Skip to content 1/2/2026 Tony Perkins offers a Special Presentation from FRC’s God & Government Series Jan 2 · 59 min ...more
1/2/2026 Tony Perkins offers a Special Presentation from FRC’s God & Government Series
January 2, 2026 · 59 min
From FRC’s God & Government course, we explore the connection between biblical principles and American Government, offering a practical understanding of civil government from a biblical worldview.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
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January 2, 2026 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
From FRC’s God & Government course, we explore the connection between biblical principles and American Government, offering a practical understanding of civil government from a biblical worldview. ...more Show the full description Show less From FRC’s God & Government course, we explore the connection between biblical principles and American Government, offering a practical understanding of civil government from a biblical worldview.
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In this video 0:00 The Rising Threat of Socialism4:33 Rediscovering America's Christian Foundations17:57 Clarifying Separation of Church and State29:48 Christian Action Steps: Pray, Vote, and Stand
The Rising Threat of Socialism 0:00 Hello. I'm Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council and host of Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. Every day, we offer a biblical perspective on the news as well as insightful interviews with elected0:11 leaders, newsmakers, and culture experts. We have a great program planned for you today, but first, get up to speed on the top headlines with Washington Stan's news brief.0:26 Welcome to the Washington Stan news brief. I'm Casey Harper bringing you today's big stories. Socialism is on the rise. You probably noticed the popularity of Democratic socialists like Bernie Sanders,0:38 who nearly became the Democratic presidential nominee not long ago, or Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who's become the face of a young, restless, and socialist wing of the Democrats in congress.0:50 And, of course, Zoran Mamdani, New York City's newest mayor, who has taken things even further with this talk of government run grocery stores and past comments about abolishing private property.1:02 Many on the right have blasted Mamdani. They argue that socialism and communism impoverished nations around the world, citing places like Venezuela which has the world's largest oil reserves yet has to ration1:14 his food. However, new polling shows many Democrats and young people are increasingly in favor of socialism. A recent Gallup poll found that Americans' positive view of capitalism has1:26 declined to just 54 percent, while the positive view of socialism has increased to 39 percent. In fact, 66 percent of Democrats now favor socialism, a 16 percent jump
1:37 since 20 10. Because of all the questions swirling around socialism, I decided to sit down with Yohi Suarez. He's a writer for the Washington stand who actually fled Cuba's socialist regime,
1:49 which was persecuting him for his investigative journalism. On an episode of the outstanding podcast, Suarez argued that socialism simply doesn't work.
2:00 I'm gonna give you a practical example. When you have to do right now, if you need a surgery in Cuba, you have to buy the things that you are gonna use in that
2:11 surgery, needles, all the, to do the stitches, the the the gloves for the surgeons outside of Cuba. If you have family outside of Cuba, you call them and you tell
2:23 them, I need this, this, this, this, this because I'm gonna, be in a surgery next next week. And if they send you that, you can go and give all the stuff to the medical, provider, and
2:35 he will, perform the the surgery over you because, the system is collapsed. The system is just collapsed because inflation, because there are bureaucrats running the thing, not
2:47 actual doctors, not actual people who are interested in providing health care. In the public system, you will have long lines just waiting for you to be, in surgery
2:59 or in in whatever you need, big, operation that you need inside the health care system. So it doesn't work. It just doesn't
3:09 work. Now Suarez went on in that interview to address a common response from those advocating socialism. It won't happen this time. Yeah. It collapsed in the past in the Soviet Union, Cuba, Venezuela, and
3:21 elsewhere, but it won't happen to us. This time is different.
3:26 You know what? In the sixties, Cubans said the same. We said, we are not the USSR. We're not the Soviet Union. We're Cubans. And Cuba has a big economy, you know, has
3:38 good relations with all over all countries in the in the area. And in the nineties, Venezuelans said the same. But we're not Cubans. You know? We're Venezuelans. We're full of oil. We have riches.
3:50 We have we have, gold and diamonds. We have an amazing economy. And, I hope New Yorkers are not the next, doesn't experience
4:01 the same. But it doesn't matter how good is your economy If you give it to the wrong person and the wrong ideas, it will collapse.
4:13 Regardless, more and more Americans are flirting with or committing to socialism. Time will tell whether they listen to common sense. And that is today's news. I'm Casey
4:24 Harper. You can dive deeper at the Washington Stand, which is Family Research Council's outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. Check it out. As for us, we're back next
Rediscovering America's Christian Foundations
4:36 time with more stories that matter.
4:53 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 and
5:04 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
5:11 Welcome to Washington Watch. Happy New Year to you. I'm your host today, Jody Heiss, filling in for Tony Perkins. Thank Thank you so much for tuning in today. Alright. As our nation this year
5:23 celebrates its 200 and fiftieth anniversary of independence, it's our hope here at FRC that more Americans will rediscover the foundation and the foundational
5:35 principles of our country. So coming up on this special edition of Washington Watch, we'll be sharing some excerpts from FRC's God in Government series, which we launched
5:47 last year, and it's on our Stand Firm app. Now, obviously, we're not gonna be able to share the entire 13 session course today, but we do certainly wanna hit on some of the highlights. So we've
5:59 got a great, great program lined up for you today. And, of course, as always, if you miss any portion of it, you can find it by going to tony perkins dot com. So be able to keep that handy.
6:11 Tony perkins dot com. Now here's some of the backdrop of the program today. For at least 30 years, FRC's president, Tony Perkins, has been teaching a course on God and government,
6:23 and it all came about from his own personal experience and journey through studying scripture, studying the history of America, and applying that knowledge to the public
6:35 policy arena. And he's had tons of people go through this course over the years, And now many of them hold various offices from local school boards to city councils to
6:46 state legislatures, even house speaker Mike Johnson. Well, last year, Family Research Council took what Tony's been teaching and packaged it into a 13
6:58 session video course with the goal of equipping even more Christ followers with practical knowledge of biblical guidance for government combined with the Christian history of our nation
7:11 and a practical application of both of those to civil government. And we'd like to share with you right now some excerpts from that series as we celebrate America's 200 and fiftieth
7:22 anniversary. And we're going to start with an excerpt from session 4 on the Christian history of the United States. Now, in this part, Tony goes back to the American
7:34 revolutionary period and discusses some unique power that sermons from church pulpits wielded during that particular area era of our nation's
7:46 history. So, here's more of what Tony had to say on that issue.
7:51 Now, these sermons not only taught, you know, the personal salvation through Jesus Christ, but they also taught how to address the temporal issues that would
8:03 lead to national prosperity for God's people. In all the events, no matter how mundane or how random they might be, were
8:16 patterned from scripture. They wanted to know how they fit into scripture. So the sermons were not just theological far removed messages, but they were
8:28 practical how to, what does this mean, what do I do with it, how then shall we live. That was the messages that were being preached in that time. And
8:40 and so this is why the pulpit was considered the single most powerful element of the war for independence. It's because people wanted to know. They wanted to know if God's blessing was going to
8:52 be on their activities. This was not a rebellion. This was not the French Revolution. This was totally different than the French Revolution. And those that would try to conflate
9:04 the 2 are sadly mistaken, if not intentionally being driven. Because ours was was seeking out ordered liberty
9:15 under the sovereignty of God. And that's what the pastors were preaching and it had a profound impact on colonial America.
9:27 Now let's look just quickly at the signers of the declaration. In 17 76, there were 56 men. All of the delegates in 17 87 were professing
9:39 members of Trinitarian Christian denominations. And in fact, let me quote Ben Franklin when they were debating at the Constitutional Convention in 17
9:51 87. He said, to that kind providence, we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we
10:03 now forgotten that powerful friend or and this was coming out of the the war for independence, which they succeeded in. They said, you know, have we forgotten that powerful friend or do we imagine we no longer
10:15 need his assistance? Because they certainly needed him when they were the underdog in their fight for freedom. I have lived sir a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I
10:26 see of this truth that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been
10:38 assured sir in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political
10:50 building no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our partial local interest, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach
11:02 and a byword down to future generations. They understood the word of God. And the word of God, and probably Benjamin Franklin is probably 1 of the
11:13 least religious of the group, but he understood it. He understood the language, the currency of the day, and it clearly was a biblical
11:25 understanding of God. And and God was not far removed. This is not the words of a deist who would say, God put this thing in order and left. He recognizes that God is the
11:37 1 who gave them favor to be established as a nation. Now let me go to some of the state constitutions. Okay? So we we kind of get a sense of what those documents say. Again, these things are placed in writing,
11:49 and they're there for his the historical record. And for those that would want to just kind of sweep them ways, oh, well that's old. It's a statement of principle. It's a statement of focus. It's a
12:01 statement of priority. Various state constitutions, again, there's many of the 13 you can look at. Pennsylvania, the frame of government section 10, This is what it says, and each member of the legislature
12:13 before he takes a seat shall make and subscribe the following declaration. Okay. Before they could take their seat in the state legislature, this is what they had to say. I do believe in 1 God, the creator and
12:25 the governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the scripture of the old and new testament to be given by divine inspiration. I I I don't think many churches would
12:37 even do that as for membership. But that was the oath of office that had to be taken. Delaware's constitution was which was
12:49 framed in 17 76 says, everyone appointed to public office must say, I do profess faith in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ, his only son, and in the Holy Ghost, on God and blessed forevermore. And
13:01 I do acknowledge testaments be given by divine inspiration. That's in the constitution. South Carolina, the Christian
13:12 Protestant religion shall be deemed and is hereby constituted and declared to be the established religion of the state. No person shall be eligible to to to a seat in the Senate unless he be of the Protestant religion.
13:26 So the US Supreme Court, more evidence in 18 92. The US Supreme Court determined in the case the Church of the Holy Trinity versus United States that America was a Christian nation from its
13:38 earliest days. The court opinion delivered by Justice Josiah Brewer was an exhaustive study of the historical and legal evidence for the for America's Christian heritage. So after examining
13:50 hundreds of court cases, state constitutions, and other historical documents, the court came to the following conclusion. This is it, quote, our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the
14:02 teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise, and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian. This
14:13 is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of the continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation. We find
14:25 everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. These and many other matters which might be noticed at a volume of unofficial declarations to the massive organic utterances that this is a
14:37 Christian nation. That was the supreme court of the United States. There's other evidence. Let me give you I've got 10 of
14:48 them, and I'm sure there's more. This is not exhaustive. Number 1, the 10 commandments hang over the head of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. If Christianity played no role
15:00 in our government or in our justice, then why would we have the 10 Commandments hanging over the head of the chief justice? Second, in the house and senate chambers appear the
15:12 word in God the words in God we trust. Third, in the rotunda is the figure of the crucified Christ. Fourth, on the walls of the Capitol Dome, these words appear, the New
15:24 Testament according to the Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Fifth, on the great seal of the United States is inscribed the phrase God is in Latin, it means God has smiled on
15:36 our undertaking. And 6, under the seal in the phrase of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, this nation under God. Seventh, president Elliot of Harvard chose Micah 6 8 for the walls of the nation's
15:47 library. Quote, he has showed thee, oh man, what is good and what did God require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. The eighth, the lawmakers library quotes
15:59 the psalmist acknowledgment of the beauty and order of creation. Psalm 19 1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Ninth, engraved on
16:11 the metal cap atop of Washington Monument are the words praise be to God. In fact, when the sun comes up in the east, the first place that the sun shines on the
16:23 District of Columbia is that metal, that aluminum cap with the words praise be to God. That's by design. That can only be the highest building in the District of Columbia.
16:35 Lining the walls of the stairwell are numerous Bible verses. Search the scriptures. Holiness to the Lord. Train up a child in the way that should they should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. And then
16:47 tenth, the Liberty Bell, which is in Philadelphia is inscribed with Leviticus 25 10, proclaim liberty throughout all the land into all the inhabitants thereof.
17:00 The history is very clear that this nation was not founded to be an agnostic nation. It was not founded to be a Muslim nation. It
17:12 was not founded to be anything other than a nation built upon the truths and principles of God's word as a nation that would honor him and be
17:24 the recipient of his blessing. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and that demands a nation who will
17:36 operate, which will operate according to God's word, by his word, according to those principles. And this is God's design for government.
17:48 Well, that was an excerpt from FRC's brand new God in Government series, and you're tuned in, of course, to Washington Watch in a very special edition. Today, we are broadcasting content
Clarifying Separation of Church and State
18:00 from the 13 session video course God in Government. Now it's available on the FRC Stand Firm app. And if you don't have that app, friends, let me just tell you,
18:12 you want it and you need to get it. If you, would like to get more information, you'd like to grab it yourself, go to the App Store wherever it is that you typically get your apps, or you can simply text the
18:23 word app, a p p, to 6 7 7 4 2. Alright. Now after the break, we're gonna share some more with you. We're gonna 0 in on the all important issue
18:35 of separation of church and state. Yeah. You've heard a lot about that here recently. We wanna give you the truth of it all. So stick around. Tony will break it down for us right after the break.
18:54 The book of Hebrews says that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the
19:06 thoughts and intentions of the heart. Stand on the word is Family Research Council's journey through the living and active word of God. Follow the plan with us. Spend
19:18 10 to 15 minutes a day reading God's word. And over the course of 2 years, discover that the Bible is 1 big story, a story of many words pointing to the word.
19:30 The 1 who is the same yesterday, today, and forever because the word is alive and his name is Jesus. Find our Bible reading plan and daily devotionals from Tony
19:42 Perkins at f r c dot o r g slash bible. Join us as we stand on the word.
19:52 At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. For years, Islamist militants in Nigeria have targeted
20:04 Christians and other religious minority groups with brutal violence. Since 2009, 52000 Christians have been slaughtered. A staggering 89 percent of Christian martyrs in the world
20:16 today are from Nigeria. The first Trump administration declared Nigeria a country of particular concern, a designation reserved for countries whose governments engage in or tolerate
20:28 religious freedom violations. However, this designation of Nigeria was quickly reversed by the Biden administration. Following consistent calls from FRC president Tony Perkins and other religious
20:40 leaders across the US, president Donald Trump has responded.
20:44 Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands and thousands of Christians are being killed. I am hereby making Nigeria a country of particular concern.
20:57 This is a huge step forward for the protection of Christians in Nigeria as well as religious freedom across the world. While this opens the door for the US government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable
21:08 Christians, it is only the beginning. We must continue to pray diligently, work strategically, and stand firm for the protection of religious liberty across the globe.
21:22 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,
21:34 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,
21:46 where faith and facts meet every day.
21:54 Welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. And the website, of course, tony perkins dot com. We're broadcasting today some very special content from
22:06 FRC's 13 week session called God and Government. It's a powerful, powerful series. Now in this next part, which by the way is coming from session 5 of that series,
22:18 Tony dives into the relationship between church and state. And we'll begin where all that phrase came from to begin with.
22:28 So we're gonna look at at this issue is the this phrase of the separation of church and state. Now, we we we kind of
22:39 dismissed earlier where that came from. It's not in the constitution. It's not in the declaration of independence. In fact, it's not in any government document other than some court cases that
22:51 have appealed to it. It was originally in a letter that Thomas Jefferson sent to a group of Baptists. It was the Danbury
23:03 Connecticut Baptist. Now let me read a portion of that letter to you. Now the Baptist at the time were a small small religious sect. They were not very big
23:15 and they did not have a lot of influence. So they were concerned as Jefferson was positioning himself, they wanted they did not want to be taxed to pay for another church. They
23:27 didn't want to be, you know, they they just wanted their own rights. They wanted to be left alone. And so Jefferson writes this letter and he says, I contemplate
23:39 with sovereign reverence that the act of the whole American people, which declared that their legislature should quote, make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,
23:51 thus building a wall of separation between church and state. So he's he's talking about the free exercise clause and the establishment
24:03 clause, which is the first amendment. And he says, I see this is a wall of separation between the church and the state. Well, that has become
24:15 an entire legal theory, if if not doctrine, that has made its way into a lot of government policies. And it should be stated that Jefferson, when
24:27 the the constitution was written, now he he did draft the Declaration of Independence, but he wasn't even here when the constitution and the Bill of Rights were written. He was in France.
24:38 So he's not an authority on the meaning of the Bill of Rights and the the Constitution. In fact, a number of years ago I was, went
24:50 with a member of Congress. The members of Congress have special privileges at the National Archives building. And I was able to go into the archives into what they call the vault
25:02 where uncirculated documents are, and I was able to go in and and actually hold. They had a sneeze guard on them, little little plastic stuff on it, but actually hold and see
25:14 the markup of the bill of rights that came over from the house to to the senate. And in that there were, there was not 10 originally, there was a
25:26 couple that didn't make it. But the first amendment, which became the first amendment, it wasn't in the original until the senate took it up, was that
25:38 it also provided for the rights of conscience and religious freedom, and those were separate from freedom of speech, from the press, and from right of
25:50 assembly. And so they were all merged together to create the First Amendment in 1. But when they came over from the House, the number 1 issue was rights of
26:01 con conscience and religious freedom. So this was top of mind for the founders in the day to to make sure that when we settled the Bill of
26:13 Rights, enumerating what the Constitution did to assure people that freedom of religion would continue, and that the government would not it would not be a
26:25 national government. So that was the real issue there because at the time, there were a number of, state churches that had already been established, and
26:37 there were 9 of the 13 colonies had state churches. And so there was just the idea was they didn't want a national church, a federal church that all the
26:49 colonies would then have to support. So that was really the issue there was a national church. It was not the influence of Christianity in government. So what does the First Amendment actually
27:01 say? Well, this is what it says. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or bridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the
27:13 peaceful people peacefully to assemble and to position the government for redress of grievances. So what does it prohibit? Well, it prohibits a state sponsored
27:24 church. That's an establishment cause. That means the federal government cannot establish a church, a national denomination, a national church. It also prohibits
27:37 so there's 2 there's 2 parts to the First Amendment as it pertains to religion. There is the establishment, which is for the government, and then there's the free
27:48 exercise clause. That means that the government cannot restrict religious liberties. Now what were the historical purposes behind this? Well, as I said, it was a desire to establish
28:00 a church free of government interference and no state church. So really the the reason part of the reason for the found for the the pilgrims and others coming over, as we talked about
28:12 religious freedom, but it was is also to they wanted separation of church and state. Okay? They didn't want the the state and the church to be merged. Just like in England, they had
28:24 the the and we're watching it today, where the the church becomes a useful tool of the government. And so what happens is you have a a church that becomes corrupt, and then government becomes
28:36 corrupt because the church has lost its prophetic voice. So we want separation. We want separation. We do not want a state church, but what
28:48 they're really saying is they want the separation of government from God, Meaning, God's principles in God's word.
28:59 That we cannot live with because all of creation, all nations, whether they acknowledge it or not, are under the authority of God.
29:09 Well, that was an excerpt from FRC's God in Government series. You're tuning in to Washington Watch and a very special edition today is we're broadcasting content from the thirteenth session video
29:21 course, which is available on the FRC Stand Firm app, which you can get by simply texting app a p p to 6 7 7 4 2. Folks, that
29:33 whole issue of separation from church and state is a powerful issue, and I hope you find that extremely helpful as you'll be talking to some of your friends about that issue. Alright. Much more coming your way right
29:44 after the break, so don't go anywhere. We'll be back in just a moment.Show more
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