Former Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse said he does not fear his death during an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/opinion/ben-sasse-death-pancreatic-cancer.html">interview</a> with Ross Douthat earlier this week.
Sasse <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-senator-ben-sasse-reveals-stage-four-cancer-diagnosis-ive-got-less-time-than-id-prefer?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Former+Senator+Ben+Sasse+Reveals+Stage-Four+Cancer+Diagnosis%3A+%E2%80%98I%E2%80%99ve+Got+Less+Time+Than+I%E2%80%99d+Prefer%E2%80%99">said</a> in December that he had been diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, calling it a “death sentence.”
“I was incredibly blessed to be quickly at peace,” Sasse told Douthat. “I kept hearing the Pauline phrase, ‘To live is Christ, to die is gain.’&#8221;
“Death is terrible,” Sasse added. “We should never sugarcoat it. It is not how things are meant to be. But it is great that death can be called the final enemy. It’s an enemy, but it’s a final enemy, and then there will be no more tears.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Former Sen. Ben Sasse, who is facing terminal illness, opens up about how his faith in Jesus Christ is sustaining him during this difficult time:
“I believe in the Resurrection, and I believe in a restoration of this world, and so I did not feel great fear about my death.” <a href="https://t.co/MhZrV5ULra">pic.twitter.com/MhZrV5ULra</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2042661373125984542?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sasse is now in the fourth month since his diagnosis, having been told he had three to four months to live.
“I believe in the Resurrection, and I believe in a restoration of this world, and so I did not feel great fear about my death,” Sasse said. “I didn’t want the pain I was going through, I didn’t want to be a pansy-ass in my final moments.”
Sasse had a bloody face during his interview, a side effect of a new cancer treatment, he told Douthat. The treatment is extending the lives of cancer patients, but causes bleeding, peeling, and rashes.
“It’s a nasty drug,” Sasse said. “It causes crazy stuff, like my body can’t grow skin, and so I bleed out of a whole bunch of parts of me that shouldn’t be bleeding.”
Sasse has done several interviews since his diagnosis, and he told Douthat he has “time to redeem.”
“You gotta redeem the time, and there’s only so many bits of unsolicited advice I can give my children,” Sasse said when asked why he is choosing to talk to journalists. “You journalists want to talk, and if you don’t have anybody better, I’m your man.”
Although Sasse said he has made peace with his mortality, he added that he does have regrets about having prioritized poorly throughout his life.
“We’re all on the clock, and I wanted to have prioritized better, and whether I really only had three or four months left or if I get nine to 12 months left, I wanna prioritize better from then. But in my tradition, in Christianity, the need for daily repentance is just a truth. I am broken,” Sasse said. “And I get to repent every day of my sins — of both omission and commission. And yet, at a slightly bigger level, if you’re only gonna get three or four months, you really wanna get some of your affairs in order.”
Sasse said he has felt a heaviness about the diagnosis because he does not want to leave his children without a father.
“I knew that God was not surprised by the diagnosis,” Sasse said. “There is not a maverick molecule in the universe. But I didn’t like the idea of my 14-year-old son not having a dad around at 16. I didn’t like the idea of my daughters, who are 22 and 24, not having their dad there to walk them down the aisle.”
Despite his concerns, Sasse said, he is still at peace.
“I’ve continued to feel a peace about the fact that death is something that we should hate, we should call it a wicked thief, and yet, it’s pretty good that you pass through the veil of tears one time and then there will be no more tears,” Sasse said.

Ben Sasse

‘To Die Is Gain’: Ben Sasse Faces Terminal Cancer With Unshakable Faith

Cancer

Christianity

Death

General

Politics

Religion

U.S.

You know, many people ask me to explain how to be a Christian. Well, not many people. Maybe, like, three or four. It’s hard to count them because they’re invisible. But whenever some lost soul begs me to point the way toward the light of God’s love, I always take time out of my busy schedule and say to them, “Of course. That’ll be twenty-five dollars.” A man’s gotta eat.
There are many misconceptions about the experience of Christian faith. Even an honest seeker can lose his way and begin to believe that Christianity is just a matter of establishing a relationship with a loving God who sacrificed his own son to win forgiveness for his sinful creation and wants nothing more from you but that you turn from your destructive desires and live into His image to find peace and joy and eternal life. But that’s absurd. It’s difficult and you miss all the fun.
Instead, you must turn your eyes to the Lord’s eternal dwelling place: social media. There, you’ll find to your delight that the moment you accept Christ into your heart, you instantly receive the power to tell other people that they’re doing it wrong. When Jesus said, “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” he didn’t mean, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” He meant, “Hey, tell that stupid schmuck over there I am sending him to hell if he doesn’t shut his fat face right now.” Of course, those of you who are only just starting on your Christian journey, might wonder, “Why did our savior say the exact opposite of what he meant?” But as you grow in social media faith, you’ll understand: it’s because our blessed Lord was a Jew, and you just can’t trust those people.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1274-the-andrew-klavan-show?elementPosition=2&amp;row=5&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974735 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Also, when you become a Christian, you’ll develop the ability to see things no one else can see, almost as if you were a prophet or a schizophrenic or a CNN anchorwoman. To explore this ability, social-media-Christian Tucker Carlson recently interviewed an exorcist, Father Brendan O’Paguey. 
Here’s a brief portion of the transcript:
<blockquote>Father O: In order to cast out demons, you must first be able to discern the presence of evil.
Tucker: Your mother has sex with animals in hell. Look, my head spins 360 degrees. Fall down and worship me.
Father O: You must learn to look for small, subtle signs of demonic influence.
Tucker: Behold, I levitate and spider walk across the ceiling. I am legion. Abandon the Holy One and despair.
Father O: Next, you must learn to speak Syriac …</blockquote>
Well, the full interview is available online, but you get the idea.
But religion isn’t all fun and games. Sometimes you have to make an effort. For instance, to be a good Christian, it’s essential that you marshal your will power to overcome your sense of humor. Knowing Christ can make your heart light with celestial joy and cause you to laugh even amidst the corruption of a fallen world. You don’t want that. Non-Christians might see it and start to join in. Then we’d have to live with them forever in heaven, and I hate those people.
Fortunately, once you’ve stripped yourself of any propensity for laughter, all self-awareness will also melt away and you’ll at last be prepared for the pious act of pretending to believe absolute nonsense in the name of God. For example, when the Bible says “Do not mistreat the immigrant among you,” you can pretend that means, “Allow 20-million illegal crap-heads to exploit your tolerance, sack your coffers, and rape and murder your women.” Or you can pretend that when Jesus says, “Love your neighbor,” he means “Sexually mutilate your children so they can delight in being the gender of their choice right up until the moment they commit suicide.” And okay, pretending to believe such things may not win sinners eternal life, but it could get professors tenure, which is almost the same thing.
Now some of you may be asking yourself, “Gee, where in the Bible does it say Christ’s titanic liberating sacrifice is supposed to turn us into humorless, pious scolds who pretend to believe complete nonsense?” But it’s right there in John 11:35, where it says: “Jesus wept.”
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fifth installment, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-That-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613166869/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EGZUC370LG46&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y_NI0mDOKeowShheDQTVx5NH-fAeimJoCD56_T0Acpl8C0mup7uJf-nGGSRLEItaaekoDnvS2vWLMa4Zd2UBXQ8Y-g-P502jOWz-Y8IX3ZQsdlO7WMLrg1xIhNoKmjCorSWUR4C2l_RbiZ7apJ1MfPzGOrrEf7AdAXX6xwnJRVP_XqUfWuMuVthTWscaU3P4vgmS86-96n-721enHfX12CFQWTajqFbVnrsDkexfUf4.6_gTH6h1Bb9Pn375QdF_VAVZSayDvjQBBKGXE-MTiFo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=klavan&amp;qid=1754049918&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C80&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After That, The Dark,</a> is NOW AVAILABLE. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>.

Online klavan

When People Ask Me How To Be A Christian Online, Here’s What I Say

Andrew Klavan

Humor

Satire

Tucker Carlson

Artemis II pilot Victor Glover delivered a powerful message of faith as he and his fellow astronauts traveled toward the moon, praising God&#8217;s creation ahead of the Easter holiday.
Glover, a devout Christian, said that traveling into space had given him a whole new perspective on his faith, the earth, and the universe — all of which God had made for his final creations: humans.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Astronaut Victor Glover delivers beautiful Easter message from space, praises God’s creation.
“When I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us…”
“You&#8217;re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe,… <a href="https://t.co/OnABmW6Sz4">pic.twitter.com/OnABmW6Sz4</a>
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/2040565778941169851?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;As we are so far from earth and looking back at the beauty of creation, and I think the — for me, one of the really important personal perspectives that I have up here is I can really see earth as one thing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You know, when I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us, who were created, it&#8217;s — you have this amazing place, this spaceship, you guys are talking to us because we&#8217;re in a spaceship really far from earth.&#8221;
Glover then flipped the analogy on its head, saying that in a way, earth itself was the &#8220;spaceship&#8221; from which all of humanity viewed the universe.
&#8220;You&#8217;re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe, in the cosmos,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we&#8217;re doing is special, but we&#8217;re the same distance from you, and I&#8217;m trying to tell you, just trust me, you are special.&#8221;
Glover concluded by pointing out that in all the vastness of the universe — most of which was defined more by the empty space than the physical objects that inhabit parts of it — humans had been given one small planet in one small solar system in one small galaxy, and had used that to create incredible things.
&#8220;In all of this emptiness, this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe, you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together,&#8221; he added, as the other members of his crew nodded along. &#8220;So I think as we go into Easter Sunday thinking about all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing and we&#8217;ve gotta get through this together.&#8221;

Artemis II Launches Manned Test Flight Around The Moon

Artemis II Pilot Pauses During Lunar Mission To Deliver Powerful Easter Message

Artemis II

Christian

Easter

Outer Space

For Christians, Easter is not just another holiday. It is the central event of history: the day death was defeated, and the stone was rolled away.
In Jerusalem, in 33 AD, there was a violent earthquake. An angel rolled back the stone from Jesus’ tomb and said to the women gathered there: “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.” In that moment, everything changed. The Son of God won victory over death and secured salvation for all mankind.
Easter changed reality itself. It is the feast of feasts. The solemnity of solemnities. The highest and most important day in the Christian faith. For billions of Christians across centuries, that truth has shaped not only private belief, but culture, law, art, family life, and civilization itself.
That’s why we’ve introduced the Easter Monday Act, which would make the day following Easter a federal holiday. Currently, we have federal holidays on New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and many other wonderful celebrations. But as Easter always falls on a Sunday, we don’t set aside a day of celebration in federal law.
This is a problem, first and foremost, because the law is a teacher. It gradually habituates people, either toward the good, true, and beautiful or toward the bad, false, and ugly. There is no neutral. Law is not simply administrative or procedural, it shapes our very soul as a nation.
The current public calendar does not reflect Easter’s importance in the lives of millions of Americans. Our bill acknowledges Easter’s singular and extraordinary importance and makes it clear to millions of Americans that honoring the Resurrected Christ is a national priority.
This isn’t radical or partisan. More than 80% of Americans celebrate Easter. The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Australia, and Canada all celebrate Easter Monday as a public holiday.
<div id="attachment_1071491" style="width: 873px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1071491" class="size-large wp-image-1071491" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1081577372-863x576.jpg" alt="Washington DC, USA - April 1, 2018: Many people walking by the basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Catholic church street road on Easter" width="863" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1081577372-863x576.jpg 863w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1081577372-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1081577372-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1081577372-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1081577372-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1081577372-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1081577372-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 863px) 100vw, 863px" />krblokhin. Getty Images.</div>
Passing the Easter Monday Act would also have many practical benefits.
Currently, our law forces millions of American families who travel to celebrate Easter to rush home on Sunday to make it to work the next day. Adding to the chaos, many schools already give students Easter Monday off, which leaves working parents scrambling for childcare.
This bill fixes these problems. We envision giving families the breathing room to be truly present with their relatives, in their churches, and at their dinner tables.
That omission is especially striking for another reason: March and April are the only consecutive two-month block on the federal calendar without a legal public holiday, while Easter falls every year somewhere in that exact span. Easter Monday would fill that gap in a way that is both natural and rooted in the country’s deepest traditions, benefiting all Americans.
Most importantly, though, the Easter Monday Act will serve as a reminder that just as Christ continued appearing to his apostles for 40 days after his resurrection, our celebration of Easter does not end at the stroke of midnight.
That is one reason this legislation matters. It is modest, but it points in the right direction. It says that our public life should not be embarrassed by the Christian faith that helped shape our nation. It says that Christianity’s most sacred day deserves more than a hurried Sunday followed by a Monday morning scramble. And it says that families should have the space to mark Easter as something more than a weekend interruption.
Moreover, now is the perfect time to send that message, as we approach Easter Sunday.
In seven years, the world will mark the 2,000th anniversary of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When that moment arrives, it will be one of the most consequential events in the history of Christianity — a cause for tremendous celebration.
This anniversary should be an occasion for all Christians to come together and renew confidence in the faith that saved the world, the moral inheritance that shaped Western civilization, and the unique freedom in Christ that helped Americans create the most free and noble nation on earth.
Passing the Easter Monday Act represents a recognition of that tremendous opportunity — and a first step toward grasping the call the Lord has given our great nation.
* * *
Senator Eric Schmitt is currently serving his first term in the U.S. Senate representing the state of Missouri.
Congressman Riley Moore is currently serving his first term in Congress as the Representative of the 2nd district of West Virginia.

The crown of thorns symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ

The Holiday That Shaped America Still Doesn’t Get The Recognition It Deserves

Congress

Federal Government

Opinion

Podcaster Jack Posobiec stirred controversy last week with an explosive accusation: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is pagan.
“I’ve heard people try to make the argument that ‘Lord of the Rings’ is overtly Christian and I hate to burst the bubble, guys, but you’re just wrong,” Posobiec said. “There’s nothing overtly Christian about ‘Lord of the Rings.’ Uh, there’s no church in it, there’s no faith in it, there’s no Christ figure — there’s none of these things. And honestly, ‘Lord of the Rings,’ if it’s anything, ‘Lord of the Rings’ is overtly pagan … You have a pantheon of powerful creatures, and figures.” The fact that Stephen Colbert likes the trilogy is further proof that Lord of the Rings is bad, Posobiec added. He <a href="https://x.com/JackPosobiec/status/2037574821417038127">doubled down</a> on X, arguing that the Lord of the Rings couldn’t be Christian with “no Christ figure, no religion, not even prayer.”
First, let’s dispense with the baffling Colbert argument. Stephen Colbert is a liberal moron. But “something must be bad because a liberal moron likes it” is the logic of a child. I’m sure there are plenty of liberal morons who love their children, but that doesn’t mean loving your children is bad.
Moving on — sure, you could say that Tolkien’s masterpiece isn’t a Christian work because there’s no explicit Christ figure in it. You could also say that The Old Man and the Sea is a book about fishing. But in both cases, you would sound like an idiot.
For starters, there’s what the author himself said about his work: Tolkien doesn’t beat you over the head with religious allegories precisely because the book is shot through with his Christian worldview.
In a 1953 <a href="https://archive.org/details/lettersofjrrtolk00tolk_1/page/172/mode/2up">letter</a> to a priest friend, Tolkien made that clear: “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like ‘religion,’ to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism.”
Or, as Tolkien <a href="https://library.pepperdine.edu/news/posts/2020-01-jrr-tolkien.htm">said</a> elsewhere (emphasis mine): “I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories).”
Tolkien’s work backs up his words. After all, in the trilogy’s final book, Return of the King, it’s the Christian virtue of mercy that ultimately saves the day.
Frodo journeys to the fires of Mount Doom to destroy the ring, only to succumb to temptation at the last moment and claim the ring for himself. But in a twist of fate, Gollum — whose life Frodo spared earlier in the trilogy — bites off Frodo’s finger (and the ring) before falling into the fire, thereby completing the mission of destroying the ring. If not for Frodo’s mercy towards Gollum, Tolkien notes in a letter to a fan who questioned whether Frodo had “failed” as a hero, Frodo or Samwise Gamgee may well have had to cast themselves with the ring “into the fiery abyss” in order to destroy it.   
“Frodo indeed &#8216;failed&#8217; as a hero, as conceived by simple minds: he did not endure to the end; he gave in, ratted. I do not say &#8216;simple minds&#8217; with contempt: they often see with clarity the simple truth and the absolute ideal to which effort must be directed, even if it is unattainable. Their weakness, however, is twofold. They do not perceive the complexity of any given situation in Time, in which an absolute ideal is enmeshed. They tend to forget that strange element in the World that we call Pity or Mercy, which is also an absolute requirement in moral judgment (since it is present in the Divine nature),” Tolkien notes in <a href="https://www.tolkienestate.com/letters/letter-to-eileen-elgar-september-1963/">the letter.</a>
He goes on to add: “Frodo had done what he could and spent himself completely (as an instrument of Providence) and had produced a situation in which the object of his quest could be achieved. His humility (with which he began) and his sufferings were justly rewarded by the highest honour; and his exercise of patience and mercy towards Gollum gained him Mercy: his failure was redressed.”
Mercy. Redemptive suffering. Providence. Those are all Christian themes — you just have to look a little harder beyond “Is Jesus in this book?” to find them.
Finally, I’ll leave you with what Tolkien wrote about the Eucharist — what Catholics believe is the true body and blood of Jesus. Tolkien wrote about his love for the Eucharist in the most emotional, passionate terms — the way a romantic might write about his lover (or the way Jim Acosta might write about himself).
Here’s a sample, from a <a href="https://archive.org/details/lettersofjrrtolk00tolk_1/page/52/mode/2up">long letter</a> that Tolkien wrote to his son: “Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament… There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth, and more than that: Death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste—or foretaste—of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man’s heart desires.”
Are we seriously supposed to believe that the man who wrote that used his pedestal to promote paganism?
The Lord of the Rings is a Christian masterpiece. The trilogy’s fans know it. Tolkien knew it. And hopefully Jack Posobiec will read this piece so he can know it too.
***
Peter J. Hasson is an editor at The Washington Free Beacon and author of  <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07YL7FH5F/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=">The Manipulators: Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Big Tech&#8217;s War on Conservatives</a>.

J.R Tolkien first edition

The Lord of the Rings Reminds Us That Great Stories Have Christian Roots

Culture

JRR Tolkien

Lord of the Rings

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
I’m a Catholic convert. We <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-catholic-convert-boom-is-real-but-a-troubling-pattern-is-emerging">hear about that</a> a lot lately. Some of the most prominent podcasters, online influencers, and elected officials are announcing their conversions. Rosaries are becoming more prominent, and the Latin Mass is back in vogue.  
Conversion is good, and these conversions align with a positive trend in the Catholic Church. After a 20-year decline in conversions, the Catholic Church has experienced a surge in new members since 2020. Converts in 2025 more than <a href="https://www.osvnews.com/trending-a-young-revival-in-the-faith/">doubled</a> those in 2020. Even Los Angeles <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/news/easter-2025-new-catholics-by-the-numbers?utm_source=chatgpt.com">experienced a 44% year-over-year growth in 2025</a>. The word “Gospel” comes from the Greek “euangelion,” which means “good news.” This is the good news.
But it comes with some tension. Some of the largest converts leverage their massive online followings and media audiences to proclaim their conversions to the world. Algorithms reward visibility, announcement, and identity signaling. This actually fits perfectly into conversion, which is declarative, shareable, and witnessed by an audience.
But this contrasts sharply with Holy Week, which is quiet, uncomfortable, and non-performative in its nature. This week is about ensuring we don’t skip the part of our faith that actually defines it. Today’s culture emphasizes performance, but Holy Week emphasizes discernment. Rather than partaking in passive activities such as sitting and scrolling, Catholics are taught to participate in Holy Week. Mass attendees take part in the full reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday, and we fast, abstain, and worship on Good Friday.
So, I’m urging my fellow Catholics — and specifically, my fellow converts — not to squander this week but to embrace the elements of our faith that actually define it. To bridge the gap between “becoming a Catholic” and what the faith actually asks of you.
I’ll never forget my first Holy Week. I was confused about what could be “good” about the Friday on which Christ was crucified, not knowing that good means “holy” and this was the day his suffering delivered redemption and his death gave us life. In my early years of conversion, Holy Week was something I observed, but over time, it has become something I live.
Easter aligns with cultural preferences for joy, victory, and public celebrations. This fits into our modern instincts of resolution, progress, and clean endings. While social media favors identity over transformation and announcement over discipline, there are very few hashtags for silence, repentance, and interior change. You can “like” Easter. You can post Easter.
But Easter without Good Friday is incomplete. Good Friday requires a specific tone that would be punished in any online algorithm. Two days before the culmination of Lent, we emphasize silence and a reflective slowness. There is no spectacle or performative payoff. You spend a day sitting with the heavy responsibility of carrying the faith forward. For me, my first Good Friday was quite dark. The kids were off from school, but this was no vacation. Good Friday is a day to log spiritual hours.
My fellow Catholic and friend Arthur Brooks has made a career out of proving that <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/arthur-brooks-why-your-perfect-life-feels-so-empty">“meaning” is a key ingredient to a happy life.</a> Holy Week gives meaning to our Catholic faith, and we should use this week to help accelerate the positive conversion trends in our church. It’s good that people are coming in, but it can’t stop at one’s announcement. Interest must lead to commitment. The internet can celebrate conversion, but only real life can sustain it. Jesus Christ’s faith doesn’t fit neatly into our algorithms today. If that’s where your faith is performing best, you may have skipped the part that actually changes you.
Pope John Paul II often discussed the divided life. He cautioned against separating spiritual values from one’s daily actions and promoted a unified life fixed in God’s eternal love. This is a message I hope my fellow converts will heed — especially those who lead <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-a-social-media-influencer-but-my-real-audience-isnt-the-internet">very public lives</a>, reaching audiences far larger than any single congregation or diocese. I pray they are participating in all of the activities of Holy Week, not just outwardly, but internally. Like prayer, Holy Week is an external sign of inward grace. And our culture is craving grace right now.
I’ll let Jesus in Matthew 16:24-25 have the last word: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it.”
***
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast We The People with Gates Garcia. Follow him on X and Instagram @GatesGarciaFL.

GettyImages-2218768175

More Americans Are Finding Faith, But Social Media Is Changing What That Looks Like

Catholic Church

Faith

Social Media

Upstream

A recent episode of the ThoughtCrime podcast set conservatives on X abuzz.
The spark that lit the flame: conservative firebrand Jack Posobiec declaring that J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” is not only not Christian, but in fact “overtly pagan.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JackPosobiec</a>: Lord of the Rings is overtly pagan. <a href="https://t.co/OiNMWC7HbP">pic.twitter.com/OiNMWC7HbP</a>
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) <a href="https://twitter.com/HumanEvents/status/2037315598401798445?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Tolkien has returned to mainstream conversation <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/03/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-1236764923/">after reports</a> that the Trump Derangement Syndrome patient and former comedian, Stephen Colbert, is helping develop a new Middle-earth film with Peter Jackson’s team.
Posobiec, no stranger to controversial takes, made the following case:
<blockquote>
‘Narnia’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ were, you know, kind of, kind of written almost not, you know, concurrently in a sense. And Tolkien always said that he didn&#8217;t like Narnia because he thought that it was too overtly Christian. And I&#8217;ve heard people try to make the argument that ‘Lord of the Rings’ is overtly Christian. And I hate to burst the bubble, guys, but you&#8217;re just wrong. There&#8217;s nothing overtly Christian about ‘Lord of the Rings.’ There&#8217;s no church in it, there&#8217;s no faith in it. There&#8217;s no Christ figure. There&#8217;s none of these things. And honestly, ‘Lord of the Rings,’ if it&#8217;s anything, ‘Lord of the Rings’ is overtly pagan.
</blockquote>
Posobiec is right about one thing: “The Lord Of The Rings” doesn’t have a Christ figure. It has three.
Tolkien distributes the threefold office of Christ between Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn: prophet, priest, and king.
Gandalf (not a wizard, actually) is an angel sent, literally from the heavens, to Middle-earth to counsel its people. He meets death and returns transformed and renewed. Frodo bears a burden of suffering he did not choose but accepts for the salvation of others. Aragorn is the self-exiled king whose healing hands and rightful claim to a throne can restore a fading kingdom and fallen world.
Yes, a <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/N%C3%BAmenor">fallen world</a> — where could that concept come from?
Let’s also consider that Frodo’s journey to Mount Doom begins on December 25th and concludes on March 25th, the Feast of Annunciation, the date of Christ’s crucifixion, and the beginning of death’s defeat.
Tolkien’s monarchist vision of the good is something of a modern fixation amongst conservative Catholics, weary of liberal democracy’s slow decline into Denethor-level despair and unwillingness to “conserve” anything in the face of evil rising in Mordor.
But Posobiec prefers C.S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” series, as do I. There the Christian imagery is more overt. Aslan <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-narnia-isnt-allegorical/">is not</a> even a “Christ figure,” but Christ himself operating in a multiverse with layer upon layer of reality waiting to be peeled back like an onion. What the heroes of Lewis’s story learn is that London is an echo of Narnia, and Narnia is but an echo of another place even more glorious.
For his part, the irascible Tolkien didn’t care for Narnia. But Lewis very much cared for Middle-earth.
“The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by ‘the veil of familiarity,’” Lewis said of his friend’s world. Tolkien dips Christian truth in a stew of medieval mythology, indeed drawing on imagery from pagan stories and making them submissive to Christian belief.
Posobiec mistakes the absence of overtly Christian imagery for the lack of Christian themes. But just because no one takes the Eucharist in Gondor does not mean Tolkien’s world must be pagan. Quite the contrary. Middle-earth in all its strangeness speaks to the imaginative hunger of people’s hearts, calling them to see with fresh eyes the Truth they so often take for granted.
In Western books and films, Christian morality and themes are the default setting — we often become “nose-blind” to it in the same way you can’t smell the distinct odor of your own home until you return home from vacation. In that way, Tolkien and Lewis both favored dressing stories in ways that lower the defenses of the reader and free our God-given imaginations to know Him in different contexts. It’s a beautiful idea.
***
Stephen Kent is a conservative commentator and host of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@GeekyStoics">Geeky Stoics</a> on YouTube. Follow him <a href="https://x.com/StephenKentX">@StephenKentX</a>.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” Premieres in London

One Does Not Simply Walk Into Thinking Lord of the Rings is Pagan

C.S. Lewis

J.R.R. Tolkien

Grace Jin Drexel hopes Donald Trump can get her father out of a Chinese prison.
 Mingri “Ezra” Jin is the pastor of Beijing&#8217;s Zion Church, one of China&#8217;s largest underground Christian churches. In October, he and 22 other church leaders were arrested and imprisoned as part of the Chinese Communist Party&#8217;s crackdown on independent churches. Drexel, an American citizen, told The Daily Wire that Trump has an opportunity to build on his &#8220;impressive&#8221; record of freeing hostages to advocate for her father&#8217;s freedom.
“This Eastertide season, President Trump has the unique opportunity and ability to secure the release of my father — building on his already impressive track record of freeing hostages — and show that he has not forgotten persecuted Christians,” Drexel told The Daily Wire. “My father, as a pastor, only wanted what Christians all over the world want: to worship our one and only God freely. We are so proud to have such a role model as a father and grandfather.”
Her comments come after a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Wednesday urged Trump to press Chinese President Xi Jinping on the treatment of Chinese Christians during his upcoming visit to China.
“We encourage you to advocate for their release and request the PRC to allow Mr. Jin to leave China, in addition to raising concerns regarding the ongoing unjust imprisonment and persecution of Christians, Tibetans, and Uyghurs, among other religious and ethnic minority groups across China,” the lawmakers wrote in a <a href="https://www.budd.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Letter-to-President-Trump-China-Religious-Persecution.pdf">letter</a> led by Senators Ted Budd (R-NC) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Reps. Riley Moore (R-WV) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY). 
The lawmakers also asked for the Trump administration to use visa restrictions and sanctions to target individuals responsible for locking up Christians and other religious minorities in China. 
“President Trump cares deeply about our great Christians around the world,&#8221; White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We do not comment on the president’s private conversations.&#8221;
Drexel, who testified about her father’s plight during a hearing by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in January, thanked the lawmakers for their advocacy. 
“I am so grateful for the letter by so many members of Congress from across the country that highlights that me and my father&#8217;s story resonates with so many,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire. &#8220;As a daughter, I want my father back with us in the U.S. and I hope that the leaders of both countries, both having daughters, will understand my family&#8217;s plight.&#8221;
Drexel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daughter-of-detained-pastor-warns-of-a-coming-wave-of-christian-persecution-in-communist-china">previously told</a> The Daily Wire that her father became a Christian after the brutal Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. 
“When the country betrayed them in such a brutal way, it really was shocking, and they lost a sense of direction for my dad,” she told The Daily Wire. “He then found the sense of purpose and direction in Christianity, and he turned to Christ, and he realized that was the firm foundation that he needed in order to build his life upon.”
The initial wave of arrests targeting Christians occurred in October 2025, but <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-escalates-persecution-of-christians-with-more-shocking-arrests">another wave</a> began in January 2026 when police arrested at least seven people linked to Early Rain Covenant Church, a prominent evangelical Presbyterian church located in southwestern China.
The Trump administration previously condemned the arrest of Jin and other Christians. 
“This crackdown further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in October 2025. “We call on the CCP to immediately release the detained church leaders and to allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution.”

MixCollage-27-Mar-2026-12-37-PM-6166

Her Father Preached. Then Came The Arrest. Here’s How Trump Can Step In

Christian Persecution

Communist China

Donald Trump

A European politician has been found guilty by Finland’s top court of “hate speech” for sharing her Christian views on marriage in a 2004 church pamphlet. 
The Supreme Court of Finland voted 3-2 on Thursday to find Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen guilty of “making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group.” The “text” she was charged over was a pamphlet explaining the Bible’s position on marriage and sexual ethics, written with Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola. 
“I am shocked and profoundly disappointed that the court has failed to recognize my basic human right to freedom of expression,” Räsänen said Thursday. “I stand by the teachings of my Christian faith, and will continue to defend my and every person’s right to share their convictions in the public square.”
Räsänen’s case has drawn the attention of United States lawmakers, who have said it demonstrates the perilous status of free speech in Europe. Lower courts previously unanimously acquitted her in 2022 and 2023, before prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court. 
The court said that the pair “made available to the public and kept available to the public opinions that insult homosexuals as a group on the basis of their sexual orientation.” 
The court ordered Räsänen to remove 11 statements from the 25-page pamphlet, saying they should be removed from “public access” and “destroyed.” Pohjola was also convicted alongside Räsänen for his role in distributing the pamphlet. Räsänen will be fined around $2079, and Pohjola will be fined $1270. The foundation that published the marriage pamphlet will be fined $5775. 
The high court did acquit her of sharing a Bible verse from the book of Romans detailing the Christian understanding of sexuality. 
Räsänen was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom International and criminal defense lawyer Matti Sankamo. 
“By convicting me for expressing beliefs in a different context, the court has drawn an unclear, and I believe, dangerous line. This creates uncertainty, not only for me, but for every citizen who wishes to express their beliefs, or even more concerning for anyone who has expressed their opinions in the past,” Räsänen said during a press conference after the verdict attended by The Daily Wire. 
Räsänen, a member of the Lutheran church and Finland’s former Ministry of the Interior, said she was considering an appeal to the European Union. 
“I am taking legal advice on a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. This is not about my free speech alone, but that of every person in Finland,” she said. “A positive ruling would help to prevent other innocent people from experiencing the same ordeal for simply sharing their beliefs.”
Paul Coleman, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom International, said the case showed the danger of how “vaguely worded and highly subjective hate speech laws can be interpreted and misinterpreted by anyone who looks at them.”
Räsänen said Thursday she has received thousands of messages from people around the world through the ordeal, which began over seven years ago, and said that “the process has not been in vain” and has given her an opportunity to share her faith with others. 
“I believe that this process has been in God&#8217;s hands, and even though I&#8217;m disappointed and even shocked about this conviction that I got today,” she said. “I believe that this is also in God&#8217;s hands, what happened. There is some purpose also for this situation where we are now. I trust in God.”

MixCollage-26-Mar-2026-09-50-AM-3986

A Politician Shared Traditional Christian Values. Now She Stands Convicted Of ‘Hate Speech.’

Politician Convicted Of 'Hate Speech' In Shocking Case Over Basic Christian Beliefs

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

European Union

Finland

Free Speech

Eight years ago, 14-year-old Leah Sharibu was kidnapped from her school in northern Nigeria by Islamic militants and dragged into captivity. She remains in captivity to this day because she refuses to renounce her Christian faith. 
Last month, the anniversary of her kidnapping received little acknowledgement except from a number of persecution watchdog organizations. While many have forgotten her story, Sharibu’s absence is felt every day by her family, who have not heard from her since the day of the kidnapping in February 2018. 
Sharibu was kidnapped by the Islamic State-West Africa Province (ISWAP) alongside 104 other girls from the Government Girls Science and Technical School in Yobe State on February 19, 2018. While most of the other girls have since been released, Sharibu has not been let go because she refuses to convert to Islam.  
Ryan Brown, the CEO of persecution watchdog Open Doors, told The Daily Wire that Sharibu was the only Christian in the group of kidnapped girls and was singled out because of her faith. Open Doors keeps in regular contact with Sharibu’s family and helps them celebrate her birthday every year. 
“With so much going on in our world, it&#8217;s easy to forget these things. It&#8217;s easy to move on to the next headline,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But for those that had been personally touched by these things, they can&#8217;t move on.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1059647" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059647" class="size-full wp-image-1059647" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1143782650.jpg" alt="TOPSHOT - Relatives of schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu abducted by Boko Haram Islamists hold cake to mark her 16th birthday and two years in captivity at the Unity Fountain in Abuja, on May 14, 2019. - Leah Sharibu was among over 100 schoolgirls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in Dapchi, northeast Nigeria on February 19, 2018. But while schoolmates had been freed, she was held back for refusing to denounce her religion. (Photo by KOLA SULAIMON / AFP)" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1143782650.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1143782650-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1143782650-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1143782650-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Sharibu&#8217;s family celebrates her birthday back in 2019. Credit: KOLA SULAIMON/AFP via Getty Images.</div>
Some reports suggest that Sharibu has been forced into marriages with her captors and had children, but those are difficult to confirm. Another woman kidnapped by Islamic militants who later escaped in 2024 confirmed that she encountered Sharibu during her time in captivity. 
Sharibu&#8217;s family says that the Nigerian government has done little to get her released, Brown told The Daily Wire.
“There have been Nigerian officials that have communicated and attempted to see Leah released and have said that they will do that, but the family has not been able to see any visible evidence that there&#8217;s been anything other than promises that were made. And so that has been a source of confusion and pain,” he said. 
The Islamic State-West Africa Province broke off from the militant Islamic group Boko Haram in 2015 and has since displaced or killed thousands in and around Nigeria, <a href="https://www.dni.gov/nctc/terrorist_groups/isis_west_africa.html">according</a> to American intelligence. The group has between 4,000 and 7,000 members and carries out military-style bombings, kidnappings, and targeted killings. 
Sharibu’s continued captivity is a brutal reminder of the reality many Christians face in Nigeria despite the government’s assurances that it protects Christians from violent attacks. 
Brown praised the Trump administration for <a href="https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/naming-nigeria-country-particular-concern-important-step-advance">designating</a> Nigeria as a country of particular concern over Christian persecution in November 2025. Shortly after, on Christmas Day, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-strikes-isis-targets-in-nigeria-on-christmas-day">ordered strikes</a> on ISIS targets in Nigeria, calling for the terrorists to stop “slaughtering of Christians.”
Brown said the problem of Christian persecution is real in Nigeria and that the government’s denial of the problem is inaccurate. He said there were examples of villages targeted by militants where all the churches were burned down, but the mosques were left standing. Even if there were arrests for violent acts, Brown said there were rarely prosecutions. 
“It&#8217;s difficult for any of us to know exactly what is going on there, but the end result is that whether it&#8217;s through omission or commission, there&#8217;s still a responsibility,” he said. “The Nigerian government needs to address those things, it needs to be able to respond to those types of situations.”
Facing increasing pressure from the Trump administration, Brown said that it looks like some of the militants behind killings of Christians over the summer might be prosecuted. 
“That is a huge step forward and one that we continue to advocate for and to ask the Nigerian government to not allow these individuals to act with impunity to make sure that there&#8217;s accountability for these acts of aggression,” he said. 
With growing pressure over its handling of Christian persecution, the Nigerian government has hired lobbyists to convince the American government that it is taking appropriate action to protect Christians. 
In December 2025, the DCI Group <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/1011620908/6278-Exhibit-AB-20251218-30">registered</a> with the Justice Department, notifying it that it was assisting the Nigerian government in “communicating its actions to protect Nigerian’s Christian communities and maintaining U.S support in countering West African jihadist groups and other destabilizing elements.”
Nigeria agreed to pay the consulting firm millions to resurrect its damaged image. So far, DCI has created pages called Secure Nigeria HQ across <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6278-Informational-Materials-20260311-8.pdf">X</a>, <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6278-Informational-Materials-20260311-7.pdf">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6278-Informational-Materials-20260311-3.pdf">Facebook</a>, according to filings with the Justice Department. The social media profiles have not yet been made public. 
<div id="attachment_1059627" style="width: 1563px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059627" class="size-full wp-image-1059627" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-12-at-2.52.23-PM.png" alt="" width="1553" height="1063" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-12-at-2.52.23-PM.png 1553w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-12-at-2.52.23-PM-300x205.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-12-at-2.52.23-PM-842x576.png 842w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-12-at-2.52.23-PM-768x526.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-12-at-2.52.23-PM-1536x1051.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1553px) 100vw, 1553px" />Justice Department filing.</div>
Despite the efforts of the Nigerian government, the number of religious killings and kidnappings paints a more troubled picture. Of the 3,302 religiously motivated kidnappings that took place in 2025, 2,293 took place in Nigeria, Brown told The Daily Wire. 
Brown called for Americans to remember Sharibu’s parents in their prayers. 
“Knowing that there are others around the world that have not forgotten her daughter, that have not forgotten over this period of eight years, that her daughter has likely experienced a hell on earth, and to know that there are others who remember and that are continuing to lift [her] up in prayer, there is just such incredible encouragement.”

NIGERIA-UNREST-ISLAMISTS-KIDNAPPING

Eight Years After Islamic Terrorists Raided Her School, One Christian Girl Remains In Captivity

Boko Haram

ISIS

Islam

Nigeria

Even as he grew famous for his martial arts prowess and adrenaline-pumping movies, Chuck Norris stayed true to his Christian faith and conservative political values for decades in a deeply liberal Hollywood.
Norris, who died Thursday, was the rare Christian conservative in Hollywood. He advocated for Republican politicians, supported gun rights, pushed for the Bible to be brought back into schools, and published a regular column at conservative website WorldNetDaily.
A devout Baptist, Norris spoke frequently about his faith, crediting both famed evangelist Billy Graham and his mother for shaping his beliefs. In his 2004 book, “Against All Odds: My Story,” Norris discussed his mom’s influence on his faith.
“She loves Jesus with all of her heart and soul and made sure we understood that,” Norris <a href="https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/chuck-norris-tells-how-gods-plan-was-bigger-than-his-own/">said</a> at the time. “She influenced me spiritually and instilled in me a sense of responsibility that carried over in my later adult life. She always told me ‘God has plans for you,’ and I didn’t know what she meant. I think I do now.”
He often talked about how his faith kept him going during difficult times and wrote in his 2004 book about how he turned to God when his wife went into preterm labor.
“I had earned millions of dollars over my lifetime,” Norris wrote. “I’d been a friend to several presidents, yet all the money in my bank account couldn’t help me now. &#8230; There was only one person to whom I could turn.”
As a public figure, Norris <a href="https://www.wnd.com/2007/04/41002/">advocated</a> for the Bible to be taught in public schools, working with the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools to lobby for biblical education.
Aside from his faith, Norris became known for his patriotism, advocacy for veterans, and conservative political beliefs. He took multiple trips overseas to visit with American service members, including to troops deployed in Southwest Asia and Iraq.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1063345" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM.png" alt="" width="1288" height="839" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM.png 1288w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM-300x195.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM-884x576.png 884w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM-768x500.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1288px) 100vw, 1288px" /></div>
Norris opposed gun control, speaking at the National Rifle Association’s national meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2010. He <a href="https://reason.com/2012/02/16/chuck-norris-r-lee-ermey/">worked</a> on a publicity campaign to get supporters of the Second Amendment registered to vote.
Active in Republican politics, Norris endorsed Mike Huckabee during the Republican primary for the 2008 presidential race.
<div id="attachment_1063347" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1063347" class="size-full wp-image-1063347" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128.jpg" alt="Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee listens as actor Chuck Norris speaks, during a visit the New Hampshire Veteran's Home in Tilton. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and actor Chuck Norris visit the N.H. Veteran's Home in Tilton. Norris accompanied Mike Huckabee as Huckabee campaigned in New Hampshire. | Location: Tilton, New Hampshire, USA. " width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images.</div>
&#8220;My plan to secure the border? Two words: &#8216;Chuck Norris,&#8217;” Huckabee said in one ad from 2007.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;My plan to secure the border? Two words: &#8216;Chuck Norris'&#8221; &#8211; Mike Huckabee, 2007 <a href="https://t.co/aS2DrExPZR">pic.twitter.com/aS2DrExPZR</a>
— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/JacobRubashkin/status/2035001581234426315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Huckabee would go on to win the Iowa caucus, fueled in part by Evangelical Christian voters like Norris. In 2012, Norris would endorse Newt Gingrich’s run for office before later supporting Mitt Romney’s bid against President Barack Obama.
While his preferred candidates didn’t win in 2008 or 2012, Norris <a href="https://www.wnd.com/2025/01/2-presidents-who-were-not-supposed-to-win-and-when-i-met-each-of-them/">wrote</a> about getting to meet two of his favorite presidents, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, both of whom he said were “not supposed to win.”
Norris said that Nancy Reagan’s assistant called his office and invited him to a celebrity tennis game at the White House. He said he accepted before remembering he had never played tennis before.
“When I hung up the phone, it dawned on me that I had never played tennis in my life! So, I hired a tennis teacher to give me 10 days of intensive lessons before I had to fly to Washington, D.C.,” Norris said. “It was a lot of fun playing in the White House tennis event. I had a great time. I didn&#8217;t play so great, but at least I didn&#8217;t embarrass myself.”
Norris said that he first met Trump back in 1974 at the World Martial Arts championships. At the time, Norris was retiring and moving on to pursue acting. He said that Trump “looked at me square in the eyes and said, ‘I have a feeling you are going to do well as an actor.’ Then, he simply turned around and walked off.”
The two later bumped into each other again at another wrestling event.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Donald Trump meets Chuck Norris at Wrestlemania VII in Los Angeles, California, March 1991.
35 years ago this week.
Rest in peace, Chuck. 🙏 <a href="https://t.co/DmT4u2FpBu">pic.twitter.com/DmT4u2FpBu</a>
— johnny maga (@johnnymaga) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnnymaga/status/2035004558221386163?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Norris also supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and took multiple trips to Israel. Netanyahu <a href="https://x.com/netanyahu/status/2035005998792950052?s=20">called</a> Norris &#8220;a great friend of Israel and a close personal friend.&#8221;
A native of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott said that his state had &#8220;lost a legend.&#8221;
“All of Texas mourns the passing of Chuck Norris. He was not only a martial arts champion, action icon, and the one and only Walker, Texas Ranger,” Abbott said. “But he electrified generations of conservatives. Giving them a passion and voice to fight for the principles that make America the greatest nation on earth. He embodied the toughness, grit, and patriotism that makes Texas supreme. Rest in peace, Chuck.”

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I don&#8217;t pray to Jesus. I never have. I was raised in a tradition that predates Christianity by a millennium, and when I pray — which I do, regularly, seriously — I do it in Hebrew, facing Jerusalem, according to a liturgy my ancestors carried through exile and persecution for thousands of years.
And I have absolutely zero problem with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth closing a Pentagon press briefing by <a href="https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4438625/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-and-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-air-force-gen-da/">asking the American people</a> to pray &#8220;on bended knee, with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ&#8221; for the safety of our troops.
Not an iota of irritation. Not a teaspoon of tumult.
The outrage is a performance — and a particularly threadbare one, conjured in response to perhaps the most banal, good-faith, unambiguously decent request a public official has made in recent memory.
When Hegseth stood at that podium and invoked Christ&#8217;s name on behalf of men and women in harm&#8217;s way, he was drawing on something Americans have done since before there was an America. George Washington is remembered kneeling in the snow at Valley Forge. FDR led the entire nation in prayer on D-Day, asking God for strength and providence as young Americans stormed the beaches at Normandy. Patton once called his chaplain and asked, point blank, for a prayer for good weather. This is the tradition Hegseth reached for — long, deep, distinctly American — the instinct of a nation that has always understood that some moments call for more than a press release.
The critics sputtering this week would have you believe that a cabinet secretary expressing his Christian faith in public is somehow a threat. To whom, exactly — to me? I am one of the people they&#8217;d presumably be defending. I am a Jew in a country that is, by any honest accounting, a majority-Christian nation with a majority-Christian culture and a majority-Christian history. I have known this every day of my life. It has never made me feel like a second-class citizen, because that is not what minority rights actually mean.
Minority rights mean the government cannot compel me to convert. They mean I cannot be prosecuted for my religion, fired from a federal job because I observe Shabbat, or told to leave the country because I don&#8217;t accept the Nicene Creed. They mean I have the full protection of the law and the full dignity of citizenship regardless of my faith. That is the promise of America, and it is a magnificent one — imperfectly but genuinely kept.
What it does not mean is that we all must pretend America has no religious character. It does not mean a Christian official must sand his faith down to a fine, inoffensive powder before speaking in public. It does not mean that mentioning Jesus at a press conference is an act of aggression against anyone.
The conflation of those two things — genuine religious persecution versus a majoritarian culture expressing itself — is doing serious damage to our civic life. Every time a Christian politician prays in public, a certain class of commentator treats it as a prelude to theocracy. This is not only dishonest. It is, as a Jew, a little insulting. It flattens my actual history — a history of pogroms and inquisitions and gas chambers — and asks me to treat a Pentagon official&#8217;s invocation of Christ as a comparable offense. I decline.
There is something else worth saying here. Every Saturday morning, in synagogues across America — certainly in mine — we recite a prayer for the safety of the United States Armed Forces. We do this whether American troops are in active combat or not. We do this because we understand, in the marrow of our tradition, that the soldiers who stand between a free society and its enemies deserve our gratitude and our supplication before God. Pete Hegseth was asking the American people to do what Jews have been doing in shul every week for generations. I recognize the impulse. I share it.
And this: if the worst my government is guilty of is asking faithful Americans to bend their knee in prayer and petition God for the safety of our troops, I will recommit myself to that government every day, and twice on Saturday. More Americans engaging in prayer can only be a positive movement for the nation.
The faith Hegseth expressed — one that asks its adherents to appeal to God on behalf of soldiers who may not come home — is not my enemy. It never has been.
America is a country where Christians pray, where Christian faith shapes public life, where references to Jesus are woven into the culture from the Pledge to the presidency. That is not a grievance. It is simply what a majority-Christian democracy looks like. A proud, observant Jew — or a Muslim, or a Buddhist, or an atheist — can accept that reality without feeling diminished by it. In fact, intellectual honesty requires it.
The capacity to hold both things at once — to cherish the legal protections that shield the minority while accepting the cultural reality of the majority — is one of the more demanding things American pluralism asks of us. It is also non-negotiable. It is the deal.
Hegseth asked people to pray for our troops. I hope they do. I will be saying my own prayers for those soldiers — in my own tradition, as I do each day.
* * *
Daniella Greenbaum Davis is an Emmy-award winning producer and communications strategist. Follow her on X: @DGreenbaum
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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