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On today’s program: Mark Harris, U.S. Representative for North Carolina’s 8th District, looks back on what led to the improbable House budget deal and dissects the back-and-forth on Trump’s tariffs. Brigadier General (Ret.) John Teichert, former
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from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, good afternoon. Hope you have had a fantastic week. Welcome to this Friday edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, the Senior Vice President here at the Family Research Council and President of FRC Action. So glad and honored to have you with us today. We’ve got a lot coming your way. Among other things, this top issue, it’s another case of tariff ping pong, if you will, between China and the United States, with China now raising their figure from 84% to 125%. So far, the White House says the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports will remain at 145%. which is what it was raised to yesterday. So the ball is now in China’s court. They just need to pick up the phone and call.
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All of the things the president just said are true. The president, as I said from the podium just a few days ago when I was up here, would be gracious if China intends to make a deal with the United States. If China continues to retaliate, it’s not good for China.
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Well, that was White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt earlier today, and I’ll be discussing this issue in just a few moments with North Carolina Congressman Mark Harris. We’ll also be talking about yesterday’s big victory on the budget blueprint. And then tomorrow, there’s a highly anticipated meeting between high-level representatives of the United States and Iran.
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An important meeting, thanks to you, is going to happen on Saturday for the first time in a long time. There’ll be direct talks between Ambassador Woodcuff and a top-level leader in Iran. We hope that’ll lead to peace. You’ve been very clear what Iran is never going to have is a nuclear weapon. And I think that’s what led to this meeting. We’ll wait for him to come back from it, and we’re hopeful about that.
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That was Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking yesterday during a cabinet meeting with President Trump. So the big question is, how might tomorrow’s meeting unfold based on what we’ve heard so far? Well, retired Air Force Brigadier General John Teichert will be joining me a little bit later to discuss that. And the heat is rising, literally, in Texas over an Islamic community that’s expanding to become its own city.
SPEAKER 07 :
I’m ashamed of the falsehoods that Abbott’s office has been putting out. It’s nonsense. He has tweeted that Sharia law will be implemented. That’s a lie. That’s an absolute lie. No one associated with Epic, no one associated with that community follows Sharia law or is in favor of Sharia law or is implementing favor law, Sharia law.
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Well, interesting. That was Texas lawyer Dan Cogdell late last week defending, as you heard, his comments, the developers behind the proposed Epic City. But there are some on the other side of this whole issue saying that the community’s adherence to Sharia law is as clear as writing on the wall, or perhaps as clear literally as writing on their own website.
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I urge everyone to visit their website and read what it has to say about instituting Sharia law. This is not a matter of radicals hiding in plain sight. They’re not hiding. They’ve been open about their beliefs and their intent. Local government decision makers have failed to ask hard questions for fear of negative publicity and being labeled as bigots.
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Wow, so that was retired Plano Police Department Sergeant Douglas Deaton during a public hearing last week on this epic city development. And I’ll be discussing all of this with Krista Shield of Defending Our Republic, and then also Dr. Hormaz Shariat of Iran Alive Ministries will also be joining me a little bit later in the program. And then… To close it out for the day and the week, I’ll be joined by David Claussen for our weekly Biblical Worldview segment to discuss some headlines from the week, including this extremely disturbing study that shows over 55% of those who identify themselves as being on the left are saying the assassination of President Trump would be justified. That is unbelievable. We’ve been through the cancel culture, and that was bad enough, but now we evidently have an assassination culture that is developing. Absolutely horrible, and we’ll be discussing that as well as other things with David Claussen. So as always, we’ve got a lot coming your way. If by chance you miss any portion of it, the website is TonyPerkins.com. where you can certainly find this edition of Washington Watch as well as past editions. And we’ve got a lot of resources, including a link to our FACE Act petition. Folks, you need to sign on to this, be a part of it. Simply text the word FACE. to 67742 to get more info about that and how your voice can be heard. All right, let’s jump into the first story today. Earlier today, China announced another increase on their tariffs on American imports. They have jumped from 84% now to 125%. And of course, this announcement from China is in response to President Trump’s decision to raise the tariff rate on Chinese imports to 145%. And that came about following China’s increase yesterday. So far, the White House has said that the 145% is going to remain, at least for today. So is China going to swallow their pride and reach out to the Oval Office to try to work out a deal? Or on the other hand, I guess the question would be, are they literally willing to lose out on the largest consumer market in the world? Well, here to talk about this and more is Congressman Mark Harris. He serves on three different House committees. He previously served right here at FRC as vice president for the Association of Churches and Ministries. He now represents North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District. Congressman Harris, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you, my friend.
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Jody, it’s always great to be with you and to see you, my friend.
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All right, so let’s start this. It looks like tariff Cold War, tariff ping pong, whatever you call it, between the United States and China. Give me your thoughts on this.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, you know, I think President Trump is holding strong, and I think he will hold strong. I think China is messing with the wrong person. when you see the stand and the resolve that he has. Listen, he’s made it perfectly clear that any country that is ready to come to the table and sit down is going to be able to negotiate a fair trade deal with the United States. And some 70 countries, I should say, I understand, have already reached out. And others are already here ready for these negotiations. And he’s sitting down with them one by one. But listen, it has taken a strong leader like President Trump to do a number of things that he was promising on the campaign trail he would do, and he’s been delivering them. And this is one of them, getting us back to a level playing field. And there’s one message that’s being made loud and clear, and the days of the United States being taken advantage of, in the markets, that day is gone. And he is standing up for the American worker. And he’s going to bring back manufacturing to our country. And listen, he is just he’s the man to take on this fight. And I believe he’s going to see it through. So if I’m a betting man, I’m going to bet China will blink before we do.
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Yeah, you know, I think you’re exactly right. I don’t know of any other leader that could be pulling this off other than President Trump. I mean, he just, I tend to agree with you. I don’t see President Trump blinking in this. So I think you gave enough in your previous answer to answer this next question I wanted to give you. But I just want you to go a little bit further in this. We’ve got a lot of nations that are already coming to the negotiating table. So is it and do you think it will work? I’m speaking of the president’s tariff strategy.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, I think so, Jody. Listen, I think we all have celebrated free trade. We want free trade. I think that’s where we all stand. But I think that it has gone on for decades. And what has gone on with the United States getting the short end of the stick? has been a real problem. And I mean, you just look at China and even the way that they’ve manipulated the situation and the de minimis rule, they’ve got textiles that have come into this country. And I look in my own district and how, but when they don’t have to pay any kind of tariff on something less than $800, There are companies that China has been able to take advantage of and do that. And you go through my district and you see in towns like Wadesboro, towns like Rockingham, towns like Laurenburg, that decades ago were truly manufacturing textile towns that were flourishing. And because of a bad trade deal, they’re suffering today. And I think President Trump is looking after the American worker. I believe he is standing strong to try to get some fair trade deals across the world. And I think he’s, he’s really just kind of resetting everything. And, and I’m, I’m confident that this is going to work. I wish I had a crystal ball to say how long it’s going to take, but I think we’re already seeing the markets began to, to settle out, um, as far as wall street’s concerned, but I think it’s going to take several more months for us to see things settle out, um, as far as the tariffs are concerned. But I am confident he is the negotiator-in-chief.
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Good points, and like you, I’m not a betting man either, but if I were, I would also be willing to bet that before all is said and done, Congress is probably going to have a role in trying to help Americans’ wallets, because I don’t know. I just don’t see this being wrapped up real soon. I think it’s going to wrap up. I think it’s going to wrap up good, but it may take a little while. If I can shift gears with you, Congressman, the budget deal.
SPEAKER 19 :
uh there there you guys had a huge victory yesterday all but two republicans were on board with the uh senate blueprint uh budget blueprint your thoughts on that there was a lot of work that went into that jody and um as you know there was a lot of work that the house put into it for months uh to get to this point where we showed a savings of one and a half to two trillion dollars and extending the president’s tax cuts and all of these things that we’re working, balancing together. We sent it over to the Senate. The Senate, you know, kind of messed around with it. And the bill that came back, quite frankly, after the voterama, they went through over the weekend. I wasn’t particularly pleased with and a number of my colleagues weren’t pleased with it. I had an opportunity to go with a small group. that met with the president on Tuesday and really got his assurance that we’re on the same page and that he wants to get America on that solid financial footing again. And that what the Senate was doing were just numbers basically to get a start, but that he understood where we were. So I was assured coming out of there and felt confident about where we were going. I had some colleagues that were not in that meeting, some that were that, again, have been burned. And that’s what it comes down to. And you know how it is. They just felt like the risks were too great for us to get burned again by the Senate, not hitting those numbers of what we need in terms of spending adjustments. And so on Wednesday night, there was a meeting and talked about how we needed to hear from the Senate. And so there was a joint press conference. As you know, yesterday morning, Senator Thune and Speaker Johnson sharing together. And again, I’ve got to give props to Speaker Johnson. He has done a phenomenal job of pulling all the parties together and is standing strong. And he and Senator Thune and what they gave together, stating that they were on the same page with the president, leading the way. I think everybody felt like, okay, the real work begins now. We’re going to all put it on paper for what the reconciliation bill is going to look like. And here we go.
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Here we go. Congressman Mark Harris, thank you so much for that update. And so glad to have you there representing North Carolina’s 8th District. Have a great weekend. Thanks for joining us. All right, friends, on the other side of the break, Brigadier General John Teichert joins me for a preview on the high stakes U.S.-Iran negotiations happening tomorrow. Stay tuned.
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At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. That’s why FRC President Tony Perkins went to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Islamist terror groups target Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria with brutal violence. Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said 55,000 people have been killed and 21,000 abducted in the last five years alone. The congressman also stressed that 89% of Christians in the world who are martyred are from Nigeria.
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Yet the government of Nigeria has failed to make progress against religiously motivated persecution of Christians despite religious freedom being enshrined as an essential human right in their constitution.
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Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
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This is systematic religious violence. Nigeria must be redesignated a country of particular concern. The Biden administration’s removal of this designation was a reckless mistake that emboldened the very terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
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Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
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These are not just numbers. These are fathers, their mothers, their children, their families.
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Bishop Wilfred Anagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
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We live in fear because at any point it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice. So I have chosen to speak.
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FRC is calling on President Trump to act now to promote religious freedom around the globe and speak up on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.
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Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
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Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today and join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective, read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family and church members and stand firm everywhere you go.
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Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Glad to have you with us. All right, tomorrow there is a high-level meeting consisting of representatives of both Iran and the United States. This is going to be the first round of new talks that will take place in Amman, and the Trump administration will be represented by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, while Iran will be represented by their foreign minister, Abbas Arachi. So the question is, what is going to take place at this meeting? What are the stakes? What are the potential consequences if a deal is not struck in the end? And how might the U.S. handle a potentially emboldened Iran if, in fact, no deal is made? So here now to unpack some of these critical questions and the potential scenarios is retired Air Force Brigadier General John Teichert. After a very distinguished military career, General Teichert retired as the Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force for International Affairs. General Teichert, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you. Jody, thanks for having me on again. Well, it is our privilege indeed. And listen, I can’t personally fully fathom the potential stakes of the representatives from both the U.S. and Iran as they meet tomorrow. Kind of set the stage for us, if you will.
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Jody, the president has made very clear that the United States will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran, and that all options are on the table depending on how things play out tomorrow and in the ensuing dialogue with Iran. And I think that based on that statement and his earnestness in making that statement, that if Iran either continues to pursue nuclear weapons or they delay in the negotiations or negotiate in bad faith, then both very strong consequences militarily and economically are on the table for the Trump administration in order to fulfill that promise that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon.
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Yeah, and therein lies the enormity of the meetings and the enormous stakes that are involved in all of this. So I say that it’s very difficult for me to fully grasp just how important And then you add to it this whole other layer I was seeing where there’s quite a significant difference between the two sides as it relates to how this meeting is even going to be conducted. For example, on the Trump side, they’re saying this is going to be a direct person-to-person meeting, while Iran is saying they are not going to meet person-to-person with Americans. There will be a go-between. They’ll meet in two separate rooms and an Iman diplomat will send messages back and forth. Describe that for us. How’s this really going to unfold in your opinion?
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Jody, first of all, President Trump made very clear that this is just the first of a series of meetings. So I don’t think your listeners or viewers should expect that there’ll be a deal by the end of the weekend. But I do think that they, the two sides, will start in different rooms using a mediator from Amman to broker the start of these negotiations or the dialogue. And then eventually, I think by the end of the weekend, they will meet face to face. But I think it’s important to realize that right now, the Ayatollah has a choice to make. Because ultimately, a dictatorial regime like Iran cares about one primary thing, and that’s regime survival. And the Ayatollah has to weigh the decision whether pursuing nuclear weapons allows him to maintain control of Iran in the best possible way, or based on the threats from the United States that I think are very real from the Trump administration, whether it is better for him and the regime to negotiate away from nuclear weapons in order to maintain the stability of the regime. And all of that starts with negotiations tomorrow, but unlikely will end based on what happens tomorrow in Amman. And it will take several productive meetings for both sides to make the decision what is in their best interest and ultimately for Iran in the best interest of the regime.
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Yeah, good point. I think that’s really insightful information. And I totally agree. And the administration has been very public about this, that this is just the first meeting. And as you indicate, we all need to keep that in mind, that this is just the first of many. So let’s go to the end. After ever how many meetings there will be, what are the potential consequences if a deal is not struck when we come to the end of this thing?
SPEAKER 15 :
If again, Jody, it becomes clear that Iran is delaying not negotiating in good faith or clearly is pursuing nuclear capability, then there’s going to be a combination of very strong responses from the United States and Israel. Part of that is economic, which means additional sanctions. But also there are sanctions that automatically take effect in October that are snapback sanctions that would be extremely ruinous to the Iranian regime if they actually unfold without negotiating eliminating those sanctions. But right now, the United States is poised militarily with two carrier battle groups in the region. and a slew of B-2 bombers and Diego Garcia in the general vicinity, that if we believe that the Iranians are still pursuing nuclear weapons, then both those very extreme economic maximum pressure sanctions will take place, and likely we will strike the Iranian nuclear capability in conjunction with our friends in Israel.
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Okay, so two primary weapons, if you will. There’s a military side of things, obviously, but then there’s the economic side, and there’s the diplomatic side. We can throw that in. That’s obviously underway now. How does all of this impact the region? What do you anticipate to happen there?
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It’s interesting as you look at what happened in the last year and a half in Iran’s lack of capability in striking Israel. And I think that’s gonna be on their minds as they think about the fact that Israel and the United States can strike Iran, any target at any time at will, And Iran has demonstrated that they cannot do the same against Israel. And now, additionally to that, that their proxy network has been degraded substantially. And so for the region, Iran has far fewer levers to pull that are destabilizing than they did just a year and a half ago. And that’s going to play into their minds about whether this negotiation tactic means that it is in their best interest to pursue. nuclear weapons, realizing that a strike is likely to come if they do, or trading away those nuclear weapons in order to get some relief against those strikes or against those sanctions in their best interest. And I think what has happened in the last year and a half demonstrates their lack of capability within the region. And that will make them more likely to negotiate away those nuclear weapons than they would have been just a year and a half ago.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Extremely insightful information. General John Teichert, thank you so much for joining us. And boy, we’re going to be keeping a pulse on this. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch again. Thank you, Jody. All right, friends. Coming up, an Islamic city in Texas where Sharia law is in place. A lot of people are concerned and for good reason. Stay tuned.
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Everything we do begins as an idea. Before there can be acts of courage, there must be the belief that some things are worth sacrificing for. Before there can be marriage, there is the idea that man should not be alone. Before there was freedom, there was the idea that individuals are created equal. It’s true that all ideas have consequences, but we’re less aware that all consequences are the fruit of ideas. Before there was murder, there was hate. Before there was a Holocaust, there was the belief by some people that other people are undesirable. Our beliefs determine our behavior, and our beliefs about life’s biggest questions determine our worldview. Where did I come from? Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently. Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that. They’re disagreements about the purpose of our lives and the source of truth. As Christians, our goal must be to think biblically about everything. Our goal is to help you see beyond red and blue, left and right, to see the battle of ideas at the root of it all. Our goal is to equip Christians with a biblical worldview and help them advance and defend the faith in their families, communities, and the public square. Cultural renewal doesn’t begin with campaigns and elections. It begins with individuals turning from lies to truth. But that won’t happen if people can’t recognize a lie and don’t believe truth exists. We want to help you see the spiritual war behind the political war, the truth claims behind the press release, and the forest from the trees.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you with us. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss, and glad to have you. All right, Texas now finds itself in the center of a huge controversy regarding a proposed city founded by an Islamic organization. Now, the official name is the East Plano Islamic Center. It’s also known as EPIC. But this epic center, they’re proposing a mosque-centered city there in Texas, which some have accused as being a Sharia-based enclave in disguise. Even Texas Governor Greg Abbott has launched an investigation into the whole matter, but is now being accused himself of trampling religious freedoms. So what exactly is going on in the Lone Star State and what’s behind all the concern? We’re here now to discuss this is Krista Shield. She’s the director of Defending Our Republic. She’s been one, certainly, among others, who’s at the tip of the spear on this whole issue. Krista, welcome to Washington Watch. It’s an honor to have you.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thank you, Jody. It’s an honor to be here. So what’s happening?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, tell us. Let me start with this. I think the big question for a lot of people, and then I want to go to the broader issue, but this whole issue of Sharia law, that’s certainly the accusation. Where does that accusation come from and is it real?
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Yes, it is very much. Actually, I’ve been calling it not a Muslim community. I’ve been calling it a Sharia compound. But better yet, they went a year ago when they dropped the first video out of East Plano Islamic Center describing the details of their plans. They called it Epic 2 or E2. Epic 1 is already in existence. There’s a caliphate that’s already in existence in Plano, Texas, surrounding East Plano Islamic Center. And… They’re calling it epic city now for a very good reason, because it will be a city within a city. And I call it a Hamas sanctuary city for very good reason, because East Plano Islamic Center, we have mounds of evidence, including my own personal investigations that show their alignment with Hamas. Their scholar, Yasir Qadhi, He has several videos out aligning himself with Hamas, the attacks of October 7th, 2023 in Israel. And I have videos of them involved in a campaign with CARE, who’s also Hamas, an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. And they were demanding the release of an Al-Qaeda operative out of Carswell Federal Prison in September of 2021. Her name is Dr. Afia Siddiqui, and she is in federal prison for very good reason. She was shooting at our troops in Afghanistan and building bombs to take out our officers, as well as planting dirty bombs here in the United States. She was found with a whole list of places that she was going to plant these bombs. And so that’s just a little bit of that alignment that we’ve been showing our elected officials and why we’re calling this what it is.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so with that kind of evidence, why and how does anyone else stand up defending the city by saying it has nothing to do with Hamas, nothing to do with Sharia law? I mean, what you just described sounds like the evidence is pretty out in the open.
SPEAKER 14 :
It is. And it’s very open source information. I’ve spent the past several months listening to videos of their Islamic scholar, Yasser Qadi, teach his people how to do boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel, saying things like Jews and Christians are filthy and it’s incumbent upon us in jihad to take their lives and their property. So we have video graphic evidence of their school at EPIC. with our second grade girls in the school to fundraiser last year, chanting, as you see right here, thank you for showing the clip, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. And they’re holding up a map of Palestine and Israel’s wiped off the face of the map. I don’t know how you get any clearer who these people are and what their intentions are for these developments.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow, remarkable. So, all right, they already have E1, as you described. It’s already been there for several years. Now their proposal is E2. What does that entail? What would E2 look like?
SPEAKER 14 :
So what they’re calling it now is Epic City. And so they’ve got Boulder and feel like they’ve already conquered this territory and they’ve won. And so they really want a city within a city. And so that land encompasses both Josephine in South Farmersville, Texas. It encompasses both Collin County and Hunt County. And those properties, the main property is 402 acres where they plan on developing a central mosque, a thousand homes, which they pre-sold the home sites for, apartment buildings, a senior living center, sports complexes, private boys and girls segregated Sharia schools, you name it, retail spaces, restaurants, their own water tower, wastewater treatment. And because they’ve been studying the way we set up our what we call extraterritorial jurisdictions or ETJs, with their own municipal utility districts. They figured out that they can have all the benefits of living out in this rural property in the county and yet having the advantages of being connected into the city and the city councils have been bullied into annexing them so that they have emergency services and they could turn around and sue the city and the taxpayer will be on the hook to pay them at some point. So they’re able to get their own voting poll in there and they are able to get their own police force as a mud out there in the ETJ.
SPEAKER 04 :
Krista Shield, Director of Defending Our Republic, I want to thank you for joining us on Washington Watch. Incredible development taking place there. Thank you for joining us. Friends, up next, we’re going to continue more of this examination. Dr. Hormaz Shariat will be joining me as we continue this discussion about what’s happening in Texas. So much more coming your way right after the break. Stay tuned. We’ll be back.
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What is God’s role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful 13-part series that equips you with biblical truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates. From the Ten Commandments in Classrooms to the Immigration Crisis of America, we’ll uncover the foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. New episodes available each Monday. To view the series on the Stand Firm app, text COURSE to 67742.
SPEAKER 10 :
The world is hurting. Streets are filled with crime. Families are broken. Sin is celebrated and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, go to frc.org slash sagecon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, thank you so much for entrusting this hour with us here at Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Glad to have you with us. All right, we want to continue our exploration on this potential Islamic city, literally. that’s unfolding in Texas. The proposed city has clearly drawn passionate reactions from citizens and religious leaders alike. And there’s a reason, cultural or otherwise, to be concerned about this proposal. And here to discuss further, we’ve got Dr. Hormaz Shariat with us. He’s the founder and president of Iran Alive Ministries, a Christian ministry that uses satellite broadcasting and the internet to reach Iranians with the gospel. Dr. Shariat, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thank you, Jody, for allowing me to share.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. So a lot going on here in Texas. I’m really looking forward to getting your perspective on all of this. The city being called now epic by the organization. They are certainly accused of trying to implement Sharia law. First of all, should that be a concern to the citizens of Texas and the government of Texas?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yes, of course. I live in Texas. The center is like 20 minutes away from me. And our studios and our ministry is in North Dallas. So yes, it’s not a hype. It’s not a theory. If you want to know where this ends up, just look at England and maybe France. Look at Europe. What’s happening in the U.S. has happened in Europe maybe 20, 30 years before. So you look at England and you see how these Islamic centers, they’re mosques, but they call them Islamic centers, have gone. And now in England, you see that A father is arrested because he stood outside his son’s high school silently praying for his son. He’s arrested. At the same time, you see in London and other cities, you see thousands of Muslims blocking the streets praying to Allah. So this is a first step, the epic, the first step towards that kind of presence in the U.S. Of course, they’re not doing something illegal, having a city or having a place for them to gather. They call it, deceitfully, they call it the Islamic center. It’s more than that because Islam is not just a religion. Islam is a political system. Islam is a social system. Islamism controls your personal life. There is a loss for your, how you go, excuse me, to bathroom, your bedroom loss, bathroom loss. So it’s a completely controlling every aspects of people’s life. That’s why they want that. They want to implement Islam to the fullest, but that’s not, that’s the beginning. It will not be the end of their plans.
SPEAKER 04 :
And therein, I think you bring up a great point. You put your finger on something that is extremely important because some people are going to say this is government interfering with religious liberty, with religious freedom of people. But this goes beyond religious freedom. This is a geopolitical system. And that goes beyond just the mere religious expression of faith. So how do you, I’m sure you’ve had this question, how do you deal with this from a First Amendment perspective?
SPEAKER 17 :
Of course, yeah, America gives freedom, freedom of speech, and that’s the, you have to follow that. And they have lawyers, they’re following that. There is not much you can do to stop it. But just remember, The same Muslims in their own country, a Christian like us, like me, will be killed. We can’t have a church. We can’t even have a church in Iran. Just two weeks ago, they arrested three people. One of them was beautiful, young mother of a baby. They… sentenced her to 17 years in jail why because she attended the house church so they are using the law in the west and the attitude the christian attitude in the west the attitude of tolerance free speech they’re using it and they’re abusing it they may stay inside the law but they are using law to establish Islam in America. Again, look at, if you want to know the future of Islam, if you allow this, look at, just study England, what has happened in England the last 30, 40 years. So it is a good point. Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so let me ask you this, and then I want to ask this, and then one final question before I let you go. They are approaching this, Epic, the promoters, if you will, of Epic, they are promoting this city as fostering belonging, fostering inclusivity. But as you’re just now describing, traditionally, let me just ask you, put it in this way of a question, how has Islam treated the idea of, of inclusivity with other peoples, with other religions? Is it even possible?
SPEAKER 17 :
It’s not possible because it’s a mandate in Quran to take over the world by any means, if it’s through politics, through deception, through trickery. And that’s all, in Islam, they have a mandate to take care of the world, even if it’s by violence. So this is, in America, in the West, they can’t use violence, but they’re using other means. But the goal is the same. Allah wants to take over the world. And lying and deception, just calling it an Islamic center is deception by itself. There’s no problem of taking steps. They have long-term plans. I have talked to some of them. They say, even for America, these mullahs, These religious leaders of Islam in America, they tell me, they’ve texted me, they’ve called me, hey, you think you’re doing a great job to convert Muslims to Christianity? Just wait two, 20, 30 years and see what we do to America. They’re threatening me. They said, we have a long-term plan for America. You think you’re the winner by converting Muslims? Just wait and see what we will do to America.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. All right, last question for you. Fascinating stuff. Thank you so much. Last question. I can’t leave you without giving you an opportunity to describe the ministry. You’ve been involved in trying to reach Iranians for over 25 years. Tell us what’s recently been going on in Iran. What’s been on your heart for that nation? What are you seeing take place there spiritually now?
SPEAKER 17 :
Amazing. But let me clarify. I was born in Iran, Muslim. And after they executed my brother many years ago, I committed my life to serving Muslims. So when I say these things about Islam, it’s not out of hatred. It’s out of love. If you love, you tell the truth. That’s what I’m doing. Personally, I came to Christ as a student in Southern California at the University of Southern California. I compared the Bible. and Quran, I compared Islam and Christianity, and I realized, Jesus, there’s no, nobody can match and compete with Jesus. My life was transformed, changed, and I started sharing the gospel with Muslims. That’s how ministry started. I was a research scientist. Then I went to Silicon Valley, I did research on AI, that’s my field, and at the same time started planting churches. We went on the air, satellite television, 25 years ago, right after 9-11, and the Lord has used us to reach out to millions of people. Now, what’s happening in Iran? Hey, good news, good news! Iran will be the first Islamic nation that is coming to Christ already. And I say Iran will be a Christian nation. People tell me, hey, are you crazy? Where did you get that idea? I tell them, hey, I stole that idea. Where did you steal it from? I steal it from the Lord in Jeremiah 49. 38. Jeremiah 49, 38, the Lord says, I will set my throne there. So what’s happening in Iran is the Spirit of God in the midst of all these talks of nuclear wars and Iran making bomb and using it against the West or against Israel. In the midst of all the bad news, there is one great news. Iranians have rejected Islam and are open to the message of the gospel. We see thousands of them come to Christ every month. The good news is that that nation, Islam, is done. And according to God’s promise, it will be a Christian nation. Let me share with you this story. Just, you know, even today, we had a lot of… I’m going to have to let you go real quick.
SPEAKER 04 :
Be quick, please. I got to run on. Okay.
SPEAKER 17 :
You know, back today, we have live church service. I provide church through our satellite television and online. And then after that, I go to a Zoom. Zoom call. It’s like a lobby. Meet the pastor. Let him pray for you. Ask questions. And last week, for two hours, I was leading Muslims to Christ. They were coming to the Zoom, ready to… Receive Christ. The amazing thing, Jody, is that they did not have any questions. Muslim, they didn’t say, what should I do with Muhammad? What should I do with Quran? They didn’t say, why do you say Jesus God? Why three gods? No questions. They were saying, I am ready to receive Christ. One of them were saying, hey, When I was watching your sermon, I felt somebody planting flowers in my mind. I’m ready to receive Christ. There is a revival in Iran. I’ve written a book called Iran’s Great Awakening. But watch out what God is doing in Iran. It will encourage you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, you have encouraged us all. Dr. Hermas Sheriat, thank you so much. Founder and President of Iran Alive Ministries. Incredible information. God bless you and your ministry. We look forward to seeing the continued work of God and the Lord Jesus Christ there in Iran. Thank you. All right, friends, as we close out the week, I tell you, we could close out right there. I’m just excited on the inside and out. But I do want to pivot now to David Claussen. I want us to end with our weekly Biblical Worldview discussion on some of the major issues taking place in our country. And, of course, David Claussen is the director of our Center for Biblical Worldview here at FRC. His brand-new book, His brand new book, Life After Roe, equipping Christians in the fight for life today. David, thank you for joining us. We appreciate, as always, you being a part of our Friday edition. Bring us a biblical perspective of the news.
SPEAKER 06 :
Great to be with you, Jody. Thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, real quick, I’ve got a couple things I want to end with your book, How People Can Get It. But I shared this a little while ago, some recent findings from a report published by the network Contagion, the research institute. But they said that those who identify, self-identify as left of center, They are over 55% willing to say that assassinating President Trump or Elon Musk could be justified. Now, I know you’ve had a chance to look at this report, but what do we do with this?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, Jody, that’s concerning. 55%, according to this report, of those who are left of center think that they could find a way to justify assassinating the sitting president of the United States And 48% said the same way about Elon Musk. You dig into the weeds on the survey, and it’s actually about 38% of respondents overall said yes, that they think it would be somewhat justifiable to murder the president. Now, again, that’s astounding, Jody. And I think my simple response to this is as Christians, we recognize we live in extremely polarizing times. We recognize that we’re divided politically. As Christians, we reject violence, though. We recognize that all people are made in God’s image. We recognize that even those we disagree with politically have value and dignity. And we also recognize that Romans 13 says government is ordained by God for our good. So even if you disagree on a policy issue with someone in office, we still respect them. We still ought to pray for them. And so this shows we’re in kind of dangerous times, but as Christians, we need to be really clear.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. Switching gears real quickly with you, we had, I’m sure you followed this recent story involving pool, not a swimming pool, but the game as in billiards. Just a couple of days ago, Harriet Haynes won the tournament there in England, but it was a women’s event despite him being a man. And in fact, the other person he was playing was also a man. So you had two men playing in the finals of a women’s tournament. Wow. As we’re watching this whole transgender thing decrease and lose momentum in so many places, it is still a major issue, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 06 :
It absolutely is. And again, what a striking example of what happens when a society loses their bearings, their moral bearings, their objective truth. This pool tournament over in England, Jodi, again, you have two biological males competing in the championship. Why are they even allowed to be in the women’s final, the women’s tournament to begin with, is because they identify as women. And so again, it’s absolutely insane. Jody, this is really important, though. Although I do think there’s kind of been a vibe shift, so to speak, President Trump’s been leading on this issue. Just before we came on the air, actually, the Danbury Institute contacted me. They’re an allied organization. They put out a letter on some really pernicious legislation in Colorado. It’s HB 251312. This is legislation. It’s been approved by one house in Colorado, Jody, that if it were to go into law, it would allow courts, to look at custody disputes and look at children and actually potentially remove children from their parents’ home if the parents don’t affirm the gender identity of their children. There’s clauses in this legislation that say that if you deadname your child, meaning simply if you use the name that you gave them, or if you misgender them, again, that’s just code, leftist code, for if you use… pronouns that conflict with their biological sex, that you could lose custody. And so I do think there’s a vibe change that’s taking place, Jody. However, we need to be vigilant because the folks who believe this ideology, they’re not going to go quietly in the night.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely they’re not. We’ve only got about 30 seconds. Your book is awesome. Tell us real quickly how people can get your book.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, very kind. Yeah, Life After Roe, Equipping Christians in the Fight for Life Today. You can go really wherever books are sold. You can go to lifeway.com. That’s my publisher. And we still have a week or so where you can use Washington Watch. Use that code, one word, Washington Watch, and viewers and listeners of this program can receive 40% off. Looks at the Issue of Life from a Theological, Biblical, and Political Perspective.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, David, listen, I want to thank you as always. I look forward to our time together to try to hit some of the major news items from a biblical worldview perspective. As always, thank you so much for joining us. I hope you have a great weekend, and may God bless your book. Thank you. It needs to get in the hands of people. God bless. All right, friends, that wraps up another week. Hope you have a fantastic weekend, and we’ll be back with you next week right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 08 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
