Join Tony Perkins as he examines the intricate balance between national security and international diplomacy. Senator Pete Ricketts shares his perspectives on strategic U.S. interests concerning the Arctic and the Panama Canal as potential areas for increased American presence and vigilance. The episode also tackles the ongoing persecution of Christians around the globe, featuring Isaac Six of Global Christian Relief, who reports on the dire circumstances in countries like Nigeria and India where religious freedom is under threat. Finally, the program concludes with insights into the power of prayer during political transitions, urging listeners to actively participate in initiatives
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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. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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The Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. China. And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China. And they’ve abused it.
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That was President Donald Trump speaking from Mar-a-Lago yesterday. Good evening and welcome to Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins and I want to thank you for tuning in. We begin with President Trump’s bullish foreign policy statements regarding Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal. His remarks have left some on edge. In just a moment, we’ll get reaction from Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts. Also yesterday on the program, we covered President Biden’s release of al-Qaeda terrorists to Oman, a move sparking legislation aimed at preventing future releases. But the administration is pushing back.
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I think the president has been pretty clear that and what you’ve seen over the past few months is more detainees, you know, leaving Guantanamo Bay. I think every administration has made a concerted effort to try and get detainees out of Guantanamo Bay and slowly close that facility.
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That was Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh earlier today. So does this make America safer or does it put us at risk? We’ll talk about it later. In other news, a federal judge has blocked Tennessee’s efforts to protect minors from harmful pornography sites under its Protect Tennessee Minors Act. Nineteen states have adopted similar laws, but several are tied up in court, including Texas’ law, which the Supreme Court will consider next week. We’ll get an update from Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scrimetti later here on Washington Watch. Plus, Nigeria is yet again labeled the most dangerous place in the world for Christians. Isaiah Sick, Senior Director of Advocacy for Global Christian Relief, will join us to discuss the findings of their 2025 Red List and what the incoming administration might be able to do to make it safer for Christians around the globe. And finally, the raging fires in Southern California serve as a reminder of our need for God’s protection and intervention. That theme will be part of the inauguration praise and prayer convocation on Sunday, January the 19th, which I’ll be hosting along with my good friend, Pastor Jim Garlow. Dr. Garlow joins us later to share more about that event. Well, we’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get started. President-elect Donald Trump is drawing a lot of attention over remarks he made regarding Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal, all three of which he said the United States would be better off with. Now, some have brushed the remarks off as crazy talk and some have called the ideas bad. Or are they really? Here to discuss this, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, who serves on four Senate committees, including the Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Ricketts, welcome back to Washington Watch and Happy New Year. Thank you very much. Happy New Year. Thanks for having me on. Well, there’s not a dull moment going to be in that we’re going to have in Washington, D.C., as President-elect Donald Trump moves back to the reins of government. His comments yesterday, putting some on edge regarding Greenland, Canada and Panama Canal. Your thoughts?
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What the president is doing is thinking long term about our safety and security here in the United States. For example, the president knows that Russia and increasingly China have been involved in the Arctic and that we need to secure that northern flank. And also he knows that Canada has not been pulling its weight with regard to its defense spending. I think last year it spent 1.3% of its GDP on its defense when it’s supposed to be spending 2% and committed to that years and years ago and still has not made it. So he’s thinking about how can we protect our people here in the United States? Are we gonna need to put bases, for example, up in Greenland? He’s thinking the same thing about the Panama Canal, the event of a conflict with Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China. We’re going to have problems because two Chinese companies own ports or one Chinese company owns a port on both ends of that canal. And you bet that they will try to shut that down if there’s a conflict and harm us from being able to respond to anything going on in the Pacific. So the president is thinking long term about how do we keep our country safe? And we ought to be thanking him for it. And I’ll tell you right now, there’s a lot more people thinking about the risks that are being posed by Russia and China, for example, up in that northern Arctic area today than there were just a couple of days ago.
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I would think, Senator Ricketts, that for those that observed the first Trump administration, that they would understand that even though he makes statements such as he did yesterday that are maybe uncharacteristic of an incoming administration, there is a method. to what he is doing. And I think he is putting our adversaries on alert. He is keeping the deck kind of shuffled. But I think, as you pointed out, he is doing this with a clear mission in sight.
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Yeah, absolutely. And the other thing to remember is that, you know, Trump is a negotiator and he’s a disruptor. So we shouldn’t be surprised that his negotiating style is very disruptive. The negotiations for Greenland or Panama, the Panama Canal, haven’t even started yet. So Trump is certainly not going to give up anything in his hand before the negotiations have even begun. And again, it’s about thinking about the long term safety and security of our country. So this is something that is this at the beginning, not the end. And but it is a good sign that the president is thinking about how do we secure our nation long term.
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Now, I agree 100% on Panama Canal. We should have never given that back to Panama. We should have retained control of that. And China, as we saw during COVID, when they clamped down on personal protective equipment after they created the crisis, we know that they are – clearly an adversary, and to allow them to control such a vital waterway is unacceptable. But Greenland, is that realistic, to think that the United States could take control of Greenland?
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Well, again, it’s currently Greenland is owned by Denmark. And what the president has suggested that Denmark sell us Greenland. And it would be a way for us to help secure the northeast United States by making sure we would be able to put up our military bases there. We also have Chinese ships that are there. They’re dual purpose. They’re supposed to be doing research. But we know that there’s nothing in the Chinese Navy that is just purely civilian, right? Whether it’s research ships, they’ve all got dual purpose, they all report to the same dictator who tells them what to do, or even private companies like the companies that own the ports down in Panama, they have to do whatever the Chinese government tells them to do, whatever the dictator Xi Jinping tells them to do, right? This is called communism. Right. They’re all under one central government and they have to do what the dictator says. So we should be very concerned about what the Chinese are doing in the Arctic and what they’re doing with these so-called research vessels because they’re dual purpose. Just having the ports down in Panama. We know that for no other reason, the Chinese will be monitoring the traffic there and make be making intelligent decisions. you know, guesses about what would happen in times of war and being using and using that against us.
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With that in mind, Senator, let’s let’s talk about a contrast, because Donald Trump is concerned about American security, our national defense. But yesterday, the Pentagon, the Biden Pentagon, announced that it released 11 al-Qaeda linked terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. in Cuba to Oman. Now, do we have any guarantees that they won’t pick up where they left off and go right back to the business they were in before, terrorism?
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Sadly, this is pretty standard for the Biden administration, but they don’t tell us anything about what is going on. I read about this in the paper just like everybody else. There was no advance notice to us to say, hey, here’s who these people are, here’s what they did, here’s the guarantees we have from the Omanis to make sure they’ll never do it again. We have no such assurance that I know of that at least has been communicated to the US Senate with regard to why we should feel good about these detainees being released. We know they were terrorists. They’ve been terrorists for a long time, and we should not be letting them out. And what kind of guarantees do we have? They won’t just return to their terrorist ways, We’ve certainly seen that in the past with previous people who have been released. They’ve gone back to being terrorists again. So this is something where the Biden administration has told us nothing about why we should feel good about this. And again, it’s just part and parcel of why this administration has been such a failure. They just don’t put the well-being of the American people first. They put their own woke agenda first.
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Well, the track record of Oman, I think we have roughly 30 other detainees, terrorists have been transferred to Oman. They’ve been released without explanation. So there’s no reason to believe that these would find the same freedom there in Oman to go back to the field of terrorism. Now, there are a few left there in Guantanamo Bay, and I know some of your colleagues are at least messaging, moving legislation, trying to move legislation forward that would prohibit the Biden administration from releasing any more of these terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. Is that a possibility of seeing that legislation move forward?
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I have not seen the legislation, so I can’t speak to that legislation directly. But one of the things that I think we should all keep in mind is, look, while these people are being detained, they’re not a threat to American citizens. Why you would change that status quo is beyond me. You’d have to make a pretty darn good case that, for whatever reason, you can move these people someplace else and American people are going to be safe. The Biden administration has not made that case to us on the people they just released. And we need to have better than just their word that somehow this is going to all turn out OK, because the Biden administration has shown time and time again that their appeasement first policy has put Americans at risk and made us less safe.
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Senator Ricketts, you’ve been very strong in support of Israel. And one of the pieces of legislation that the Now, Majority Leader John Thune has said he is going to be moving through a companion bill that is in the House, and that is taking action against the International Criminal Court for their efforts to actually arrest the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. They’re talking about sanctions for those individuals. I understand that may be making its way to the Senate floor this week?
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My understanding, that’s a possibility that we might be voting on that this week. It’ll either be that or the Lake and Riley Act, which is designed to make sure that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has to arrest and deport illegal immigrants who commit criminal crimes here in our country. So those are the two things that we’ve been told we may come up. And I do think it’s important to note that this is an issue with regard to the International Criminal Court that we did not sign onto it, neither has Israel. So they really have no jurisdiction in either one of our countries. And there’s a reason for that, because we don’t trust them. And they’re taking action against Israel while really doing nothing against Hamas, who started all this with their terrorist attack. So Tom Cotton had sent a letter to the ICC. I was one of the signatories to it. It said, if you pursue this, there will be consequences. This legislation is the consequence that the ICC will now face.
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Well, and I think it’s good because I think that is a part of the giving rise and fuel to the anti-Semitism that we see around the world. So I’m grateful that this is actually a priority of the new Republican-controlled Congress of the 119th. Senator Pete Ricketts, always great to see you. Thank you for coming on the program today. Great. Thanks again for having me on, Tony. I appreciate it. Happy New Year. All right. Happy New Year. Have a great day. All right, folks, more to be praying about. And we’re going to give you more on how you can join in our prayer. But let me give you this right now. If you’d like to join the Operation Prayer Shield, where we’re praying for our country and our allies, both domestically and internationally, all the issues going on, text the word SHIELD to 67742. That’s SHIELD to 67742. All right, coming up next, a new law to protect children in Tennessee from online pornography was blocked from going into effect at the 11th hour by a federal judge. What was the reason? Well, we’re going to talk with Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scrimetti next here on Washington Watch. Don’t go away.
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During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we’re making an eternal impact. 2024 has been another year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, D.C. This fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins parked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC’s outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere, the community of believers, on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God’s intervention in America. FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel’s peace, prosperity, and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Govern. Launching in January 2025, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us for another year of standing for faith, family, and freedom.
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Looking to grow closer to God in the new year? FRC’s Stand on the Word spiral-bound journal is here to help. Dive deeper into scripture with thought-provoking questions, note-taking space, and context for each book and author. This second edition, covering Isaiah 2 Revelation, will guide you in tracking your journey through God’s word while deepening your faith in Christ. Order now at frc.org slash store or text journal to 67742. Perfect for you and your loved ones.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. Glad to have you with us. The website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, best way to get in touch with us is the Stand Firm app. Go to the App Store and download the Stand Firm app. That way you’ve got Washington Watch with you no matter where you are. A new law to protect children in Tennessee from online pornography was set to go into effect New Year’s Day, but it was blocked the day before by a U.S. District Court judge. Her reasoning? It was supposedly suppressing of the free speech rights of adults. Well, the Tennessee Attorney General, Jonathan Scrametti, has asked a federal appeals court to allow the Protect Tennessee Minors Act to take effect while litigation proceeds. And he joins us now to discuss this. General Scrametti, welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to see you and Happy New Year. Happy New Year to you, too. Thanks for having me back. This is not something that Tennessee is doing in a vacuum because there’s 19 states in total that have taken this step because increasingly over the last decade, we’ve seen pornography. In fact, many states have labeled it a health crisis because of its effect, particularly upon minors and how this industry is preying upon them. Give our viewers and listeners an understanding of what the Protect Tennessee Minors Act would do and why it’s been blocked and how you’re gonna fight for it in court.
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Well, the Protect Tennessee Minors Act is intended to make sure that only adults are able to access explicit, obscene material on the internet. Right now, there’s evidence all over the place of children who can access some really disturbing and horrible stuff with virtually no effort. It just pervades the internet. And so this requires age verification to access these sites. It passed unanimously. Every single member of the Tennessee General Assembly either voted for it or didn’t vote. There was not one vote against. this law when it went through. And it’s pretty similar to laws in Texas and Indiana and Florida, many other states that have adopted similar laws. The whole point of it is not to keep adults out. There are all sorts of privacy protections for adult information used for age verification. But protecting our kids from the psychological impact of ready access to these materials is a incredibly compelling reason for the state to do this. And the law just seeks to make sure that kids can’t see what kids shouldn’t see.
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General, you said it’s pervasive. It certainly is pervasive. I would say it’s pernicious. I would also say that There’s evidence to suggest that it’s not passive in terms of the pornography industry, that they are pursuing people to kind of catch them in their net. This is simply trying to provide, if I read the legislation right, a wall of protection that just makes sure that whoever crosses into that is, in fact, 18 years of age.
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Correct. And we do that all the time. There are laws protecting children from things that adults can do all over the place, buying alcohol, buying a gun, voting. There are all sorts of activities that you have to be 18 to do. This law just says that going to these obscene and explicit sites is one of those things that you need to prove your age to do. And it’s consistent with laws in other states. The Supreme Court next week is hearing Texas’ case. And we’re optimistic that the court is going to further validate the legitimacy of these laws. But it’s just common sense. There are things that kids should not be able to do, and we as adults need to protect them.
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So very common sense, rational argument that you’ve made there that you have to show an ID to get alcohol, to buy cigarettes. Why not pornography? What are the opponents saying that would separate this from alcohol or from tobacco or any other product that we protect children from?
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So the First Amendment is very important. It’s a cornerstone of our American republic. And free speech is something that we need to protect vitally. But they read free speech very broadly. There are some opinions from way back from the Supreme Court that talked about inhibiting adult access to materials in the course of protecting children. But at the end of the day, The First Amendment does not apply to obscenity, and a lot of the material out there is obscene by definition. And if you go back and look at even the very liberal justices back in the 60s, Justice Brennan, who was perhaps the most liberal justice of all on free speech, He had no problem with limiting kids’ access to pornography. He didn’t see any free speech implications there. The case law seems to back us up. But there are people out there, some maybe self-servingly, who say that even trying to restrict kids’ access to this material poses a grave threat to free speech and needs to be stopped. And those are the arguments that are raised against us.
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Now, General Scramatti, you pointed out that Texas, their law is going to be before the Supreme Court on the 15th. They’ll be presenting that case. The Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas will be there. How might the outcome of that case impact your law there in Tennessee?
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We’re optimistic that the Supreme Court is going to say that, of course, states can require age verification. That’s not a constitutional obstacle. And our hope would be that that trickles back down through the Sixth Circuit and through the trial court. to validate our law, to allow us to proceed with enforcement. Now, in any law involving speech, there may be situations that arise where there are constitutional problems. But invalidating a law on its face paints with a very, very broad brush. And there are many legitimate applications, and we would like to enforce those applications and make sure that Tennessee kids are not able to zip right onto the Internet and find these obscene materials that will have terrible impacts on them as they grow into adulthood.
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It’s quite significant, as you pointed out earlier, that this was supported unanimously by the legislature there in Tennessee. I mean, you really have to read. That’s a pretty high threshold. And I know it’s a conservative Republican state, but even so, that’s a pretty high threshold.
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It really is. It’s very unusual for anything controversial to move unanimously. And here you have a very wide range of legislators, people with very different political ideas, but all of them recognize that we need to protect our kids. And it’s America. You’re allowed to disagree. People come at things from different directions. But this is something that we can all unite around. Our children are assailed with these negative, evil influences, and we have to take steps to protect them.
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And there is an abundance of evidence now to suggest that this has long-term implications for them. General Scametti, I want to thank you for joining us. Always great to see you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you. Great to see you, too.
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All right. And folks coming up with the inauguration day fast approaching. How can we be praying in these days leading up to it? Well, after the break, we’re going to talk about it. Don’t go away.
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So if you like to think and you like to pray, FRC is the place for you.
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I think it is the best program out there.
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Yeah, I’ve absolutely loved my experience interning at FRC. They really are making waves out in the political world and doing it from the light of the Lord. It’s really humbling for me as a college student who has been involved in the life movement for only a couple of years to be able to witness it alongside of some of the people who have spent their entire lives fighting. A huge thing that sets FRC’s internship apart from others is they are looking for what they can pour into you instead of what they can get out of you.
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I have talked to so many of my friends who have interned. other places and they’re responding to emails or taking phone calls and doing things like that. But here we get real hands-on experience and get to talk to important people and do important things that we get to see the impact of
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The throne of Jesus Christ is unchallenged. His name was never on the ballot to begin with, and it’s never gonna be on the ballot. He’s the King of Kings, and he’s the Lord of Lords, and nothing’s gonna change that. And so our mission stays the same, preach the gospel, make disciples, get ready for heaven. In the meantime, that we’re to advance the concerns of the kingdom of God here on earth.
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America has entered a critical and vulnerable period from now until January the 20th. Join Family Research Council for Operation Prayer Shield, a 10-week prayer initiative for our nation. From now until January 20th, our country faces global challenges, a transition of leadership, and a lame duck session of Congress. This season calls for heightened spiritual vigilance, discernment, and prayer. Text the word SHIELD to 67742 to join us. You’ll have access to prayer points, scripture, prayer calls, text SHIELD to 67742. Unite with us and pray for our nation. This is Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins, your host. Good to have you with us. Hey, what does last week’s terrorist attack in New Orleans and the fires raging in Southern California have in common? Well, they should both make it abundantly clear that we need God’s hand to be upon this nation. In 12 days, our nation will inaugurate its 47th president, Donald Trump. That is not the finish line for us as Christians, it’s the starting line. So working with Dr. Jim Garlow, I am co-hosting a special event the Sunday before the inauguration, the inauguration praise and prayer convocation. It’s an opportunity to gather, celebrate God’s faithfulness to our country, his mercy and his grace, and lift up our country in prayer. Joining me now to discuss this, Dr. Jim Garlow, founder and CEO of the ministry Well-Versed, who, as I mentioned, is co-sponsoring this event along with FRC. Dr. Garlow, welcome back to Washington Watch.
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Thank you. Good to be with you, Tony.
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And you are in Southern California. That’s your home. Now, you’re down in San Diego, a bit of a ways from the fires. But these are historic fires that are raging there in Los Angeles.
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Very sobering. Bring back memories. In 2013, we had 2,800 homes burned here in San Diego. In 2017, we had 1,600 homes burned. HERE IN SAN DIEGO. THERE WERE EXACT MEMORIES OF THAT. SO WE’RE EXTREMELY CONCERNED FOR WHAT’S HAPPENING IN LOS ANGELES RIGHT NOW. I DON’T KNOW, FOUR DIFFERENT FIRES OR SO THAT ARE OCCURRING AND NONE OF THEM ARE CONTAINED AT ALL.
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VERY SERIOUS. I think I see this as there are things that are beyond our control. Now, certain things we can do to prepare and protect, but we need God. And just as we see a new administration coming in that is certainly going to be more favorable to things we care about, we need to be praying. And that’s a part of this event that we’re doing on the Sunday before the inauguration is just to thank God for what he has done for but pray and intercede for our nation as we go forward. Talk a little bit about the motivation here and what we’ll be doing.
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Tony, it’s interesting. Almost everywhere I listen to or talk to, people use the same word, reprieve. We’ve been given a reprieve. Well, it’s a two-year or a four-year reprieve, I don’t know. But the church has been given a reprieve, a time to really get its act together. We’re so thankful that Trump will be our new president, but Jesus is our king, our messiah, and our savior. And so for that purpose, we’re coming before him to honor Jesus, to honor the Lord. We’ll be praising and worshiping, and then we’ll be praying for our new president in very specific areas that he literally have the mind of Christ, that he have a biblical worldview as he moves forward in all of these areas, protection over him. And then, Tony, I’m thankful you’re going to be sharing, I think, a very prophetic and extremely important word about this reprieve and what the church needs to be doing at this particular time. I love your phrasing. This is not the finish line. It’s the starting point. So the church has an incredible opportunity. right now that’s been given us to step up in the arenas of holiness and righteousness, biblical justice and truth before a holy, righteous, and just God. So we invite people to come January 19th at 2 p.m. in the afternoon. That’s a Sunday to the Greater New Hope Baptist Church on 8th Street Northwest, very close, Tony, to the FRC headquarters there. We invite them to come be a part of this important event.
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All right, information on how folks can be a part of it.
SPEAKER 04 :
They can go to two places, wellversedworld.org, wellversedworld.org. They can sign up. There’s no charge. Or they can go to the FRC. Tony, you ought to tell them exactly where on the FRC website to go. But either one of those they can go to. They can sign up. They don’t need to. There it is right there, frc.org forward slash prayer. And we encourage you to come. Now, you need to sign up right away because the space is limited and we’re almost at capacity. And because of the crowds and because of street closings that sometimes the Secret Service does, you know, it starts at two o’clock on Sunday afternoon. We urge you to arrive around 1245 or so, because there could be a number of crowds in the streets from other events. There’s another large event going nearby. And then Secret Service may have some streets closed. So allow plenty of time to get there. We have to go through security as well to protect everyone. But we encourage you to come and worship the Lord with us, and we’ll have a great celebration.
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And by the way, dress warmly because it’s cold. And you’ll be outside a lot if you’re there in D.C. just kind of making your way around. So do dress warmly. Some of the folks that will be involved with this event, as you said, it’s a prayer. We’ll have a number of people praying as we pray over various aspects. Who are some of the other leaders that are going to be joining us?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, Sean Fioik will be leading the worship. I already mentioned what Tony’s going to be sharing, and so I think it’s a word from the Lord. David Barton will be sharing just very briefly a history of presidential proclamations to pray, to fast, solemn assembly and such. And then we have everyone, Paula White, Jenny Korn, who’ve been involved in the last administration a great deal, a host of us, Matt Staver, Robert Tyler, Individuals praying. We’re praying for Israel, Mike Evans. We have a high-level governmental official from a member of parliament in Ukraine that will be there. and some, frankly, some wounded soldiers. And I just received word this morning, Tony, I didn’t have any chance to tell you this, that a member of the Knesset, Ohad Tal, was able to come. He just called me this morning, a few minutes ago, saying he was going to be able to come, and he’ll be with us. He’ll give an update on the hostage situation, an update from Israel. Then we’ll be praying. for Israel. So there’s a lot of people praying for different categories, praying for wisdom on the president. And then, Tony, if they also want to, we want to invite them to come to February 5, the event you and I are doing together, the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, the Museum of the Bible, and they can sign up at the same site.
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All right, Dr. Jim Garlow, I look forward to seeing you on the 19th as we pray and kick off the administration of Donald Trump in prayer and praise. All right, folks, coming up next, a new report exposes the top offenders of Christian persecution. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But do you know the Bible talks about four institutions of government? Do you know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this saying separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn’t be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
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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 05 :
Welcome back to Washington, Washington. Again, if you plan on being in D.C., I invite you to join us for the worship service leading up to the presidential inauguration. The registration, as Dr. Garlow said, is free, but space is limited. It’s filling up very quickly. To register, just go to frc.org slash Bible. That’s frc.org slash Bible. Also, if you’re not able to, I’m sorry, that’s prayer, frc.org slash prayer. And if you’re not able to be here in D.C., you can, we’ll be streaming it on the Stand Firm app, so make sure you have the Stand Firm app. Today’s word is from Isaiah 55, verses one and two. Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? These verses remind us that salvation is free. It cannot be earned or purchased, only accepted. Yet many still chase empty things that never truly satisfy. God’s invitation is universal, crossing cultural and ethnic boundaries. But notice that it’s extended only to the thirsty. Unless we long for what God offers, a righteousness that restores our relationship with Him, His gift remains unopened. Jesus reiterates this in Matthew 5, verse 6, Many look elsewhere for fulfillment, yet only God meets our soul’s deepest need. We must personally respond to His call. We’ve all heard the saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. The same principle applies spiritually. God sets before us living water, but we must decide to drink. Are you thirsty for him? If so, he promises to satisfy. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742. Yesterday, a new annual report was released that exposes the top offenders of Christian persecution worldwide. The red list, compiled by Global Christian Relief using the Violence Incident Database, highlights the top five countries where documented killings, arrests, displacements, attacks and assaults, and abductions against Christians are most severe. and it notes some troubling trends. Joining me to unpack the new report is Isaac Six. He is the Senior Director of Advocacy for Global Christian Relief. Isaac, welcome to Washington Watch. Good to see you and a happy new year.
SPEAKER 08 :
Good to see you too. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 05 :
So before we jump into this list, share with what makes this list unique, Isaac.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I’d be happy to. So a couple of years ago, Global Christian Relief identified a need when it came to reporting on Christian persecution. There are several great annual reports that come out from organizations that we cooperate with on assisting the persecuted, and those reports have their role to play. But we noted that there wasn’t any reporting happening of hard, verifiable data using public sources on some of these numbers. So a lot of the We’ll look at, they’ll take surveys, they’ll make estimates about the numbers. But we noted that when we’re talking with policymakers and we’re talking with leaders, they want numbers that can be verified, that can be sourced easily in public sources, and that are very hard to refute. So that’s where we decided to come up with the Red List. And that’s built on the violent incidents database, which is research that we’ve commissioned. So this is over two years of very intense research. looking at every single possible public source and report on persecution over the last couple of years and then tabulating those numbers. The second reason we did this is we also, for our own work, wanted to be able to focus and be effective on the ground. We’re in these countries doing work with the persecuted church. And so we need to see what we were missing and where we need to help.
SPEAKER 05 :
So let’s go through the categories. Let’s start with what is obviously most concerning. That is the killing, killing of Christians. This is where we find Nigeria to be the most dangerous place in the world for Christians.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s right. We documented 9,814 killings in a two-year period. That confirms a lot of other reporting out there that Nigeria is the most dangerous place on earth for Christians where they face the most intense violence. Our number is a little lower, again, than you’re going to see in some other reports because we’re only using numbers that we can source from verifiable quality sources. So, but yes, Nigeria for a long time now has been one of the most dangerous places for Christians to operate. The stories coming out of Nigeria are almost unimaginable. And I think if the American church heard some of these stories on a regular basis, they would be shocked. Just one example. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, this is something I’ve been discussing for some time, going back to when I was on, you worked at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and so we first connected there. This picture has grown increasingly dark for Christians in Nigeria. There was a ray of light during the previous Trump administration when Secretary Pompeo took our recommendation to list Nigeria as a country of particular concern. The Biden administration immediately removed it from the list when they came in, and it has only gotten worse since then in the last four years. What’s it going to take to turn things around there in Nigeria?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, it’s going to take a lot. And you’re absolutely right. At the very end of the Trump administration, that was the first time Nigeria was ever designated a country of particular concern, despite years of targeted killings. So, to see that designation removed, and that designation is important. It signals to these countries that the United States and others are extremely concerned about what’s happening. And it can open up these countries to economic sanctions and other measures. So it’s going to take a concerted, organized effort at the policy level and also at the ground level to shift the tide in Nigeria. But it’s simply been unaddressed. The federal government and the state governments in Nigeria need to be put under a lot more pressure to do something about this. They probably have the resources, but they’re just not prioritizing protecting Christians in the middle and northern parts of the country.
SPEAKER 05 :
So, I mean, this is… Before we move on to one of the next categories, this is one that is… for me, very problematic because these people have very little defense and their government is not helping them, basically just turning a blind eye as these Muslim radicals are killing Christians, burning their homes, their churches, attacking them. You said the church needs to become aware. What can be done to aid in the plight of our brothers and sisters there in Nigeria?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. Well, if you go to our website, gcrelief.org, you’re going to see some of the stories and the projects that we’re doing. It’s a whole range. We’re going in and bandaging the church. We’re finding those who’ve lost everything. One of the stories I just wrote after we conducted an interview with one of the survivors there, and we haven’t published it yet, but as a woman who was taken by Boko Haram, which is one of the primary Islamist groups there committing persecution, And with her children, several of her children and four of her sons were executed in front of her as soon as she was taken captive. And then she spent another year and a half in captivity, finally escaped and had nothing at all. So through our ministry and one of the pastors we support there who found her, we were able to provide her with a new home to live in, to be reunited with her children. We helped her start a new business and basically start her life again and get back on her feet. So, there’s — but we are just a drop in the bucket compared to the need there to restore the church. At the same time, though, it’s going to take political pressure as well, because a lot of these areas where Boko Haram and these other groups have come in and wiped out Christian communities, other Muslim groups have moved in and taken over their land and property. And they’re not planning to give it back anytime soon.
SPEAKER 05 :
JOHN YANG All right. What other countries make that top five in terms of the killing of Christians?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, so there’s several other countries on the top five list with killing of Christians, although they are leagues away from Nigeria. They’re in the hundreds in terms of what we were able to document. And again, I should clarify, there are probably more killings than what we’re documenting. These are just carefully verified sources. So number two is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Number three is Mozambique. Number four is Ethiopia. And then sort of surprising, number five is Russia.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, let’s talk about Russia. Now, I know that Russia has been a problem for religious freedom because my time on the commission for speaking out, they sanctioned me. I’ve been sanctioned by both China and Russia. But is this related to what they’re doing in Ukraine, where they’re the targeting of Christians in the territories in Ukraine?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, it’s actually a mix with Russia. So, in terms of the killings, a lot of the numbers we verified are the result of an Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus, in a region called Dagestan, which borders Azerbaijan and Georgia and the Caspian Sea. And so there we see Russian Orthodox Christians and others being targeted by Islamist violence. At the same time, Russia also makes our list for arrests. And that is taking place primarily in occupied areas of eastern Ukraine, where, at the behest of Russian Orthodox leaders, evangelicals, Baptists, Pentecostals are being arrested and detained if they refuse to comply with new rules, if they continue to try to worship freely, if they don’t hand over property to the Russian occupying forces, things like that. There are also some killings we’ve confirmed in eastern Ukraine of evangelicals by Russian forces or Russian proxy forces.
SPEAKER 05 :
Do we know what is happening to those Christians who are being arrested and detained there by Russian authorities?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes, some of them are being sent away. Some of them are facing long term sentences. Others are released on various conditions, but they’re in hiding. I heard from someone who survived or who has family members who are living essentially in an underground church type situation now, a Baptist family. And so, yeah, there’s various outcomes, but it’s not good for most of them. And there’s really no due process for any of them when it comes to the charges that they’re facing.
SPEAKER 05 :
Isaac, another country that has been on my radar in my time with the commission and one that is kind of getting a pass from many in the West just because of their growing economic power, and that is India. India has become a very difficult country for Christians.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s right. And India tops our list in terms of attacks on Christian property, targeted attacks. A lot of that is from riots that have taken place over the last couple of years in Manipur, India, where thousands of tens of thousands of Christians have been displaced and thousands of Christian buildings and churches and homes have been wiped out or destroyed. But, yes, India is a good example of why our focus on violence is so important, because the persecutors—this isn’t just random violence. Persecutors use violence to drive out Christians and then to take control and capture the culture in some of these countries. So, in India, for example, this is a decade of systematic, planned, organized occupation of some Christian areas. And it’s now at the point where every Every single rung of civil society and government is armed against Christian communities, impoverished Christian communities in some of these places, meaning you have no recourse. The police aren’t going to help you. If you manage to get in front of a judge, the judge is biased against you. Every institution has sort of been captured over a decade in some parts of India, and that’s leading to mass suppression of the church.
SPEAKER 05 :
Very similar situation in Nigeria from a standpoint of the government being against you. You have no recourse. And this is, you know, I always like to look at these issues internationally from a domestic standpoint as well, is this is why we need to make sure that we have religious freedom in this country, because this is what happens when you don’t have it. We just have about four minutes left, Isaac. Let’s talk a little bit about the, first off, where can people see the full report? Give us that information.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, please go to GCRelief. That’s GCRelief.org. You’re going to find a link to the report on the front page of our website, or you can go to the tab labeled Research at the top. There’s a drop-down box. You can fill in your email address through a link there and get a full copy of the report.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, and if you didn’t get that, just go to TonyPerkins.com and follow the links over. All right, let’s talk about the trends that you’re seeing here that are troubling.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I think one of the big ones, and again, this is why this kind of research is important, because one of the trends we’ve noticed, and it’s just so far outside of the public eye, but the growth of radical Islamist insurgencies in the sub-Saharan Africa, the Sahel, sub-Saharan Africa, and now deep into the southern and southeastern parts of Africa is uprooting things there. I mean, places like Mozambique, which makes our list instead several places where there’s been mass displacement of Christians. These are places where only 10 years ago, Christians and Muslims generally got along peacefully. There was not as much dissension. And that whole landscape is changing. So a lot of the southern half of that continent, which there is immense mineral wealth, Places like the Congo, where 75 percent, 70 percent of global cobalt production happens, which is for all the batteries that we use for everything, these areas are riven by this conflict. So it’s going to have effects across the globe. And that’s why we need people in the church in America to become involved, because they can help us stand against this time.
SPEAKER 05 :
So let’s talk about, in just a couple of minutes we have left, policy recommendations in terms of what the incoming administration might do to provide greater protection through influence with these foreign governments for Christians around the globe.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. Well, the number one by far that we have been pushing for quite some time, and I know you have as well, but we need to redesignate Nigeria a country of particular Trump can do that on day one when he steps into office, and that’ll signal to Nigerian authorities that it’s time to pay attention to this again. And then there’s further measures that we can go beyond that. They need to understand that the relationship with the United States is going to deteriorate quickly if these mass killings and attacks continue to happen. So that’s first. There’s others. With India, we’re recommending that the next administration build relationships at the state level with leaders there. relationship with the United States is dependent on upholding certain values like religious freedom. And then we have several other recommendations. The last one I’ll note is with Azerbaijan. As you know, Azerbaijan drove out 120,000 Christians in late 2023. They wiped out 1,700 years of Christian presence in an area called Nagorno-Karabakh. And so we’ve pushed and others are pushing Azerbaijan to reopen that corridor, allow these, give these people the right to return home, even if they’re not going to relinquish the territory.
SPEAKER 05 :
A lot to be done, and it shows the influence the United States can have. We were trending in a positive direction during the last Trump administration, and all that was lost, and we’ve fallen back during the last four years. Isaac, I want to thank you for joining us. Appreciate the work that you do. It’s very, very important work.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate it.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, Isaac 6. To find out more, go to the website, TonyPerkins.com, and you can follow the links over. And this is another reason to be praying. We all are affected by this, and we need to be praying for our brothers and sisters and sharing in the challenges that they have. We can use our voice to help them regain theirs. All right, we’re out of time, folks. Thanks for joining me. Until next time, I leave you once again with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, when you’ve prepared, and when you’ve taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 07 :
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.
