brought into local police offices for “tea times” and told that they must register with the state or face harsh treatment.
“One person reported that they had been told by the domestic security police that churches, ‘house churches,’ are going to face complete prohibition. Participants will face imprisonment, and there&#8217;s going to be less pattern of warning, fines, and leeway,” Jackson told The Daily Wire.
Jackson said that the government really wants to exert more control over the churches, and make them register any online services they have before meeting. He also said the government doesn’t want parents educating kids in their faith if they are below the age of 18.
Jackson added that he would like to see the Trump administration put some pressure on China over their repression of Christianity.
“We need to apply pressure on China with human rights,” he said. “We must continue not to just be transactional in our approach with China, but to also recognize that China is the one of the worst abusers of human rights in the world.&#8221;

MixCollage-06-Jan-2026-07-47-PM-6588

China Escalates Persecution Of Christians With More Shocking Arrests

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The 28-year-old transgender-identifying woman who murdered six people at a Christian school in Nashville in March 2023 hated white people and religion, portions of her newly released writings reveal. 
The FBI <a href="https://vault.fbi.gov/nashville-covenant-school-shooting/nashville-covenant-school-shooting-part-06/view">posted</a> more of the disturbing ramblings of The Covenant School attacker on December 22, including notes that suggest she purchased the weapon used in the killings using federal financial aid. The writings were published after a judge ordered the agency to release documents related to the attack. 
The latest release includes 230 pages of the shooter’s notes and plans leading up to the mass murder. On March 27, 2023, she entered the school and killed three young children and three adults before she was fatally shot by Nashville police officers. 
Among the pages published by the FBI, the attacker listed “advantages” of targeting The Covenant School, where she had attended for a few years. She noted that the school was a “predominantly white school (white pple I hate)” and that it was a “Christian school (hate religion).”
The writings also reveal that the attacker considered targeting a middle school in the Nashville area, but leaned against it because a higher percentage of black students were enrolled there. 
The shooter wrote that school would be in line with her goals because a “massacre” there would be “more notorious/prolific.” Still, she said the “disadvantages” were that it was a “predominantly black school (black people I love),” adding that it would put “black people in dispair + suffering (I don’t want to cause that).” 
Also in the writings, included references that she appeared to use student loan money to purchase the gun used in the attack. In a section of the writings labeled “Account Savings Record,” she listed off various sources of income, including “FASFA [sic] grant checks started at $2,050.86,” followed by entries like “$2,656.87 (x3 checks from Nossi)” and “+$530.00 (x1 check Nossi) ($3,186.87).”
The shooter appeared to be referencing checks from her time at Nossi College of Art and Design in Nashville and from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Those entries followed a list of gun and ammo expenses. The attacker’s parents previously told investigators that she bought the firearm she used in the massacre with Pell Grant funds. 
Most of the newly released pages focus on different types of guns, ammunition, and local gun stores and ranges. Receipts included indicate that just months before the attack, she took several gun classes at the Royal Range in Nashville. She also expounded on “Biden’s horrible gun plans.&#8221; 
The writings also included many references to previous mass shooters and noted the number of victims in each incident. 
The Nashville police department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-police-in-final-report-downplay-covenant-shooters-transgender-identity-hatred-of-christianity?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Nashville+Police+In+Final+Report+Downplay+Covenant+Shooter’s+Transgender+Identity%2C+Hatred+Of+Christianity">released</a> its final report on the attack in April and downplayed the shooter&#8217;s transgender identity and documented animus toward Christianity, white people, and the wealthy. Instead, the department said that she wanted to gain notoriety.
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible c-link--underline" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale &#8211; Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
This final report didn’t appear to fully take into account the attacker’s transgender identity, which dominated her life.
In journal entries previously published by The Daily Wire, she wrote just weeks before the deadly shooting about her fantasy of having an “imaginary penis” and said that it was a “f***ing curse” that she was born a woman.
“I want to know what that’s like, but I never will because I was damned to be born this way,” she wrote in the journal of her desire to have a penis. “I swear to f*** I hate it so goddamned much. It’s a f***ing curse.”

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A Vassar College student says administrators ignored concerns from Christian students and allowed a student burlesque group to mock their faith in a sexual performance in the campus chapel.
Sydney, a Vassar sophomore granted anonymity for this story, told The Daily Wire she first learned about the event when a friend showed her the flyer for a performance titled “Whoreship &amp; Prayer.” The show was produced by Vassar Burlesque, a student group that regularly puts on sexual and drag performances.
“I found the flyer … and I was disgusted immediately,” Sydney said. “The imagery and name of the show made it [clear] &#8230; it was definitely a show that had a Christian theme … clearly mocking Christianity.”
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<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1013635" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-410x576.jpeg" alt="Burlesque image 1" width="410" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-410x576.jpeg 410w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-213x300.jpeg 213w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-768x1080.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-1093x1536.jpeg 1093w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1.jpeg 1264w" sizes=" (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px" /></div>
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Sydney emailed the dean of student living, the college president, and other administrators to explain exactly why Christian students believed the performance violated Vassar’s stated values of diversity and inclusion. She says she was then contacted by the Office of Institutional Equity, the department that handles identity-based complaints, including those pertaining to religion. She says she met with <a href="https://offices.vassar.edu/institutional-equity/2024/12/19/eoaa-welcomes-brian-van-brunt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brian Van Brun</a><a href="https://offices.vassar.edu/institutional-equity/2024/12/19/eoaa-welcomes-brian-van-brunt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">t</a>, Vassar&#8217;s Institutional Equity and Title VI Coordinator.
Sydney said Van Brunt acknowledged the event was mocking religious imagery and allegedly admitted it would have been treated differently if Christians weren’t the ones being targeted.
“He basically said … it would be different if it were another religion,” Sydney said. Referring to comments students made on the anonymous social media platform Fizz, she said one hypothetical they talked about was if the flyer had referenced Allah. “If Allah was used … then it wouldn’t have been allowed. And he said, ‘Well, obviously that’s a different situation.’”
Sydney said Van Brunt floated the idea of making minor changes to the flyer, such as removing the image of the Virgin Mary or changing the event&#8217;s name, but even those were rejected by the administration. Despite the number of complaints from Christian students, the administration informed them the event would proceed with no modifications.
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<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1013637" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-396x576.jpeg" alt="Burlesque image 2" width="396" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-396x576.jpeg 396w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-206x300.jpeg 206w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-768x1117.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-1056x1536.jpeg 1056w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2.jpeg 1249w" sizes=" (max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px" /></div>
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“Whoreship and Prayer” sold out both nights, <a href="https://miscellanynews.org/2025/12/04/arts/whoreship-and-prayer-burlesque-is-a-religious-experience/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> Vassar’s student newspaper, The Miscellany News. In its coverage, the paper described the November performances as a fusion of religious motifs with sexual choreography.
The Miscellany noted some of the acts, including routines called “Touched by the Holy Spirit,” “Red Sea,” and “Blasphemy.”
Muse, one of the group’s co-presidents, told The Miscellany the show explored “the relationship between sexuality and religion — human intersectionalities that exist in a chaotic harmony.” She added, “I grew up very religious … my spirituality is still a huge part of my life, but the relationship between my body, sexuality and my spirituality has always been a bit of a struggle to untangle.”
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<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1013639" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-446x576.jpeg" alt="Burlesque image 3" width="446" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-446x576.jpeg 446w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-232x300.jpeg 232w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-768x993.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-1188x1536.jpeg 1188w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3.jpeg 1264w" sizes=" (max-width: 446px) 100vw, 446px" /></div>
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Reached for comment, Van Brunt referred The Daily Wire to Victoria Grantham, the vice president for communications, who declined to comment.
Sydney said the Vassar Burlesque group also mocked the backlash from Christian students online, posting memes and celebratory images that used nun costumes, Bibles, and crosses as ironic props. “They actually posted like a tweet … to mock the fact that we were complaining,” Sydney said.
The college sophomore said this was not the first time she saw bias against Christians on campus, but it was the most blatant.
“It made me feel uncomfortable, and I had already felt uncomfortable as a Christian,” she said. “I had heard little comments … little jabs at Christianity before, but I had never seen something this blatantly inappropriate and blatantly hurtful.”
This incident has convinced her that the school’s commitment to “inclusion” does not apply equally.
“They’re outright saying, well, if you are a Christian, you don’t have the same rights as other religions … everyone except you kind of thing. I felt very ostracized.”
The Vassar Chapel continues to host worship nights, Christmas services, and religious gatherings, yet Vassar maintains that it is a “secular space.”
Sydney said that the explanation does not resolve the larger problem: the selective enforcement of respect for religion. “Hopefully, if we bring more attention to it, then it won’t have to be this way forever,” she told The Daily Wire.

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