Trump’s Prayer Breakfast Remarks … Unlike Obama’s Reprimand of Christians

At the February 2, 2017 National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump said the whole world has a duty to stop the “genocide” of Christians in the Middle East.  He blasted the terrorism that religious minorities face in some parts of the world, said we “must never, ever” stop asking God for wisdom, and declared that America will flourish “when religious liberty can flourish.”  “Freedom of religion is a sacred right,” President Trump said.  He promised his administration “will do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty in our land” and around the world.

The President was introduced by Mark Burnett (MGM Television President) who created and produced the film ‘The Bible’ and the person who worked with Trump on ‘The Apprentice’ program for 14-years. 

Trump outlined the severity of threats to religious freedom around the world:

“We have seen peace-loving Muslims brutalized, victimized, murdered, and oppressed by ISIS killers.  We have seen threats of extermination against the Jewish people.  We have seen a campaign of ISIS and genocide against Christians, where they cut off heads.  Not since the Middle Ages have we seen that.  We haven’t seen that – the cutting off of heads.  Now they cut off the heads, they drown people in steel cages...Nobody’s seen this for many, many years.”
“All nations have a moral obligation to speak out against such violence.  All nations have a duty to work to confront it and to confront it viciously if we have to.  So I want to express clearly today to the American people that my administration will do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty in our land.  America must forever remain a tolerant society where all faiths are respected and where all of our citizens can feel safe and secure.  We have to feel safe and secure.”

“We will be a country…where all citizens can practice their beliefs without fear of hostility or fear of violence.  America will succeed as long as our most vulnerable citizens…have a path to success...God will always give us solace and strength and comfort.”

Additionally, Trump said he will “totally destroy” the Johnson Amendment, which threatens churches with the loss of their tax-exempt statuses for expressing certain political opinions.  His speech also touched on the importance of caring for veterans, whose “vigilance has kept our liberty alive.”

Trump thanked the American people for their prayers, which “have sustained me and inspired me.”  Trump said the “five words that never, ever fail to touch my heart” are “I am praying for you.”  “I hear it so often,” he said.  “The quality of our lives is not defined by our material success, but by our spiritual success,” he continued.  “I tell you that from somebody that has had material success.”  Many of the ultra-rich are “very, very miserable and unhappy people,” Trump said, while he’s noticed the less wealthy who have their families are often happiest.  “Those to me are the successful people,” he said.

Trump rejoiced that “one nation under God” is part of the Pledge of Allegiance.  He called the reference to God “a great thing because that’s what we are and that is what we will always be and that is what our people want.”  He told the audience of American and foreign politicians and dignitaries, “God will always give us solace and strength and comfort.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

P.S. – At the February 5, 2015 National Prayer Breakfast [then] President Obama issued a word of warning to Christians: “And lest we get on our high horse and think this war [with ISIL] is unique to some other place – remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.”  [The Crusades ended some 700-years ago.]