While some of the more petty actions from last night’s State of the Union address have grabbed most of the headlines, there were other more substantive moments that have received less attention.
One brief yet powerful moment, in particular, was when President Trump affirmed prayer and faith as an important aspect of our culture.
“My administration is also defending religious liberty, and that includes the constitutional right to pray in public schools,” Trump said to applause. “In America, we don’t punish prayer. We don’t tear down crosses. We don’t ban symbols of faith. We don’t muzzle preachers and pastors. In America, we celebrate faith, we cherish religion, we lift our voices in prayer, and we raise our sights to the Glory of God.”
While brief, these were important words from the President. Christian values are regularly targeted in America today and labeled as “hate” when they don’t align with secular society.
Here are a few examples:
Atheist Group Bullies School Into Dropping Nativity Scene From 3rd Grade Christmas Special
Atheist Group Issues Shocking Complaint Against Kanye’s Texas Prison Visit
Chris Pratt Jumps to Defense of His Church After ‘Anti-LGBTQ’ Criticism
Two areas of major focus for those opposing Christian beliefs include prayer and faith on public property and same-sex marriage. Expressing your faith at school or other government office is under intense scrutiny, while simply stating the Christian belief that marriage is between a man and a woman often results in a conflict of some sort.
Lawmaker Calls on DOJ to Investigate Continued Harassment of Christian Baker
The case is often made that there is no Christian persecution in the west. If, by persecution, they mean life and death then yes, that is most frequently an accurate assessment. But there are many forms of persecution, and God promises the believer they will face persecution in their life, so we should not be surprised to see this sort of thing happening.
Thankfully, the current President acknowledges this reality and verbalized support for those who want to express their faith in public without fear of retribution.