Although prayer has been preserved at a federal level (in both the House of Representatives and the Senate), individual States are facing ongoing petitions from members determined to see Christian prayer eradicated. This has already happened in the Australian Capital Territory (the location of the nation’s capital city, Canberra). In the Legislative Assembly, the rule in effect is: “Members, at the beginning of this sitting of the Assembly, I would ask you to stand in silence and pray or reflect on our responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.” Similar calls are now being made in Australia’s most western State, appropriately called Western Australia. In the name of inclusivity, they want Christian prayer excluded with one person claiming it was “no longer appropriate.”
Although prayer has been preserved at a federal level (in both the House of Representatives and the Senate), individual States are facing ongoing petitions from members determined to see Christian prayer eradicated. This has already happened in the Australian Capital Territory (the location of the nation’s capital city, Canberra). In the Legislative Assembly, the rule in effect is: “Members, at the beginning of this sitting of the Assembly, I would ask you to stand in silence and pray or reflect on our responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.” Similar calls are now being made in Australia’s most western State, appropriately called Western Australia. In the name of inclusivity, they want Christian prayer excluded with one person claiming it was “no longer appropriate.”
Although prayer has been preserved at a federal level (in both the House of Representatives and the Senate), individual States are facing ongoing petitions from members determined to see Christian prayer eradicated. This has already happened in the Australian Capital Territory (the location of the nation’s capital city, Canberra). In the Legislative Assembly, the rule in effect is: “Members, at the beginning of this sitting of the Assembly, I would ask you to stand in silence and pray or reflect on our responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.” Similar calls are now being made in Australia’s most western State, appropriately called Western Australia. In the name of inclusivity, they want Christian prayer excluded with one person claiming it was “no longer appropriate.”
Since religious freedom has been a hot-button social issue and is more and more frequently covered in secular and Christian news media outlets, we sometimes are asked these questions. Does the Bible address religious freedom, and, if so, what does it say and where? The Apostle Paul (and his traveling companions on various mission trips) is perhaps the most notable example of a biblical figure who suffered religious persecution and also on occasion stood up for his religious liberty. It is interesting that Paul did so in a government that had some similarities to Western nations.
“Luke’s case should concern everyone,” Williams said. “It exposes how ‘inclusivity’ training within the police has, in practice, become a vehicle for enforcing a narrow ideological orthodoxy, where only approved views are permitted and lawful questioning is punished.” Williams continued, saying that the “message this sends is chilling: that Islam and prevailing secular orthodoxy is now treated as beyond question, while Christians and others are subjected to disproportionate scrutiny and sanction simply for asking reasonable questions during training.”
This reverence for political correctness was evident on the very day the report was released. Whistleblower gang victim Sammy Woodhouse was interviewed live on Good Morning Britain where she disclosed that the producer had told her not to mention the race or religion of the Pakistani Muslim men who perpetrated these crimes. This is exactly why these gangs were not tackled in the first place. Such political correctness has a lot to answer for.
“He blatantly lied to Congress under oath during his 2024 testimony to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, denying that he ever spoke to any intelligence agency about Covid. The correspondence I’m releasing today directly contradicts his sworn testimony, and we received statements from multiple whistleblowers revealing that the intelligence analysts who dared to challenge Dr. Fauci’s Covid origin conclusions faced threats of retaliation, marginalization, and many suffered career setbacks,” Gabbard added.
In a letter informing Manfred that the Justice Department was referring MLB to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for investigation, Dhillon wrote: “The three players expressed their opposition to MLB's pro-Pride orthodoxy. The Civil Rights Act prohibits MLB and its franchises from unreasonably burdening the rights of players with religious objections to serving as the League's vehicle for pro-Pride messages.
In spite of America’s founding by people in search of religious freedom, modern critics claim having “In God We Trust” as the national motto goes against the very reason for the founding. However, the courts have made clear that “In God We Trust” is not a government establishment of religion. The term is deeply rooted in history and tradition. We are a people who have confidently placed our trust in God from the very beginning.
These aren’t abstract numbers, OIDAC Europe concludes, but vivid pictures of believers struggling to live out their faith without penalty. A café forced to shutter after relentless harassment. Worship disrupted by violence. These recorded cases reflect “a broader pattern repeatedly documented by OIDAC Europe in recent years, namely the pressure faced by Christian individuals and organisations that publicly uphold traditional Christian beliefs and values.”
As society drifts further from biblical foundations, Christian convictions are often portrayed as harmful, divisive, or intolerant. What previous generations considered religious freedom is increasingly being reframed as a potential threat to social harmony. The concern is not merely that Christianity is unpopular. The concern is that biblical faith is being treated as something that must be regulated. Many institutions that once championed freedom of thought now embrace a new form of tolerance that celebrates nearly every worldview except biblical exclusivity.
Around 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 14, communist authorities raided Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, and arrested dozens of believers. Roughly 30 SWAT officers and another 60 police officers reportedly entered the hotel conference room where the church had gathered for worship, recorded the names of those in attendance, and forcibly removed numerous believers from the building. Three believers were also injured during the raid.
Through the use of targeted examples, overreach and ambiguously drafted legislation and booklets, Victorian faith leaders and parents now find themselves the victims of arbitrary limitations that permit the government a place at the dinner table of families that need to have important discussions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. A conversation which, if led by the clear teachings of the Bible, will only lead to one conclusion. Although the Victorian Government has attempted to grant clear concessions to parents to raise their children according to Biblical values, the undeniable conclusion is that there are limitations as to what the government will accept.
St. Paul City Attorney Irene Kao said that her office would not charge former CNN journalist Don Lemon and the protestors involved in a planned disruption at Cities Church. On Jan. 18, dozens of protestors interrupted a Sunday morning church service, stopping the pastor from opening the service with prayer while shouting anti-ICE agent chants, and screaming in church members’ faces. The protestors claimed that one of the pastors was an ICE agent.
“In the Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision in Chiles v. Salazar, they made it clear that government cannot censor voluntary conversations directed at the client’s goals,” Frampton told Decision. “Kids deserve real help affirming that their bodies are not a mistake and that they are wonderfully made.”
Nigel Farage raised the case in the House of Commons, linking it to wider policing guidance and arguing that anti-racism policy has influenced how officers assess situations involving different ethnic groups. He said the policy is “clear and written down in ink” and claimed police officers “must treat different ethnic groups in different ways,” referring to the Police Race Action Plan and its associated guidance on policing outcomes.
Over the past few years, I have spoken with countless believers who feel increasingly hesitant to express their faith openly. Teachers are unsure what they can say in the classroom. Healthcare workers worry about the consequences of acting according to their conscience. Employees feel pressure to keep their beliefs private in the workplace. Parents are concerned about the values being promoted in schools and public institutions. Perhaps the most significant finding is not that Christians are facing challenges. Jesus told us to expect opposition. Rather, it is that many believers are quietly withdrawing from public life. They are self-censoring.
In significant moments like this, the story often becomes larger than the facts themselves. None of us can fully know the thoughts or motivations of every person involved. But we know that in the 999 call and when the officers arrived, Vickrum Digwa weaponised claims of racism against his victim. And we know that for decades, concerns about political correctness have prevented police officers and other officials from doing the right thing, with devastating effects.
For the progressive lawmakers backing the bill, the payoff is clear: it secures political capital, virtue-signals adherence to the tenets of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and appeases well-funded religious advocacy groups. But beneath the surface lies a calculated subversion of Western principles and a fundamental blindness to the spiritual warfare at play. Do not be misled, this is not being done out of the goodness of anyone’s heart.
If the scenes online shock you, they really shouldn't. It's the very predictable outcome of cultural suicide. Over the past few decades, Europe has let in millions of mostly Muslim migrants who have transformed cities and towns across the continent. In France, Muslims now make up some 10% of the total population. In many cases, these French Muslims do not assimilate. Instead, they self-segregate, building mosques and forming Muslim-only neighborhoods where even French police hesitate to go. What we saw in Paris over the weekend was much more than just some bad behavior over a soccer game. There's a larger strategy at work here.
The three men have continued to request Bibles to continue their studies and build their faith while they face terrible conditions. One of the men’s wives filed a complaint against the prison, noting that its own regulations allow detainees to receive reading materials from relatives after inspection.
“Censorship is one of the greatest existential threats to today’s democracies in Europe. You do not need to agree with my beliefs to see the danger of criminalizing peaceful speech. When the state controls which ideas and beliefs may be expressed, democracy becomes fragile. My case reveals where this path can lead. My experience in Finland has shown me that laws which criminalize speech have a very real cost not only to individuals, but also society at large. They encourage law-abiding citizens to censor their speech, and deprive wider society of conversations of critical importance."
“God is still sovereign, still calling people to Himself, and still able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. The cultural battles matter—Christians must engage. But we fight not as those who have only earthly weapons. We contend, knowing that the Gospel remains ‘the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,’” she said, quoting Romans 1:16. “Ultimately, the tide will turn not merely through better policies or political victories, but through faithful witness, fervent prayer and the transforming power of Christ at work in human hearts.”
Imagine the government made it a crime to say “Merry Christmas” on public streets, but people could still offer non-religious season’s greetings. This war on Christmas would infringe the First Amendment three times over. First, the law prohibits a message based on its content, a violation of the Freedom of Speech Clause. Second, the law targets the sincerely held religious beliefs of only one faith—Christians—in violation of the Free Exercise of Religion Clause. And third, the law favors secularism over faith, in violation of the Establishment Clause.
What occurred to me was the timing of the 1947 “Roswell incident.” Something else occurred in 1947, culminating in 1948: the new state of Israel was forming. In late 1947, the UN partition plan was proposed. Resolution 181 recommended dividing the land, granting the Jewish state roughly 56% of the territory. This was the groundwork of the new state of Israel. I began to wonder: Did the devil know that this was the beginning of the end?
Nicholas Jordan Wagter is a 27-year-old Canadian researcher who studied biophysics at Western University and has a master's degree in innovation management from the University of Toronto. Wagter was sitting in a cafe in Vancouver when a psychiatrist spotted him. The psychiatrist issued what's called a “Form 4” provision in British Columbia, a mental health act that allows the police to detain Wagter for a “mental evaluation.”
An Illinois grade school has banned prayers at graduation ceremonies. Last year, Lisbon Grade School had invited a local youth ministry leader to deliver an invocation and a benediction for eighth graders. The Freedom From Religion Foundation got wind of the prayers and fired off a threatening letter to the school district
“I would like to ask everyone to pray for Dr. Peter Stafford, the missionary physician who has been evacuated from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after testing positive for the Ebola virus,” Franklin posted on social media. “Please also pray for his wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, and their four children. The Staffords now serve with Serge, but were part of our Samaritan’s Purse Post-Residency Program several years ago. I spoke with Rebekah by phone today and told her we would be praying for Peter and their family.”
Have you seen the new social media-generated phenomenon, Teen Takeovers? A Teen Takeover is when a riot of teens, in numbers overwhelming to local police, floods a local prearranged meeting through social media to wreak havoc. Youth run wild, defying authority, starting fires, ramming police cars, smashing windows, robbing stores, doing anything and everything that comes to their minds that is against the law and societal order. It is a young human explosion of anger, rebellion, organized chaos, destruction of property, breaking laws, theft, and bodily injury.
“The assassination culture we’re seeing in America right now is not a problem coming from ‘both sides of the aisle.’ Yet this is the claim the mainstream media runs with every time there is an attempt on a conservative’s life, and there have been many in recent years,“ he underscored. “Large segments among the media, Democrat politicians, and left-wing influencers all agree that Donald Trump is a ‘fascist’ and an ‘imminent threat to our nation who must be stopped.’ They’ve said so publicly, repeatedly, then express shock when one of their followers takes up arms and tries to kill a man they’ve dubbed a ‘modern-day Hitler.’”
“Samaritan's Purse has been on the frontlines of fighting Ebola for more than a decade, and we aren't going to stop now. We are going to do everything we can to help save lives,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse. “We want people to know that God loves them, and they are not alone.”
Christian persecution monitors have also warned that pastors and Christian community workers in Mexico are often targeted because their ministry, anti-drug work, and youth outreach can undermine cartel control. Open Doors says criminal violence remains a major danger for Mexican Christians, particularly church leaders who confront evil with good in cartel-dominated areas. Yet even amid violence and intimidation, the evangelical witness in Mexico continues to grow.
Months after protesters stormed a Minnesota church, turning a sacred space into a scene of chaos, Louisiana is taking decisive action to shield its own congregations from similar threats. Gov. Jeff Landry (R) has signed two bills designed to safeguard the sanctity of worship and ensure that prayer and reflection are not interrupted by intimidation or disorder. “In Louisiana,” said Landry, “we are committed to maintaining the right to worship without interference, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to safeguarding religious liberty. With the signing of these two bills, those protections just became stronger.”
In the Bible, hope is closely connected to waiting. Not waiting in the sense that we are still uncertain about the outcome, but steadfastly waiting because we fully expect the outcome God promised in His Word. In other words, man’s definition of hope carries doubt. God’s does not. As such, Biblical hope is a sure foundation upon which we may base our lives, believing that God always keeps His promises.
In America, citizens should not lose access to banking services, digital platforms, public credibility, or physical safety because they believe in biblical teaching on marriage and human sexuality. When government-regulated institutions can apply ideological labels in a coordinated fashion to silence, isolate, or financially cripple opponents, we allow political targeting by proxy, and freedom is at risk. SPLC was the hub, but there were many spokes that made up this wheel designed to crush Christians and conservatives — the congressional inquiry should not stop with SPLC.