Podcasts about international religious freedom

It's Monday, March 16th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus 400 Christians murdered in Congo in one year Christians are being attacked, murdered, and abducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo every week, and the violence appears to be worse than ever, reports International Christian Concern. Between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025, the Institute for International Religious Freedom reported that nearly 400 Christians were murdered in the African nation of Congo. And this is only a fraction of the total violence being perpetrated. Rebel militias have gained vast influence over the Christian-majority nation due to extremist Islamist ideologies, years-long civil wars, and political upheaval. According to Open Doors, Congo is the 29th most oppressive country worldwide for Christians. The persecuted Christians in Congo are no doubt praying Psalm 91 which says, “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' Surely, He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. … You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day. … A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.” (verses 2,3,5, 7-8) Missile strikes U.S. Embassy in Iraq A missile has struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq as President Donald Trump's war on Iran heads into its third week, reports The Daily Mail. Plumes of smoke were seen above the U.S. embassy in the Iraqi capital. The missile landed within the embassy's boundaries. Pentagon sending assault ship & 2,500 Marines toward Iran The Pentagon is deploying the U.S.S. Tripoli and 2,500 Marines to the Middle East after President Trump vowed Friday to unleash “unparalleled firepower,” reports the New York Post. On Friday morning, War Secretary Pete Hegseth gave this overview. HEGSETH: “With every passing hour, we know, and we know they know, that the military capabilities of their evil regime are crumbling. They can barely communicate, let alone coordinate. They're confused, and we know it.  Our response? We will keep pressing. We will keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies.” Iran's blocking Strait of Hormuz leading to global oil price spike The deployment of the amphibious assault ship comes as the American military admits it's currently unable to break Iranian influence over the vital Strait of Hormuz as global oil prices spike.  The Strait of Hormuz is located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points. The expected two-week voyage from East Asia matches Energy Secretary Chris Wright's prediction of reopening the crucial waterway “by the end of the month.” Secretary Hegseth was perturbed by a CNN report that Iran's stranglehold of the Strait of Hormuz was a surprise. HEGSETH: “More fake news from CNN. Reports that the ‘Trump administration underestimated the Iran war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz.' “Patently ridiculous, of course! For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do: Hold the Strait hostage. CNN doesn't think we thought of that. It's a fundamentally unserious report.” Idaho House urges Supreme Court to invalidate homosexual “marriage” The Idaho House of Representatives has voted to reject the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges and urged the justices to reconsider the decision legalizing homosexual marriage nationwide, reports the Herzog Foundation. Lawmakers approved House Joint Memorial 17 last Tuesday in a 44-26 vote. All Democrats voted against the measure, and a small number of Republicans joined them. The resolution now heads to the Idaho Senate. The memorial states the Legislature “rejects the Obergefell decision” and “calls upon the Supreme Court of the United States to reverse Obergefell and restore the natural definition of marriage.” Supporters say the 2015 ruling overrode the authority of states and ignored the will of voters who had already defined marriage in state law. The resolution says Obergefell “is at odds with the Constitution of the United States and the principles upon which the United States is established.” It also says the ruling “arbitrarily and unjustly” cast aside the historic understanding of marriage, which “has been recognized as the union of one man and one woman for more than 2,000 years.” Idaho Republican State Rep. Tony Wisniewski sponsored the memorial. He said supporters oppose “the debasing of the term of marriage to that of something that is abhorrent to many of us.” The memorial also points to Idaho voters' earlier decision on the issue. In 2006, 63% of voters approved Amendment 2, which added language to the state Constitution defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Supporters argue the Supreme Court brushed aside that vote when it issued the Obergefell ruling. The resolution also states the decision “may have been illegitimately adjudicated” because two justices in the majority, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan, had previously officiated homosexual weddings and did not recuse themselves. The memorial now moves to the Idaho Senate. The governor does not play a role because joint memorials do not require a signature. “Educated for Liberty” film urges Christian parents to wake up And finally, the rise of government-controlled schools and secular education has produced a decline of moral and academic excellence, which has led to a loss of liberty, reports The Providence Foundation. Schools have become progressively dangerous. Some of the most negative influences that young Americans can face today are found in public schools. Exposure to drugs, assault, rape, and murder are becoming more and more common. Radical transgender and homosexual ideology is promoted in classrooms, and reinforced by biological males having access to girls' restrooms and being allowed to compete in girls' sports. Well, there's a new Christian documentary out entitled Educated for Liberty. It urges Christian parents to pull their kids out of public schools and homeschool them or place them in private Christian schools instead. DAVID BARTON: “If you can't think biblically, then what you have is a bunch of secular-thinking people who attend church which will never change a community in the right direction.” RHONDA THOMAS: “We're not, as a church, raising up parents that understand their responsibility in the education of their children.” CAROL SWAIN: “Sunday School is fine. It's good. Vacation Bible School: Fine and good, but it's not enough.” CAROLE ADAMS: “Education is discipleship -- one way or another. Discipling our children in a secularized society, or it's discipling them to Christ.” CASEY GORDON: “How could you possibly segregate the concept of education from the duty and responsibility of the Christian faith, and that they should be trained in the Christian faith and in a Christian way?” ALEX NEWMAN: “For hundreds of years in this country, the Bible was the essential book. It was the foundation of everything. And yet, here we are where it's actually controversial that we should have the Bible in education. It's truly astounding.” MRS. SAM SORBO: “Give your children the Bible, and you give them an understanding of God, which is education. Then the world will become clear to them, and they'll be world changers.” Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Watch the film, Educated for Liberty, for free through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, March 16th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

In this episode of Crossing Faiths, John speaks with Ambassador Robert Rehak, the Czech Republic's Special Envoy for the Holocaust, Interfaith Dialogue, and Freedom of Religion and Belief, about his extensive global efforts to protect marginalized communities and promote tolerance. The conversation creatively opens by comparing his human rights work to the Czech legend of Houska Castle—a fortress built to seal the gates of hell—before delving into his real-world responsibilities as the Chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance. Ambassador Rehak shares compelling examples of his advocacy, including his efforts to free a Nigerian prisoner of conscience, unique social experiments dressing as different religious figures at soccer matches to combat Islamophobia, and organizing interfaith sports tournaments for Jewish and Muslim youth. They also discuss urgent global crises, such as the destruction of religious sites and oppression of minorities in Russian-occupied Ukraine, the systemic persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China, and the ongoing struggles in Syria. Drawing on his own poignant experiences growing up behind the Iron Curtain in communist Czechoslovakia and participating in the Velvet Revolution, Ambassador Rehak underscores his deep personal dedication to democracy and concludes with a hopeful call to action for everyday people to champion religious freedom and global unity. Robert Řehák, Ph.D. is Special Envoy for Holocaust, Interfaith Dialogue and Freedom of Religion, Czech career diplomat, Head of the Czech Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), Chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA) or the Article 18 Alliance, published scholar of biblical proper names and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and official Hebrew interpreter. He studied at Charles University in Prague, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. As a researcher, he participates in several international research projects in the field of interfaith dialogue and sociology of religion. He is the initiator of the new Czech National Strategy of Combating anti-Semitism and co-ordinated the recent conference on the Terezín Declaration and the 2023 FoRB Ministerial in Prague. He is proficient in Czech, English, Hebrew, German and Russian, and reads classical Latin, Greek and Arabic. He lives in Prague with his wife and four children.

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 formally established the promotion of religious freedom as a U.S. foreign policy and national security priority. Tracing its origins and passage, Prioritizing Faith: International Religious Freedom and U.S. Foreign Policy (NYU Press, 2025) by Dr. Ashlyn Hand shows how the legislation was made possible by the convergence of growing evangelical and Jewish advocacy, the expanding international human rights movement, and a broader search for post–Cold War purpose. Yet implementation across administrations has been uneven, shaped by shifting geopolitical dynamics and internal institutional constraints.Relying on expert interviews and rich archival analysis, Dr. Hand traces how Clinton, Bush, and Obama each wove international religious freedom into their foreign policy visions while navigating competing priorities and evolving strategic interests. Through case studies in China, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia, Dr. Hand reveals the inner workings and persistent challenges of American religious freedom policy on the global stage.Timely, insightful, and deeply researched, Prioritizing Faith offers an incisive assessment of the United States' efforts to promote religious freedom abroad, highlighting the enduring tensions between normative aspirations and the complexities of foreign policy practice. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 formally established the promotion of religious freedom as a U.S. foreign policy and national security priority. Tracing its origins and passage, Prioritizing Faith: International Religious Freedom and U.S. Foreign Policy (NYU Press, 2025) by Dr. Ashlyn Hand shows how the legislation was made possible by the convergence of growing evangelical and Jewish advocacy, the expanding international human rights movement, and a broader search for post–Cold War purpose. Yet implementation across administrations has been uneven, shaped by shifting geopolitical dynamics and internal institutional constraints.Relying on expert interviews and rich archival analysis, Dr. Hand traces how Clinton, Bush, and Obama each wove international religious freedom into their foreign policy visions while navigating competing priorities and evolving strategic interests. Through case studies in China, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia, Dr. Hand reveals the inner workings and persistent challenges of American religious freedom policy on the global stage.Timely, insightful, and deeply researched, Prioritizing Faith offers an incisive assessment of the United States' efforts to promote religious freedom abroad, highlighting the enduring tensions between normative aspirations and the complexities of foreign policy practice. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 formally established the promotion of religious freedom as a U.S. foreign policy and national security priority. Tracing its origins and passage, Prioritizing Faith: International Religious Freedom and U.S. Foreign Policy (NYU Press, 2025) by Dr. Ashlyn Hand shows how the legislation was made possible by the convergence of growing evangelical and Jewish advocacy, the expanding international human rights movement, and a broader search for post–Cold War purpose. Yet implementation across administrations has been uneven, shaped by shifting geopolitical dynamics and internal institutional constraints.Relying on expert interviews and rich archival analysis, Dr. Hand traces how Clinton, Bush, and Obama each wove international religious freedom into their foreign policy visions while navigating competing priorities and evolving strategic interests. Through case studies in China, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia, Dr. Hand reveals the inner workings and persistent challenges of American religious freedom policy on the global stage.Timely, insightful, and deeply researched, Prioritizing Faith offers an incisive assessment of the United States' efforts to promote religious freedom abroad, highlighting the enduring tensions between normative aspirations and the complexities of foreign policy practice. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/national-security

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 formally established the promotion of religious freedom as a U.S. foreign policy and national security priority. Tracing its origins and passage, Prioritizing Faith: International Religious Freedom and U.S. Foreign Policy (NYU Press, 2025) by Dr. Ashlyn Hand shows how the legislation was made possible by the convergence of growing evangelical and Jewish advocacy, the expanding international human rights movement, and a broader search for post–Cold War purpose. Yet implementation across administrations has been uneven, shaped by shifting geopolitical dynamics and internal institutional constraints.Relying on expert interviews and rich archival analysis, Dr. Hand traces how Clinton, Bush, and Obama each wove international religious freedom into their foreign policy visions while navigating competing priorities and evolving strategic interests. Through case studies in China, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia, Dr. Hand reveals the inner workings and persistent challenges of American religious freedom policy on the global stage.Timely, insightful, and deeply researched, Prioritizing Faith offers an incisive assessment of the United States' efforts to promote religious freedom abroad, highlighting the enduring tensions between normative aspirations and the complexities of foreign policy practice. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 formally established the promotion of religious freedom as a U.S. foreign policy and national security priority. Tracing its origins and passage, Prioritizing Faith: International Religious Freedom and U.S. Foreign Policy (NYU Press, 2025) by Dr. Ashlyn Hand shows how the legislation was made possible by the convergence of growing evangelical and Jewish advocacy, the expanding international human rights movement, and a broader search for post–Cold War purpose. Yet implementation across administrations has been uneven, shaped by shifting geopolitical dynamics and internal institutional constraints.Relying on expert interviews and rich archival analysis, Dr. Hand traces how Clinton, Bush, and Obama each wove international religious freedom into their foreign policy visions while navigating competing priorities and evolving strategic interests. Through case studies in China, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia, Dr. Hand reveals the inner workings and persistent challenges of American religious freedom policy on the global stage.Timely, insightful, and deeply researched, Prioritizing Faith offers an incisive assessment of the United States' efforts to promote religious freedom abroad, highlighting the enduring tensions between normative aspirations and the complexities of foreign policy practice. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nury Turkel, FORMERLY Vice Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, discusses his book No Escape. He details the sadistic rule of Chinese official Zhu Hailun and the persecution of scholar Abduvali Ayup, illustrating the terror and brutality used to erase Uyghur culture and language. 1900 DOWAGER EMPRESS QING DYNASTY

Turkel outlines his collaboration with US leaders, including Matt Pottinger and Nancy Pelosi, to secure sanctions and a formal genocide designation. He highlights the bipartisan consensus against Beijing's abuses, noting that his effective advocacy on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom led China to sanction him personally 1967 RED GUARD

Violence, faith, and courage collide in Nigeria—where thousands of Christians face daily persecution from extremist groups. This episode unpacks the data, the human stories, and what ordinary viewers can do to stand for religious freedom.⛓ Learn more / verified sources:– Open Doors World Watch List – https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/nigeria– Voice of the Martyrs Global Prayer Guide – https://www.persecution.com/globalprayerguide/nigeria– U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom – https://www.uscirf.gov⚙ How you can respond:1️⃣ Stay informed and share verified reports.2️⃣ Pray for the families, pastors, and front-line workers in Nigeria.3️⃣ Support trustworthy humanitarian and Bible-distribution efforts helping displaced communities.

The precarious footing of religious freedom everywhere.  __________ For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org. 

1. Christian Persecution in Nigeria Senator Cruz highlights what he describes as a massive and underreported crisis involving the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. Key points include: Over 50,000 Christians killed since 2009. 18,000 churches and 2,000 schools burned, allegedly by extremist groups like Boko Haram and ISIS in West Africa. Accusations that some Nigerian government officials are complicit or negligent in addressing the violence. Cruz has introduced legislation to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and impose sanctions on individual officials involved in or ignoring the persecution. He criticizes the mainstream media for failing to cover the issue adequately. Public figures like Bill Maher and Van Jones are cited as supporting the claim that this is a planned genocide and that media silence is a moral failure. 2. Christian Persecution in China This section shifts to a similar story: The Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on Christianity, particularly targeting Pastor Jin Mingri and the Zion Church. Cruz introduced a bipartisan resolution with Senator Chris Coons condemning China’s actions and urging the release of imprisoned pastors. He emphasizes the need for economic and diplomatic pressure, especially with President Trump’s upcoming meeting with President Xi Jinping. The resolution calls for respect for religious freedom and highlights China’s long-standing designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. 3. DOJ Surveillance of Republican Senators Cruz discusses revelations that: The Biden DOJ and Special Counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed phone records of nine Republican senators and one House member in connection with the January 6 investigation. Cruz’s phone records were requested from AT&T, but the company refused to comply, citing constitutional protections under the Speech and Debate Clause. He frames this as political persecution and a dangerous abuse of power, likening it to Watergate. He calls for Congressional hearings and transparency to prevent future surveillance of elected officials. Please Hit Subscribe to this podcast Right Now. Also Please Subscribe to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson and The Ben Ferguson Show Podcast Wherever You get You're Podcasts. And don't forget to follow the show on Social Media so you never miss a moment! Thanks for Listening YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruz/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/verdictwithtedcruz X: https://x.com/tedcruz X: https://x.com/benfergusonshowYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, often referred to as the IRF Ambassador, plays a vital role in the U.S. government's promotion of international religious freedom. Pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), the IRF Ambassador is mandated to head the Office of International Religious Freedom, or IRF Office, at the State Department. Additional duties include serving as the principal adviser to the President and Secretary of State on matters involving religious freedom abroad and representing the United States on IRF matters diplomatically. In April, President Trump nominated Mark Walker as the next IRF Ambassador. As religious persecution increases globally, it is urgent that the Senate confirm an IRF ambassador to ensure this issue remains a priority in U.S. foreign policy and globally.  On today's episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Hartzler and Vice Chair Mahmood speak with former IRF Ambassadors David Saperstein and Samuel Brownback to reflect on the impact of this position and share recommendations for the next Ambassador.  Read USCIRF's Factsheet on Key IRF-Related Positions, along with USCIRF's Factsheet on IRFA to learn more about the legislation establishing the IRF Ambassador position. With Contributions from:Veronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

While the world focuses on the UN General Assembly, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has also been in the US, holding key meetings in Washington and New York with President Trump, members of Congress, and world leaders. At the same time, his visit put a spotlight on the important role the Ecumenical Patriarch has played and continues to play on the environment, interfaith dialogue, and peacebuilding. Elizabeth Prodromou and Aristotle Papanikolaou join Thanos Davelis as we dig into Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's recent visit to the US.Dr. Elizabeth Prodromou is a previous Vice Chair and Commissioner on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and Visiting Professor in the International Studies Program at Boston College.Aristotle Papanikolaou is the Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture and the co-founding Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University.You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew discusses Halki, religious freedoms with TrumpPatriarch Bartholomew defends recognition of independent Ukrainian churchEcumenical Patriarch Bartholomew receives the Templeton Prize in New YorkTrump urges Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil as they meet at White HouseTrump pushes Turkey on Russian oil, hints at lifting sanctions

What mattered most for survivors of the Holocaust, indeed, what made their survival possible, was not only that the Allies had better ideas about democracy and civilization, though of course Britain, America, and the other Western Allies did. It was that they actually won the war. They defeated the Germans on the field of battle—on sea, land, and air, in the hills and in the streets. It's not enough for us to rest contentedly on the superiority of our ideas. We also have to fight. But at this moment, the fundamental political fact of the last 80 years—that it was an indispensable and untarnishable achievement for the Allies to have destroyed the Third Reich—is itself under revisionist assault. The Internet talk-show host Tucker Carlson last year promoted the podcaster Darryl Cooper, calling him “America's most honest historian,” and airing his claim that Winston Churchill was the “chief villain” of World War II who “escalated” what Hitler supposedly intended to be a limited conflict. As one of this episode's guests reports in the Wall Street Journal, when the Holocaust-denying podcaster Jake Shields polled his social-media followers about who they thought was “the biggest villain of World War II,” 40.3 percent chose Churchill over Hitler (25.3 percent) or Stalin (25.9 percent). Darryl Cooper or Jake Shields are teaching a new generation of Americans a grotesquely distorted view of our own history. To understand why that is, what can be done about it, and what's at stake for Jews and America, Mosaic's editor Jonathan Silver sat down Rabbi Meir Soloveichik and Andrew Roberts. Roberts is a distinguish historian and the author of more than twenty books. His 2018 biography of Churchill, Walking with Destiny, was the rare work that deserved all of the glowing praise it received, and there is perhaps no person living who knows more about the 20th century's greatest man than Roberts. On November 1, 2022, he was elevated to a peerage as Baron Roberts of Belgravia. Rabbi Soloveichik is the religious leader of Congregation Shearith Israel, the director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought and Yeshiva University, and vice-chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. This conversation took place at a private event held for members of the Tikvah Society. You can learn more about its activities and how to join here.

It's Monday, September 15th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Syrian Christians facing “accelerated cultural erasure” Radical Muslim jihadis and other extremist groups have carried out brutal mass killings and other human rights violations against Syria's religious minorities, prompting calls from religious freedom advocates for the United States to take action, reports The Christian Post. Dr. Morhaf Ibrahim, president of the Alawites Association of the United States, says the attacks against Syria's Christian, Alawite and Druze communities are not just random acts of violence. "It's a deliberate campaign of terror," Ibrahim declared during a Wednesday press conference AAUS hosted on Capitol Hill to discuss the atrocities committed against Syrian ethno-religious minorities.  Since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, Syria's religious minorities are facing a rapid increase in violence from foreign jihadis, Assad loyalists and militias unleashed by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. After the Islamic alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is made up of former Islamic State and Al Qaeda fighters, ousted President Bashar al-Assad, religious freedom advocates have feared for the safety of Christians and other minority groups.  Sam Brownback, the former United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, talked about what he thinks needs to happen now. BROWNBACK: “I just know that right now is a critical moment to get the structure of Syrian government correct, where it needs to provide safety for everybody. It needs to be decentralized. “The minority groups need to be able to defend themselves, and you'll be able to have equal citizenship. It's important right now to get the structure, or you will have genocide in the future. It will go poorly.” The Christian back story in Syria is demonstrable, Of the 325 bishops who took part in the First Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, twenty were from Syria. Suspected assassin of Charlie Kirk in custody The man suspected of murdering conservative influencer Charlie Kirk is now in custody, and has been identified as 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson, reported LifeSiteNews.com. As police circulated images of the suspected shooter on Thursday, Robinson's father became convinced the killer was his son and confronted him, reports CNN. He asked, “Tyler, is this you? This looks like you.” His son acknowledged that it was him, and when his father urged him to turn himself in, Tyler suggested that he would rather kill himself. But after his father convinced him to talk with a youth pastor, Tyler agreed to be taken into custody around 11:00pm Thursday night. His arrest was first announced by President Donald Trump Friday morning on Fox and Friends. TRUMP: “I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody.” LAWRENCE JONES: “This is going to be a federal case, and there's many of us believe that Charlie was targeted because of his political ideology.” TRUMP: “Yeah.” JONES: “What's going to happen to this guy?” TRUMP: “Well, I hope he's going to be found guilty, I would imagine. And I hope he gets the death penalty. What he did, Charlie Kirk was the finest person. He didn't deserve this.” Genesis 9:6 says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image.” Robinson's hatred of Charlie Kirk A family member of Robinson's told investigators that the suspected shooter “had become more political in recent years,” and in particular had lashed out at Charlie Kirk at a recent family dinner, reports CNN. But, ironically enough, several years ago, in high school, Robinson – like his family – was politically conservative, and supported President Donald Trump ahead of the 2020 election. Robinson attended Utah State University for one semester in 2021. He was a pre-engineering major at the university but took a leave of absence after his first semester. Robinson then enrolled at Dixie Technical College in St. George. He is currently a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program, and obtained an apprentice electrician license in 2022. He drifted away from the Mormonism of his parents and became deeply connected to an on-line gaming community. Kirk's alleged assassin lived with transgender partner In a related development, the New York Post reports that Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, lived with his transgender partner. That individual, who has yet to be publicly identified by the authorities, is now fully cooperating with the FBI. According to public records, Lance Twiggs, age 22, resided at the same address where Robinson lived. A relative of Twiggs confirmed to The Post Saturday that “yes, they were roommates.”  Twiggs is a male pretending to be female. They shared an apartment in Saint George, Utah which is approximately four hours away from Utah Valley University in Orem, where Robinson allegedly shot Kirk. Twiggs said he "had no idea" Robinson was allegedly planning to assassinate the Turning Point USA founder. The person is not currently accused of any criminal activity in connection with the assassination. The FBI had text messages and other communications between Robinson and his partner that helped FBI agents zero in on Robinson. Officials said the FBI took evidence from their apartment, including computers, which has been sent to Quantico for review. Kirk was compassionate as he dialogued with a transgender student Charlie Kirk was known for respectfully disagreeing with liberal college students on a wide range of issues, political and religious, including with this 19-year-old woman pretending to be a man. Listen to both Kirk's commitment to the truth and compassion in a  conversation which Turning Point posted in May. STUDENT: “I just want to say I'm a transgender male. What age should kids be able to get things, like, hormone therapy? Because I don't know what's true, what's not." KIRK: “Tell me. Are you comfortable telling me your story?” STUDENT: “I've known that since, like, third grade, and I'm currently 19, almost 20. I have known basically since then. I didn't start going by, like, a different name until seventh and eighth grade, I just don't know, like, with the med…, like, the whole medical stuff, like, what's true, what's not, what's helpful. Because I've heard so many different opinions.” KIRK: “First of all, thank you so much for that.” STUDENT: “Of course.” KIRK: “And so I'm gonna have an opinion that very few people will ever tell you, which is, I want you to be very cautious putting drugs into your system in the pursuit of changing your body. I, instead, encourage you to work on what's going on in your brain first. I think what you need first and foremost is just a diagnosis, just someone that is going to listen to what you've gone through, listen to what else is going on. “My prayer for you, and again, very few people will say this, I actually want to see you be comfortable in how you were born." STUDENT: “Yeah.” KIRK: “I know that you might not feel that way, but I think that is something that you can achieve. I think that with the right team and the right people, you don't have to wage war on your body. You can learn to love your body.” People have posted fascinating comments online. One said, “This is what the Left calls hate! His response was pure compassion!”  Another said, “He was such a kind and caring man and they murdered him for it.”  A third person said, “Charlie … gave caring and respectful advice. Not at all the hateful monster the Left makes him out to be.” And another said, Charlie “WAS on his way to becoming the youngest president ever elected in America.  Bill Clinton was 46 in November '92. Charlie Kirk was gonna break that record. This loss will be felt for years!” Indeed, the Turning Point canopied tent proclaimed, “Prove me wrong.” Clearly, since the Left couldn't prove Charlie Kirk wrong, they killed him. Erika Kirk to assassin: “You have no idea what you just have unleashed!” On Friday, from the headquarters of Turning Point USA in Phoenix, Arizona, Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie, addressed the nation for 17-minutes, just two days after she witnessed her husband assassinated in front of her at Utah Valley University. Listen. ERIKA KIRK: “I want to thank the first responders who struggled heroically, heroically, to save Charles' life, and the police who acted bravely to make sure that there were no other victims on that terrible afternoon. “I want to thank President Trump and his incredible family for the same. Mr. President, my husband loved you, and he knew that you loved him too. He did. Your friendship was amazing.” Erika Kirk had a specific message for those responsible for taking her husband's life. ERIKA KIRK: “The evildoers responsible for my husband's assassination have no idea what they have done. They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and of God's merciful love. “They should all know this. If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country. You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.” Send a letter of condolence to Erika Kirk, c/o Turning Point USA, 4940 East Beverly Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85044. Plus, you can make a donation to Erika and her two children as well as a donation to Turning Point to continue the fight for a Biblical worldview and American exceptionalism.  We have both of them linked in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com. Ray Comfort: Charlie Kirk was so courageous And finally, in a CBN podcast, Evangelist Ray Comfort shared his thoughts on the assassination of Christian Charlie Kirk, reports FaithWire.com. COMFORT: “He was so courageous to touch issues that most of us would be afraid to touch, and he did it with such eloquence. I've never heard anyone with a grasp of the English language like he had, and the guy was absolutely brilliant. “And so, I'm very, very sorry that we've lost a general, but I'm optimistic that God's going to raise up soldiers to continue the work and be even more effective.” Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, September 15th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

1 in 9 Christians around the world experience persecution in some form. Host Casey Harper is joined by former U.S. representative and current Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Vicky Hartzler, and Family Research Council’s Arielle Del Turco as they highlight the growing threat and violence towards Christians worldwide. Chair Hartzler shares the work she is doing, how the U.S. federal government can aid those who are persecuted, and highlights heartbreaking stories of Christians who have lost their lives for the sake of the gospel. Persecution is real. How can you aid your brothers and sisters who are experiencing it?

1 in 9 Christians around the world experience persecution in some form. Host Casey Harper is joined by former U.S. representative and current Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Vicky Hartzler, and Family Research Council's Arielle Del Turco as they highlight the growing threat and violence towards Christians worldwide. Chair Hartzler shares the work she is doing, how the U.S. federal government can aid those who are persecuted, and highlights heartbreaking stories of Christians who have lost their lives for the sake of the gospel. Persecution is real. How can you aid your brothers and sisters who are experiencing it?

1 in 9 Christians around the world experience persecution in some form. Host Casey Harper is joined by former U.S. representative and current Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Vicky Hartzler, and Family Research Council’s Arielle Del Turco as they highlight the growing threat and violence towards Christians worldwide. Chair Hartzler shares the work she is doing, how the U.S. federal government can aid those who are persecuted, and highlights heartbreaking stories of Christians who have lost their lives for the sake of the gospel. Persecution is real. How can you aid your brothers and sisters who are experiencing it?

Chris Piehota, a retired FBI executive assistant director and author of "Wanted: The FBI I Once Knew" delves into the complexities of FBI investigations, particularly focusing on the scrutiny surrounding high-profile cases involving figures like Hillary Clinton. Chris shares his insights on the internal dynamics of the FBI, the role of the Inspection Division, and the implications of political influence on justice. Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick dissect the implications of the complexities surrounding the recent media frenzy regarding the Trump administration's Signal Group chat revelations. They discuss military readiness, accountability within the Department of War, and the need for transformational changes to ensure the U.S. military remains effective. Finally, Dr. Asif Mahmood, Vice Chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, explores the precarious situation surrounding Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, who is currently imprisoned under dubious circumstances. Dr. Mahmood sheds light on the alarming state of human rights in Pakistan and the broader implications for religious freedom globally.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A few weeks ago, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, a prominent advocate for religious freedom and human rights, was invited to the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, alongside fellow religious freedom advocate Johnnie Moore.They had an intimate meeting with the new president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa.In this episode, the rabbi shares what he learned about al-Sharaa and whether he believes a peace between Syria and Israel is possible in the near future.“There's a term in Hebrew: It's called Kabdehu ve Hashdehu, [which] means show respect and verify,“ he says. ”So, this is not a ‘kumbaya' moment. This is a moment where there's great leverage.”Cooper previously chaired the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom and also serves as associate dean and director of global social action for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Thomas J. Reese, senior analyst for Religion News Service; Stephen Schneck, commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; and George Weigel, senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, discuss Pope Leo XIV's foreign policy priorities during his first 100 days and the Vatican's evolving role in international diplomacy. Claire Giangravé, Vatican reporter for Religion News Service, moderates the conversation. 

Syria stands at a pivotal moment. As the violent persecution of Syria's minorities intensifies, key voices are calling on the US and the international community to help steer the country away from authoritarianism and toward a future that ensures equal citizenship for all Syrians. Two of those voices  - Nadine Maenza and Aykan Erdemir - join Thanos Davelis as we break down why these steps are needed, before it's too late.Nadine Maenza is the chair of the Institute for Global Engagement, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable, and former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Aykan Erdemir is the Anti-Defamation League's senior director of Global Research and Diplomatic Affairs.You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:The path to security for Syria's minorities goes through equal citizenship As Trump warms to Syria, US pushes UN to lift Sharaa sanctionsEgypt reaffirms support for Sinai Monastery amid speculation over its futureCyprus property disputes threaten UN peace talks

Thomas J. Reese, senior analyst for Religion News Service; Stephen Schneck, commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; and George Weigel, senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, discuss Pope Leo XIV's foreign policy priorities during his first 100 days and the Vatican's evolving role in international diplomacy. Claire Giangravé, Vatican reporter for Religion News Service, moderates the conversation.

Johnnie Moore has been running the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for two months now and the current he's swimming against seems to just keep on getting stronger. Speaking with State of Tel Aviv and Beyond on the afternoon of Friday, July 25, Moore was forthright about how the entrenched humanitarian ecosystem that has been the overseer of the Gaza Strip for almost 20 years — the UN — has been less than enthusiastic about co-operating with GHF to ensure that civilians in the Strip receive adequate food and other supplies. Moore has reached out to many senior UN officials - including Secretary General Antonio Guterres - whose staff took their time in responding. And when they finally did reply — they told Rev. Moore — by email, that the Secretary General did not have time to meet. Or speak. Same with those to whom Guterres delegated the matter. GHF was working 24 /7 to ensure that civilians in Gaza received adequate food. And the Secretary General was… too busy to take a call? It's shocking — what Moore shares. But he is undeterred. He presses on and his team on the ground delivers more food each day. Extraordinary.Show your support for STL at buymeacoffee.com/stateoftelavivState of Tel Aviv is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Podcast notes - some interesting X posts and photo and bio of Rev. Johnnie MooreGuest bioRev. Johnnie Moore, PhD is a globally recognized human rights advocate, humanitarian strategist and multifaith leader who serves as Executive Chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). In this capacity, he provides leadership to GHF's efforts with governments, media, civil society and other stakeholders to ensure the world understands how GHF is delivering emergency food aid to civilians in Gaza.Rev. Moore is widely respected for his decades of work at the intersection of faith, foreign policy and humanitarian action. His advocacy on behalf of persecuted and displaced communities has spanned the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and includes playing a key role in the response to ISIS atrocities, contributing to genocide recognition efforts and helping secure the release of religious prisoners in many countries.He was appointed twice to the bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, serving under both the Trump and Biden administrations. He has engaged with heads of state across the Islamic world and was instrumental in building bridges between faith communities that contributed to peace-building efforts such as the Abraham Accords.Rev. Moore is the author of ten books and has written for CNN, The Washington Post, Fox News and Religion News Service. He lives in Washington, D.C. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stateoftelaviv.com/subscribe

XI JINPING MUST ANSWER TO THE UYGHUR PEOPLE: 1/4: No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs Kindle Edition by  Nury Turkel https://www.amazon.com/No-Escape-Chinas-Genocide-Uyghurs-ebook/dp/B09CMRPZL1/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HQXI67T1UBCW&keywords=NO+ESCAPE+TURKEL&qid=1669243597&s=books&sprefix=no+escape+turkel%2Cstripbooks%2C73&sr=1-1 In recent years, the People's Republic of China has rounded up as many as three million Uyghurs, placing them in what it calls “reeducation camps,” facilities most of the world identifies as concentration camps. There, the genocide and enslavement of the Uyghur people are ongoing. The tactics employed are reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution, but the results are far more insidious because of the technology used, most of it stolen from Silicon Valley. In the words of Turkel, “Communist China has created an open prison-like environment through the most intrusive surveillance state that the world has ever known while committing genocide and enslaving the Uyghurs on the world's watch.” As a human rights attorney and Uyghur activist who now serves on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Turkel tells his personal story to help explain the urgency and scope of the Uyghur crisis. Born in 1970 in a reeducation camp, he was lucky enough to survive and eventually make his way to the US, where he became the first Uyghur to receive an American law degree. Since then, he has worked as a prominent lawyer, activist, and spokesperson for his people and advocated strong policy responses from the liberal democracies to address atrocity crimes against his people. The Uyghur crisis is turning into the greatest human rights crisis of the twenty-first century, a systematic cleansing of an entire race of people in the millions. Part Anne Frank and Hannah Arendt, No Escape shares Turkel's personal story while drawing back the curtain on the historically unprecedented and increasing threat from China

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a newly established U.S.-backed aid group distributing food in Gaza, is under fire from critics who say hundreds of Gazans have been killed near its distribution sites.But is there a bigger story here?In this episode, I sit down with Johnnie Moore, executive chairman of the GHF and former commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.“We have one mission, to feed the people of Gaza in a way that Hamas—a designated terrorist organization in the United States and Europe—can't steal the food because for many, many years, Hamas has been stealing the food of the Gazan people,” Moore says.“The problem in Gaza is that the United Nations and other international agencies created a system which empowered virtually every bad actor and every bad force in the Gaza Strip to make a bad situation worse.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

In today's episode of the Center for Baptist Leadership podcast, William Wolfe sits down with Ambassador Designee for International Religious Freedom at the State Department, former Congressman and Pastor, Mark Walker, to discuss the global fight for religious freedom, working with President Trump, and his service as a pastor and congressman.   Mark Walker is an American politician and former pastor who served as a U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 6th congressional district from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Walker was elected to lead the Republican Study Committee in 2017 and served as vice chair of the House Republican Conference in 2019. In 2024, Walker joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign as director of faith and minority outreach. On April 10, 2025, President Trump announced his intention to nominate Walker as the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a position within the State Department.   Learn more about Mark Walker's work: https://x.com/repmarkwalker   ––––––   Follow Center for Baptist Leadership across Social Media: X / Twitter – https://twitter.com/BaptistLeaders Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/people/Center-For-Baptist-Leadership/61556762144277/ Rumble – https://rumble.com/c/c-6157089 YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@CenterforBaptistLeadership Website – https://centerforbaptistleadership.org/   To book William for media appearances or speaking engagements, please contact him at media@centerfor­baptistleadership.org.   Follow Us on Twitter: William Wolfe - https://twitter.com/William_E_Wolfe Richard Henry - https://twitter.com/RThenry83   Renew the SBC from within and defend the SBC from those who seek its destruction, donate today: https://centerforbaptistleadership.org/donate/   The Center for Baptist Leadership Podcast is powered by American Reformer, recorded remotely in the United States by William Wolfe, and edited by Jared Cummings.   Subscribe to the Center for Baptist Leadership Podcast: Distribute our RSS Feed – https://centerforbaptistleadership.podbean.com/ Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/center-for-baptist-leadership/id1743074575 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/0npXohTYKWYmWLsHkalF9t Amazon Music // Audible – https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ababbdd-6c6b-4ab9-b21a-eed951e1e67b BoomPlay – https://www.boomplaymusic.com/podcasts/96624 TuneIn – Coming Soon iHeartRadio – https://iheart.com/podcast/170321203 Listen Notes – https://lnns.co/2Br0hw7p5R4 Pandora – Coming Soon PlayerFM – https://player.fm/series/3570081 Podchaser – https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-center-for-baptist-leaders-5696654 YouTube Podcasts – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFMvfuzJKMICA7wi3CXvQxdNtA_lqDFV

How does being a Christians affect one's public service? And what can Southern Baptists do to influence the public square? During SBC25 in Dallas, ERLC President Brent Leatherwood spoke with Ambassador designate Mark Walker, President Trump's appointee for the Office of International Religious Freedom, Congressman Nathaniel Moran from Texas, and Sen. James Lankford from Oklahoma about being a Christian in Washington, D.C.Before being named as the Ambassador designate, Mark Walker represented North Carolina's 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2021. Congressman Nathaniel Moran serves the first district of Texas, and is one of five Republicans appointed to the Ethics Committee, the body which upholds the House Code of Official Conduct. Lastly, Senator James Lankford served four years in the US House of Representatives for central Oklahoma, until he was elected to the US Senate in 2014.

This week's episode of CMDA Matters features a powerful message recorded live at our National Convention in Saint Louis. Former U.S. Senator, Kansas Governor, and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, shares a heartfelt, humorous, and deeply convicting call to courage. From stories of auctioneering school to insights gained at 35,000 feet, Ambassador Brownback challenges believers in healthcare to live out truth boldly in a culture desperate for it.

“Your book is our book. Your heroes are our heroes. Your values are our values.”After years of helping grow the unprecedented Christian support we see for Israel and the Jewish people we see today, that is the answer that Rev. Dr. Johnnie Moore has long heard for why this special relationship has happened—and is still growing.The special friendship between Christians and Jews is certainly needed now more than ever, too, says Rev. Moore in this conversation with The Fellowship's Yael Eckstein. Moore details his work fighting anti-Semitism—which is on the rise—as he also works to help persecuted Christians.With work that has helped people of faith in America, in Israel, and all around the world, Moore helped pave the way for the historic Abraham Accords, has served on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in the past two American presidencies, sits on The Fellowship's board, and is a guiding light to people of faith everywhere.Join Yael for this conversation with a Christian friend of Israel and the Jewish people whose lifework is to spread this friendship, this fellowship, and this faith.For more information on today's episode visit mybiblicalroots.org.Listen to Yael Eckstein on The Chosen People.

A recent court ruling in Egypt has sounded alarm bells in Athens and around the world as it seems to put the status of St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai, a UNESCO world heritage site, at risk. This has prompted reactions at the highest levels, with Prime Minister Mitsotakis speaking with his Egyptian counterpart and emphasizing the importance of safeguarding the monastery's status as a Greek Orthodox place of pilgrimage. Dr. Elizabeth Prodromou joins Thanos Davelis as we break down what's at stake for St. Catherine's monastery and why it matters as we look at the broader state of international religious freedom in the region.Dr. Prodromou is a former Vice Chair and Commissioner on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, visiting professor in the International Studies Program at Boston College, and was a member of the US Secretary of State's Religion & Foreign Policy Working Group.You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Sisi reaffirms Egypt's commitment to status of Sinai monastery in call with MitsotakisHistoric Sinai settlement never signedA bolt out of the blue on Mt SinaiTurkish authorities order detention of dozens of opposition officials in widening crackdownTurkey arrests dozens including opposition party membersGas to flow from Greece to Slovakia, Ukraine

Shawn Ryan Show: Read the notes at at podcastnotes.org. Don't forget to subscribe for free to our newsletter, the top 10 ideas of the week, every Monday --------- Marat Gabidullin, born in Siberia and raised in Uzbekistan, served in Soviet airborne forces until 1994, then spent three years in prison for shooting a crime boss. After security work in Russia, he joined the Wagner Group in 2015, rose to lead a reconnaissance company, and was badly wounded near Palmyra in 2016. He later advised the ISIS Hunters Battalion and fought at Khasham, but quit Wagner in 2019, briefly ran a Redut detachment in Syria, and left disillusioned. Gabidullin's 2022 memoir denounced Wagner and Russia's invasion of Ukraine; he now lives in France. Journalist and researcher John Lechner reports from conflict zones and specializes in Russian PMCs. His book Death Is Our Business (Bloomsbury, 2025) charts the rise of Wagner, following earlier work such as Beginner's Chechen and upcoming Circassian and Sango language texts. A former policy analyst for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and an emerging-markets banker at Deutsche Bank and Lazard, Lechner holds degrees from Harvard (Slavic Languages) and Georgetown (MSFS). Fluent in five languages and conversant in several others, he is a recognized expert on Russian foreign policy and has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Foreign Policy. He lives in Washington, DC. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: ⁠https://www.roka.com⁠ - USE CODE SRS https://www.americanfinancing.net/SRS NMLS 182334, nmlsconsumeraccess.org https://www.expressvpn.com/SRS https://www.shawnlikesgold.com https://www.hillsdale.edu/SRS https://www.shopify.com/SRS https://trueclassic.com/SRS https://www.ziprecruiter.com/SRS Guest Links: Marat Gabidullin FB - https://www.facebook.com/share/15TBVmf2mt/  Book - Moi, Marat, ex-commandant de l'armée Wagner - Les dessous de l'armée secrète de Poutine enfin révélé https://a.co/d/csNMjFH  Book - Ma vérité https://a.co/d/bLZYssf  John Lechner X - https://x.com/JohnLechner1 IG - https://www.instagram.com/johnalechner/ FB - https://www.facebook.com/john.lechner.5 Book - Death Is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare https://a.co/d/7rKXhnI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marat Gabidullin, born in Siberia and raised in Uzbekistan, served in Soviet airborne forces until 1994, then spent three years in prison for shooting a crime boss. After security work in Russia, he joined the Wagner Group in 2015, rose to lead a reconnaissance company, and was badly wounded near Palmyra in 2016. He later advised the ISIS Hunters Battalion and fought at Khasham, but quit Wagner in 2019, briefly ran a Redut detachment in Syria, and left disillusioned. Gabidullin's 2022 memoir denounced Wagner and Russia's invasion of Ukraine; he now lives in France. Journalist and researcher John Lechner reports from conflict zones and specializes in Russian PMCs. His book Death Is Our Business (Bloomsbury, 2025) charts the rise of Wagner, following earlier work such as Beginner's Chechen and upcoming Circassian and Sango language texts. A former policy analyst for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and an emerging-markets banker at Deutsche Bank and Lazard, Lechner holds degrees from Harvard (Slavic Languages) and Georgetown (MSFS). Fluent in five languages and conversant in several others, he is a recognized expert on Russian foreign policy and has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Foreign Policy. He lives in Washington, DC. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: ⁠https://www.roka.com⁠ - USE CODE SRS https://www.americanfinancing.net/SRS NMLS 182334, nmlsconsumeraccess.org https://www.expressvpn.com/SRS https://www.shawnlikesgold.com https://www.hillsdale.edu/SRS https://www.shopify.com/SRS https://trueclassic.com/SRS https://www.ziprecruiter.com/SRS Guest Links: Marat Gabidullin FB - https://www.facebook.com/share/15TBVmf2mt/  Book - Moi, Marat, ex-commandant de l'armée Wagner - Les dessous de l'armée secrète de Poutine enfin révélé https://a.co/d/csNMjFH  Book - Ma vérité https://a.co/d/bLZYssf  John Lechner X - https://x.com/JohnLechner1 IG - https://www.instagram.com/johnalechner/ FB - https://www.facebook.com/john.lechner.5 Book - Death Is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare https://a.co/d/7rKXhnI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

UNACCEPTABLE CCP 3/4: No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs Kindle Edition by  Nury Turkel https://www.amazon.com/No-Escape-Chinas-Genocide-Uyghurs-ebook/dp/B09CMRPZL1/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HQXI67T1UBCW&keywords=NO+ESCAPE+TURKEL&qid=1669243597&s=books&sprefix=no+escape+turkel%2Cstripbooks%2C73&sr=1-1 In recent years, the People's Republic of China has rounded up as many as three million Uyghurs, placing them in what it calls “reeducation camps,” facilities most of the world identifies as concentration camps. There, the genocide and enslavement of the Uyghur people are ongoing. The tactics employed are reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution, but the results are far more insidious because of the technology used, most of it stolen from Silicon Valley. In the words of Turkel, “Communist China has created an open prison-like environment through the most intrusive surveillance state that the world has ever known while committing genocide and enslaving the Uyghurs on the world's watch.” As a human rights attorney and Uyghur activist who now serves on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Turkel tells his personal story to help explain the urgency and scope of the Uyghur crisis. Born in 1970 in a reeducation camp, he was lucky enough to survive and eventually make his way to the US, where he became the first Uyghur to receive an American law degree. Since then, he has worked as a prominent lawyer, activist, and spokesperson for his people and advocated strong policy responses from the liberal democracies to address atrocity crimes against his people. The Uyghur crisis is turning into the greatest human rights crisis of the twenty-first century, a systematic cleansing of an entire race of people in the millions. Part Anne Frank and Hannah Arendt, No Escape shares Turkel's personal story while drawing back the curtain on the historically unprecedented and increasing threat from China.

UNACCEPTABLE CCP   4/4: No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs Kindle Edition by  Nury Turkel https://www.amazon.com/No-Escape-Chinas-Genocide-Uyghurs-ebook/dp/B09CMRPZL1/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HQXI67T1UBCW&keywords=NO+ESCAPE+TURKEL&qid=1669243597&s=books&sprefix=no+escape+turkel%2Cstripbooks%2C73&sr=1-1 In recent years, the People's Republic of China has rounded up as many as three million Uyghurs, placing them in what it calls “reeducation camps,” facilities most of the world identifies as concentration camps. There, the genocide and enslavement of the Uyghur people are ongoing. The tactics employed are reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution, but the results are far more insidious because of the technology used, most of it stolen from Silicon Valley. In the words of Turkel, “Communist China has created an open prison-like environment through the most intrusive surveillance state that the world has ever known while committing genocide and enslaving the Uyghurs on the world's watch.” As a human rights attorney and Uyghur activist who now serves on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Turkel tells his personal story to help explain the urgency and scope of the Uyghur crisis. Born in 1970 in a reeducation camp, he was lucky enough to survive and eventually make his way to the US, where he became the first Uyghur to receive an American law degree. Since then, he has worked as a prominent lawyer, activist, and spokesperson for his people and advocated strong policy responses from the liberal democracies to address atrocity crimes against his people. The Uyghur crisis is turning into the greatest human rights crisis of the twenty-first century, a systematic cleansing of an entire race of people in the millions. Part Anne Frank and Hannah Arendt, No Escape shares Turkel's personal story while drawing back the curtain on the historically unprecedented and increasing threat from China.

UNACCEPTABLE CCP: 2/4: No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs Kindle Edition by  Nury Turkel https://www.amazon.com/No-Escape-Chinas-Genocide-Uyghurs-ebook/dp/B09CMRPZL1/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HQXI67T1UBCW&keywords=NO+ESCAPE+TURKEL&qid=1669243597&s=books&sprefix=no+escape+turkel%2Cstripbooks%2C73&sr=1-1 In recent years, the People's Republic of China has rounded up as many as three million Uyghurs, placing them in what it calls “reeducation camps,” facilities most of the world identifies as concentration camps. There, the genocide and enslavement of the Uyghur people are ongoing. The tactics employed are reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution, but the results are far more insidious because of the technology used, most of it stolen from Silicon Valley. In the words of Turkel, “Communist China has created an open prison-like environment through the most intrusive surveillance state that the world has ever known while committing genocide and enslaving the Uyghurs on the world's watch.” As a human rights attorney and Uyghur activist who now serves on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Turkel tells his personal story to help explain the urgency and scope of the Uyghur crisis. Born in 1970 in a reeducation camp, he was lucky enough to survive and eventually make his way to the US, where he became the first Uyghur to receive an American law degree. Since then, he has worked as a prominent lawyer, activist, and spokesperson for his people and advocated strong policy responses from the liberal democracies to address atrocity crimes against his people. The Uyghur crisis is turning into the greatest human rights crisis of the twenty-first century, a systematic cleansing of an entire race of people in the millions. Part Anne Frank and Hannah Arendt, No Escape shares Turkel's personal story while drawing back the curtain on the historically unprecedented and increasing threat from China.

UNACCEPTABLE CCP: 1/4: No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs Kindle Edition by  Nury Turkel https://www.amazon.com/No-Escape-Chinas-Genocide-Uyghurs-ebook/dp/B09CMRPZL1/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HQXI67T1UBCW&keywords=NO+ESCAPE+TURKEL&qid=1669243597&s=books&sprefix=no+escape+turkel%2Cstripbooks%2C73&sr=1-1 In recent years, the People's Republic of China has rounded up as many as three million Uyghurs, placing them in what it calls “reeducation camps,” facilities most of the world identifies as concentration camps. There, the genocide and enslavement of the Uyghur people are ongoing. The tactics employed are reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution, but the results are far more insidious because of the technology used, most of it stolen from Silicon Valley. In the words of Turkel, “Communist China has created an open prison-like environment through the most intrusive surveillance state that the world has ever known while committing genocide and enslaving the Uyghurs on the world's watch.” As a human rights attorney and Uyghur activist who now serves on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Turkel tells his personal story to help explain the urgency and scope of the Uyghur crisis. Born in 1970 in a reeducation camp, he was lucky enough to survive and eventually make his way to the US, where he became the first Uyghur to receive an American law degree. Since then, he has worked as a prominent lawyer, activist, and spokesperson for his people and advocated strong policy responses from the liberal democracies to address atrocity crimes against his people. The Uyghur crisis is turning into the greatest human rights crisis of the twenty-first century, a systematic cleansing of an entire race of people in the millions. Part Anne Frank and Hannah Arendt, No Escape shares Turkel's personal story while drawing back the curtain on the historically unprecedented and increasing threat from China.

It's Wednesday, April 16th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Christian lawyer highlights persecution of Christians in Egypt A lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom International visited Egypt recently to highlight the persecution of Christians there. The country is about 10% Christian. That's the largest Christian minority in the Middle East and North Africa. However, believers often face persecution from the Muslim majority. Christians suffer employment discrimination, false accusations of blasphemy against Muhammad, sexual violence, and even bombing campaigns.  Elizabeth Brink with Alliance Defending Freedom noted, “Yet, in the face of such hardship, the courage and resilience of Egypt's Christian community are a powerful testament to the enduring hope of the Gospel.” Egypt is ranked 40th on the Open Doors' World Watch List of nations where it is most difficult to be a Christian.  Hungary bans events that celebrate sexual perversion On Monday, lawmakers in Hungary passed a constitutional amendment to ban events that celebrate sexually perverted lifestyles.  The amendment also recognizes only two sexes: male and female.  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán supported the legislation, saying, “We won't let woke ideology endanger our kids. … We're protecting children's development, affirming that a person is born either male or female.”  Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Trump freezes $2.2 billion from Harvard over antisemitism In the United States, the Trump administration is taking on Harvard University.  The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it is freezing $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value to Harvard. This came after Harvard refused to comply with demands from the Trump administration. Those demands included ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and screening students for issues like terrorism and anti-Semitism.  White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke with passion at the press briefing. LEAVITT: “The President made it clear to Harvard, ‘Follow federal law. No longer break Title VI, which was passed by Congress, to ensure no student can be discriminated against on the basis of race, and you will receive federal funding. “Unfortunately, Harvard has not taken the President, the administration's demands seriously. “All the President is asking, ‘Don't break federal law, and then you can have your federal funding.'  “I think the President is also begging a good question. More than $2 billion out the door to Harvard when they have a more than $50 billion endowment. Why are the American taxpayers subsidizing a university that has billions of dollars in the bank already? And we certainly should not be funding a place where such grave antisemitism exists.” Kansas pro-life legislature overrode pro-abort governor's vetoes Republican lawmakers in Kansas overrode vetoes from Democrat Governor Laura Kelly last Thursday to pass several bills related to unborn children. One bill recognizes children as dependents from conception for child support programs. The second bill requires public school courses on human development or sexuality to include the development of a baby in the womb. And the third bill provides millions of dollars in funding for pro-life pregnancy centers.  Christian statesman new Ambassador-at-Large for religious freedom Last Thursday, President Donald Trump nominated Mark Walker as the U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for International Religious Freedom. Walker served as a U.S. House Representative for North Carolina's 6th congressional district from 2015 to 2021. Before working in politics, he served in pastoral roles at churches in Florida and North Carolina for 16 years. Listen to his advocacy of religious liberty not only here in America, but worldwide from the floor of the U.S. House back on July 24, 2015. WALKER: “Our commitment to allow people to live out their religious values, without fear of discrimination, is really the cornerstone that developed our country into a force for freedom. “But this liberty isn't just an American right. It should be a foundational element for all people groups. Ronald Reagan said it best. He said, ‘The most essential element of our defense of freedom is our insistence on speaking out for the cause of religious liberty.'” Walker thanked Trump in a post on X.  He wrote, “I'll be relentless in fighting for those targeted who dare to live out their faith. I'm grateful to my beautiful wife and family for their support. May God provide the path and may we have the courage to follow.” More Millennials are reading their Bibles The American Bible Society released the first chapter from their 2025 State of the Bible report. The study identified Bible users as those who read the Bible on their own at least three times a year. Forty-one percent of U.S. adults qualified as Bible users this year, up from 38% last year but down from 49% in 2019. Younger adults are leading the recent growth in Bible users. Thirty-nine percent of Millennials qualified as Bible users this year, up from 30% last year. Bible users are also increasing among Millennial and Gen X men in particular. Archeologists unearthed first Christian hymn captured in new film And finally, Christian music artists revived an ancient hymn last Friday ahead of Resurrection Sunday.  MOVIE NARRATOR: “Archeologists had no idea what they'd uncovered, an 1,800-year-old Christian hymn, the first to be discovered with words and music. It's not even a page, really. It's just 30 centimeters by 5 centimeters, but it provides amazing early evidence, not only of the beliefs and spread of Christianity, but also of its music.” The new recording is based on a papyrus discovered in Egypt in 1918. The manuscript dates from around the third century A.D. It's considered the earliest Christian song preserved with both words and musical notation.  John Dickson, a Christian historian, has worked to bring back the hymn since 2022, hosting a new documentary called “The First Hymn.”  Christian artists Chris Tomlin and Ben Fielding collaborated to release a recording of the ancient song. Here are some of the lyrics from the recording: “All powers cry out in answer. All glory and praise forever to our God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen, we sing amen.” Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Watch the trailer through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.   You can stream “The First Hymn” movie on line for $15. Close And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, April 16th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe for free by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Doug Clay and Sam Brownback work in very different arenas. But both have a heart to serve Christians around the world. Doug Clay, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God - USA, shares about the genesis of the AG church and their current goal to put a church within walking distance of all humanity—including people living in hostile areas and restricted nations. “The finishing of the Great Commission is doable in our lifetime,” Clay says. Clay will share three ways to pray for your pastor and how he works to help the church equip the saints to have a biblical worldview and to endure. Seeing the church as the expansion of God's Kingdom, Doug knows it's crucial to encourage and pray for your pastor and for church leaders around the world. Sam Brownback served as United States Ambassador for International Religious Freedom during the first Trump administration. He has worked for decades to defend religious liberty in nations hostile to Christian teaching. Brownback will share from his experiences meeting with leaders of foreign nations, including one conversation that led directly to the release of a Christian pastor from prison. He'll also share how a formerly imprisoned Christian in Saudi Arabia encouraged him to continue in the work God called him to, and how raising religious freedom issues with your elected officials can be a practical way to serve persecuted brothers and sisters. Currently, Brownback is working on a book about persecution in China.

Top headlines for Monday, April 14, 2025We discuss President Donald Trump's recent nomination of a former congressional leader and pastor as the U.S. ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, a pivotal role in promoting global religious liberties. Then, we shift to Finland, the newly anointed happiest country in the world according to the annual World Happiness Report by the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Plus, we delve into the surprising resurgence of Bible engagement in the U.S., with nearly 10 million more Americans connecting with the Scriptures compared to past years. Join us as we unpack these stories and their broader implications.00:11 Trump nominates former pastor for top religious freedom post01:01 Kansas legislature overrides veto of religious freedom bill01:52 Supreme Court orders return of deported El Salvadoran national02:42 US drops to its lowest ranking in ‘Happiness Report'03:35 France could recognize Palestinian state in coming months: Macron04:22 More men turning to the Bible across every generation05:10 Amy Grant fights to save church founded by great-grandfatherSubscribe to this PodcastApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastFollow Us on Social Media@ChristianPost on TwitterChristian Post on Facebook@ChristianPostIntl on InstagramSubscribe on YouTubeGet the Edifi AppDownload for iPhoneDownload for AndroidSubscribe to Our NewsletterSubscribe to the Freedom Post, delivered every Monday and ThursdayClick here to get the top headlines delivered to your inbox every morning!Links to the NewsTrump nominates former pastor for top religious freedom post | PoliticsKansas legislature overrides veto of religious freedom bill | PoliticsSupreme Court orders return of deported El Salvadoran national | PoliticsUS drops to its lowest ranking in ‘Happiness Report' | WorldFrance could recognize Palestinian state in coming months: Macron | WorldMore men turning to the Bible across every generation | U.S.Amy Grant fights to save church founded by great-grandfather | U.S.

Doug Clay and Sam Brownback work in very different arenas. But both have a heart to serve Christians around the world. Doug Clay, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God - USA, shares about the genesis of the AG church and their current goal to put a church within walking distance of all humanity—including people living in hostile areas and restricted nations. “The finishing of the Great Commission is doable in our lifetime,” Clay says. Clay will share three ways to pray for your pastor and how he works to help the church equip the saints to have a biblical worldview and to endure. Seeing the church as the expansion of God's Kingdom, Doug knows it's crucial to encourage and pray for your pastor and for church leaders around the world. Sam Brownback served as United States Ambassador for International Religious Freedom during the first Trump administration. He has worked for decades to defend religious liberty in nations hostile to Christian teaching. Brownback will share from his experiences meeting with leaders of foreign nations, including one conversation that led directly to the release of a Christian pastor from prison. He'll also share how a formerly imprisoned Christian in Saudi Arabia encouraged him to continue in the work God called him to, and how raising religious freedom issues with your elected officials can be a practical way to serve persecuted brothers and sisters. Currently, Brownback is working on a book about persecution in China. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as giving free access to e-books, audio books, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Envoy Steve Witkoff meets with Putin to discuss a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Trump nominates Mark Walker to serve as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. And, In Rome, a conference titled “Rebuilding Lebanon While Preserving Its Religious and Cultural Diversity” is held.

Terry Mattingly of Rational Sheep Rational Sheep Pop Goes Religion: Faith in Popular Culture GetReligion.org The post Media Coverage of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom Report – Terry Mattingly, 4/9/25 (0991) first appeared on Issues, Etc..

It's Thursday, March 27th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Vietnam deny religious liberty The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released its annual report on Tuesday.  The report advises the U.S. State Department to designate certain countries as Countries of Particular Concern for severe religious freedom violations. The commission recommended countries like Burma, China, North Korea, and Russia to remain on the list. It further recommended adding Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Vietnam. Nearly all the countries on the recommendation list are also on Open Doors' World Watch List of nations where it is most difficult to be a Christian. McKenna Wendt with International Christian Concern said, “[We are] particularly grateful for [the report's] focus on the persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world.” Hebrews 13:3 says, “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.” Christianity & Buddhism saw most losses from religious switching Pew Research released a new report on “religious switching” around the world. In many countries, about one out of five adults have left the religious group they grew up in. Christianity and Buddhism saw the most losses from this religious switching, while those with no religious affiliation increased. Religious switching was common across East Asia, Western Europe, North America, and South America. However, countries with large Christian populations, but with little religious switching, include Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, the Philippines, Poland, and Hungary. 10,000 Dutch were killed by euthanasia Sadly, nearly 10,000 people were killed in the Netherlands last year through euthanasia.  That's up 10% from 2023. Deaths involving psychological suffering were up 60%.  Bruno Waterfield, reporting for The Times, said, “There is concern that growing numbers of suicidal people, especially young people, are asking for help to die.” Proverbs 12:10 says “The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” Trump's signs Executive Order on Election Integrity In the United States, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order Tuesday entitled “Persevering and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.” The order directs states to require proof of citizenship when people register to vote in federal elections.  The order also stated, “Above all, elections must be honest and worthy of the public trust.  That requires voting methods that produce a voter-verifiable paper record allowing voters to efficiently check their votes to protect against fraud or mistake.” Births increased in states with abortion bans The National Bureau of Economic Research released a report on how abortion bans have affected birth rates. About a dozen states passed near-total abortion bans since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. This increased the distance to the nearest abortion mill from 50 miles to 300 miles for the average woman in those states.  Notably, births also increased by 2.8% in those states compared to what they were expected to be without the abortion ban.  Only 16% of Christians believe in Trinity Dr. George Barna released his latest research on American Christianity.  About two thirds of U.S. adults identify as Christians according to the report. However, only 16% of self-identified Christians believe in the existence and influence of each person of the Trinity. That number falls to 11% among the general population. People who read the Bible daily and attend church weekly were more likely to believe in God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Dr. Barna noted, “These findings about America's ignorance or rejection of the Trinity are simply another in a long list of examples of people living without the truths and life principles of God shaping their lives.” In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Partial solar eclipse this Saturday morning And finally, a partial solar eclipse is coming to parts of North America this week. The moon will pass between the sun and the Earth on Saturday morning for viewers in parts of the northeastern U.S. The sun and moon won't be perfectly aligned, so only part of the sun will be obscured.  The spectacle will also be visible in eastern Canada, western Africa, and Europe.  Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, March 27th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

On this WPN Call #427, Dr. Jim Garlow is joined by two special guests: Sam Brownback, who served as the United States Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom from 2018 to 2021; and Camille Ntoto, who is from the organization African New Day, which is dedicated to transforming the Congo through sustainable education, advocacy, and economic development initiatives. They discuss the horrific atrocity that recently occured when seventy Christians were beheaded by Islamist extremists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.      Website: https://www.africanewday.org/     Dr. Jim Garlow has partnered with Pastor Mario Bramnick and Terry Barnes to bring you World Prayer Network (WPN), which seeks out Holy Spirit given strategies for how to be an effective and contagious Christ-follower in our present national situations. WPN hosts weekly prayer calls to seek out strategies for the transformation of nations, including our own. During these live calls, we share briefings from key leaders and then pray into what we see and hear from the Lord.     Follow us on social media:  facebook.com/wellversedworld twitter: @wellversedworld instagram: @wellversedworld www.wellversedworld.org

It's Friday, February 21st, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark 10th anniversary of Muslim beheading of 21 Libyan Christians Saturday was the 10th anniversary of when 21 Christians died for their faith in Libya. Islamic State militants beheaded them on February 15, 2015 for refusing to deny Christ. Most of the believers were Egyptian Coptic Christians. Vicky Hartzler with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said, “Today, we remember the 21 young men who were brutally murdered by ISIS solely for being Christian. The U.S. government must continue to be an unrelenting voice against violence that targets religious communities, including Coptic Christians.”  In memory of the 21 Christian martyrs, More Productions released a short, 13-minute animated film last year called “The 21.” You can watch it through a special link in our transcript today at TheWorldview.com.  Libya has been in turmoil since 2011 and the overthrow of its then-leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Since then, numerous other militia groups have battled for control. According to Open Doors, Libya is the fourth most dangerous country worldwide in which to be a Christian. 74-year-old pro-life woman arrested for praying outside abortion mill Authorities in Scotland arrested a 74-year-old pro-life woman recently for standing silently outside an abortion mill in Glasgow. Rose Docherty was holding a sign that read, “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.” Officials charged her with violating a new “buffer zone” law that limits activities around abortion mills. It's the first arrest under the law.  The arrest comes days after U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance called out European leaders for violating the religious freedom of pro-lifers.  Kash Patel confirmed as FBI Director In the United States, the U.S. Senate confirmed Kash Patel as FBI Director on February 20th, reports The Epoch Times. PRESIDING OFFICER: “The Yeas are 51; the Nays are 49. The confirmation is confirmed.” Senators voted 51–49 to confirm Patel who gained prominence for exposing alleged FBI and Justice Department malfeasance during the Crossfire Hurricane probe into the Trump campaign. Crossfire Hurricane was the code name for the counterintelligence investigation undertaken by the FBI from July 2016 to May 2017, into links between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia. Republican Senators  Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine crossed the aisle to join Democrats in voting against Patel's nomination. Surprisingly, GOP Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky supported Trump's nominee. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, age 91, serves as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Before the vote was cast, he made this last-minute appeal. GRASSLEY: “Mr. Patel has spent his whole career fighting for righteous causes. He's been a public defender, representing the accused against the power of the state. He's been a congressional staffer, investigating the partisan weaponization of our legal system. And he served in key national security roles, protecting Americans from foreign enemies. He's received support from former FBI agents, former federal and state prosecutors, and organizations representing more than 680,000 law enforcement officers. “But Mr. Patel's resume, his accomplishments, aren't why he's the best person for this job. Mr. Patel should be considered our next FBI director because the FBI has been infected by political bias and weaponized against the American people. Mr. Patel knows it. Mr. Patel exposed it. I've got plenty of examples to show what's wrong with the FBI.” Kash Patel wrote the 2024 book entitled, Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. Military chaplain fired for citing Romans 1 in sermon A Veterans Affairs chaplain is fighting for his religious freedom.  Rusty Trubey served as a chaplain at the Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Pennsylvania. However, Veterans Affairs removed him from his duties for preaching a sermon from Romans 1. The sermon was entitled, “When a Culture Excludes God,” and included homosexuality as an example.  First Liberty Institute and the Independence Law Center are representing Trubey. Last week, they sent a letter to Douglas Collins, the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The letter noted, “This is a systemic problem. We know that you will do the right thing to correct not only the unconstitutional policies at the Coatesville Facility, but also throughout our [Veterans Affairs] system.” 2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” U.S. poll: Only 40% believe in God of Bible; 4% have Biblical worldview Dr. George Barna released his latest American Worldview Inventory report. The study found that 46% of Americans agree that there is only one Supreme Spiritual Being who created and rules everything in existence. That number rose to 60% among self-identified Christians.  Dr. Barna noted many have a mix-and-match approach to faith: “The latest research finds that while two-thirds of Americans identify as Christian, only 4% hold a Biblical worldview. Even more alarming, just 40% believe in the God of the Bible, down from 73% three decades ago. Instead, Syncretism—blending elements from multiple worldviews—has become the dominant perspective.” Joshua 24:15 says, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Meta plans to build 30,000-mile-long sub-sea cable And finally, Meta announced last week it is building the world's largest sub-sea cable. The tech giant is known for its social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.  Under its new plan called Project Waterworth, it will bring industry-leading connectivity around the world. The cable will connect five major continents and measure over 30,000 miles. That's more than the earth's entire circumference! Close And that's The Worldview on this Friday, February 21st, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. And now to close the newscast is my youngest child, Valor Tyndale McManus, who is turning 10 today. He's finally hit the double digits! Seize the day for Jesus Christ. (Adam@TheWorldview.com). 

Today InPerspective with Dr. Harry Reeder February 13, 2025

It's Monday, December 9h, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus 10th anniversary of South Korean missionary's imprisonment Last Wednesday, December 4th marked the tenth anniversary of South Korean businessman and missionary Choi Chun-gil's arrest and imprisonment in North Korea, reports Church in Chains. Like the two other South Korean missionaries detained in North Korea for over a decade, Kim Kuk-gi and Kim Jong Uk, Pastor Choi, age 65, is serving a life sentence with hard labor and is being held incommunicado, with no family contact since his arrest. Hebrews 13:3 says, “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them.” The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reports that Pastor Choi was involved in transporting religious and humanitarian goods for North Koreans and was arrested on December 4, 2014 after he was allegedly lured into going to North Korea. His arrest was announced on March 26, 2015 by North Korea's state news agency KCNA, along with the arrest of Kim Kuk-gi, a Presbyterian pastor and missionary. KCNA described them as “heinous terrorists.”  According to Open Doors, North Korea is the most dangerous country worldwide in which to be a Christian. The 5 times White House Press Secretary said Biden wouldn't pardon Hunter In the lead-up to President Joe Biden's full and unconditional pardon of his son, Hunter, on December 1st, listen to the five times White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked whether he would do so. Here's Reporter #1 on July 27, 2023. REPORTER #1: “Is there any possibility that the President would end up pardoning his son? JEAN-PIERRE: “No. I just said, No. I just answered.” Here's reporter #2 on September 15, 2023. REPORTER #2: “Would the President pardon or commute his son if he's convicted? So, I've answered this question before. It was asked of me not too long ago, a couple of weeks ago, and I was very clear, and I said, No.” Here's Fox News Channel reporter Peter Doocy on December 13, 2023, PETER DOOCY: “First briefing since Hunter was indicted again in Los Angeles. Why doesn't President Biden just pardon him?” JEAN-PIERRE: “I've been very clear. The President's not going to pardon.” Here's reporter #4 on July 25, 2024. REPORTER #4: “You've also said several times the President would not pardon or commute the sentence for his son, Hunter. I just want to make sure that that is not going to change over the next six months. The President's saying he would not …” JEAN-PIERRE:  “It's still, it's still a no.  It's still a no." REPORTER #4: “It will always be a no.” JEAN-PIERRE: “It's still a no. It will be a no. It is a no. And I don't have anything else to add. Will he pardon his son? No.” And here's reporter #5 as late as November 7, 2024. REPORTER #5: “His son, Hunter, is also up for being sentenced next month. Does the President have any intention of pardoning him?” JEAN-PIERRE: “We've been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.” Biden himself insisted he would not pardon his son Hunter For over a year, President Joe Biden himself insisted that he would not pardon his son Hunter Biden. Listen to this June 6, 2024 exchange between ABC's David Muir and the president. MUIR: “As we sit here in Normandy, your son, Hunter, is on trial, and I know that you cannot speak about an ongoing federal prosecution, but let me ask you, will you accept the jury's outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is?" BIDEN: “Yes.” MUIR: “And have you ruled out a pardon for your son?” BIDEN: “Yes.” MUIR: “You have.” Then, at the June 13th, 2024 United States-Ukraine Bilateral Security Agreement, Biden was asked again whether he would pardon his son Hunter. Listen. REPORTER: “You're going through something that so many American families go through, the intersection of addiction and the criminal justice system, but you're not like most families. Was your son able to get a fair trial? Do you believe the Justice Department operated independently of politics?” BIDEN: “I'm extremely proud of my son, Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He's one of the brightest, most decent man I know.  I am satisfied that I'm not going to do anything.  I said I'd abide by the jury decision. I will do that, and I will not pardon him.” Exodus 20:16 says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” CEO Killer from Atlanta and wrote “deny,” “defend,” “depose” on bullets Two additional clues now about the masked gunman who stalked and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4th.  First, he traveled to New York City from Atlanta by bus days before Thanksgiving. And second, with permanent marker, he wrote the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” on the 9mm ammunition found at the crime scene, reports the Associated Press. Those words echo a phrase which is commonly used by lawyers and insurance industry critics to describe tactics used to avoid paying claims. Plus, it sounds a lot like the title of a book by Jay Feinman --  Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You can Do About It. The CEO Killer remains at large. Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth: I love Jesus Christ And finally, President-elect Donald Trump is standing by his decision to nominate Fox News personality Pete Hegseth to serve as secretary of defense amid concerns that an alleged drinking habit might impact his ability to do the job, reports The Christian Post. On Truth Social last Friday, Trump said Hegseth is “Princeton/Harvard educated - with a Military state of mind. He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER.” Appearing on Megyn Kelly's podcast, Hegseth talked about what Trump wants at the Department of Defense. HEGSETH: “If you wanted another general or another Admiral or an executive or a CEO or a politician or a lawyer to run the Defense Department, we've tried that before. [Trump] said, ‘I want a war fighter. I want lethality, lethality, lethality. I want readiness, accountability, standards, war fighting. Pete, that's you. That's me. Clean house of the woke crap, all that stuff, all the climate stuff, and the [Critical Race Theory] and the [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] and the genderism and the transgender: Get rid of it. Let's bring the Pentagon back to the people, the People's Pentagon for war fighters.'” Hegseth explained why the media is slamming his nomination. HEGSETH: “What you're seeing right now with me is the art of the smear. It is the classic art of the smear. Take whatever tiny kernels of truth, and there are tiny, tiny ones in there, and blow them up into a masquerade of a narrative about somebody that I am definitely not.” And Hegseth publicly declared that he and his wife love Jesus Christ. HEGSETH: “They're interested in smearing someone who supports Donald Trump's agenda. It's really clear. I'm in the middle of it, but I'm surrounded by a great team. I got a wonderful wife. We love this country. We love Jesus, Christ, our Savior. And we're going to fight.” After his conversion in 2018 following his marriage to his third wife, today he and his wife are members of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, December 9th, in the year of our Lord 2024. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

We are joined by the esteemed Princeton University Professor of Jurisprudence (aka the study of law), Dr. Robert George, to discuss the difficulties and counter-ideologies of our time and what men must do to stand against these false truths. Robert also shares with us a powerful story of his father's love and how continually witnessing this strength and kindness set the foundation for him and his four brothers to live as virtuous men. He speaks on how to engage with people of polar opposite beliefs and how to constantly champion truth without compromising one's character. With twenty-three honorary doctorates to his name, Dr. George brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to our discussion, ensuring that his profound wisdom will resonate with you as it did with us.