There are two basic ways to critique any belief system. You can critique it externally, by judging it according to standards it doesn’t accept, or you can judge it internally, by judging it according to standards it does accept.
Therefore, an external critique of Islam will judge it according to standards that come from outside its own sources, whether philosophical, historical, or theological, whereas an internal critique will begin from the Quran itself and ask whether Islam can stand on its own terms. 
The Islamic Dilemma is this kind of argument. It doesn’t impose Christian assumptions onto Islam. Instead, it begins with what the Quran itself says and follows those claims to their logical conclusion.
One of the strongest internal critiques of Islam is what’s commonly called the Islamic Dilemma. When followed carefully, it presents Muslims with a serious problem that can’t be resolved without undermining the authority of Islam itself.
The Quran repeatedly affirms that God revealed genuine Scripture before Muhammad, specifically the Torah and the Gospel. It speaks of these writings as guidance and light, given by Allah to earlier prophets. Just as importantly, the Quran commands Jews and Christians to judge by what God revealed in those Scriptures. Nowhere does the Quran clearly or explicitly teach that the Torah or the Gospel were lost, corrupted, or unreliable at the time of Muhammad.
The Quran doesn’t merely acknowledge earlier Scripture in passing. Instead, it repeatedly speaks of the Torah and the Gospel as real, authoritative revelations from God that were present and functioning in the world of Muhammad.
For example, Surah 5:44 states that “the Torah, in which was guidance and light,” was revealed by Allah and used for judgment. 
Likewise, Surah 5:46 affirms that Jesus was given the Gospel, “wherein is guidance and light,” confirming what came before it. 
These verses describe living Scriptures that guide God’s people, not lost or corrupted texts.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/plc-260226-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-1054605" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Matt-Fradd-1024x171.jpg" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Matt-Fradd-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Matt-Fradd-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Matt-Fradd-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Matt-Fradd-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Matt-Fradd.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
More striking still, the Quran commands Jews and Christians to judge by these very writings. 
Surah 5:47 instructs Christians to “judge by what Allah has revealed in the Gospel.” 
Surah 5:68 tells both Jews and Christians that they have no firm standing unless they uphold the Torah and the Gospel. 
These commands only make sense if those Scriptures were accessible and trustworthy in the seventh century — when the Quran was written.
Finally, Surah 10:94 tells Muhammad himself that if he’s in doubt, he should ask those who read the Scripture before him. That appeal would be meaningless if those Scriptures were already corrupted or unreliable.
Taken together, these passages show that the Quran affirms the Torah and the Gospel as genuine revelation, present, readable, and authoritative at the time of Muhammad.
This creates a dilemma — with only two possible and mutually exclusive options.
Option one: The Torah and Gospel available in the seventh century were trustworthy.
If that’s true, then Islam faces a decisive contradiction. The Gospel preached in Muhammad’s time proclaims core Christian doctrines that Islam explicitly denies. It teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was crucified, and that He rose from the dead. The Quran denies all three. So if the Gospel is trustworthy, then the Quran contradicts God’s prior revelation. That would mean the Quran can’t be from God.
Option two: The Torah and Gospel were corrupted before Muhammad.
This option also collapses Islam. If the Scriptures were corrupted, then Allah either failed to preserve his earlier revelation or allowed his followers to be misled for centuries. Worse still, the Quran commands Christians to judge by the Gospel they possess and appeals to those Scriptures as confirmation of Muhammad’s message. If those texts were already unreliable, then that doesn’t make sense. In that case, the Quran would be affirming and appealing to corrupted documents, which undermines its claim to divine wisdom.
Either way, Islam is trapped. It can’t affirm the Bible without contradicting itself, and it can’t deny the Bible without undermining its own authority.
Muslims often try to escape this dilemma by claiming that the original Torah and Gospel were pure but later altered. Yet that claim is historically unsupported. We possess New Testament manuscripts that predate Muhammad by hundreds of years, and they teach the same doctrines Christianity teaches today. There’s no evidence of a lost, non-Trinitarian, non-crucified version of the Gospel that Islam could appeal to. That so-called “original Gospel” exists only as a theological escape hatch.
The dilemma is therefore decisive. If the Bible is true, Islam is false. And if the Bible is false, then the Quran is false for affirming it. Islam depends on earlier revelation that it can’t consistently affirm or deny.
Christianity, by contrast, welcomes scrutiny of its historical claims. It stands or falls on events in history, especially the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Christ didn’t rise from the dead, then Christianity is false. Islam avoids history by rewriting it centuries later, but in doing so, it contradicts the very Scriptures it claims to respect.
The Islamic Dilemma doesn’t merely challenge Islam from the outside. Instead, it exposes an internal incoherence at the heart of its theology. And a revelation that contradicts itself can’t come from God.

Closeup of Muslim hands reading holy Quran book with Arabic text under warm light. Concept for Ramadan Kareem, Islamic religion prayer, spiritual faith, God worship, and reading scripture.

Can The Quran Affirm The Bible Without Contradicting Itself?

Bible

Catholicism

Christianity

Islam

Koran

Matt Fradd

Muslims

Religion

An Atlanta-based progressive church is offering what it calls “glitter ashes” for Ash Wednesday this year, a ritual it says is meant to show remorse for “Christian cruelty to our LGBTQ siblings” and affirm LGBT identity, marking yet another instance of activist politics supplanting historic Christian belief in Protestant traditions.
According to The Church at Ponce and Highland’s <a href="https://www.churchatponceandhighland.org">website</a>, congregants attending its Ash Wednesday service will be offered a choice between traditional ashes and ashes mixed with purple glitter. The latter, the church explains, are intended to symbolize regret for the Church’s historic moral teaching and to encourage LGBT individuals.
“Glitter ashes show remorse at straight Christian cruelty to our LGBTQ siblings,” the church states. “For LGBT people, they are a reminder that we have but one life, and we should shine — not hide.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
For Ash Wednesday, one progressive church is offering &#8220;glitter ashes,&#8221; which is ash mixed with purple glitter, and which &#8220;straight Christians&#8221; can don as a sign of &#8220;remorse&#8230;to our LGBTQ siblings.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/1qX7kgmB57">pic.twitter.com/1qX7kgmB57</a>
— Protestia (@Protestia) <a href="https://twitter.com/Protestia/status/2021562193964400931?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
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In Christian tradition, however, ashes serve a very different purpose. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a penitential season ordered toward Good Friday and Easter. The ashes, applied in the shape of a cross, function as a memento mori, a reminder of human mortality, sin, and the need for repentance: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
The Church at Ponce and Highland openly rejects that framework. “Christianity has gotten off track,” the website declares. “It’s time to get back to the life and teachings of Jesus.” The church describes itself as “diverse, pro-LGBTQ, member-led, inclusive,” and explicitly states that it requires no shared statement of faith. Instead, the church says it unites around “common practices,” which include encouraging doubt over defined doctrine, rejecting eternal punishment, and downplaying the salvific significance of Christ’s death.
“We emphasize Jesus’s love and how it can free us to love more (rather than only avoiding punishment),” the site reads. “Jesus’s life and teachings instead of focusing only on his death.”
The church further claims that historic Christianity was corrupted by “empires,” blaming traditional belief for colonialism, slavery, violence, and oppression. Traditional Christianity, it argues, emphasized “uniformity, power, violence, and eternal punishment,” while the church presents itself as part of an “alternate tradition” rooted in liberation, solidarity with the marginalized, and identity-based affirmation. While the church loosely associates itself with the Baptist denomination, it is ostensibly independent since it eschews any affiliation with the conservative Southern Baptist Convention, the dominant governing body of the denomination. The church was a member of the Convention until 2010— it left over the SBC&#8217;s policy of denying female ordination.
Within that framework, it makes sense then that Ash Wednesday is no longer oriented toward repentance before God but toward moral apology directed to the world. The church makes that shift explicit in its description of the service. “We will have both traditional and glitter ashes available,” the site states. “Glitter ashes show remorse at Christian cruelty to our LGBTQ siblings as well as our love and affirmation for LGBTQ people.”
Conspicuously absent from the church’s description is any reference to sin, divine judgment, or the resurrection toward which Lent is traditionally ordered. Rather than calling believers to repentance, the ritual is reframed as a symbolic acknowledgment of harm and a declaration of ideological alignment.
The result is a service that retains Christian imagery while redefining its meaning. Ashes, long a sign of penitence and mortality, are repurposed as a political statement. The language of repentance is redirected away from God and toward contemporary social causes.
By offering glitter ashes alongside traditional ones, The Church at Ponce and Highland presents two competing visions of what Ash Wednesday is meant to signify. One points toward repentance and redemption. The other toward affirmation and apology. Only one has grounding in the traditional observance the ritual was designed to mark, and in the Christian theology it was meant to serve.

Bible On Top Of Rainbow Flag

‘Glitter Ashes’ Offered At Progressive Church To ‘Show Remorse … To Our LGBTQ Siblings’

LGBTQ

Politics

On Thursday, President Trump returned to the National Prayer Breakfast and proceeded to give a speech that was reasonably religious in overtones.
Something fascinating about the president is that he&#8217;s been able to do things that a lot of Christian conservatives and religious Jews appreciate while maintaining a largely secular coalition.
What would appear to be a marginal increase in non-Christian affiliation inside the Republican Party is not marginal because the overall loss in the traditional religious constituency in the Republican Party is reflective of an overall loss of religiosity in the American public more generally.
Today, the majority of Republicans are religious, but an increasing percentage are not particularly religious, and it is pretty religiously diverse.
That does not mean that the Republican Party should somehow abandon the moral issues that make the Republican Party the Republican Party. That&#8217;s not my case.
My case is that making the Republican Party non-ecumenical as opposed to ecumenical is a mistake. We’ve seen this sort of move being made on behalf of some parts of the sort of the trad-Catholic Right, some of the quasi-integralists on the Right, who seem to be making a move to break up the Republican coalition by suggesting that there is a vast religious revival that is happening in the country that is going to drive Republicans to victory.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2363-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Those numbers do not exist. I wish there were; I wish there were a vast religious revival in the country and that the Republican Party was closer to its biblical moral values. I wish that were the case.
But that is not supported by the data, which is why Trump is the right president for this moment, and it&#8217;s why Republicans have to watch out for coalition building and how not to break it up.
When you talk about the increasing irreligiosity of the body politic, that is correct. That doesn&#8217;t mean that Republicans should abandon social issues. They absolutely should not.
But it does mean that the more overt you are about marginal social issues, the more you are likely to lose the Trump coalition. Trump is winning outsized shares of Christian evangelicals, Catholics, and religious people because the Left is crazy, not because he is campaigning as some sort of religious figure.
If you wish for Republicans to win, then presenting good policy with a moderate face — even if you have outsized rhetoric like President Trump — is a better path to victory than embracing the fringe positions taken by so many on X and elsewhere.
President Trump can go to the National Prayer Breakfast and give what are, at best, sort of vague religious statements. And that&#8217;s fine with people. President Trump literally joked about making it to heaven at the National Prayer Breakfast, saying:
I said, “I’m never going to make it to heaven. I just don’t think I qualify.” I don’t think there’s a thing I can do, but all of these good things I’m doing, including for religion — you know, religion’s back now hotter than ever before — but I said, “Even though I did that, and so many other things” —  I named things. I said, “I won’t qualify. I’m not going to make it to heaven.”
And the New York Times did a front-page story that Donald Trump is questioning his life and the meaning of his life. No, I was just having fun. I really think I probably should make it; I mean, I’m not a perfect candidate, but I did a hell of a lot of good for perfect people.
That last line, that he&#8217;s done a lot of things for people, is the reason he’s been elected president twice. 
President Trump says, listen, you have to believe in something. You have to have a religion in general. 
This is the American position. The American position is that Biblical values are good and that we like religious practice in this country. Freedom of religion and freedom from government intervention in religion are in the same amendment for a reason. That broad ecumenism is a winning approach for the Republicans.
And pointing out the anti-religious secularism of the Left is a winning approach for Republicans.
President Trump has the pulse of the American people on the vast majority of issues, which is why he usually takes the 80% on 80/20 issues.
Republicans need to continue to do that.

US-POLITICS-RELIGION-PRAYER-BREAKFAST-TRUMP

The Big Tent: Trump’s Ecumenical Path To Victory

Ben Shapiro

Donald Trump

Jews

Judeo-Christian Values

Opinion

Prayer

Republican Party

White House

President Donald Trump announced at the 74th annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning that the United States would be &#8220;rededicated as one nation under God&#8221; as he touted his administration&#8217;s defense of religious values.
Trump discussed religious freedom and Christianity and announced that Americans are invited to &#8220;come together on our National Mall to pray, to give thanks,&#8221; on May 17.
&#8220;We are going to do something that everyone said, &#8216;That&#8217;s tough.&#8217; We&#8217;re going to rededicate America as one nation under God,&#8221; Trump said, adding, &#8220;I&#8217;ve always said, you just can&#8217;t have a great country if you don&#8217;t have religion. You have to believe in something. You have to believe that what we&#8217;re doing, there&#8217;s a reason for it.&#8221;
Throughout his speech, the president also sprinkled in criticism of his political opponents, specifically calling former President Joe Biden &#8220;the worst president we&#8217;ve ever had&#8221; and former President Barack Obama &#8220;a terrible divider of our country.&#8221;
&#8220;He was a divider, and believe it or not, we&#8217;re bringing the country together. You know what&#8217;s bringing it together, tremendous success. We&#8217;re having tremendous success,&#8221; Trump said.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I really don&#8217;t, and I know we have some here today, and I don&#8217;t know why they&#8217;re here. They certainly don&#8217;t give us their vote.&#8221;
As he often does, Trump drifted from his prepared remarks for most of the speech and even commented on how he had been ignoring the teleprompter.
&#8220;At some point, I&#8217;m going to get right back onto the teleprompter and you&#8217;re going to say that was a wonderful speech,&#8221; he said before looking back into his prepared remarks.
&#8220;On that momentous day in 1776, history changed forever when our founders proclaimed the immortal truths that echoed around the world and down all the way through time. They declared that all of us are made free and equal by the hand of our creator. A lot of presidents refuse to say that,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Some major politicians refuse to say the word &#8216;God.&#8217; They don&#8217;t want to say it. I say it.&#8221;
&#8220;We are endowed with our sacred rights to life and liberty, not by government but by God Almighty himself,&#8221; he added.
Throughout his second term, Trump has focused on addressing &#8220;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/eradicating-anti-christian-bias/">anti-Christian bias</a>&#8221; in the United States as well as the persecution of Christians in Africa and the Middle East. Last February, Trump established a task force to look into attacks on Christians, condemning the Biden administration for &#8220;targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.&#8221;
&#8220;My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians,&#8221; Trump stated in his order on February 6, 2025.
In the past year, Trump has also called out attacks on Christians in foreign countries, such as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-next-peace-push-focuses-on-nigeria-and-sudan-where-christians-are-killed-by-the-thousands?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump%E2%80%99s+Next+Peace+Push+Focuses+On+Nigeria+And+Sudan%2C+Where+Christians+Are+Killed+By+The+Thousands">Nigeria</a>. The president designated Nigeria as a &#8220;Country of Particular Concern&#8221; in October, saying that “Christianity is facing an existential threat.”
During his speech on Thursday, the president spent a considerable amount of time talking about how he targeted ISIS terrorists in the Middle East during his first term and then slammed the Biden administration&#8217;s failure to keep the region stable after he left office.
&#8220;The election was rigged and I wasn&#8217;t there, and for four years, ISIS rebuilt, rebuilt, rebuilt, and they have a little bit of ISIS now again,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And we knocked the hell out of them the other day in Nigeria because they were killing Christians. I said, &#8216;You can&#8217;t do that.'&#8221;

Trump Vows To Rededicate America As One Nation Under God

Christians

Executive

Freedom of Religion

While more and more <a href="https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/09/03/gen-z-millenials-faith-church-attendance/">young people</a> are searching for God, Catholic advocacy group CatholicVote is stepping up to meet the moment with the launch of its new platform, <a href="https://zeale.co/">Zeale</a>.
Zeale aims to put out high-quality, entertaining Catholic content – including news, podcasts, documentaries, and other special programming – while also building community and prayer life. And, most importantly, it promises to do so while never sacrificing depth or truth.
Surveys show folks in Gen Z are increasingly drawing closer to Christ, and churchgoers in this ever-online generation are actually more inclined to show up to service than other generations. Moreover, Catholic affiliation, in particular, is on the rise with young people.
CatholicVote hopes to guide and support those in this search. As the organization’s president and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt put it, Zeale is designed to “inspire every American to live out the truth through the lens of beauty and goodness.”
“Zeale engages people in the political and cultural discussions of our time through the heart and imagination,” Reinhardt said in a statement sent to The Daily Wire. The platform, she added, “helps you ‘live Catholic’ with confidence and enthusiasm.”
The new platform is accessible on mobile devices, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.zeale.app&amp;hl=en_US">available</a> to download on the App Store and Google Play, meeting Gen Z in their own space. The platform is also <a href="https://zeale.co/">available</a> on desktop.
<div id="attachment_1033907" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1033907" class="wp-image-1033907 size-large" src="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot-384x576.jpg" alt="" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot.jpg 837w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Kelsey Reinhardt, Courtesy of CatholicVote</div>
Zeale will feature CatholicVote’s new Morning LOOPcast, which is a video roundup of the day’s most compelling headlines, in addition to the organization’s beloved daily news roundup, The Loop.
Users will also have access to a growing library of podcasts, documentaries, and special programming — covering everything from fashion and food, to sports and travel, prayers and spirituality, human-interest stories, cultural issues, and even games.
Prayer, unsurprisingly, is also a huge focus of Zeale. The platform allows users to access daily Mass readings and connect with fellow Catholics. Notably, you can pray with and for others, submit prayer intentions, and join the Zeale community when urgent news calls for collective prayer.
“Zeale is the hub for Catholics who want to stay informed and respond together, thoughtfully, collectively and prayerfully when crises arise,” Reinhardt said.

Screenshot 2026-01-26 at 8.23.37 PM

‘Gen Z Is Searching For God’: CatholicVote Meets The Moment, Launches New Faith Platform

Catholic Church

Gen Z

U.S.

Last week, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem issued a joint statement asserting their exclusive authority over the Christian flock in the Holy Land. The letter condemned &#8220;Christian Zionism&#8221; as a damaging ideology that harms Christian unity and serves political agendas. This prompted a sharp rebuttal from U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee and an extensive deconstruction from evangelical circles.
The original statement claimed that the historic Apostolic Churches are the sole representatives of the Christian faith in the region. It accused &#8220;local individuals&#8221; of advancing ideologies that mislead the public and interfere with the internal life of the church. The Patriarchs expressed concern that these individuals—likely referring to a massive delegation of 1,000 U.S. pastors that visited in December 2025—were being welcomed at official levels by the Israeli government, which they viewed as a threat to the indigenous Christian presence.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee responded by rejecting the notion of &#8220;exclusivity&#8221; in representing the Christian faith. His response focused on several key points.
Huckabee argued that no single sect should claim a monopoly on the Christian viewpoint, noting that the evangelical tradition is a &#8220;global and growing&#8221; force. He asserted that the foundation of Christianity is Judaism. He argued that if God could break His covenant with the Jewish people, Christians would have no assurance that He would keep His covenant with them. &#8220;The thought that God is even capable of breaking a covenant is anathema to those of us who embrace Holy Scripture as the authority of the church. If God can or would break His covenant with the Jews, then what hope would Christians have that He would keep His covenant with us?&#8221; he stated.
Huckabee redefined the term, stating that a Zionist is simply someone who believes the Jewish people have a right to live in their ancestral homeland. He expressed confusion as to why anyone claiming the &#8220;moniker &#8216;Christian'&#8221; would not also be a Zionist. He urged the Patriarchs to focus on shared truths—such as the sanctity of life and marriage—rather than jurisdictional disputes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
In response to the statement of non-evangelical churches in Israel, I issued the following. I hope you will read prayerfully.
I love my brothers and sisters in Christ from traditional, liturgical churches and respect their views, but I do not feel any sect of the Christian… <a href="https://t.co/jqohEWk0xJ">pic.twitter.com/jqohEWk0xJ</a>
&mdash; Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/2013697566295101916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
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A viral social media post by an Evangelical Christian further deconstructed the Patriarchs’ letter, arguing it was an &#8220;institutional-political statement&#8221; rather than a theological one. The critique followed several lines of reasoning.
The post noted a &#8220;critical omission&#8221;: the Patriarchs’ letter cited only one verse (Romans 12:5) regarding unity, but failed to address the numerous scriptures regarding God’s covenant with Israel. The critique highlighted that the letter ignored Romans 11:29, which states God’s calling is &#8220;irrevocable,&#8221; and Jeremiah 31:35-37, which ties Israel’s existence to the permanence of the sun and stars.
The deconstruction argued that the decline of the Christian population in the Holy Land is not caused by Christian Zionism. It provided statistics to shift the focus: In Bethlehem, the Christian population was 86% in 1950, but dropped to approximately 12% by 2026.
The post cited economic collapse, Islamist intimidation, and property disputes under Palestinian Authority control—factors unrelated to Evangelical theology—as the primary causes of emigration.
The post argued the letter was a response to &#8220;anxiety over loss of control.&#8221; By bypassing traditional hierarchies to meet with Israeli officials, external Christian groups threatened the Patriarchs&#8217; &#8220;monopoly on the Christian voice.&#8221; The critique labeled the Patriarchs’ claim of &#8220;exclusive representation&#8221; as a &#8220;category error,&#8221; asserting that theological beliefs do not require ecclesiastical permission.
The critique slammed the letter for being strategically vague. By not naming the &#8220;local individuals&#8221; or specific &#8220;activities,&#8221; the Patriarchs created an &#8220;ambient guilt&#8221; that allowed them to signal disapproval without having to engage in a documented theological debate.
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<a href="https://t.co/k9dJ8q9HYB">https://t.co/k9dJ8q9HYB</a>
&mdash; Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) <a href="https://twitter.com/DefiyantlyFree/status/2013140558416318846?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
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While the Patriarchs appealed to historic institutional authority, Huckabee and the Evangelical response appealed to the literal interpretation of Biblical covenants, suggesting that the &#8220;unity&#8221; requested by the Jerusalem leaders was actually a demand for institutional submission.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Holds Nomination Hearing For Mike Huckabee To Be Ambassador To Israel

‘I Hope You Read Prayerfully’: Huckabee Slams Critics Of Christian Zionism

Evangelical Christianity

Israel

Mike Huckabee

World

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

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

Why Christian Zionism Is Not Traditional Christianity

Jerusalem

Jesus Christ

Michael Knowles

Zionism

The Department of Justice could take major legal action after an anti-ICE protest hijacked a service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday.
United States Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon told The Daily Wire in an interview Monday morning that she’s working closely with Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate for “federal offenses,” including breaking the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act, which Dhillon noted “criminalizes blocking, interfering with, disrupting a house of worship.&#8221; The protest was sparked over one of the pastors&#8217; employment with ICE, according to the Associated Press.
“That&#8217;s exactly what these people did. Clearly. So, the only question really is who they are and what other offenses there may be,” she said, later adding that “we don&#8217;t prejudge a situation, but we&#8217;d like to make the strongest case possible.” During the interview, the DOJ official noted that were two prosecutors flying to Minnesota as of Monday morning to dive into the case.
“I find the silence of the Attorney General of Minnesota, the District Attorney Mary Moriarty of Hennepin County, and the Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz, shocking. They&#8217;re the governor, District Attorney, and Attorney General of these people, too. And where&#8217;s the reassurance to them?” Dhillon asked.
The Daily Wire reached out to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. Gov. Tim Walz’s office told <a href="https://x.com/MattFinnFNC/status/2013329688458932309?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>, “The Governor has repeatedly and unequivocally urged protesters to do so peacefully. While people have a right to speak out, he in no way supports interrupting a place of worship.”
Dhillon also empathized with churchgoers who may be concerned about protests when attending a service in the coming weeks.
“I feel like I have to give a First Amendment 101 primer to people, including journalists like Don Lemon, because you don&#8217;t have a First Amendment right to trespass and invade a house of worship. It&#8217;s literally illegal to do that. And it&#8217;s not protected by the First Amendment on top of that,” she said. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon live-streamed the protest inside the church, and Dhillon suggested in other interviews on Monday that it could potentially open the door for charges against the liberal commentator.
“And so you can have your protest a safe distance away from a private facility. You can have your protest in a park, you can have a march, you can get a permit for a large gathering, but you can&#8217;t just go wherever you want and tear things up and disrupt. And that&#8217;s what these people did. And so now, people are afraid to go to church. And that is an absolute disgrace in this country,” the assistant attorney general continued.
She also recommended that houses of worship have cameras outside of their buildings to &#8220;be prepared to record what&#8217;s going on and who&#8217;s coming.”
“I would just tell people that they should not be on edge. We believe in the Almighty and this DOJ has the right and the ability to step in and protect where the local authorities won’t,” Dhillon noted.
Anti-ICE protests escalated in the Minneapolis area after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a woman who allegedly attempted to hit the officer with her vehicle, as the Department of Homeland Security said the agent suffered from internal bleeding after the incident.

US-IMMIGRATION-ICE-SHOOTING

Harmeet Dhillon: DOJ Weighing Charges Over ‘Literally Illegal’ Anti-ICE Church Protest

Harmeet Dhillon

Immigration

justice department

Minnesota

Protesters

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

Beautiful White Baptist Church in Crawfordville, George built in 1889

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

Education

Religious Freedom

Supreme Court

In a recent <a href="https://x.com/joelmowbray/status/1999584250774061488?s=46&amp;t=ghpHusspWPjTMisXwpsMaA">podcast episode</a>, Tucker Carlson <a href="https://x.com/joelmowbray/status/1999584250774061488?s=46&amp;t=ghpHusspWPjTMisXwpsMaA">asked</a>, “Where do Christians feel more comfortable in Qatar or Israel?” If his foolish comments weren’t so dangerous, they would almost be laughable.
Carlson said,
<blockquote>But if the deeper question is, “Where do Christians feel more comfortable in Qatar or Israel?”, I mean, it&#8217;s sort of hard to know what people actually think. So maybe the best way to measure that is by where they live. So there are twice as many Christians living in Qatar as there are in Israel. Twice as many. At least twice as many. Did you know that? Again, not promoting Qatar. I&#8217;m not moving there. But there are twice as many Christians living there. So if it&#8217;s like an ISIS state where people are beheaded for proclaiming the name of Jesus, why are there twice as many in Qatar as there are in Israel? And why are there so many Christian churches in Qatar? All, or at least most, on land granted to them by the government. Again, not promoting Qatar, just saying if you&#8217;re telling me that this is a country whose values are so far from mine that even to go there is a crime of some kind, you&#8217;re lying. Or we have very different values. Extremely different values. So why are they telling me that?</blockquote>
His words are lies in sheep’s clothing. He is defending a regime that has made its name not on religious freedom, but for its support of the Muslim Brotherhood — which the Trump administration is in the process of designating a terror group.
Carlson, who has spent two years attacking my home of Israel, based his argument on the fact that more Christians live in Qatar than in Israel.
Yes, there are roughly twice as many Christians in Qatar as in Israel — about 400,000 versus 188,000. But let’s get the facts straight. The Christians living in Qatar are almost entirely migrant workers, people who have no legal rights as citizens.
Carlson asks, “And why are there so many Christian churches in Qatar?”
There are exactly six government-sanctioned churches in Qatar. Six churches serving hundreds of thousands of people. And to make it even worse, they are all right next to each other under the close supervision of the government.
To be clear, it is illegal for Qatari citizens to convert from Islam to Christianity, and Qataris <a href="https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/qatar/">are not allowed</a> to enter Christian churches. In fact, every person entering a church in Qatar must submit an ID.
The migrant workers who do attend often live and work under conditions that have been widely condemned as modern-day slavery.
Contrast that with Israel, a country where Christians are fully recognized citizens, including my community of indigenous Aramean Maronite Christians. We vote, we serve in the military, and we even hold elected office in the Knesset. Israel’s Christians are not confined to a single gated area or monitored by state authorities. We are free to worship openly, participate in society, and contribute to the nation’s cultural and political life.
There are more Baptist churches in Israel (17) than there are total churches in Qatar. In fact, Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the native Christian communities are growing. Carlson took the only possible data points to show anything positive about Christian existence in Qatar and still got it all wrong.
As a Christian Israeli working to inspire the next generation of believers in our homeland, I can say with confidence: Israel protects religious freedom in ways that Qatar can only dream of.
Qatari Christians live in fear, are under constant surveillance, and have no path to citizenship or full participation in society.
Christians must understand where true freedom exists and where it is merely an illusion sold by regimes with an agenda and their influencer mouthpieces.
For Israel’s Christians, faith and citizenship go hand in hand. For Christians in Qatar, faith comes at the price of subjugation, invisibility, and in many cases, abuse.
We must call out lies like this, not just for Israel’s sake, but for the safety and understanding of Christians worldwide. Truth matters, and it will set you free.
* * *
Shadi Khalloul, founder and chairman of the Israeli Christian Aramean Association, is one of Israel’s most compelling voices for coexistence, minority rights, and Christian identity in the Middle East.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Aerial view of the West Bank cornice business center in Doha, Qatar

I’m A Christian Living In Israel. Tucker Carlson Is Wrong About Qatar.

I'm A Christian Living In Israel. Tucker Carlson Is Wrong About Qatar.

Middle East

Qatar

Trump Administration

Tucker Carlson

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

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

China Escalates Persecution Of Christians With More Shocking Arrests

China

Communist China

Global Politics

Religious Liberty

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

Vassar story

Woke New York College Allowed Burlesque Troupe To Mock Christianity In Campus Chapel

Vassar Approved Burlesque Mocking Christianity But Not Other Faiths, Student Claims

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