Skip to content 7/8/2026 Addressing Ongoing Middle East Tensions and Understanding God’s Standard for Civil Government Jul 8 · 54 min ...more
7/8/2026 Addressing Ongoing Middle East Tensions and Understanding God’s Standard for Civil Government
July 8, 2026 · 54 min
Analyzing Middle East concerns, including Iran, after it escalated things by firing on ships again, unanswered questions following the meetings between President Trump and Turkish President Erdogan, and Israel-Gaza tensions. We also look at how our founders and present legislators view the separate roles of church and state, and a biblical view on how God judges nations.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
July 8, 2026 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Analyzing Middle East concerns, including Iran, after it escalated things by firing on ships again, unanswered questions following the meetings between President Trump and Turkish President Erdogan, and Israel-Gaza tensions. We also look at how our founders and present legislators view the separate roles of church and state, and a biblical view on how God judges nations. ...more Show the full description Show less Analyzing Middle East concerns, including Iran, after it escalated things by firing on ships again, unanswered questions following the meetings between President Trump and Turkish President Erdogan, and Israel-Gaza tensions. We also look at how our founders and present legislators view the separate roles of church and state, and a biblical view on how God judges nations.
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In this video 0:00 Iran Ceasefire Breakdown and Expert Analysis10:19 Eroding US-Israel Ties and Turkey Concerns18:17 Religious Liberty: GOP vs Democrat Visions25:00 Biblical Principles for Civil Government35:42 God's Judgment and Christian Civic Duty
Iran Ceasefire Breakdown and Expert Analysis 0:01 From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington, DC, bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and0:12 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Hice.0:19 Is the ceasefire over? Is is the ceasefire done? Is the MOU dead?0:24 It's a very interesting question. To me, I think it's over. I don't wanna deal with them anymore. As far as I'm concerned, it's over. I'll speak to our negotiators. They wanna negotiate. They're good0:36 people, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner. But they have to come back to me. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them.0:46 Strong words. That was president Trump earlier today discussing what the latest dust up between the United States and Iran mean for negotiations between the 2 sides. Welcome to this0:58 Wednesday, July 8th edition of Washington Watch. I'm your host today, Jody Heiss, filling in for Tony Perkins. Glad to be with you for the next hour. Thanks so much for tuning in. We We've got a lot to bring your way1:09 today. Coming up, Middle East policy analyst doctor David Warmser will be joining me to unpack what has transpired over the last 24 hours between the US and Iran and what potentially
1:21 all that could mean for the Middle East. And then a little bit later, doctor AJ Nolte, director of Regent University's Israel Institute, will be joining me to discuss the
1:33 state of relations between the United States and Israel, something the legacy media is suggesting is eroding significantly. Plus, Republican and
1:45 Democrat members of congress are both claiming that they are defending religious liberties. But do they view America's 1st freedom the same way? Well, Alabama congressman
1:57 Robert Aderhold will be joining me for that discussion. So we've got a lot coming your way in the next hour. Stay tuned. It's all coming your way.
2:12 Let's start with the Middle East. Earlier today, president Trump said the ceasefire with Iran is over, and he threatened that there could soon be additional US,
2:24 attacks on Iran on Iran and Tehran. And, of course, all of this is coming after attacks on ships as well as US military sites. And joining us now for a
2:36 further discussion is Washington state reporter Casey Harper. Casey, a lot of developments unfolding almost by the moment in this. What's the latest?
2:46 Yeah. That's right, Jody. Things are really heating up in the Middle East as the US military launched strikes on Iranian targets earlier today in response to attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Now Iran said it
2:56 had targeted US forces launched strikes on Iran following those attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. So a lot of back and forth. But earlier today at the NATO
3:08 summit in Turkey, president Trump blasted Iran for not abiding by the ceasefire terms, and he gave them a clear warning.
3:15 They launched a couple of drones and 1 rocket, 1 missile, and, at ships because they were in the strait, which they have every right to be.
3:27 And so we hit them very hard last night. Very, very probably hit them hard again tonight. I'll give them a little warning. We're gonna hit them
3:35 hard tonight. President Trump went on to warn that the US may bring back a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, and he reiterated that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and said that these latest attacks are just
3:45 more evidence of that fact, Jody.
3:48 Well, speaking of the NATO summit, the annual meeting there with heads of states concluded in Turkey today. What are the big takeaways that you're hearing?
3:59 Sure. Well, 1 is that president Trump criticized European allies repeatedly, saying some of them weren't there for us amid the conflict in Iran. And in a meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, president
4:10 Trump said that Ukraine will be allowed to build its own Patriot missile interceptors for defense in the war against Russia. This is a big policy change. It's a big win for Ukraine, and Russia certainly won't be happy
4:21 about that. Couple more, updates. President Trump praised, Zelensky for, doing so well in the war, which is now in its 5th year, which is a sharp change in the tone from that very public fight they had in the oval
4:32 office, not too long ago. And president Trump said he's gonna cut off all trade with Spain, calling them a terrible partner in the alliance, though he he's this is not new. He's continued this rhetoric,
4:44 before. And president Trump said that he will make a decision on whether the US will sell f 35 fighter jets to Turkey, something that Israel is strongly against.
4:54 Yeah. A lot going on there. And speaking of Israel, let me shift to to that issue. Support for Israel for a long time has been high among Republicans
5:07 and Democrats, but, Republicans in particular. But recent polling indicates that there's a pretty significant shift in the ranks even among Republicans. Can you walk us through some of the
5:18 findings of that poll?
5:20 Sure. An Associated Press research poll found that support for Israel and the Israeli government is dropping among US citizens, even among Republicans who have traditionally been very loyal. Now there's a growing divide
5:31 between older and younger conservatives, and that's a big part of the change here. Those under 45 are much more likely to view the US as overly supportive of Israel. Now a survey found that 2 in 10
5:43 Republicans, 20 percent, say that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the aftermath of the October 7th terrorist attack against the Jewish nation. But among those 45 and older, only 1 in 10, 10 percent
5:55 say Israel has committed genocide. Of course, the numbers are much, much higher on the Democrat side. Now this trend, though, reflects a a broader cooling of attitudes toward prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the
6:05 traditional foreign policy even among very traditionally pro Israel groups like evangelicals. So it's something to keep an eye on, Jody.
6:13 Yeah. It really is. In fact, we'll be talking more on that topic as the program unfolds. Thank you so much, Casey. Appreciate these updates as always. I wanna turn back now to the latest on the situation with
6:25 Iran. And joining me now to discuss this is doctor David Warmser. He's a senior analyst for Middle East policy at the Center for Security Policy. Doctor Warmser has
6:37 previously served as an adviser and consultant on Middle East, for a number of offices within our federal government. Doctor Warmser, welcome back to, Washington Watch. Always great to
6:49 have you. And, boy, we got a lot of questions for you. Let's let's let me just go ahead and start. Yeah. What triggered the latest dust up, the latest skirmish between the US and Iran?
7:01 Well, I think it goes right to the core of what it is. The the MOU was essentially the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States that that, established the ceasefire in April
7:13 was essentially kicked for us. It was a kick your it kicked the can down the road, issue that we saw we were facing an economic crisis. The Iranians, were facing an economic
7:25 crisis, and we thought we really had a lot of leverage over them. But at the end of the day, we thought, okay. We need the straits open for oil. We understand we have to give Iran something substantial, lifting the
7:37 blockade and the sanctions on selling oil. So it's the quid pro quo, and we'll get to dealing with all the more important issues like the nuclear down road because they're
7:49 so sticky and they're so dangerous. So we understand that there just has to be a stop, and then we'll deal with the other issues. So that's how we understood it. The Iranians understood it. They had no intention ever of
8:01 conceding on these issues like the nuclear, the proxies for terrorism, or or missiles or anything else. So they know they know there's never gonna be a a final deal. So
8:13 they tried to leverage the ceasefire and the flow of oil, essentially taking it hostage to get substantive concessions from the United States. And it
8:25 started initially with the tensions between the United States and Israel because Israel kept essentially, responding to Hezbollah's attacks in Lebanon, and kept going with the
8:37 with the war that that Hezbollah started on March 2nd, during the the war. And this and we wanted that to stop because it was threatening to cease fire. So it the Iranians were
8:48 leveraging that heavily, and they were gonna leverage also the Gaza issue. So across the board, they were trying to now the big issue they wanna leverage, the real prize for them, is to acknowledge that they own
9:00 the Straits of Hormuz, that it is under their sovereignty. It is it is an Iranian body of water. And then ultimately, therefore, they know whatever we tell them they can or can't do. In the end,
9:12 if it's an Iranian body of water, then they will set the rules. And the rules are who goes through, under what conditions. So countries that are somewhat inimical to them or they hate or don't recognize,
9:24 like Israel can't go through. Fees can be charged. Okay. They won't call them tolls. They'll call them environmental protection fees. But, essentially, they thought they could leverage all this for an American
9:36 surrender, in the in the MOU rather than as part of the final agreement. The United States has been saying no. We're not gonna give up on that, and we've been,
9:48 passaging ships through the southern channels to show Iran can't stop it. And that's why the Iranians essentially started responding 3 days ago because they understood we were
10:00 presenting them with essentially, we're we were forcing them back into the agreed framework, of of the of the straits being open. And we were telling them, look. You cannot
10:12 close this. We did not recognize your sovereignty, and you can't unilaterally hold this hostage to assert your sovereignty. So we are going to pass ships through, and we did. And the Iranians are responding, and they
Eroding US-Israel Ties and Turkey Concerns
10:24 they hit 4 of those ships. And that's what led to this, current up, uptick in violence.
10:31 A good good explanation. I think they're they're that leverage is rapidly diminishing, from them. But there are some mix mixed messages, it seems, on our side too. I mean, on the 1 hand,
10:43 president Trump says the ceasefire is over, but then indicates that there could potentially be a return perhaps to negotiation
10:55 and not a full scale conflict. So is the ceasefire over?
11:01 I think the spirit of the ceasefire is over. What you'll see is sort of a bumpy road for the next few months where we're gonna try to use force to, again, essentially kick the can down the road, and the Iranians are
11:13 gonna threaten force or force us to use force to choke the shipping lanes because they wanna keep the international economy. They wanna hold this as hostage over us, and they wanna
11:24 damage they wanna damage the international economic structures because, ultimately, they also wanna destroy the president politically. So they want, ultimately, before November to tank international
11:37 economic activity so that the president suffers politically in in in Washington. So it's really 2 competing games here of what's going on. So my sense is we're going to not quite give up
11:48 fully on the framework. We understand it's not gonna last. But president Trump is a negotiator, and he understands that you have to build leverage against your the other side. That's in the art of the deal.
12:00 But less people focus on the other side of negotiations, which is time, that there's moments in which you have leverage and moments in which you lose it. And the elections are a threshold for the Iranians.
12:12 If they don't beat the president and make him weak, and politically destroyed, then they lose all leverage after the elections.
12:23 Okay. Just about a minute or so left before heartbreak. But are we going to finish the job or or continue, as you say, kicking this down the road?
12:33 Eventually, we will. I don't know if it'll be us or the Israelis, but I think, it's very clear. The parameters are very clear. This regime cannot reconcile
12:44 itself to the existence of the west, and it will always be a war with us and that they are increasingly dangerous in what they're willing to do to fight that war. So at the end, the truth,
12:56 the the this binary choice, this twilight struggle will come to a bad. And, eventually, whether it's we or the Israelis will have to go and finish the job.
13:07 Incredibly delicate situation developing. Thank you so much for joining us today, doctor David Wormser from the Center for Security Policy. Always a fascinating discussion with you.
13:19 As Americans, as this whole situation with Iran continues to unfold, we would just wanna encourage you to be praying for their protection of all involved. Our military,
13:31 our leaders, Israel, the people of Iran. We are calling on people to pray, and we have some prayer points that may be helpful to you if you will text the word Iran to
13:43 6 7 7 4 2. We'll send you those prayer points. Alright. Coming up, we wanna stay on the topic of the Middle East and turn to Israel, which is not getting the support they once had from America.
13:55 We'll discuss that situation right after the break.
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15:05 The family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure.
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15:25 Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation's capital, FRC continues to
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17:03 Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. I'm Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. Glad to have you on board with us. Alright. I mentioned it briefly. I wanna encourage you again to join us in praying
17:15 for the situation with Iran as that all continues to unfold. We certainly wanna be praying for our military, for our leaders. We wanna be praying for the people of Iran. We
17:27 wanna be praying for Israel and all that's happening in the Middle East across the board. And we want, to provide you with some prayer points that that would be helpful for you, and you can get some of those
17:39 prayer points that are very specific. Simply text the word Iran to 6 7 7 4 2, and we'll send that to you. Alright. As for Israel, no doubt. I've
17:50 seen it. You've seen it. But I saw it during my time in congress. Strong and bipartisan support in America for Israel, but that's no longer the case.
18:03 And, frankly, that was highlighted in a new poll. The results were released yesterday by AP Nork. According to the poll, 40 percent of adults in the United States say
18:15 that America is too supportive of Israel. And 1 out of 3 believe Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in the aftermath of the
Religious Liberty: GOP vs Democrat Visions
18:27 October 7th terrorist attack, against Israel. So what's driving the erosion of US support for Israel? And are we seeing that same
18:39 erosion of support reflected at the level of government? Well, joining us here to discuss this and more is doctor AJ Nolte, associate professor of politics at Regent University's Robertson
18:51 School of Government, and he's also the director of Regent's Israel Institute. Doctor Nolte, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you. I've been looking forward to this. Let's start
19:03 with what do you make, the erosion of support for Israel among US adults?
19:10 Well, Jody, thanks for having me. It's always a pleasure. I wanna take us in 2 different, tracks. 1 is what's happening on the left, and the other what's happening on the right. I'll take the the right 1st because
19:19 that's, I think, closest to all of us. So the good news is I saw a poll the Washington Free Beacon did with, I think, Echelon Insights a couple of days ago, and support for Israel among Republicans remains
19:30 robust, rock solid. There's been a little bit of erosion among Gen z, which we all kind of knew. But it's not just that Israel is a an issue that a lot of Republicans still feel strongly about and still support, but it
19:42 is an important issue. It is in some ways an exception. Even those who don't support interventionism generally on the Republican side still support Israel. What we have seen is a little bit of erosion on Gen z, and I
19:53 don't that that may or may not be something that has staying power. We're not entirely sure yet because it's it's fairly new. But what we have seen on the left is not just an erosion of support as the
20:05 poll, you mentioned talks about, but, actually, that is being operationalized in a number of, races, particularly congressional races around the country, Almost without fail in deep
20:17 blue districts, pro Israel candidates or even candidates that are just seen as insufficiently strident in their opposition to Israel are falling to far left performative DSA
20:29 socialists that are making opposition to Israel the cornerstone of their campaign with a very few exceptions. There was 1 race in Maryland where that didn't play out. There have been a couple of others, but
20:41 particularly in New York, some recent races in Denver, we've seen this really worrying trend. And the reason this is so concerning is if the Democrats take the house and the senate or or even just the house in
20:52 2026 midterms, that's gonna be narrow. I mean, we're looking at a very small universe of swing seats. And so a narrow democratic majority is gonna be dependent on these anti Israel DSA folks, which which means
21:04 they can make a lot of mischief for the US Israel relationship if they take the house.
21:10 So is this also being seen, do you think, not only among the the public in the United States, certainly between the 2 parties as you brought out, but on the government level, the relationship between
21:22 prime Israeli prime minister Netanyahu and president Trump and, government as a whole. Do you see that that erosion taking place at that level?
21:32 I think there's some of that. I think we've we've seen a situation emerge where there are, for example, with respect to the Iran war, there are factions within the administration. 1 faction that is, generally agrees with
21:43 Israel that negotiations with Iran are not gonna be successful and wants to take a tougher, more hawkish line. And we have the sort of more dovish, that thinks that there's a deal to be had with Iran and see and that
21:55 faction, I think, sees Israel and Netanyahu as an impediment to that. Now the the 1 thing that I think works to the benefit of Israel in this sense is that they happen to be correct. It it helps when you're having an
22:05 argument, an internal argument in the administration. You know, it happens that the Israelis are on the factually right side of this as we've just seen vividly demonstrated with Iran attacking these ships in the Strait
22:14 of Hormuz. And so, you know, it matters, I think, to Trump that every time he gets advice from this in Yahoo, it turns out to be pretty good advice, and he can't necessarily say that all the time. So, you know, there
22:24 there's some erosion, I think, but I I don't necessarily see things drifting away simply because Iran is going to do what Iran is going to do, and that validates the Israelis' arguments.
22:34 Okay. So there there is some degree of erosion at least, among the public and maybe some within the government level, with the United States and Israel. What about the shifting
22:47 relationship between the United States and Turkey? How concerned are you about that?
22:52 Well, I'm very concerned about Turkey. I know the Israelis are very concerned. And, again, they I think they've got the right of the argument. And I will say my my, grad work was on Turkey before I even started doing
23:02 stuff with the Israel Institute. So this is a concern I've had for a long time. Listen. We all remember that Turkey was sort of a staunch ally of the United States, had a good relationship with Israel for a long time.
23:12 They had a military that was committed to preventing any kind of Islamist to take over. We need to understand this is a very different Turkey, although they still have that NATO alliance. And Erdogan is 1 of
23:24 the most intelligent and sophisticated leaders in the Middle East. He's a populist to be sure, but he's he's sophisticated in the sense that he knows how to triangulate. He knows how to go as far as he can,
23:36 leaning away from the United States without breaking that alliance. And he's doing that in a number of dangerous ways from funding Hamas to an on again, off again love hate relationship with Russia
23:47 to, intervening in Syria in ways that disadvantage other groups that we care about like the Kurds and the Christians, and, of course, you know, doing this all from within the NATO framework.
24:00 Erdogan sees himself as a power broker. He does have, aspirations to sort of restore Turkish greatness as he thinks that existed at the end of the Ottoman Empire, and he's going to triangulate his way into into sort
24:12 of, positioning himself. If Iran falls, or falters, he's going to take up the axis of resistance mantle, He's been really positioning himself that, for that since, like, the early 2000 tens.
24:25 Amazing. What's going on? It just seems to be changing literally by the moment. I wanna thank you so much for joining us again today, doctor AJ Nolte of Regent University. Always great to have your insight.
24:37 Alright. Coming up, we're going to shift gears a little bit. Republican and Democrat members of congress last week, claimed, both of them, that they're taking action to defend religious liberties.
24:50 But does religious freedom mean the same thing to the 2 different sides? Well, we'll discuss it next, so stay with us.
Biblical Principles for Civil Government
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25:29 Have you noticed the upsurge in gambling ads? How could you not? The ads are big, bold, shiny. They virtually glitter with gold. Well, fool's gold because as they say, the house always
25:41 wins. But some lessons are easily forgotten, and nowhere is this more evident than the rise of the sports betting industry. Since 19 92, 39 states and Washington DC have legalized sports
25:53 betting. And as a result, more than 600000000000 has been wagered on sports since 20 18. Now Christians should be instinctively concerned about the latest growth in gambling. For 1, gambling profits are
26:05 often losses for those least able to afford them, causing unnecessary friction within families. Secondly, it's inherently exploitative. The gambling industry necessarily harms 1 person to benefit
26:17 another. Gambling offers me the chance to gain at your expense. For me to win, you must lose. But even if I win, I lose the dignity and satisfaction of earning what I have. By greenlighting gambling,
26:29 cities and states across our nation take the short term gain of a little extra revenue for the long term loss of strong communities. States think they're winning when in the long run, really, they are losing. Remember,
26:40 the house always wins. Follow Family Research Council's news outlet, The Washington Stand, for more stories that speak out against policies undercutting strong families and strong communities. Because the
26:52 only house that truly wins is a house built on a solid rock, God himself.
27:00 The following segment of Washington Watch is underwritten by Patriot Mobile, a champion of 1st and 2nd amendment rights, military, veterans, 1st responders, and a strong supporter of the sanctity of life. To
27:12 learn more about Patriot Mobile's nationwide service across all 3 major US networks, go to tony perkins dot com.
27:22 And welcome back to Washington Watch and this special Patriot Mobile segment. I'm Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. Alright. Heading into last weekend celebration of America's
27:33 250th anniversary, Republican and Democrat lawmakers on Capitol Hill made clear that they, stand they made clear where they stand, I should say, when it comes
27:45 to religious freedom, America's 1st freedom. 43 Republican members of Congress filed an amicus brief in an upcoming, Supreme Court case urging the
27:56 court to protect the rights of faith based schools. Meanwhile, 20 democrat members of congress introduced a resolution on the so called wall of separation
28:09 between church and state. Now both sides are saying that they're standing for and defending religious liberty, but what is the reality of all of this? Well, joining us now to discuss
28:21 it is Alabama congressman Robert Aderhold. He's a member of the House Appropriations Committee. He's also the chairman of the Values Action Team, which he and I were honored to share and
28:32 serve together on. He represents the 4th congressional district of Alabama. Congressman Aderhold, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to see you, my friend.
28:43 Well, Jody, good to be with you as always.
28:46 Alright. You were among the Republican members of congress who filed the amicus brief in support of Catholic, preschools who have been excluded from participating in a Colorado
28:58 program because of their religious beliefs. So simple question, is not that clearly religious discrimination?
29:08 Well, it seems like to me it would be. And and, obviously, as I I have thought about this case, 1 thing that, any state could do if they do something like if this is allowed to
29:20 move forward, they could find things that that the church would disagree with in their schools. They just tailor it so that no religious schools could could be,
29:32 able to get any funding. And, of course, as you know, this Colorado, universal, program gives families, the ability to send their children to public or to
29:44 private schools of their choice. But there's 1 catch to that. It is limited to those that really the private, can't be really affiliated with the religion, not per se. It
29:56 doesn't say that on its face, but if you look in the details of the bill, really, that's what it's saying because, obviously, you're gonna have religious schools that will have teachings on sex and gender. That's just
30:07 natural. So, therefore, they're making it so that religious schools are prohibited. And, even though all private schools would be, eligible as well as public schools.
30:20 Yeah. I mean, that's kind of the other side of this. The the the claim that for a Christian school to receive money from the government, they need to abandon their religious beliefs. I mean, this comes down to the
30:32 1st amendment. Is is that in line with the constitution?
30:37 No. No. And it's tantamount to what they're doing here, there is just it's basically, equating to excluding, any kind of religious schools or religious teachings. And, even
30:49 though they say private and, obviously, religious school is private, but, they're might as well say all public and private schools as long as it's not, related to a church
31:01 or religious affiliation. That's really what they're doing here. And, obviously, this is something that, they know that that, Christian schools and not probably other religious
31:13 schools could not abide by. But, yet they don't specifically say that, in the legislation. So, again, if this was, allowed to move forward
31:25 as some of the lower courts have said it can, then that's really gonna be a discrimination for religious freedom in this country, especially, when you're dealing with schools that have any
31:36 religious content.
31:39 Yeah. And they're they're standing behind the wall of separation in this resolution. But that wall of separation just keep the government out of the church and out of Christian
31:50 organizations not to claim Christian organizations and churches cannot have any voice or input in our culture and our government. So, is this going to be recognized, do you think?
32:02 I mean, this is, it seems to me just the exact opposite of what our founders intended.
32:09 Yeah. I think, this case will be decided as being, is gonna be or actually being gonna be heard, this October, in, at the United States Supreme Court. And
32:21 I think it'll give a real chance for, for the for the US Supreme Court to really make it clear that, just because your religious schools and you do have certain
32:33 positions on sex and gender, that should not exclude you, from, being able to accept, students that would like to go to your school and that the go that
32:44 the state says that they are going to, pay for preschool. And, so it's just a way again that I think Colorado and I'm not surprised because Colorado is 1 of those states
32:56 that, I've you know, does not have, I think, a real love for, you know, a, religious freedom, especially when it comes to, the
33:08 Christian faith. So, I'm I'm really suspect of, the law that was made there in Colorado. And if but if it's allowed, it will open the doors for a lot of the states to do the same thing.
33:19 It certainly will. Well, I wish we had some more time. I I know you're you're a leader on the appropriations committee and, the huge accomplishment that, for the 1st time in years and years,
33:32 that the Appropriations Committee passed all 12 subcommittee bills. Hats off to you for doing that and your leadership, congressman Aderhold. We appreciated a great, great deal. Robert Aderhold, Alabama
33:44 congressman. Always great to have on the program. Alright. Coming up next, we're gonna continue our week long celebration of America's 250th anniversary with another excerpt from FRC's God in
33:56 Government series. Stay with us.
34:02 1 nation under God, America's undeniable foundation of faith.
34:12 Before America was exceptional, America was prayerful. Just as Paul urged Timothy, 1st of all, that prayer, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for all people,
34:24 our founding fathers understood deeply the command to be devoted to prayer. This great American experiment began as a mighty appeal to heaven, petitioning the lord of
34:36 heaven's armies to intervene for the righteous cause of liberty. As war began to sweep across the colonies, the Continental Congress called days of fasting and prayer in their fight
34:48 against the British. The Lord answered, and the colonies prevailed. Yet in spite of victory, our founding fathers knew that dependence on God in prayer was not to be forgotten.
35:00 With countless challenges facing our young nation, John Adams declared national days of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer to directly address the many trials and call
35:12 on Americans to seek mercy and restoration. Years later, in 1 of America's darkest hours, Abraham Lincoln stood upon this unshakable foundation by
35:23 calling the nation to repentance, declaring, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to confess their sins in humble sorrow and to recognize that those nations
35:35 only are blessed whose God is the Lord. We have seen the hand of God answer prayers again and again as our nation has turned to him. However, the wise warning of Ronald ReaganShow more
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