Amid all the talk about tariffs with China, and how they steal America&#8217;s intellectual property and establish all kinds of trade barriers with this country, you might have missed this story. It&#8217;s not about economics, but at the same time, it tells you a lot about what authoritarian countries like China fear the most.
Beginning on May 1, China will accelerate its crackdown on religion, and Christianity in particular. Foreign missionaries will be banned from preaching unless they obtain formal approval from the government.
According to Chinese <a href="https://www.persecution.org/2025/04/04/china-moves-to-formally-ban-missionary-activity/">state media</a>, the goal of the new regulation is to protect &#8220;national security&#8221; and &#8220;political stability&#8221; by forcing people to attend official, state-run religious services with pre-approved messaging. Additionally, Chinese state media has recently boasted about the fact that religious groups — which the government calls &#8220;cult organizations&#8221; — have been increasingly shut down in China. At this point, one of the fastest ways to disappear in China is to deliver a sermon that upsets the ruling party.
Of course, this is the exact opposite of the result we were promised when the United States normalized free trade with China several decades ago. As Bill Clinton put it, “Membership in the W.T.O. will not create a free society in China overnight or guarantee that China will play by global rules. &#8230; But over time, I believe it will move China faster and further in the right direction.”
That hasn&#8217;t happened. Instead, China is now aggressively moving to crush Christians, for the simple reason that Christians believe in a higher power than their government. We have not introduced Western norms to China. We have not exported our values to them. Instead, despite the promises of free trade, China has successfully exported its totalitarian impulses to the West. One by one, Western countries are adopting anti-Christian crackdowns, to the point that they&#8217;re making it illegal for Christians to practice their faith.
What&#8217;s happening right now in New South Wales, which is a state on the east coast of Australia, makes this very clear. Earlier this month, something called the &#8220;Conversion Practices Ban Act of 2024&#8221; became law in New South Wales. This law, by its own terms, allows the authorities to arrest Christians for praying. That is not an exaggeration or an overstatement. It&#8217;s actually <a href="https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2024-019">written</a> into the legislation. From <a href="https://antidiscrimination.nsw.gov.au/discrimination/conversion-practices/frequently-asked-questions.html#What4">the government</a> of New South Wales: &#8220;Praying with or over a person with the intent to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity is unlawful. It is unlawful even if that person has asked you to pray for them to be able to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity.&#8221;
This again is in Australia, a western nation. Not China. Praying with someone who wants you to pray with them could land you in jail. That&#8217;s happening right now, in a supposed western democracy.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1573-member-exclusive?elementPosition=2&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
In other words, if someone wants to pray to God so that he can overcome his gender dysphoria — a condition that, by definition, causes significant mental distress — then his pastor cannot pray with him. In fact, his own family members cannot pray with him. If the police discover that any unapproved prayers have been occurring, they can kick down the doors of the church, or the family home, and haul away the violators. And then they&#8217;ll spend up to five years in prison for their crimes against the state: The crime of praying.
Just to emphasize this point, the government of New South Wales published the single most Orwellian video you&#8217;ll ever see. No matter how many times you&#8217;ve heard the word &#8220;Orwellian,&#8221; believe me, this qualifies. This is the government&#8217;s attempt to intimidate the millions of people who live in New South Wales, with their new law that bans prayer. 
Here&#8217;s how the video begins:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 prayer can be deeply harmful" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L09nr4CszAY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
First of all, by the terms of this legislation, every single gender activist in Australia is a criminal. They all believe, without exception, that you can choose to be &#8220;LGBTQA&#8221; (which is apparently the acronym now). There&#8217;s no other way to explain people who ping-pong between genders at will, or people who de-transition. In fact the concept of “fluidity” is now dogma in the LGBT religion. Fluidity — sexual fluidity, gender fluidity — means that you can change at will from one sexuality or gender to another. If someone identifies as a Bi-gender Toasterkin, and then a few weeks later decides he&#8217;s really a Demi-gender, half-humanoid alpaca, or whatever, then at some point, we can conclude that this person made a choice to identify in some arbitrary way. And every step of the way, gender activists — according to the tenets of their ideology — have no choice but to affirm everything. This is one of the reasons trans activists keep losing in court, by the way. They have to admit that, under their logic, so-called &#8220;Trans people&#8221; can choose, at any time, to be trans or not trans. And therefore, because &#8220;trans status&#8221; is malleable — again, malleable by definition, by THEIR definition —  they&#8217;re not entitled to civil rights protections, which only apply to immutable, unchanging traits.
As the video continues, things become even more dystopian.
There&#8217;s this line for example: &#8220;All people should feel welcome and valued and be able to live authentically and with PRIDE.&#8221; 
Yes, all people — every single one of them — should feel welcome and valued. They should all be able to &#8220;live authentically.&#8221; But this promise apparently does not apply to Christians who believe (as all of humanity did until 15 minutes ago) that men are men and women are women. Those Christians do not have the right to live authentically or &#8220;feel welcomed.&#8221; Instead, they can go straight to prison. Here&#8217;s more of the video, because again, as it goes along, things get worse and worse:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 introducing law" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/INw4m7qR-CI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is where they casually establish that &#8220;family members&#8221; — including a mother and father — can be incarcerated if they don&#8217;t affirm their child&#8217;s imagined gender identity. And of course they do it with a sing-songy, HR lady reading the voiceover. Scratch an HR lady and you will find a power-mad despot, every single time.
We&#8217;ve <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conversion-therapy-bans-are-an-outrageous-attack-on-free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">talked</a> about so-called &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; before, and how efforts to ban the practice are both unconstitutional and incoherent. In this country, the Supreme Court is about to hear a case concerning whether Colorado&#8217;s ban on conversion therapy violates the First Amendment. The problem is that bans on &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; in every case, are premised on the idea that sexual orientation cannot be changed. But in the same breath, the government of New South Wales will tell you that sex is extremely changeable. In fact, you can go to the doctor and change it tomorrow. See the problem? If you&#8217;re changing your sex, then you&#8217;re also changing your sexual orientation, under their logic. A man who supposedly &#8220;becomes&#8221; a woman, but retains his attraction to men, would become a lesbian, in their view. This is the logical problem with these conversion therapy bans that they simply have no answer for. It&#8217;s like dividing by zero. 
But now they&#8217;re using this phony logic to justify throwing parents and priests in prison. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="003 report , can lead to prison" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cq0cqMeI-IY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The scope of this law is so broad that you could probably claim I&#8217;m violating it, if my show is broadcast in New South Wales. They want Australians to snitch on each other if they get a whiff of anyone who dares to suggest that gender ideology isn&#8217;t real. In a lot of ways, it&#8217;s like the COVID lockdowns all over again. You might remember that, at the height of the &#8220;pandemic,&#8221; there was a nationwide manhunt in Australia when some guy sneezed in an empty elevator without a mask on. Now they&#8217;re going to have manhunts over unauthorized prayers.
If you don&#8217;t believe that, consider what just happened a few weeks ago to Billboard Chris. He was peacefully standing in a market in Brisbane, wearing a sign that expressed his opposition to the castration of children in the name of gender ideology. He only spoke to people who spoke to him first. He didn&#8217;t obstruct anyone&#8217;s movement or anything like that. People were walking around him the whole time. There&#8217;s no dispute about any of this; it&#8217;s all on video. Nevertheless, Brisbane police arrested Billboard Chris, on camera. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="004 billboard chris" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MUv1IlzyT-M?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
They arrested him for standing in a public place with a sign. There&#8217;s no doubt that, if the sign had been pro-gay marriage or whatever, then none of this would have happened. If you watch the full video, the police can&#8217;t name a single other instance where they&#8217;ve jailed someone for peacefully protesting at that location. But Billboard Chris blasphemed Australia&#8217;s state religion, so they took him away in handcuffs. And now they&#8217;re planning to do the same thing to the clergy.
The other day, an Australian commentator named Evelyn Rae outlined exactly what&#8217;s happening here. Here was her assessment, which is worth playing — not only because she&#8217;s right, but also because it&#8217;s good to know that Australia hasn&#8217;t been completely captured yet. Here it is:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="005 Evelyn Rae On China" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2--leJmbBx4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Everything Evelyn Rae just said also applies to many other countries. This is not a problem that&#8217;s limited to Australia. 
Here&#8217;s a <a href="https://reason.com/2024/10/17/british-man-convicted-of-criminal-charges-for-praying-silently-near-abortion-clinic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report from Reason</a> late last year, for example. This is the kind of story that JD Vance mentioned in his recent address to European leaders.
<blockquote>A British man was convicted of criminal charges for praying silently near an abortion clinic. The man, Adam Smith-Connor, did not attempt to harass, intimidate, or interact in any way with those entering the clinic. Instead, he wordlessly prayed with his head bowed slightly. He wasn&#8217;t even on clinic property—he was outside the sightline of the clinic itself. &#8230; As a result, Smith-Connor was questioned by police and later charged with violating a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), a broad censorship order enabled by the 2014 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. Under this law, local authorities can obtain special status for some public places, allowing them to ban a huge range of conduct. In the name of limiting &#8216;anti-social behavior.&#8217;</blockquote>
Yes, prayer is considered &#8220;anti-social behavior&#8221; in England. These kinds of arrests are happening because — from Britain to Colorado to Canada to Australia to China — authoritarians in government detest any challenge to their authority. These government officials know that they&#8217;re not impressive people. Australia&#8217;s prime minister has barely held a real job in his life. Most of the country is represented by people like this. They&#8217;re petrified that their subjects might worship someone other than themselves. As a result, they&#8217;re now throwing Christians in prison for practicing their faith. This trend has accelerated in China, and it&#8217;s now spreading throughout the West. Christians are being forcibly silenced, at scale. They are being vilified and incarcerated for what they believe.
I began by saying this isn&#8217;t a monologue about economics or trade wars. That&#8217;s true. But as we consider how we&#8217;ll work with these countries in the future — as we negotiate trade deals and so on — the assaults on Christians simply cannot be ignored. These attacks are as unlawful and immoral as they are systematic. They are becoming a fundamental part of the culture of both our allies and our adversaries. For the benefit of billions of Christians, and to preserve basic constitutional rights like the freedom of speech, this coordinated assault on religion must end before it progresses any further.

Top view of group of people on therapy, praying and counselling concept.

This Might Be The Most Orwellian Law I’ve Ever Heard Of

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Opinion

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Sexual Orientation

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Pro-life diaper company EveryLife is launching a prayer campaign along with prominent Christian leaders for couples hoping to have children.
The campaign, &#8220;Praying for More Babies in 2025,&#8221; is a &#8220;nationwide movement of prayer for couples longing for children.&#8221; It comes in response to &#8220;plummeting global fertility rates,&#8221; EveryLife said.
From March 11 to April 11, EveryLife is inviting married couples &#8220;longing for a child — whether awaiting their first or hoping for more&#8221; to <a href="https://everylife.com/pages/pray" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sign up</a> to be &#8220;covered in prayer&#8221; through the end of the year.
&#8220;The EveryLife team, alongside prominent Christian leaders and members of the faith community, will pray for each couple by name, standing in faith as they seek the blessing of a child,&#8221; EveryLife said. &#8220;Throughout the year, EveryLife will provide monthly updates to participants sharing the names of prayer partners lifting them up, encouraging scriptures, and an opportunity to report answered prayers as couples trust in God’s perfect timing.&#8221;
Some of the prominent Christians supporting the initiative are Lila Rose, Allie Beth Stuckey and her husband, Timothy, and Charlie Kirk and his wife, Erika.
Others voicing their support are surfer and speaker Bethany Hamilton and her husband, Adam Dirks, and several members of the Robertson family, famous for the A&amp;E series &#8220;Duck Dynasty.&#8221;
&#8220;Strong families make a strong nation, and together, we can help foster a future where life and family are valued and celebrated,&#8221; EveryLife said.
EveryLife was launched in 2023 by PublicSq., an online marketplace that works to help “freedom-loving Americans” find businesses that align with their values and <a href="https://www.outkick.com/meet-publicsq-the-conservative-alternative-to-amazon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brands</a> itself as a conservative alternative to Amazon.
The pro-life diaper company is growing quickly and now delivers diapers in all 50 states, the company said. EveryLife also supports pro-life organizations, donating diapers and wipes to crisis pregnancy centers.
When the company launched, EveryLife <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-pro-life-diaper-company-releases-powerful-ad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> an ad calling out progressive companies for embracing anti-life values such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/abortion-companies-travel-expenses.html#:~:text=Intuit%20said%20Friday%20it%20would,live%2C%E2%80%9D%20the%20company%20said." target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> they would cover the travel expenses for their female employees’ abortions.
“While so many companies are promoting what is wrong, we choose to celebrate what is right — life,” the ad&#8217;s narrator said as a pregnant woman was shown gazing at her unborn child on an ultrasound screen.
“Every miracle from God, boy and girl, black, tan, and white, planned and unplanned, gifted and special,” the ad said. “Every one of them is celebrated here.”

A baby in a diaper at the age of two months and a stack of diapers. How to choose baby diapers

Pro-Life Diaper Company Launches Prayer Campaign For Couples Trying To Conceive

Pro-Life Diaper Company, Christian Leaders Launch Prayer Campaign For Couples Trying To Conceive

Amazon

Charlie Kirk

Pro-Life Movement

The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast (NCPB) will partner with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/god-is-doing-something-pretty-incredible-catholic-app-passes-up-google-tiktok-on-ash-wednesday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hallow</a>, a popular Catholic meditation and prayer app, to lead a nationwide, 9-day novena ahead of its event, NCPB exclusively shared with The Daily Wire.
The 20th annual NCPB will be held in Washington, D.C., on February 28, about a month into the new presidential administration&#8217;s term. The breakfast is expected to draw around 1,200 of the nation&#8217;s most prominent Catholics to pray for the leadership and direction of the country.
The novena, which is a Catholic nine-day period of prayer for special petitions, is called &#8220;A Prayer for Our Nation.&#8221; It will be featured on Hallow starting on February 20, running through the day of the prayer breakfast, which will be held at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
“We are proud to partner with Hallow, and to join millions of Catholics across America in praying for our great nation,&#8221; NCPB Event Chairman Mark Randall said in a statement to The Daily Wire. &#8220;I hope our humble commitment to this novena will strengthen, unify and guide us as we prepare for the 20th National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.”
Hallow CEO Alex Jones called it &#8220;an honor&#8221; to partner with the NCPB &#8220;to pray for our country, our leaders, the armed forces and their families, and all our fellow citizens.&#8221;
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&#8220;In a world filled with so much division, it’s a blessing to stand together as brothers and sisters in Christ,&#8221; Jones added. &#8220;Join us in praying the Litany of American Saints on Hallow in the days leading up to the event. Immaculate Mary, pray for us.”
Monsignor James P. Shea, President of the University of Mary, will keynote the prayer breakfast. His remarks will touch on the impact of the NCPB over the last two decades and the event&#8217;s theme, which is hope.
Hallow, as highlighted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-couple-more-people-in-heaven-would-be-nice-hallow-ceo-talks-success-of-catholic-app-rise-of-faith-based-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a>, was first launched in 2018 by Jones and fellow University of Notre Dame graduates Alessandro DiSanto and Erich Kerekes. The app has rocketed in popularity, garnering more than 23 million downloads across 150 countries.
During a previous interview with The Daily Wire, Jones was asked how he and his team would measure the app&#8217;s success, and he responded, “A couple more people in Heaven would be nice.”
“Maybe a couple more people who are in that really dark spot, who might be lost, who might feel like they’re all alone — maybe a couple of those people might experience the warmth of God’s love,” Jones added. “So it’s that for us, that’s really what we’re focused on.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-couple-more-people-in-heaven-would-be-nice-hallow-ceo-talks-success-of-catholic-app-rise-of-faith-based-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘A Couple More People In Heaven Would Be Nice’: Hallow CEO Talks Success Of Catholic App, Rise Of Faith-Based Content</a>

USA, New Jersey, Woman praying with rosary beads in hands

EXCLUSIVE: Hallow Partners With National Catholic Prayer Breakfast To Pray ‘For Our Great Nation’

Exclusive: Hallow Partners With National Catholic Prayer Breakfast To Pray ‘For Our Great Nation’

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Catholicism

Catholics

Religion

U.S.

Washington D.C.

Episcopalian Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde was nicknamed &#8220;the woke bishop&#8221; across conservative media after she delivered a &#8220;prayer&#8221; on Tuesday that was clearly intended to scold President Donald Trump for not adopting liberal positions on gender and immigration.
By the next day, she&#8217;d been invited to join the liberal hosts of ABC&#8217;s midday talk show &#8220;The View,&#8221; presumably to pick up where she&#8217;d left off, scolding conservatives for believing that there are only two genders and a country without strong borders is not a country.
&#8220;COMING UP: Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde joins #TheView LIVE to respond after Pres. Trump criticized her pointed message yesterday at the inaugural prayer service where she called on the the [sic] president to show &#8216;mercy&#8217; toward LGBTQ people and immigrants,&#8221; the show&#8217;s X page posted by way of a preview.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
COMING UP: Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde joins <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheView?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheView</a> LIVE to respond after Pres. Trump criticized her pointed message yesterday at the inaugural prayer service where she called on the the president to show &#8220;mercy&#8221; toward LGBTQ people and immigrants. <a href="https://t.co/RwQXlu7GOy">pic.twitter.com/RwQXlu7GOy</a>
— The View (@TheView) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1882084678946959836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-rips-into-so-called-bishop-who-asked-him-to-have-mercy-on-illegal-immigrants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made it clear</a> that he was not impressed with Budde, calling her &#8220;nasty&#8221; and complaining that the prayer service had not been very good.
&#8220;The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart,&#8221; he said in a late-night post to his Truth Social platform.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl%3D1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA..&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1737430804505000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2S7KENhvlT7FAUHjrI0iAs">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
Trump was far from the only one who objected to Budde&#8217;s remarks. Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) walked out of the service early and explained why he&#8217;d done so in an X post.
&#8220;I purposely left the prayer service early after realizing how the pulpit was being used for liberal means and not for true worship unto God and to seek His will and wisdom. Mr. President … what accosted you today was political, not Biblical,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I purposely left the prayer service early after realizing how the pulpit was being used for liberal means and not for true worship unto God and to seek His will and wisdom.
Mr. President … what accosted you today was political, not Biblical.<a href="https://t.co/fpJWORk4NM">https://t.co/fpJWORk4NM</a>
— Congressman Josh Brecheen (@RepBrecheen) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBrecheen/status/1881855352721100919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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National Cathedral Holds A Service Of Prayer For The Nation

Woke Bishop Retreats To ‘The View’ In Search Of Friendlier Audience

Woke Bishop Retreats To 'The View' In Search Of Friendlier Audience

Donald Trump

illegal immigrants

Illegal Immigration

JD Vance

Media

Politics

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> ripped into a “so-called bishop” on Tuesday who he said politicized the National Prayer Service when <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bishop-asks-trump-to-have-mercy-on-trans-children-illegal-aliens-at-national-prayer-service" target="_blank" rel="noopener">she asked him</a> to “have mercy” on “transgender children” and illegal immigrants. 
Trump was responding to a message from Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde when she said during the National Prayer Service that illegal immigrants were scared because of his presidency. Trump has promised to enact a large-scale deportation project and secure the southern border. 
“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113870397327465225" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on Truth Social late Tuesday night. 
During her message, Budde asked Trump to “have mercy” on illegal immigrants.
“And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation,” she said. “But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches.”
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands, to find compassion and welcome here,” she said.
Trump responded to Budde&#8217;s lecture by saying that she was ignoring the number of illegal immigrants who had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-passes-amended-version-of-the-laken-riley-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed American citizens</a>. 
“She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions,” he said. “It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”
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Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration has begun as he declared an emergency at the border, designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and shut down the CBP One App parole program.
Budde has a history of <a href="https://x.com/charliespiering/status/1881759652792455291" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticizing</a> Trump and blasted him years ago after he used riot police to clear leftist protestors out of the area surrounding the White House, even saying that his message was “antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that we as a church stand for.”

Trump Rips Into ‘So-Called Bishop’ Who Asked Him To ‘Have Mercy’ On Illegal Immigrants

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The Daily Wire has an exclusive first look at the <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/1825886151804137739">trailer</a> for “Average Joe,” the story of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fired-football-coach-to-be-reinstated-after-supreme-court-win">high school football coach</a> who took his fight for the right to pray on the field all the way to the Supreme Court — and won.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WATCH: Exclusive first look at “Average Joe,” the true story of how coach Joe Kennedy won at the Supreme Court after he was fired for praying at games. In theaters October 11: <a href="https://t.co/CYsfq2AFvV">pic.twitter.com/CYsfq2AFvV</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1825886151804137739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
Directed by award-winner Harold Cronk, (&#8220;God&#8217;s Not Dead,&#8221; &#8220;Unbroken: Path to Redemption&#8221;), the film stars Eric Close (&#8220;Nashville,&#8221; &#8220;American Sniper&#8221;) as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coach-who-won-landmark-scotus-prayer-ruling-steps-away-from-football-to-advocate-for-religious-liberty">Joseph Kennedy</a>, assistant football coach of Bremerton High School in Washington. After seven years on the job, school officials asked Kennedy to stop praying with players on field after games. Kennedy refused, saying he had the right to pray quietly in public. The school placed him on administrative leave in 2015, and later fired him for his refusal to stop praying.
Kennedy sued the school on religious freedom grounds, and took his case all the way to the <a href="https://img.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2022/10/27/19711039654116.pdf">Supreme Court,</a> which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fired-football-coach-to-be-reinstated-after-supreme-court-win">ruled</a> in a 6-3 decision that Kennedy&#8217;s rights had been infringed upon.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724244866925000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3VTDsU7oYNsv4XsqZ1PBbU">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
“I’ve been fighting my whole life,” Kennedy says in the trailer, over a montage of him getting in scrapes and serving as a Marine. 
&#8220;So, if you told me that saying a prayer on the 50-yard line was a thing that was going to get me in the biggest fight of my life, you can not tell me that God doesn’t have a sense of humor.”
In addition to recounting Kennedy&#8217;s battle, &#8220;Average Joe&#8221; also pulls back the curtain on its subject&#8217;s life, giving viewers a glimpse at private moments between Kennedy and his wife, Denise, played by Amy Acker (&#8220;Person of Interest,&#8221; &#8220;Alias&#8221;).
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“I made a promise to God. I can’t let him down,” Kennedy tells Denise, who responds, &#8220;God doesn’t need you to defend him.&#8221; 
“I’m not defending God. I’m defending the people of this country,&#8221; Kennedy says.,
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority ruling in Kennedy&#8217;s case in June 2023, seven years after the coach began his fight to pray on the field.
“Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. And the only meaningful justification the government offered for its reprisal rested on a mistaken view that it had a duty to ferret out and suppress religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech,” Gorsuch <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/high-school-football-coach-scores-big-win-supreme-court-post-game-prayer">wrote</a>. “The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination.”
“Average Joe” hits theaters nationwide on October 11.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fired-football-coach-to-be-reinstated-after-supreme-court-win" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fired Football Coach To Be Reinstated After Supreme Court Win</a>

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‘I Made A Promise To God’: EXCLUSIVE First Look At ‘Average Joe’ Trailer

'I Made A Promise To God': EXCLUSIVE First Look At 'Average Joe' Trailer

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The following is a transcript excerpt from Dr. Jordan Peterson’s conversation with country music artist John Rich on prayer, how to discern the difference between your will and God’s will, the truth of the Bible, death and eternity. You can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast/tbd-john-rich" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listen to</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/john-rich-ad-free" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watch</a> the full podcast episode on DailyWire+.
Start time: 49:39
Jordan B. Peterson: I am curious about how you know the difference between your will and what should be done. The prayer — to do the father&#8217;s will on earth as it is in heaven — is different from pursuing your own short-term interests. But you can be deluded about that. So how do you know? How do you test your own motivation to determine whether what you are doing is truthful or just another snare of deception?
John Rich: I think one place, with respect, that I think you are wrong on this subject and that you miss it, is that you think human beings have the capability to decide between left and right, truth and lie, all these things that are going on, and we&#8217;re just not capable of it. I&#8217;ll put it to you this way: I am not looking at the real Jordan Peterson. I&#8217;m looking at what Jordan Peterson lives in for a while. You&#8217;re not looking at John Rich. I just live in this thing for a while. The real Jordan Peterson lives forever. He&#8217;s an eternal being. He was created by the creator, and he was put in that body that you&#8217;re in right now to last as long as it&#8217;s going to last. And then that body is going to die. And then the real Jordan is released from that body, same way it goes for me. 
So the only way a human being can discern what is true and what is a lie is you better have Jesus inside of you because he&#8217;s the ultimate truth. So when things come at you that are lies, which is every single day — including lies you might tell yourself or make yourself think something is not true, have a notion about something and it seems really strong — you ask Him: Is that true? Like, am I thinking about this right? 
And you pray about it and you go, if this is wrong, don&#8217;t let me do that. You know, put me in the right spot, even though it seems totally obvious that I should do this in my own eyes. And He will. But the only way that works is if you have yielded to Him, turned over the entire control to Him, become a bondservant to Him. He&#8217;s the ultimate truth. If a lie comes into contact with the ultimate truth, which one is more powerful at that point? Is the truth more powerful than the lie? Of course it is. It’s the ultimate power, the real truth.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/john-rich-ad-free" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Jordan B. Peterson podcast on DailyWire+</a></h4>
 * * *
Time: 54:06
* * *
Peterson: When you were deciding to move away from the studio and record-label life, how did you come to the determination? You mentioned prayer, but how did you come to determine that was the appropriate path, that it was not just another form of ego game? You said part of it — acknowledging there is a big risk in it — so there is an obvious sacrificial component to that which speaks of its truth. But I am really interested in the details. And then the other issue that I am curious about is, when you talk about prayer and you are using your prayer to discern the truth, what is it that you are praying for that enables you to benefit from that discernment?
Rich: What a great question. So, the Holy Spirit. It says in the Bible that, to His children — the real ones, the ones that have turned it over to Him — He will send the Holy Spirit to help you and guide you and navigate for you. You have to ask for that. You pray and say, “Please send the Holy Spirit to me because I can&#8217;t figure this out. I&#8217;m having trouble. I don&#8217;t know what to do. What am I supposed to do right now?” You ask for that, and He will send it. And then in your being, you feel if [you’re] making a wrong move. “Am I supposed to go left? Right? Straight? Not move at all? Or a step back? Which one am I supposed to do?” It will become very clear to you.
It&#8217;s called discernment. We&#8217;re told, we&#8217;re commanded, multiple times — If you read Proverbs, you read what King David wrote; discernment was everything. I mean, that&#8217;s like King Solomon. King Solomon asked for that. King Solomon asked for wisdom and discernment. He wanted to be able to discern because it&#8217;s the hardest thing for a human being to do. How do I know? How do I know what I&#8217;m supposed to do? And if you&#8217;re only relying on your own physical self to figure that out, you&#8217;re never going to get it right — ever. You&#8217;re never going to get it right. And so the Holy Spirit, that&#8217;s who comes in. And he is the discernment that you&#8217;re asking for. Now, He may not tell you the second you ask for it, but if you ask for it and you&#8217;re serious about it and that&#8217;s what you really want, he&#8217;ll send it to you and you&#8217;ll get it.
And so I think to your conversation about the music industry and all that stuff, I could feel it. I could feel he was telling me, it&#8217;s time for you to get out of here, bud. Time to go. Time to go. Things like my kids reacting to things, my wife reacting to things, me personally reacting to things. That was his way of going: Ding, ding, ding. Pay attention, John. Time for you to move. I know you&#8217;ve been doing this your whole life. I know this was your American Dream. I know this is what you think you were built to do, and maybe you were for a period of time. But I got something else for you to do.
<h4><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a></h4>
* * *
Time: 1:18:14
* * *
Rich: If you feel Him — you feel Him knocking at the door, open the door. It&#8217;s very simple. You don&#8217;t need a preacher; you don&#8217;t need a priest. You don&#8217;t need anybody to sit down with, to give your life to Jesus, and go to heaven. You don&#8217;t need anybody. You can sit there all by yourself, and you can reach out to him, and you can give your life to him right there anytime you want to. … And again, we&#8217;re all going to have to go to that point. Everybody&#8217;s going to die. Everybody. And the second you die, [the Bible] says to be absent from the flesh is to be present with God. Boom. Just like that. And you&#8217;re standing in front of the boss. And what are you going to say to him? What&#8217;s he going to say to you? That&#8217;s the only conversation any human being should be concerned about. … The stakes are the eternal stakes out here. You are supposed to go say that. 
And let me tell you something, doctor, as we wrap. You could be one of the most powerful weapons in the hand of God that He ever slung — ever — because of the intellect that you have, because of the platform that you have, because of the millions of people, and what you&#8217;ve learned. You&#8217;ve read every word of the Bible, you&#8217;ve dissected it, you know what it is. And the day that becomes absolutely life-and-death real to you, you sir, could be one of the most powerful human beings, in my opinion, that ever walked the face of the earth.
* * *
<a href="https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Jordan B. Peterson</a> is a clinical psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. From 1993 to 1998 he served as assistant and then associate professor of psychology at Harvard. He is the international bestselling author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Maps-Meaning-Architecture-Jordan-Peterson/dp/0415922216/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maps of Meaning</a>,” “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/12-Rules-Life-Antidote-Chaos/dp/0345816021/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12 Rules For Life,</a>” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Order-More-Rules-Life/dp/0593084640/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=AUTHOR&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.nbV0WtVit9busCddbjMST-Oe7hjueQrxfqnQ4L3HXXUFdIaqlEBr0sp9HQWIq9ut9NlHDAFA0YQoDWVZfDtKNJI7VvlzWv2rMhs2KcAAIIppPRMWq4GIiFerkrssvBABAjeKlg3OFs3H8IHs5D8ktJ5uBg3K-SZ4hpKltaKkrhY6j-RKn-tTkBz29JZXP3Rhm9SB14rHUX1nol5d4z4Fi6f8fwhxXWCVGgkvOHSqG6E.iVF1NljuBEwrpumO9rQBh9FotnzaIo4K7K8HvNnC46k&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beyond Order.</a>” You can now <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listen to</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch/jordan-peterson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watch</a> his popular lectures on DailyWire+.
Be sure to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Who-Wrestle-God-Jordan-Peterson/dp/0593542533/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=38kcw&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.f911c8db-3a2b-4b3e-952f-b80fdcee83f4&amp;pf_rd_p=f911c8db-3a2b-4b3e-952f-b80fdcee83f4&amp;pf_rd_r=133-1833056-3520340&amp;pd_rd_wg=3zvBk&amp;pd_rd_r=93a1419a-853b-4c49-a764-cbaa90d3073a&amp;ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PRE-ORDER</a> Dr. Peterson’s newest book: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Who-Wrestle-God-Jordan-Peterson/dp/0593542533/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=38kcw&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.f911c8db-3a2b-4b3e-952f-b80fdcee83f4&amp;pf_rd_p=f911c8db-3a2b-4b3e-952f-b80fdcee83f4&amp;pf_rd_r=133-1833056-3520340&amp;pd_rd_wg=3zvBk&amp;pd_rd_r=93a1419a-853b-4c49-a764-cbaa90d3073a&amp;ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">We Who Wrestle with God</a>” (Portfolio/Penguin. November 19, 2024.)

MixCollage-16-Aug-2024-11-32-AM-2223

The Role Of The Holy Spirit: Distinguishing Between Your Will And God’s Will 

John Rich

Jordan B. Peterson

Readers Pass

One week after her elementary school permitted an LGBT Pride club to be formed at the school, an eleven-year-old girl in Washington state says she was refused permission to start an interfaith prayer group.
Laura, a student at Creekside Elementary School, told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/fifth-grade-girl-speaks-out-washington-school-denied-request-start-interfaith-prayer-club">Fox News</a>, “I wanted to start it because I felt kind of alone in the classroom and really just at school. And I realized, I have some friends and I knew some other people that felt the same way, and so I talked to them and I was just like, ‘You know what? It would be a great idea to make a club where people could come together and do good in the community.&#8217; That was kind of the idea of my interfaith peer club.”
First Liberty Institute (L.A.W.), which is representing Laura, <a href="https://firstliberty.org/cases/creekside-prayer-club/">reported</a> that Laura and her mom met in February with the school’s principal, Amy Allison, who informed them that all the funding for school clubs had been allocated in October, and Laura had missed the deadline, even though the Pride Club was formed one week before and the school allows a dozen other clubs, including the Green Team and the Toastmasters Club.
“In a follow-up meeting, the principal told L.A.W. that she could fill out an application to pay to use the school after hours. When L.A.W. asked why she would have to pay like an outside group when other student clubs don’t have to pay, Principal Allison responded, ‘I am sorry, [L.], I just can’t tell you what you want to hear,’ and ‘we can’t allow it,’” First Liberty added.
“The First Amendment is clear; the free speech clause and the free exercise clause both protect Laura’s ability to pray, to speak about her faith; to gather with other religious students,” <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/fifth-grade-girl-speaks-out-washington-school-denied-request-start-interfaith-prayer-club">said</a> Kayla Toney, associate counsel at First Liberty Institute. “The law is clear: if the school allows at least one non-curricular club, no matter what the club is about, it has to allow a religious club. It’s actually viewpoint discrimination to deny a religious club just because it’s religious.”
“Denying the formation of a religious student club while allowing other clubs violates the Constitution,” Toney contended. “School officials at Creekside Elementary are engaged in religious discrimination against an eleven-year-old girl who simply wants to pray, feel support from other religious friends, and do community service.”
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“I think that this is something that I am very passionate about. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t really want to make this happen, if I didn’t think that it would be a great opportunity for everyone,” Laura concluded.

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The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/catholic-church" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Catholic</a> prayer app Hallow became the No. 1 app on the App Store Charts on Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of 40 days of Lent, commemorating the 40 days Jesus Christ spent in the desert before he began his public ministry.
The prayer and meditation app shared in a post on <a href="https://x.com/HallowApp/status/1758151898383724615?s=20">X</a>, &#8220;#1 in the App Store!! Glory Be &#8211; He is #1.&#8221; It also scored bragging rights as the first religious app to make it to the top.
&#8220;We are overjoyed with how powerful Day 1 of Lent Pray40 was,&#8221; the post read. &#8220;Not only did over 1 million people join the challenge and start a transformational prayer journey yesterday, Hallow also became the first religious app to ever reach the top of the App Store Charts!&#8221;
In the screenshot shared by Hallow, it showed the prayer app surpassed shopping app Temu followed by the social media app Threads. In a second <a href="https://x.com/HallowApp/status/1758152628406546471?s=20">post</a>, the company noted while it has 85 employees &#8220;plus Jesus,&#8221; their victory beat out other companies like Temu with 10,000 employees and Threads with 67,000 workers.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
#1 in the App Store!! Glory Be &#8211; He is #1
We are overjoyed with how powerful Day 1 of Lent Pray40 was. Not only did over 1 million people join the challenge and start a transformational prayer journey yesterday, Hallow also became the first religious app to ever reach the top of… <a href="https://t.co/6c9wxSZ2mO">pic.twitter.com/6c9wxSZ2mO</a>
— Hallow (@HallowApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/HallowApp/status/1758151898383724615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;We&#8217;re blown away,” Alex Jones, CEO and co-founder of Hallow, said in a <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256862/catholic-prayer-app-hallow-makes-history-in-app-store">press release</a>. &#8220;When we started Hallow, it would&#8217;ve been crazy for us to imagine a thousand people praying together on it, much less 1 million.&#8221;
&#8220;God is doing incredible things,&#8221; Jones added. &#8220;All glory and credit and praise belongs to him. Never in a million years would I have imagined we&#8217;d be at the top of the App Store. The other folks in the top 100 apps are just such incredible and popular apps with tens of thousands of employees — Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Google, Instagram. What a crazy world.&#8221;
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The app&#8217;s popularity to the top of the chart on Wednesday was aided by Catholic stars such as &#8220;The Chosen&#8217;s&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-chosen-and-jesus-revolution-star-jonathan-roumies-career-has-exploded-since-surrendering-to-god" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathan Roumie</a> and Hollywood superstar <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-wahlberg">Mark Wahlberg</a>, who encouraged people to join them on the app in an ad that aired during Super Bowl LVIII.
The company said it saw the largest <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/mark-wahlberg-shares-ash-wednesday-message-reveals-daily-routine-starts-prayer">download</a> it has ever had after that <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256862/catholic-prayer-app-hallow-makes-history-in-app-store">commercial</a> aired calling on people to take a moment to &#8220;give thanks to God&#8221; and join in the prayer challenge during Lent.
Speaking to &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/mark-wahlberg-shares-ash-wednesday-message-reveals-daily-routine-starts-prayer">Fox and Friends&#8221;</a> on Wednesday, Wahlberg and Roumie talked about their partnership with Hallow.
&#8220;We just want to be able to do more, and I think, what better than to have Ash Wednesday fall on Valentine&#8217;s Day?&#8221; Wahlberg said. &#8220;Because where do you get more love than with the Lord and … in a time where there&#8217;s such a disconnect? We need things to bring people together and the power of prayer is doing that.&#8221;
Roumie added, &#8220;And I think as Mark&#8217;s saying … starting the day with gratitude and knowing that … we&#8217;ve been given so much in this life, to be grateful for to God.&#8221;

Lent 2022 Screenshots

Hallow App Makes History, Becomes #1 App In Store

Super Bowl

Technology

President Joe Biden delivered a brief address at the annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, saying Americans must stop viewing each other as “enemies.”
Biden, who has focused much of his re-election campaign on labeling his chief political rival Donald Trump and his supporters as a threat to the country, spoke of the importance of unity during his <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1753056644026569187" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speech</a> at the prayer breakfast. Biden invoked President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address, which took place as the Civil War loomed, and Lincoln admonished Americans to remain as friends, not enemies.
“We must not be enemies,” Biden said. “I’ve long believed we have to look at each other, even on our most challenging times, not as enemies but as fellow Americans.”
“My prayer, my hope is we continue to believe our best days are ahead of us as a nation,” the president added. “We continue to believe in honesty, decency, dignity and respect. We see each other not as enemies but as fellow human beings — each made in the image of God, each precious in his sight.”
During the prayer breakfast, Biden sat next to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), a Trump backer, and the two were seen wiping away tears as Andrea Bocelli sang “Amazing Grace.”
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/AndreaBocelli?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@andreabocelli</a> sings Amazing Grace at National Prayer Breakfast. <a href="https://t.co/Pj6gaErwuE">pic.twitter.com/Pj6gaErwuE</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1753076116133208242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Johnson also shared a photo from the prayer breakfast on X, showing him praying with the president.
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This morning, I joined Congressional colleagues in welcoming President Biden to the U.S. Capitol for the National Prayer Breakfast. 
“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” Psalm 37:5 <a href="https://t.co/MsAs9v368S">pic.twitter.com/MsAs9v368S</a>
&mdash; Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1753100997029982581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Biden offered prayers for the families of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-releases-names-of-soldiers-murdered-in-terror-attack-details-on-how-attack-happened" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three U.S. soldiers</a> who were killed last week in the Middle East in a drone attack by an Iranian-backed militia group. He also mentioned the war between Israel and Hamas and the hostages being held by the terrorists in his remarks, saying he is praying and working for peace.
Biden’s attendance continues a 70-year-long tradition of presidents going to the National Prayer Breakfast as every commander-in-chief since Dwight D. Eisenhower has attended, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/02/01/news/biden-speaker-mike-johnson-wipe-away-tears-during-amazing-grace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Biden’s remarks on unity at the prayer breakfast come amid a heated re-election campaign as the president appears to be headed for a rematch with Trump in November.
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Last month, Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-compares-trump-and-his-supporters-to-defeated-confederates-in-south-carolina-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compared</a> Trump and his supporters to “defeated Confederates” at a campaign event at Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina, the site of the 2015 race-fueled shooting that killed nine black members of the church.
“Now, we’re living in an era of a second lost cause,” the president said. “Once again, there are some in this country trying to turn a loss into a lie. A lie which if allowed to live will once again bring terrible damage to this country. This time the lie is about the 2020 election.”

Joe Biden

Biden Says Americans ‘Must Not Be Enemies’ During Remarks At National Prayer Breakfast

Mike Johnson

The following is a transcript excerpt from Dr. Jordan Peterson’s conversation with Willie and Korie Robertson. In this segment, they discuss dinner-time meals with family, what resonated with “Duck Dynasty” viewers, and the reality of their television show. You can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast/faith-fame-and-adventure-the-reality-stranger-than-fiction-willie-korie-robertson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listen to</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/faith-fame-and-adventure-the-reality-stranger-than-fiction-willie-korie-robertson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watch</a> the full podcast episode on DailyWire+.
Start time: 1:35
Jordan: Why do you think that what you did struck a chord with people so deeply and one that was able to be maintained?
Willie: Well, I think there’s probably a couple reasons for that. I think people saw parts of their family in our family, and so I think it resonated especially across generations. [We] just had a lot of people say, “Wow, my dad&#8217;s similar to your dad,” or “My mom&#8217;s just like your mom,” or “We&#8217;ve got a crazy uncle.” And so I think that was one of them. I think it was funny, and I think people like to laugh and have fun. And I also think the faith aspect was a big part of it with the prayer at the end. It wasn&#8217;t overtly religious, but it was wholesome I guess.
<div id="attachment_630919" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-630919" class="size-full wp-image-630919" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/6yh-1.png" alt="Dr. Jordan B. Peterson interviews Willie and Korie Robertson." width="512" height="287" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/6yh-1.png 512w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/6yh-1-300x168.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />DailyWire+</div>
Jordan: So what role do you think the faith played?
Korie: I actually think it played a really big role. I think that, you know, we ended every episode around the dinner table and we said a prayer. And we really didn&#8217;t have any grand scheme for that. We just did it because it&#8217;s kind of what our family does. And so we said a prayer and that just had such an impact on people. I feel like that&#8217;s the most common thing people commented on as we&#8217;ve traveled the world. It was just sitting around the table and being grateful for what&#8217;s before you. You know, it was just this idea that we would submit to God and give gratefulness, give thankfulness, to him before we have a meal.
And Willie mentioned that nostalgia. I think there was this [going] back to something that we&#8217;ve lost as a country, as a people. Whenever we did the show, I think that the network and the executives thought that we were going to look like this Louisiana family that&#8217;s so different and unique, and that we hunt for a living and we eat squirrels and all this, and that people would maybe look at us and be like, “Oh, they&#8217;re so different and outside of the norm,” or whatever. But instead, people actually looked at us and were like, “Oh, that&#8217;s like my family,” or “That&#8217;s like my family used to be,” or “That is something that I long for in our family is to be able to come together at the end of the day around the dinner table.”
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Willie: I think in the aspect when you say, “That&#8217;s what we used to be,” if you&#8217;re sitting around a table where we ended every episode — I think people [saw] that, going, “Wow, we never sit together and eat. You know, we&#8217;re always running and gunning and grabbing fast food.” And so I think they saw that and were like, “Wow, maybe we did that at a holiday or growing up.”
And so that was one of the parts where, maybe they didn&#8217;t say a prayer or maybe they used to, and maybe they heard about it. So I think they kind of really enjoyed that, even if they don&#8217;t do it. Some of them did and said, “Hey, now we&#8217;ve changed our whole structure and now we sit down and we eat together.” But they could kind of see that, and so I do think it was kind of a throwback.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/faith-fame-and-adventure-the-reality-stranger-than-fiction-willie-korie-robertson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast</a></h4>
Korie: It was really interesting to me because I think it was a funny show. It was like a sitcom. It was a funny show about our family, but it impacted people in really powerful ways. People would come up in tears saying, “Now my family eats dinner together because of your show.” Or, “My husband goes to church now because he saw real men that just love God and can be normal people,” or things like, “I watched it with my dad who had cancer, and it brought us joy and laughter and positivity and hope in a time that was the darkest time of our lives.”
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Jordan: I remember I read a couple of years ago, I think, 30% of households in the U.K. now have no dining room table. So people don&#8217;t eat together. As a psychologist, it is very interesting to me to consider the role of the table in the union of families and in the socialization of children.
I mean, first of all, people, human beings, do something very strange at a table, and it&#8217;s so normal in some ways that no one notices it. But human beings are really the only animals that formally share food. It is a very strange thing to do. I mean, even if you have a dog that loves you, he is generally not that happy if you try to take his bone away in his dinner dish; the carnivore comes back out. The fact that people can actually share food and that they can do that even when they are hungry is really quite the miracle.
It is also the case that at the dinner table is when you get to share your day; you each get to talk and to listen. That is a very good place to inculcate manners into your children. It is a good place for everybody to keep track of everyone else and what is going on in their day and their week and so forth. And it is a good time for everyone to come together and discuss the separate elements of their life.
In the Old Testament, there is an immense emphasis on hospitality on the grounds of morality itself — hospitality to a stranger. But the same thing applies within your family. You said that your producers were convinced that your family, in some sense, would be an oddity [and] out of the norm. I guess one of the things they did not consider was that not only in some ways were you guys not out of the norm, but [you were] the actual norm. But even more than that, you represented a kind of nostalgic ideal. And obviously that was centered at least in part around the dinner table and around prayer.
Then you also said that the mealtime prayer gave you a chance to be grateful. That really struck me as interesting, too, because one of the things that people do not really understand about prayer — they think about it as a kind of a wish, let&#8217;s say — is that it is actually a practice. And you can practice being grateful. The reason you should practice being grateful is, first of all, you notice what you have to be grateful about. And if your foot is not caught in a bear trap while you are dying of cancer, you have plenty to be grateful for. And so practicing that makes you much more aware of it. But it is also a really good way of staving off resentment.
It&#8217;s striking to me how much impact the fact that you guys sat around the table and all talked together and that you started that off with a prayer of gratitude. It&#8217;s really striking to me how much of an effect that had on your audience and the fact that also people use that as a model. What did you conclude from that? It must have been surprising to you, right? To have that impact?
Willie: It really was because to us, it just seemed like a small part of life that we&#8217;ve done thousands of times. I guess I thought most people would be like, “Oh, they&#8217;re saying a prayer, and that&#8217;s what we all do.” And so [what] was striking to me is that a lot of people didn&#8217;t do that.
Or like I said, they used to do that or they didn&#8217;t do that [anymore]. And it had this big impact on them.
To hear the rest of the conversation, continue by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast/faith-fame-and-adventure-the-reality-stranger-than-fiction-willie-korie-robertson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listening</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/faith-fame-and-adventure-the-reality-stranger-than-fiction-willie-korie-robertson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watching</a> this episode on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire+</a>.
<a href="https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Jordan B. Peterson</a> is a clinical psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. From 1993 to 1998 he served as assistant and then associate professor of psychology at Harvard. He is the international bestselling author of Maps of Meaning, 12 Rules For Life, and Beyond Order. You can now <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listen to</a> or<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch/jordan-peterson" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> watch</a> his popular lectures on DailyWire+.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>

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Prayer Is Not A Wish, But A Practice Of Gratitude To Stave Off Resentment

Duck Dynasty

family

Jordan Peterson

Marriage

Country singer Thomas Rhett paused his concert in Nashville over the weekend and called on the audience to pray with him for a fan who experienced a medical emergency during his show and had to be rushed out of Bridgestone Arena.
While performing on stage on Saturday, Rhett noticed a fan named Terry having a problem and called for medical help, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/thomas-rhett-pauses-nashville-concert-say-prayer-fan-suffering-medical-emergency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> reported.
&#8220;Hey, there&#8217;s somebody down here, who&#8217;s like, really hurt,&#8221; the &#8220;Angels&#8221; hitmaker announced during his show, asking if there were medical personnel in the building.
In the videos <a href="https://x.com/WatchChad/status/1708864155510362268?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">online</a>, a stretcher can be seen being rushed out of the concert before Rhett asked his fans if they would join him in prayer.
&#8220;Father God, we just ask for healing over Terry,&#8221; Rhett said. &#8220;We know that you are the ultimate physician. We know that you are the ultimate healer. Pray for Terry&#8217;s family right now, cause [they&#8217;re] pretty scared for Terry, who&#8217;s very scared.&#8221;
&#8220;God, we know that you are a miracle worker,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We just pray over Terry and his family right now. We ask that everybody in this room, after they leave tonight, will continue to pray for Terry and his family.&#8221;
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God is the GREATEST PHYSICIAN!!!
Thomas Rhett STOPPED his concert last night to PRAY for a man who was having a medical emergency!!!
We are all praying for Terry!!! <a href="https://t.co/7jyihTabjP">pic.twitter.com/7jyihTabjP</a>
— Chad Prather (@WatchChad) <a href="https://twitter.com/WatchChad/status/1708864155510362268?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;We love you, we thank you for Jesus,&#8221; Rhett continued. We pray this in His name, Amen.&#8221;
Fans then broke into a chant of &#8220;Terry, Terry.&#8221;
The 33-year-old later shared an update on social media with fans saying Terry was &#8220;doing well&#8221; and was recovering at home.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I’m thankful to report that Terry, who needed medical attention at last night’s show in Nashville, is home and doing well. He and his family appreciate all the prayers! Love y’all so much.
— Thomas Rhett (@ThomasRhett) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThomasRhett/status/1708638952616329654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I’m thankful to report that Terry, who needed medical attention at last night&#8217;s show in Nashville, is home and doing well,&#8221; Rhett captioned his post on <a href="https://x.com/ThomasRhett/status/1708638952616329654?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a>.
&#8220;He and his family appreciate all the prayers!&#8221; his post added.  &#8220;Love y&#8217;all so much.&#8221;
It all happened on the country singer&#8217;s final night of his &#8220;Rhett&#8217;s Home Team Tour 23.&#8221;
Related:  <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/country-singer-granger-smith-announces-his-final-tour-says-hes-leaving-music-to-focus-on-faith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Country Singer Granger Smith Announces His Final Tour, Says He&#8217;s Leaving Music To Focus On Faith</a>

Thomas Rhett-1

Country Singer Thomas Rhett Pauses Concert To Pray For Fan Experiencing Medical Emergency

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