<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris">Vice President Kamala Harris</a> insisted Friday that people can support <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/abortion">abortion</a> rights without having to “abandon their <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/faith">faith</a>.”
The comments, which came as the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case that made abortion a federal right, drew widespread criticism online. Several key Democrats, including President Joe Biden, Harris, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have been trying to reconcile their religious faiths with their support for abortion as the decision looms.
“There’s nothing about this issue that would require anyone to abandon their faith,” Harris said Friday. “It’s simply saying that the government should not have the ability to decide what an individual does with her own body.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
KAMALA HARRIS: &quot;For those of us of faith, I think that we agree&#8230;there&#39;s nothing about this issue [of abortion] that will require anyone to abandon their faith&quot; <a href="https://t.co/6DsMBgqFLQ">pic.twitter.com/6DsMBgqFLQ</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1537945294016421890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Catholics, evangelical Protestants, and many Jews believe abortion goes against their faith.
“Lord have mercy,” <a href="https://twitter.com/MansfieldWrites/status/1538040108468822016?s=20&amp;t=63ve3rKDtYpZgl4k7p7Rag">tweeted author Stephen Mansfield</a>. “This woman is either ignorant or deeply deceived.”
&#8220;Kamala Harris is wrong,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/pilkingtonforar/status/1537951542006775808?s=20&amp;t=63ve3rKDtYpZgl4k7p7Rag">tweeted Arkansas state legislator Aaron Pilkington</a>. &#8220;To Support abortion is to stand oppose to Christian Faith. Just ask any Bishop or Priest.&#8221;
Harris grew up in an interfaith household, as her mother was Hindu and her father Baptist. In an interview last year, she described attending a Baptist church while growing up.
&#8220;On Sundays, my mother would dress my sister, Maya, and me in our Sunday best and send us off to the 23rd Avenue Church of God in Oakland, California, where Maya and I sang in the children’s choir,&#8221; Harris <a href="https://www.interfaithamerica.org/kamala-harris-talks-about-her-own-faith">told Interfaith Youth Core</a>. &#8220;That’s where I formed some of my earliest memories of the Bible’s teachings. It’s where I learned that ‘faith’ is a verb and that we must live it, and show it, in action.&#8221;
Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff is Jewish, and the couple, which married in 2014, observes both Christian and Jewish traditions.
The General Board of American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. opposes abortion in most circumstances, according to a <a href="http://religiousinstitute.org/denom_statements/american-baptist-resolution-concerning-abortion-and-ministry-in-the-local-church/">1988 declaration</a>.
“As American Baptists we oppose abortion, as a means of avoiding responsibility for conception; as a primary means of birth control; and without regard for the far-reaching consequences of the act,” the board said.
The controversial issue has reclaimed center stage in American politics after an early draft of a United States Supreme Court majority opinion leaked in May that indicated the controversial Roe v. Wade decision would likely be struck down.
The draft, written by Justice Samuel Alito, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-supreme-court-strikes-down-roe-v-wade-decision-in-draft-of-majority-opinion-report-says">stated</a> that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start” and “we hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.”
Pelosi and Biden, who are both Catholic, also support abortion rights. In March, Pelosi described herself as a devout and practicing Catholic, but said the right to abortion is the law.
“That was right for me, it’s not for me to say what’s for somebody else,” Pelosi said. “Nor is it right for you, nor is it right for the Supreme Court. This has been a precedent of the court that should be upheld by the court.”
Biden, a lifelong Catholic, has been criticized by members of the faith for his adamant pro-abortion views. In 2019, he dropped his long-standing support for the Hyde Amendment, the 1970s law forbidding the use of federal funds to subsidize abortions. In the weeks since the Supreme Court took up the issue again, his support for the right to abortion has hardened.
“The idea that we’re going to make the judgment that is going to say that no one can make the judgment to choose to abort a child based on a decision by the Supreme Court, I think, goes way overboard,” Biden said last month.

Vice President Kamala Harris Travels to San Francisco California

Kamala Harris Says Support For Abortion Does Not Require People To ‘Abandon Their Faith’

Kamala Harris Says Support For Abortion Does Not Require People To 'Abandon Their Faith'

Abortion

Faith

Kamala Harris

Singer Justin Bieber gave fans an update about what he called &#8220;this horrific storm” he’s facing as he talked about how his faith is helping him after suffering &#8220;full paralysis&#8221; on one side of his face.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justin-bieber-gets-mocked-for-giant-suit-at-grammys-looks-like-he-got-into-his-daddys-closet">28-year-old pop singer</a> took to Instagram on Monday in a now-deleted post where he informed fans that &#8220;each day has gotten better&#8221; as he deals with the &#8220;discomfort&#8221; after being diagnosed with a rare condition called Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Bieber added that through it all, his faith has brought him &#8220;peace.&#8221;
&#8220;Wanted to share a little bit of how I&#8217;ve been feelin[g],&#8221; Bieber wrote on social media. &#8220;Each day has gotten better. And through all of the discomfort I have found comfort in the one who designed me and knows me.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m reminded he knows all of me,&#8221; he added. &#8220;He know[s] the darkest parts of me that I want no one to know about and he constantly welcomes me into his loving arms. This perspective has given me peace during this horrific storm that I&#8217;m facing.&#8221;
&#8220;I know this storm will pass but in the meantime JESUS IS WITH ME,&#8221; the &#8220;Baby&#8221; Bieber continued.
The &#8220;Peaches&#8221; singer captioned his post, &#8220;By this point in my life I realize storms come and go. Jesus continues to remind me that he is with me in the midst of the storm,&#8221; <a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/06/13/justin-bieber-shares-update-after-revealing-face-is-paralyzed/?_ga=2.182487398.1963369964.1655204269-1925252963.1655204269">Page Six</a> noted. &#8220;It&#8217;s not about the storm. It&#8217;s that we are NEVER ALONE AND HE UNDERSTANDS.&#8221;
On Friday, the &#8220;Stay&#8221; hitmaker shared terrifying news with fans about why he had canceled concert dates on his Justice World Tour as he revealed the facial paralysis that he said &#8220;will go back to normal,&#8221; as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justin-bieber-suffering-from-full-paralysis-on-this-side-of-my-face-diagnosed-with-rare-syndrome-cancels-concert-dates">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported. The rare disease is connected to having the chicken pox/shingles virus.
&#8220;Hey everyone, Justin here, I wanted to update you guys on what&#8217;s been going on,&#8221; Bieber shared in part. &#8220;Obviously, as you can probably see from my face, I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome, and it is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis.&#8221;
&#8220;So, there is full paralysis on this side my face,&#8221; he added. &#8220;So, for those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I&#8217;m just physically obviously not capable of doing them. This is pretty serious as you can see.&#8221;
The entire time Bieber was speaking to fans in the three-minute-long video he posted on Instagram, one side of his face didn&#8217;t move at all, while on the other side, his mouth moved up and down and his eye blinked.
The pop star is married to 25-year-old supermodel Hailey Bieber.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hailey-bieber-details-terrifying-life-altering-mini-stroke-she-suffered-and-procedure-to-close-hole-in-her-heart">Hailey Bieber Details Terrifying &#8216;Life-Altering&#8217; Mini-Stroke She Suffered And Procedure To Close Hole In Her Heart</a>

Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber Shares Update About ‘This Horrific Storm I’m Facing,’ Talks About His Faith Following Partial Face ‘Paralysis’

Justin Bieber Talks About His Faith Following Partial Face ‘Paralysis’ And ‘This Horrific Storm I’m Facing’

Entertainment

Hailey Bieber

Medical

Candace Cameron Bure informed her Facebook followers that her family has been under a spiritual attack from Satan.
The “Full House” alum has never shied away from conversations about faith and values. Bure reaffirmed her belief in Jesus while attributing the imbalance in her home life to direct attacks from evil forces. The 46-year-old mother of three shared some of those details as part of her recently posted Facebook video update.
“My house is usually really peaceful and happy. (But) everyone’s been irritable, including me,” Bure said in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=714121926564527">video</a>. “And everyone is just, like, at each other. And it’s been like three days now. And it finally hit me. I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s a spirit of irritability, there’s a spirit of crankiness, there’s a spirit of confusion, Oh, the enemy’s attacking.&#8217;”
She said some families “want to just blame one another” for issues when it’s really Satan doing the damage and creating disunity. 
“(W)e forget that there’s a very real and powerful enemy at work every single day of our lives. That enemy is the devil,” Bure continued. “He’s real, and he’s at work, but the devil has no control or authority in my home.”
“Jesus has all authority, all power in my home, and He reigns in my home. And so, I call upon the Holy Spirit, I pray out any evil spirits that are in here. And I put on my worship music. It’s just filling my home. So my home is filled with Scripture and God’s Word, God’s power, God’s truth. And I just keep reminding myself of that,” she concluded.
The actress said she posted the video for fans who are also “going through a tough time” and can’t figure out why.
“And yet, [these problems] are explainable,” Bure told her fans. “It’s just sometimes we don’t see it. But let’s not forget what’s going on in the world around us.”
As usual, the “Aurora Teagarden” star got tons of support in the comments, with followers praising her raw assessment and saying it strengthened their faith as well. 
“Yes! Amen. Definitely going through this and getting my worship on everyday. Reminding myself of what the Bible says and fighting on my knees. Keep sharing!” one person commented.
“Spiritual warfare is real. Thank you for being bold in your love of Christ,” another said.

Celebrities Visit Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family”

‘That Enemy Is The Devil’: Candace Cameron Bure Says Her Family Was Under Spiritual Attack

Candace Cameron Bure Says Her Family Was Under Spiritual Attack

Candace Cameron Bure

Esteemed author and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson discussed the reality of the “devil in the crossroads” in his Saturday commencement speech at Hillsdale College.
“You’re at a pinnacle of sorts,” Peterson <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuJczjOIN9I">told</a> the graduating seniors at the conservative Michigan school. “You’re at a crossroads. You’re entering a new phase of your life. You’re someone different than you were four years ago, and hopefully someone better. Likely someone better.”
“A crossroads — the metaphor works because you make a decision. You go one direction or another. There’s an old ‘blues’ idea that you meet the devil at the crossroads. I always wondered why that was — I found it true. It’s a really compelling idea. It’s an image that has a good narrative fit, and it sticks in your memory once you hear it.”
“Maybe that’s when you examine your conscience,” Peterson suggested. “Or it examines you.”
“Why do you meet the devil at the crossroads? And the answer is, most fundamentally, because when you come to a place in your life where you have to make a choice … you aim up or down. And there is always an agent of temptation at every choice point, enticing you to aim down.”
As one example of “aiming down,” Peterson referred the graduates to the biblical account of Cain and Abel. The former brother made sacrifices to God that were “not everything that they could be” and “not in the service of the highest good” — and also “arrogant,” because “when we make improper sacrifices, we believe in the deepest part of ourselves that we’ve pulled one over God.”
Peterson continued by noting that the Bible — being “unbelievably sophisticated from a literary perspective, philosophical perspective, theological perspective, existential perspective” — next offers the narrative of the Flood, which points to “nihilistic chaos.” He also dove into the meaning of the term “sin” — which in its Greek and Hebrew iterations, according to Peterson, is “to miss the mark.”
“It implies that it has something to do with aim or the lack thereof. I love that. … There’s a variety of ways you can miss the mark, right? Don’t aim at all — that’s a good one. Assume there is no such thing as aim. Assume all aims are equal.”
On the other hand, Peterson said faith is a “form of courage.”
“One of the things I’ve thought a lot about in relationship to faith — we have this idea, and it’s not a good idea, and it’s certainly an idea for which religious people are often pilloried — that faith means the sacrifice of reason and the willingness to believe things that are patently not true … I don’t think that’s what faith is at all in some fundamental sense. I think faith is a form of courage.”
“If you’re hurt by life — and you will be — it’s understandable that you might react in a nihilistic and hopeless fashion … and I think part of what helps you through that is faith,” Peterson described. “And part of that faith is that it’s incumbent on you … to maintain faith in the fundamental goodness of existence, including your own, despite the evidence to the contrary.”
“When you’re at the crossroads and you’re counseled to despair — rise up in courage and see if you can resist it,” Peterson advised. “It’s better for you, and it’s better for the people around you.”
Peterson noted that the Tower of Babel follows the Flood in the biblical narrative.
“It’s a continual temptation for human beings to build complex organizations that get too high. So what does that mean? How about too many layers? Not local enough, not distributed enough, right? Too separate from the people that they serve,” Peterson argued. “It’s also a Luciferian story. Lucifer is this spirit of intellect — the light-bringer who’s flown too high and challenges God Himself, and falls. … It’s a symbol of prideful intellect. And it is the prideful intellect that raises itself up against what is most properly placed at the highest place — which is what God is.”
“I’m very opposed to the idea that the fundamental human motivation is power — which is pretty much what every student is taught at every level of their education, in every educational institution except a handful across your country,” Peterson added. “It’s such a dismal philosophy. … You could not formulate a more pathological philosophy. It obliterates your faith in society, and it eradicates the notion of the individual. It removes the notion of good faith and goodwill, and it makes communication impossible.”
To Peterson, such a self-aggrandizing mindset represents another temptation. “The construction of your own empire for your own narrow purposes — part of the reason you shouldn’t do that even though it’s tempting … is because, do you want to rule over hell?”
In terms of aiming higher, Peterson said that the pursuit of good is “practical.”
“You learn to optimize an aim, and then you see once you’ve learned to optimize an aim across a set of goods, you start to aim at what unites those goods … by practicing any good in any rigorous sense, and making the proper sacrifices in that direction, you simultaneously learn to approach the good that is the sum or the essence of all those proximal goods.”
“The essential insistence in Christianity is that the good that unites all those goods is the same good that’s reflected in the image of Christ, which is an image of acceptance of the suffering of life, and the necessity of serving the lowest as the highest calling.”
“That’s something that might be true — like really, actually, 100% true — more true than anything else.”
“It’s kind of earth-shattering, in some sense, to take this with real seriousness,” Peterson said. “It’s all very frightening if you’re not afraid of that vision and what it implies for you and your soul … but it’s also … an endlessly promising vision of what your life could be.”
In response to inevitable suffering, Peterson concluded that “the attempt alone” to move in the direction exemplified by Christ “is of sufficient value.”
“So that’s the choice you make at the crossroads.”

Jordan Peterson

‘The Devil At The Crossroads’: Jordan Peterson On Christianity, Suffering, And Temptation At Hillsdale College Commencement Address

Jordan Peterson Talks Faith And Suffering At Hillsdale Commencement Address

Christianity

Education

Hillsdale College

Religion

It cannot be denied that, in unprecedented numbers, Christians are leaving the faith. From well-known <a href="https://juicyecumenism.com/2019/08/05/joshua-harris-denounces-christianity-doesnt-distort/">pastors</a> and <a href="https://www.christiantoday.com/article/hillsong-worship-leader-marty-sampson-losing-faith/133017.htm">worship leaders</a>, to Bible college <a href="https://juicyecumenism.com/2018/12/13/paul-alexander-transgender/">professors</a> and Christian <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lead-singer-of-christian-rock-band-hawk-nelson-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-god">rockers,</a> we are experiencing a wave of apostasy. Are there specific reasons for this? 
In Matthew 24:12, Jesus <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+24%3A12&amp;version=NIV">said</a> that because iniquity would abound, the love of many would wax cold. Paul also spoke about a time of increased rebellion and apostasy (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2%3A3&amp;version=NIV">see</a> 2 Thessalonians 2:3). Is this the time of which they spoke?
Personally, I do not believe we have reached that specific point in history. But I do believe that the words of Jesus still apply. This is a time when sinful temptations and worldly distractions are more available than at any point in human history. Little wonder that so many are losing their faith.
But that is only one reason for the increased defection that we are witnessing.
Another is mistrust in the Church, both in Church leadership and in the institution of the Church itself. It seems that whichever way we turn there is another scandal, some involving individuals and others involving movements or denominations.
On the Protestant side, one day it’s a beloved <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/february/ravi-zacharias-rzim-investigation-sexual-abuse-sexting-rape.html">apologist</a> accused of rape, and the next day it’s the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/25/21399954/jerry-falwell-jr-resigns-scandal-liberty">president</a> of a Christian university caught in a sex scandal. One day it’s a celebrity <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/23/bombshell-hillsong-doc-details-carl-lentz-scandal-churchs-cover-ups/">pastor</a> accused of sexual abuse; then it’s that pastor’s related <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/29/us/hillsong-church-scandals.html">network of churches</a> found alongside the allegations. On the Catholic side, one devastating report from France, with research dating back to the 1950s, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/major-report-expose-sex-abuse-frances-catholic-church-80408030">documented</a> 330,000 cases of ministry-related sex abuse. How many millions did this affect?
“If that’s Christianity,” many think to themselves (or, perhaps say out loud), “then I want nothing to do with it.”
To be clear, I do not write this to pour salt into the wounds of those who have sinned and fallen. The old saying, “There but for the grace of God, go I” has never been truer. 
But we cannot deny reality. Our reputation as followers of Jesus has been stained.
We also live in a generation in which atheistic attacks on the Bible—in the past encountered by adult readers or college and university students—have trickled down to teens and pre-teens in the form of pithy <a href="https://za.pinterest.com/bengatewood70/atheist-memes/">memes and quotes</a>. These kids may never have read a book by Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. They may never have heard of Bart Ehrman. Yet it is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bart-D-Ehrman/e/B001I9RR7G?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5&amp;qid=1651189653&amp;sr=8-5">his books</a> which have become bestsellers, while the responses to his writings have had a more limited audience. The atheistic challenges to the existence of God (written by men like Dawkins and Hitchens) and the agnostic challenges to the truth of the Scriptures (written by men like Ehrman) have trickled down to the masses, including the younger generation. 
In the case of the writings of Prof. Ehrman, nothing that he has written against the trustworthiness of the New Testament is new to biblical scholars. And those of us who teach at the college or seminary level are quite familiar with solid refutes to Ehrman’s questions. The good, <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing-ebook/dp/B01MYP99J3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1HSL7QLOQ6GSD&amp;keywords=evidence+that+demands+a+verdict+sean+mcdowell&amp;qid=1651027366&amp;sprefix=evidence+that+demands+a+verdict+sean+mc%2Caps%2C74&amp;sr=8-1">Christian responses</a> are still largely unknown to those same masses.
But young people who are not yet prepared to process some of these arguments have learned to repeat them and believe them. To them, the Bible is a Bronze Age book, and the God of the Bible is a mean-spirited, spiteful, even genocidal deity. They believe they can’t trust the Bible. Is it any surprise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-religion-of-the-left">that Gen Z identifies</a> as atheists at <a href="https://www.barna.com/research/atheism-doubles-among-generation-z/">twice the rate</a> of other Americans?
Another factor leading to this great apostasy is the politicizing of the gospel. Many of us have so fused the gospel with politics that we have become better known as supporters of a particular candidate than as followers of Jesus. This has turned off many, to the point that a pastor in New York City with a largely millennial congregation told me that he lost a significant percentage of his parishioners in the aftermath of the 2020 elections—something he had never witnessed before.
It’s one thing to vote for our candidate of choice. It’s another thing to become that candidate’s public defender. It’s one thing to believe in the importance of fair elections. It’s another thing to turn one’s social media page into a platform for every conspiracy theory under the sun. And when people have a hard time distinguishing between biblical truths and the latest Q-Anon info-drop, you know we are in trouble.
Yet another factor in the current apostasy is the success of LGBTQ+ activism on both a national and individual level, especially among young people. Sympathies have shifted dramatically, and if you are not perceived as being pro-gay and pro-trans, that makes you a hater and a bigot. And if your convictions are due to your religious beliefs, then your religion is hateful and your God is vengeful.
And since so many young people today have not experienced God for themselves (for the principle, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua+24%3A31&amp;version=NIV">see</a> Joshua 24:31), their choice is an easy one. They’ll stand with their gay friend at school rather than with their parents’ toxic faith.
Finally, the message that has been sounded from pulpits across America (not to mention on the airwaves of Christian TV) has become a superficial one. We have preached a message that simply offers sinners a better and happier life, bypassing the cross and ignoring the call to repentance: Jesus as the key for a successful life. In doing so, we have added to the current crisis and produced a generation of consumers rather than disciples. Who needs a Savior from sin?
And what happens when things get tough? What happens during a time of testing? “I’m out of here! I didn’t sign up for this.”
Over 70 years ago, A. W. Tozer wrote his famous <a href="http://www.ldolphin.org/oldcross.html">article</a> on “The Old Cross and the New.” In it, he explains, “The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, ‘Come and assert yourself for Christ.’ To the egotist it says, ‘Come and do your boasting in the Lord.’ To the thrill seeker it says, ‘Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship.’ The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.”
The modern cross goes one step further. It does not redirect the sinner. It empowers the sinner. “Come to Jesus and become a bigger and better you!”
So, with decades of anemic gospel preaching, with a compromised Church, with a society that continues to be increasingly postmodern and post-Christian, and with all kinds of sinful temptations at our fingertips (literally), it is no wonder that so many are falling away.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Christians

Why Are So Many Christians Leaving The Faith?

Why Are Christians Leaving Church?

Readers Pass

True story. There once lived a woman whose son had abandoned the Christian faith he was raised in. She was far from perfect and had married a difficult man, but she had striven to bring up her son well. However, he fell in line with a bizarre ideology that rendered him “woke” within his circle of influence, and he began living with a woman who was not his wife. His mother prayed, but nothing seemed to happen. Her son was willing to talk with her, but she couldn’t get through to him. In tears, she sought out a wise and holy man. If only he would talk to her son! If only he would take hold of the young man and refute his errors  – rebuke him for all the wrong in his life!
Curiously, the wise man refused. He told the mother that her son was still too preoccupied with his own desires to listen to reason – still too prideful, too infatuated with the newness of his “woke” beliefs, for the wise man’s intervention to do any good. He advised her to pray for her son, and, since the young man was still in pursuit of the truth, he would eventually find it again, himself. Those who seek to know the truth with all their heart will find it.
The woman pestered, weeping and imploring the wise man to change his mind. Finally, he lost patience, saying &#8220;Go, go! Leave me alone! Continue what you are doing! It is not possible that the son of all these prayers and tears should be lost.&#8221;
That must have sounded too good to be true, but it happened. The wise man in this story – a local bishop – is known to us as St. Ambrose. The yearning mother is known to us as St. Monica. The woke ideology that had ensnared her son was Manichaeism. Her son, Augustine, did eventually return to his faith, and he became one of the greatest saints in the history of the Christian Church – not a bad outcome from many prayers prayed and tears shed.   
This occurrence took place at the turn of the fifth century. For generations, this story has encouraged parents of children who have lost their faith. Even though this story delivers a restorative and uplifting message, it still raises questions for modern-day listeners. For example, even during the most wanton period of his life, Augustine didn’t lose his interest in finding the truth. Today, the youth are told that there is no truth, or they are told that the truth is “whatever works for you.”
Yet this story – and countless other stories of “reverts” who return to their faith – may still offer hope to parents of wandering children. Many more helpful lessons can be drawn from Augustine’s story than one might think – lessons applicable even in our current time.
Why do people lose their faith? Some are raised in an excessively emotional form of faith, which doesn’t satisfy their minds, or they are raised in a cold form of faith, which doesn’t satisfy their hearts. Some were never really raised in faith to begin with, but they believe that they were. Some were treated badly by religious phonies. Some – much like my own younger self – didn’t want God to be God and arrogantly preferred to make gods of themselves. There are many other reasons why young people lose their faith, and human beings find themselves in curious relationships with sin. Few of us find reasons not to believe in God and then begin sinning. Most of us get wrapped up in sins we don’t want to give up, and then we look for reasons to deny our belief in God. That may have been Augustine’s problem, considering his romantic relations outside of marriage.
So what can parents do?
The first part begins before we even have children. Augustine’s pagan father made it difficult for his mother to raise Augustine in Christian faith. Monica’s marriage might have been arranged, leaving her with little choice, but the ideal calls for both spouses to participate in a life of faith and to commit to the faithfulness of their marriage. So future parents must work hard to have a faithful marriage, for a life lived in faith is much more difficult for children to adhere to when they don’t see both parents living in that same truth. Even if you haven’t lived this way prior to becoming parents, it is never too late to begin.
The second part begins after our children are born – but before they reach an impressionable age. Have high moral standards for them, and hold yourself to those same standards as well. You won’t be perfect, but you can admit when you have done wrong. Don&#8217;t leave your children’s religious instruction up to the surrounding culture – or even solely up to religious teachers. As the Holy Bible urges, speak to your children about God “when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 11:10). Make sure you haven&#8217;t quietly lost the faith yourself – not only for your own sake, but also because your child will see through your pretense. Don’t make worship an option; children are too young to know what is at stake. Worship together as a family. You may be surprised. When I returned to my discarded faith in my early thirties, I thought my children would resist going to church. It turned out that they had always wanted to but never knew to tell us.
The third part begins as children are reaching the impressionable age. Long before temptations come, be sure to discuss with them not only how to keep their faith, but also how it can be lost. Don’t waste time rearing them to be indifferent to peer pressure. That’s impossible, for God made us social beings. They need to know that the important thing is to have the right kind of peers surrounding them, friends who will exert the right kind of pressure and influence. No one follows God alone.
The last part begins if a child does lose their faith. Love them, and don’t be afraid to tell them lovingly what you think. Don&#8217;t underestimate your influence just because you can&#8217;t always see it. Don’t nag them about their lack of faith, rather continue speaking freely and positively about your own. You don&#8217;t have to know everything, but you can learn as much as possible. Be an example not only to them but to their children, and if permitted, take your grandchildren with you when you worship. As Ambrose knew, third parties, although discussion with them can sometimes be helpful, are almost never welcome if the children don’t seek them out themselves. They will sometimes read into something you suggest, however, even if they don’t outrightly admit to it. Ambrose depended on the fact that Augustine was a reader.
As Augustine’s return to faith from Manichaeism shows, worse things can happen than falling for a depraved ideology. It matters far more that a child is still seeking truth. Even if a child seems to have lost their interest in seeking the truth, don’t lose hope, for God can break even through that form of callous indifference. People may tell themselves that they don’t long for truth and meaning, but this doesn’t mean that the longing has been suppressed too severely to be reconciled; our longing for truth is too deeply built into God’s design of human nature for it to completely go away. Every now and then it will break through again. Maybe God will permit you to be present at one of these moments when it does. 
Above all, don’t give up prayer, and don’t give up hope. As I know from my own experiences, God specializes in hopeless cases.
The views expressed in this piece are the author&#8217;s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
J. Budziszewski is a professor of Government and Philosophy at the University of Texas, Austin.  He has written numerous books including <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1576835103/qid=1074231377/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-7325813-6085403?v=glance&amp;s=books&amp;n=507846">How to Stay Christian in College</a> , <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Sex-J-Budziszewski/dp/1610170997/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=">On the Meaning of Sex</a>, and the just-published <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Be-Happy/dp/1684511070/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=0&amp;Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=0&amp;qid=1640901540&amp;refinements=p_27%3Abudziszewski%2Cp_28%3Ahow+and+how+not+to+be+happy&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1&amp;unfiltered=1">How and How Not to Be Happy</a>.

Children Who Lose Their Faith – What Can You Do?

Children

Actor Chad Michael Murray revealed this week that he&#8217;s turned down roles over the past 22 years to stay true to his Christian faith.
The &#8220;One Tree Hill&#8221; actor <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/chad-michael-murray-hollywood-faith-religion">told</a> Fox News Digital he&#8217;s had to &#8220;stick to the things&#8221; he &#8220;believes in.”
&#8220;I stick to the things I believe in,&#8221; Murray said. &#8220;Let&#8217;s just say a piece of material were to come across my desk, which has happened plenty of times over the last 22 years, that I don&#8217;t necessarily feel is what I believe or what I&#8217;m selling — then that&#8217;s not for me.&#8221;
The 40-year-old father of two explained that his avoidance of such roles not only keeps him in line with his beliefs, but betters the project in question.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to step in something that I don&#8217;t believe in any way because it&#8217;s going to destroy it for everybody else involved,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If you don&#8217;t fully love and embrace the character that you are inhabiting, it will show on screen. I always want to give the people that I&#8217;m working with and the people who are going to watch the movie, the most of me.&#8221;
Murray, starring in new film &#8220;Fortress: Sniper&#8217;s Eye,&#8221; told Fox that reading his Bible and consuming daily devotionals all help him keep his faith in Hollywood.
&#8220;I get up every day and I put that spiritual armor on, read the Bible and do some devotionals and then get ready to go to work,&#8221; the actor said, adding, &#8220;I feel stronger and safer walking onto my sets every day knowing that I have God with me every day. Jesus is there with me every day. &#8230; When you have that comfort that you just feel safe, you feel different, you feel the opportunity to handle more, your shoulders are bigger, you can carry more weight.&#8221;
And, most important, Murray keeps his family close.
&#8220;My family and I, for instance, we don&#8217;t split up the pack,&#8221; he insisted. &#8220;We go everywhere. My kids, my wife, they go everywhere we go. So, I&#8217;m on set chilling with Bruce Willis in Puerto Rico — they&#8217;re there. Although, they&#8217;re on the beach, very different.&#8221;
&#8220;We keep the pack together,&#8221; Murray added. &#8220;We have a very traditional home life. We&#8217;re not people who are typically out and going out. I&#8217;m not a good hobnobber. It&#8217;s not my strong suit. I&#8217;ve gotta be honest. I&#8217;m more of a homebody.&#8221;
Speaking about faith in Hollywood is not the norm, but Murray is not alone. For example, actor Mark Wahlberg, star of Catholic film &#8220;Father Stu,&#8221; recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/critics-pan-new-faith-based-film-father-stu-but-the-audience-loves-it">said</a> he plans on moving toward films of &#8220;real substance,&#8221; and will likely leave Hollywood &#8220;sooner rather than later.&#8221;
“I feel like this is starting a new chapter for me in that, now, doing things like this — real substance — can help people,” the 50-year-old actor <a href="https://www.etonline.com/mark-wahlberg-on-father-stu-and-leaving-hollywood-sooner-rather-than-later-exclusive-182177">told</a> Entertainment Tonight. “I definitely want to focus on making more. I wouldn’t say necessarily just faith-based content but things that will help people. So, hopefully this movie will open a door for not only myself but for lots of other people in Hollywood to make more meaningful content.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/critics-pan-new-faith-based-film-father-stu-but-the-audience-loves-it">Critics Pan New Faith-Based Film ‘Father Stu,’ But The Audience Loves It</a>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/even-critics-really-hate-woke-cinderella-remark-level-of-badness-unmatched">Even Critics Really Hate Woke ‘Cinderella’ Remake: ‘Level Of Badness’ Unmatched</a>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dave-chappelles-rotten-tomato-standup-reviews-are-amanda-prestigiacomo">Dave Chappelle’s ‘Rotten Tomato’ Standup Reviews Are In. They’re Exactly What You’d Expect.</a>

Busy Tonight – Season 1

Chad Michael Murray Reveals He’s Turned Down Roles To Be True To His Christian Faith

Celebrities

Hollywood

Movies

Televangelist Pat Robertson&#8217;s wife, Adelia &#8220;Dede&#8221; Robertson, died at the age of 94 on Tuesday in her Virginia Beach home, according to an obituary posted on the Christian Broadcasting Network&#8217;s website.
The <a href="https://www.cbn.com/dederobertson/">obit</a> did not provide any details as to the cause of her death, but did share touching tributes from her children, calling her the &#8220;rock&#8221; of their family and the one who &#8220;held&#8221; their family together.
&#8220;Dede Robertson was a woman of great faith, a champion of the Gospel, and a remarkable servant of Christ who has left an indelible print on all that she set her hand to during her extraordinary life,&#8221; her husband, the famed televangelist shared in a statement.
&#8220;My mom was a rock,&#8221; daughter, Ann LeBlanc, shared. &#8220;She was a rock throughout our childhood. Dad had to travel a lot, but Mom was always there for us kids … that gives great security to children.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Dede Robertson, Wife of Televangelist Pat Robertson, Dead at 94: &#39;A Woman of Great Faith&#39; <a href="https://t.co/f075wVrW4w">https://t.co/f075wVrW4w</a>
&mdash; People (@people) <a href="https://twitter.com/people/status/1516801898787090442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I think the thing that&#8217;s been wonderful for all of us children to see was the extraordinary growth in my parents … as they got older, it seems like they were getting closer together … there was a sweetness and a gentleness in both of them,&#8221; son, Tim Robertson, wrote. &#8220;That was a great example for us kids to see.&#8221;
&#8220;Mom was the glue that held the Robertson family together,&#8221; son, Gordon Robertson, shared. &#8220;She was always working behind the scenes. If it weren&#8217;t for Mom, there wouldn’t be a CBN …&#8221;
&#8220;My mother had so many virtues … I&#8217;ve never heard her complain or want to give up… she was steadfast,&#8221; daughter, Elizabeth Robinson, wrote. &#8220;That&#8217;s what Dad needed beside him all these years; a steadfast partner who continually read the Bible and studied the Bible. She was not too concerned about herself. She was selfless. I always saw that growing up. She would make sure we had before she had.&#8221;
Dede was born on December 3, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio. She would later graduate &#8220;from Ohio State University where she earned a bachelor&#8217;s degree in Social Administration,&#8221; the statement read. She also was a beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest and worked as a fashion model.
She later earned a Master of Nursing Degree from Yale University School of Nursing. It was while she was at Yale, she met her husband, M.G. &#8220;Pat&#8221; Robertson, a student in the Yale Law School, the statement added.
She is survived by her husband of more than 60 years, their four children, Timothy Robertson, Elizabeth Robinson, Gordon Robertson, and Ann LeBlanc, as well as the couple&#8217;s 14 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren, the CBN statement read.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.

Pat Robertson-2

Televangelist Pat Robertson’s Wife, Dede, Dead At 94

Evangelicals

Television

Yale

Critics and the general public are at odds over the new faith-based film &#8220;Father Stu,&#8221; released in theaters last week.
At least 75 film critics have collectively rated the Catholic film with a dismal 44% rating, <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/father_stu/reviews?intcmp=rt-scorecard_tomatometer-reviews">according</a> to popular review website Rotten Tomatoes. The audience, on the other hand, praised the movie as a resounding success, with more than 500 reviews averaging a high 95% rating.
The film takes viewers through the life of troubled amateur boxer-turned-Catholic priest Father Stuart Long, who suffered from a rare degenerative and incurable muscular disorder called inclusion body myositis. Critics, clearly, were not convinced of the film adaptation.
&#8220;This ill-conceived, frequently irritating biopic trots out every stale genre chestnut while focusing on a relentlessly unlikable main character who comes across as a stubborn, argumentative bully,&#8221; complained Common Sense Media&#8217;s Jeffrey M. Anderson.
Movie Reelist&#8217;s Monti Lee Stormer mocked, &#8220;The message seems to be &#8216;In the End, Stu became a priest, and everybody clapped.'&#8221;
&#8220;Its clumsy, inert storytelling seems less interested in converting nonbelievers than in convincing us of Wahlberg’s piety,&#8221; Washington Post critic Michael O&#8217;Sullivan said.
James Verniere of the Boston Herald said actors Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson had their performances &#8220;blocked&#8221; by the &#8220;mediocre screenplay by first-time director Rosalind Ross,&#8221; who is Gibson&#8217;s girlfriend, adding that the film is &#8220;a total bore.&#8221;
The general public, though, appreciated that the film was &#8220;a pleasant change&#8221; from &#8220;all the other movies available&#8221; with both &#8220;excellent acting&#8221; and a &#8220;profound message.&#8221;
&#8220;Great message and amazing performance by actors and actresses it teaches us how to be tolerant and persistent at the same time,&#8221; one audience review said.
&#8220;Humanized priest &amp; faith life relatable highly recommended!&#8221; a reviewer named Alison wrote. &#8220;Will watch again!&#8221;
&#8220;Absolutely loved this movie,&#8221; a user named Brian D. commented. &#8220;Keep Bringing us these kind of movies that uplift us and inspire us to be better souls on this earth. Thank you.&#8221;
&#8220;Thoroughly enjoyable movie. Mark Wahlberg was excellent as usual. Entire cast was great,&#8221; another review said. &#8220;I would recommend it to anyone who would enjoy a real life story of someone succeeding after much adversity.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_370042" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-370042" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-370042 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-18-at-8.23.20-AM-1024x331.png" alt="" width="1024" height="331" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-18-at-8.23.20-AM-1024x331.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-18-at-8.23.20-AM-300x97.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-18-at-8.23.20-AM-768x248.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-18-at-8.23.20-AM.png 1498w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Rotten Tomatoes</div>
Despite critics&#8217; reaction, &#8220;Father Stu&#8221; meant a lot to Catholic actors Wahlberg and Gibson; the former privately financed the project and the film was written and directed by Gibson&#8217;s girlfriend, Rosalind Ross.
Moreover, the film seems to be signal of what&#8217;s to come from Wahlberg.
&#8220;I feel like this is starting a new chapter for me in that, now, doing things like this &#8212; real substance &#8212; can help people,&#8221; the 50-year-old actor <a href="https://www.etonline.com/mark-wahlberg-on-father-stu-and-leaving-hollywood-sooner-rather-than-later-exclusive-182177">told</a> Entertainment Tonight. &#8220;I definitely want to focus on making more. I wouldn&#8217;t say necessarily just faith-based content but things that will help people. So, hopefully this movie will open a door for not only myself but for lots of other people in Hollywood to make more meaningful content.&#8221;
Wahlberg added that it will be &#8220;sooner rather than later, probably,&#8221; that he&#8217;ll be leaving Hollywood.
Gibson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/people-want-it-mel-gibson-discusses-faith-based-films-like-father-stu-the-passion">told</a> Fox News that he has long understood that there is a &#8220;real thirst&#8221; for faith-based content, referring to smash hit &#8220;The Passion of the Christ,&#8221; which was co-written and directed by the actor.
“You know, I had a pretty big experience with ‘The Passion,’” he said. “That was an interesting journey to understand that there’s a real thirst for this kind of content out there. People want it, and they respond well to it. So it’s a privilege to be a part of that delivery.”
“I think ‘Father Stu’ offers that,” Gibson continued. “It’s a little different. I wouldn’t really call it a faith-based film, but I think it hits all those cravings that the community wants. But at the same time, it’s not preaching to the choir. It’s got F-bombs, so you do have to weather those things to get to the jewel.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="FATHER STU - Official Trailer (HD)" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DHREzAdyCPs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/even-critics-really-hate-woke-cinderella-remark-level-of-badness-unmatched">Even Critics Really Hate Woke ‘Cinderella’ Remake: ‘Level Of Badness’ Unmatched</a>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dave-chappelles-rotten-tomato-standup-reviews-are-amanda-prestigiacomo">Dave Chappelle’s ‘Rotten Tomato’ Standup Reviews Are In. They’re Exactly What You’d Expect.</a>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-critics-are-saying-about-bill-burrs-amanda-prestigiacomo">Here’s What The Critics Are Saying About Bill Burr’s Latest Anti-PC Comedy Special</a>

Columbia Pictures’ “Father Stu” Photo Call

Critics Pan New Faith-Based Film ‘Father Stu,’ But The Audience Loves It

Catholicism

Mark Wahlberg

Mel Gibson

On Sunday, President Joe Biden attended Sunday Mass at Holy Trinity, a Roman Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. that he’s attended since his days as Vice President.
Soon after, social media and legacy media outlets alike were awash with praise for the “devout” faith being put on display by the new president. The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/us/biden-catholic-christian.html?referringSource=articleShare">called</a> him, “perhaps the most religiously observant commander in chief in half a century,” celebrating that a “more liberal christianity grounds his life and his policies.” 
CNN ran a near celebratory <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/13/politics/joe-biden-catholic-faith/index.html">headline</a>, announcing to the world that “Biden’s Catholic faith will be on full display as the first publicly churchgoing president in decades.” 
NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/sunday-services-biden-s-faith-display-renewed-presidential-ritual-n1255460">touted</a> “Biden’s faith on display,” celebrating this “renewed presidential ritual,” while the New Yorker <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/can-joe-biden-save-american-catholicism-from-the-far-right">praised</a> his “practice of carrying a rosary,” as indicative of a “public servant’s deep faith.”  
Rather than questioning how President Biden’s Catholic faith aligns with his indisputably anti-Catholic positions on issues like abortion, the message from the media was clear: his faith is a humanizing badge of honor, his regular church attendance a sign of consistency worth emulating. 
If you’re surprised by this sort of coverage, it’s easy to see why. 
Just three months ago, the same media praising Biden for his “devout” faith was working feverishly to convince anyone who would listen that Amy Coney Barrett’s strict adherence to Catholic teachings made her a “radical.” 
Far from making her a more qualified public servant, Coney Barrett’s Catholic views were an indictment of her capabilities, weaponized by the same media now worshiping Biden’s worshiping. 
Coney Barrett’s statement that her “legal career is but a means to an end … and that end is building the kingdom of God,” was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/us/amy-coney-barrett-nominee-religion.html">held up</a> by the New York Times as an example of her radicalism, with pundits and commentators alike questioning whether a public servant ought to allow their decision-making to be influenced by religion. 
Such questions were absent from the headlines in coverage of President Biden’s faith. NPR, for example, ran a story<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/20/913667325/how-joe-bidens-faith-shapes-his-politics"> titled</a> “How Joe Biden’s Faith Shapes His Politics.” Far from calling him a radical, NPR alluded to the fact that “his speeches are woven with references to God, biblical language or the Pope,” as a positive. 
“People who know him well say his Catholic faith is central to how he sees the world,” they noted.
If you aren’t fluent in the language of the Left, what they’re saying is this: it’s commendable that Joe Biden’s political career is swayed by his faith. It’s detestable for Amy Coney Barrett. 
No one made this more clear than Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) during Justice Barrett’s confirmation hearing for her appointment to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017. “Why is it that so many of us on this side have this very uncomfortable feeling that dogma and law are two different things?” she asked.
“The conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,” Feinstein <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/09/21/amy-coney-barrett-catholic-scotus/">concluded. </a>
On that note, Joe Biden’s own Vice President, Kamala Harris, once questioned whether a devout Catholic could serve in government, let alone as Commander in Chief.
In 2018, during a confirmation hearing for judicial nominee Brian Buescher, then Senator Harris questioned how Buescher, a devout Catholic, could judge fairly given his association with the Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic service organization.
“Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organization?” she asked.
Oddly enough, Harris’ apparent belief that those who associate with a pro-life organization are unable to serve in government didn&#8217;t impact her decision to partner with President Biden, a member of the Roman Catholic Church — a pro-life organization.
After Joe Biden’s first Sunday in office, the message of the Left and the legacy media as a whole is clear: devout faith in a leader is to be celebrated, as long as that leader is with us.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/haworth-why-democrats-hate-real-catholics">Why Democrats Hate Real Catholics</a>
Cabot Phillips is Managing Editor of The Daily Wire’s Readers Pass. Follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/cabot_phillips">@cabot_phillips</a>
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Pope Francis and US Vice President Joe Biden in Vatican

The Left Said Amy Coney Barrett’s Faith Made Her ‘Radical.’ Now, They Say Joe Biden’s Faith Makes Him ‘Devout’

Amy Coney Barrett

Joe Biden

For decades, the Left have been broadly anti-religion. Instead, they prefer to worship buzzwords while scoffing at those who demonstrate any level of faith in a concept which cannot be replicated in a lab, preaching the need for facts, evidence, and science.  The most derisive of all responses is reserved for the United States’ largest religious group: Christians.
However, as the world has been ravaged by the plague of the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed by the Chinese communist government, the Left’s attitude towards the virus has demonstrated — once and for all — not only that their own ideology is far from scientific, but that it is built on the same supposed farcical concepts of faith they themselves despise.
<blockquote>“And the blood will be for you for a sign upon the houses where you will be, and I will see the blood and skip over you, and there will be no plague to destroy [you] when I smite the [people of the] land of Egypt.” &#8211; Exodus 12:13</blockquote>
In the book of Exodus, in order to be protected from the 10th and final plague — death of the firstborn — the Israelites were instructed to mark their doorposts with the blood of a lamb. Today, masks have become the blood on our doorposts, and wearing one protects us from the plague. While masks can certainly help when worn properly in appropriate situations, the lazy slogan application of the retort “wear a mask” has long since abandoned the notion of scientific justification and instead fully embraced the laughable idea that any scrap of cloth across our face is effective.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Mask up and vote.<a href="https://t.co/eoxT07uII9">https://t.co/eoxT07uII9</a> <a href="https://t.co/Z1gz3AkbgW">pic.twitter.com/Z1gz3AkbgW</a>
&mdash; Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1323336825306402816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Those who adhere to the demand to “mask up” are able to prove their loyalty. Those who don’t, regardless of any relevant context or reasoning, are traitors to the cause. A viral Judas, if you will.
Another entirely religious concept being applied heavily by the supposedly pro-science Left is that of sacrifice. The value of sacrificing property, possessions, or one’s own life to God is referenced on multiple occasions throughout the Bible, and features in other religions too. The same logic is being applied to the sacrifices demanded of the country, in return for our “protection” from COVID-19.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I know it’s a huge sacrifice we are asking of Americans—at this point, there is no other choice as we have just hit a record 91,000 hospitalizations from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/covid19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#covid19</a>. Cancel nonessential travel for the winter holidays. We need to hunker down to flatten the curve. <a href="https://t.co/m5QqHmkIxZ">pic.twitter.com/m5QqHmkIxZ</a>
&mdash; Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrLeanaWen/status/1332849747196047362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The crucial detail intentionally ignored, of course, is that sacrifice is a voluntary act. To fight to protect our family and friends, risking physical harm in the process, is a sacrifice. Deciding to forgo the potential of a lucrative career in favor of caring for a family member is a sacrifice. In many ways, deciding to cease the consumption and abuse of drugs or alcohol is a sacrifice.
Forcing the population to adhere to entirely unscientific COVID-19 policies is not a sacrifice. Voluntarily destroying the economy and dragging the country into a man-made recession is not a sacrifice. Mandating the behavior of others is not a sacrifice. Nor is it a sacrifice to demand that the average citizen acts one way while our “leaders” shamelessly flaunt their own rules. Moreover, when the Bible speaks of sacrifice, it speaks of sacrificing to God. When Democrats talk of sacrifice, they mean submitting to the overwhelming power of the state. The idea that government is god is hardly uncommon among the radical Left.
No, the only things being sacrificed in this instance are our logic, reason and freedom. Politicians, acting out of ineptitude, fear, and/or an authoritarian hunger for power are relying on the language of faith and religion in order to trick us into kneeling before them. By pivoting away from an alleged respect for science and toward the deliberately unverifiable lexicon of religion, they hope to avoid recognizing the truth — that much of our lives is simply out of our control — and distract us with false promises while they continue to escape taking responsibility for the damage they have willingly done.
Science may help us fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Blind faith in politicians who have no respect for science, however, will not.
Ian Haworth is host of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkPxdVsNp7k&amp;list=PLhi-aq-5DfuTQRVv1IOVMnA735vEYO0f5">The Ian Haworth Show</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E05t2L69Sks&amp;list=PLhi-aq-5DfuRHu5r0IV5qr4h2rBAV9oBd">The Truth in 60 Seconds</a>. Follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">@ighaworth</a>.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Have Faith … In Masks: The Left’s Religious View Of The COVID-19 Plague

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Multiple crises have converged on our country, significantly impacting all of us. The current pandemic drags on. The economy is trying to come back but is precarious and sluggish. Jobs are increasingly scarce. Many small businesses are going under. Protests and riots are literally leaving cities in flames as the divisions in our nation grow into seemingly unbridgeable chasms. The quiet despairs that hound so many on an individual level have not gone away either. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-is-america-suffering-a-mental-health-crisis-or-a-moral-crisis">Addiction and suicide</a> remain epidemics in their own right. While many are struggling to maintain optimism in this difficult moment, here are some fundamental aspects of perseverance that can deepen our resolve to move forward toward better times.
An abiding sense of faith
Some dismiss religious faith as antiquated or, worse, destructive, but the reality is the wisdom and solace faith offers, particularly in our times of need, remain immeasurable. Research done at the <a href="https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(11)62799-7/pdf">Mayo Clinic</a> offered the following evidence regarding the profound benefits of religious faith:
“Most studies have shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes, including greater longevity, coping skills, and health-related quality of life (even during terminal illness) and less anxiety, depression, and suicide. Several studies have shown that addressing the spiritual needs of the patient may enhance recovery from illness.”
Up until the last century, mental health was largely the domain of religion. Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression were once largely considered spiritual maladies. A study co-sponsored by <a href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/278730/#B2">Duke University</a> on the clinical aspects of religion in relation to health and wellbeing elaborates on this fact. Interestingly enough, the study also argues that the trend toward secular treatments may have contributed to a rise in patient abuse:
“Care for those with mental health problems in the West also had its roots within monasteries and religious communities. In 1247, the Priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem was built in London on the Thames River. Originally designed to house ‘distracted people,’ this was Europe’s (and perhaps the world’s) first mental hospital. In 1547, however, St. Mary’s was torn down and replaced by Bethlehem or Bethlem Hospital. Over the years, as secular authorities took control over the institution, the hospital became famous for its inhumane treatment of the mentally ill, who were often chained, dunked in water, or beaten as necessary to control them. In later years, an admission fee (2 pence) was charged to the general public to observe the patients abusing themselves or other patients. The hospital eventually became known as ‘bedlam’ (from which comes the word used today to indicate a state of confusion and disarray).”
With the onset of psychoanalysis in the twentieth century and its tremendous bias against religion, faith took on an increasingly diminished role as a remedy toward relieving mental illnesses and mood disorders.
The schism between faith and psychiatry “was encouraged by…Sigmund Freud. After being ‘introduced’ to the neurotic and hysterical aspects of religion by the famous French neurologist Jean Charcot in the mid-1880s, Freud began to emphasize this in a widely read series of publications from 1907 through his death in 1939.”
Regardless, the beneficial aspects of faith have seen a resurgence across a broad spectrum of disciplines including healthcare, according to the <a href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/278730/#B2">Duke study</a>:
“Despite the negative views and opinions held by many mental health professionals, research examining religion, spirituality, and health has been rapidly expanding — and most of it is occurring outside the field of psychiatry. This research is being published in journals from a wide range of disciplines, including those in medicine, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, social work, public health, sociology, psychology, religion, spirituality, pastoral care, chaplain, population studies, and even in economics and law journals.”
Aside from empirical proof that so many demand these days to rationalize any modicum of faith, philosophy and literature have often expounded upon the imperative role faith ought to have in our fleeting, often arduous time on earth.
C.S. Lewis famously described faith as &#8220;the art of holding onto things in spite of your changing moods and circumstances.&#8221;  Maintaining faith, he said, requires continual renewal of the mind. &#8220;We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It must be fed.&#8221;
In what some consider <a href="https://thechristianreview.com/why-the-brothers-karamazov-is-the-greatest-novel-of-all-time/">the greatest novel ever written</a> as well as the grand summation of his own religious journey, the Russian novelist and philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky insists on the imperative role of faith in “The Brothers Karamazov”:
“Much on earth is concealed from us, but in place of it we have been granted a secret, mysterious sense of our living bond with the other world, with the higher heavenly world, and the roots of our thoughts and feelings are not here but in other worlds. That is why philosophers say it is impossible on earth to conceive the essence of things. God took seeds from other worlds and sowed them on this earth, and raised up his garden; and everything that could sprout sprouted, but it lives and grows only through its sense of being in touch with other mysterious worlds; if this sense is weakened or destroyed in you, that which has grown up in you dies. Then you become indifferent to life, and even come to hate it.”
Fortitude shields us against many hardships
“Patience and fortitude conquer all things,” Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said. In many respects, fortitude is, at root, the art of suffering well. One imagines Sisyphus laboring up the mountain for all eternity not as punishment from the gods but as a fundamental source of meaning and purpose.
Even the French philosopher Albert Camus, with all his bleak and myopic exhortations on life as inherently “absurd,” could not help but find meaning in suffering. In “<a href="https://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil360/16.%20Myth%20of%20Sisyphus.pdf">The Myth of Sisyphus</a>,” Camus wrote:
“But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well…Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
A <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331603591_Development_and_Validation_of_a_Measure_of_Spiritual_Fortitude">recent study</a> published in association with the American Psychological Association defines fortitude as “a character trait enabling people to endure and make redemptive meaning from adversity through their sacred connections with God, others, and themselves.”
Jamie Aten, one of the authors of the study, elaborates on fortitude as a decidedly religious trait in a piece for <a href="https://religionnews.com/2019/12/09/the-new-science-of-spiritual-fortitude-the-key-to-enduring-faith/">Religion News Service</a>:
“Though new to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hope-resilience/201901/resilience-and-spiritual-fortitude">empirical psychological science</a>, fortitude is not a new concept. The church has long taught fortitude as the virtue of adversity and named it as one of the biblical fruits of the spirit, in the phrase Paul uses in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A22-25&amp;version=NRSV">Galatians</a>. Thomas Aquinas <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14663b.htm">defined</a> fortitude as an act of ‘brave endurance.’ Within the Christian tradition, fortitude is commonly associated with pursuing good in the face of fear and hardship, which we also found evidence of. Spiritual fortitude also…allowed the sufferer to think of others. ‘Spiritual fortitude may foster right actions on the behalf of others for the greater good and not personal gain despite adversity,’ he wrote. Fortitude has also been characterized as ‘<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BeUsAAAAYAAJ&amp;pg=PA113&amp;lpg=PA113&amp;dq=locke+fortitude+guard+and+support+of+the+other+virtues+source&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=R9FrIj9leZ&amp;sig=ACfU3U1XAkBC_-n7njzuO8e7hSi5ZR-txw&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwif18iWm7_lAhUBWa0KHZmUAEoQ6AEwBXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=locke%20fortitude%20guard%20and%20support%20of%20the%20other%20virtues%20source&amp;f=false">the guard and support of the other virtues.</a>’ Our findings support this characterization of spiritual fortitude as a ‘guard.’ Results indicated spiritual fortitude may not only help protect character strengths but may actually provide practices for making use of one’s suffering.”
Perhaps the most eloquent and profound insights on fortitude, particularly in relation to suffering, reside in Viktor Frankl’s masterful work, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Frankl recounts the unimaginable horrors he endured in the Holocaust:
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts, comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Though often difficult or even impossible to recognize at times, Frankl insists throughout his work that meaning is inherent to suffering and, together, fortify our spiritual existence, allowing us to transcend any hardship:
“If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an eradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete. I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering and death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost…It is this spiritual freedom — which cannot be taken away — that makes life meaningful and purposeful.”
Morality and sacrifice
Morality offers us a compass to help us navigate through all the darkness and fog inside and outside ourselves. It gently tasks us with the responsibility to rise to any occasion rather than succumb to it. It shapes our character into who we are and, more importantly, who we ought to be, particularly, in relation to the many hardships we endure as individuals and as a society.  “Character is destiny,” as Heraclitus said.
In a recent essay on what makes people resilient in the face of hardships, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/health/resilience-relationships-trauma.html">The New York Times</a> offered the following insights on morality and selflessness:
“Interviews with large numbers of highly resilient individuals — those who have experienced a great deal of adversity and have come through it successfully — show they share the following characteristics:
<ul>
<li>They have a moral compass. Highly resilient people have a solid sense of what they consider right and wrong, and it tends to guide their decisions.</li>
<li>They have a belief in something greater than themselves. This is often found through religious or spiritual practices. The community support that comes from being part of a religion also enhances resilience.</li>
<li>They are altruistic; they have a concern for others and a degree of selflessness. They are often dedicated to causes they find meaningful and that give them a sense of purpose.”</li>
</ul>
In his seminal work, “The Varieties of Religious Experience,” William James argued that when morality is shaped by religious faith, selflessness and sacrifice reach their highest potential:
“When all is said and done, we are in the end absolutely dependent on the universe; and into sacrifices and surrenders of some sort, deliberately looked at and accepted, we are drawn and pressed as into our only permanent positions of repose. Now in those states of mind which fall short of religion, the surrender is submitted to as an imposition of necessity, and the sacrifice is undergone at the very best without complaint. In the religious life, on the contrary, surrender and sacrifice are positively espoused: even unnecessary givings-up are added in order that the happiness may increase. Religion thus makes easy and felicitous what in any case is necessary.”
Though theories on morality and social contracts abound in much of philosophy and the social sciences — from Thomas Hobbes’ “Leviathan” to John Rawl’s “Theory of Justice — morality need not be some obtuse and vexing endeavor.
In fact, one could argue that the highest forms of morality and character are often the simplest. <a href="https://iep.utm.edu/goldrule/">The Golden Rule</a>, a maxim evident in all the major religious traditions, immediately comes to mind. Character, then, becomes the lifelong pursuit of moral refinement in the truest sense of the word.
The current crises remind us that we are a nation that is built upon our ability to persevere, to endure, with faith and purpose. Once again, we are simply tasked to fulfill our obligations to ourselves and, more importantly, to each other.

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