In this episode of Washington Watch, host Tony Perkins leads a thought-provoking discussion on the recent meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, exploring the details and implications of a proposed Middle East peace plan. Joining the conversation, Congressman Pat Harrigan provides insights on the nuances of urban conflict, the political-entanglements in Washington, and the fortitude required for international peace negotiations. The episode also highlights troubling incidents of violence in houses of worship, reflecting on a comprehensive report of hostility against churches and the rise of spiritual warfare in our communities.
SPEAKER 15 :
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.
SPEAKER 01 :
At least we’re at a minimum very, very close, and I think we’re beyond very close. And I want to thank Bebe for really getting in there and doing her job. We’ve worked well together.
SPEAKER 19 :
That was President Donald Trump after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today at the White House, saying a Middle East peace deal is closer than ever. Welcome to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks so much for tuning in. So coming up, Democrat and Republican leaders met with President Donald Trump and emerged from the meeting just moments ago. Democrats say no deal is on the table. So the clock is still ticking toward a government shutdown. More on this in just a moment as Congressman Pat Harrigan of North Carolina joins me. And we continue our special feature, Standing Together, spotlighting organizations that are advancing the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, and freedom. Founder of CounteractUSA, Abigail DeJarnett, joins us later to share how God is using their work to impact the next generation. Well, earlier today, President Donald Trump announced during a press conference at the White House that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has agreed to support a U.S. peace plan to end the Gaza conflict. Joining me now is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper, who’s been following the story throughout the day. So, Casey, what does the 21-point peace plan include, and how did the prime minister respond?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, well, thanks, Tony. This plan calls for a ceasefire, hostage swaps, and a path to lasting peace and security. President Trump says they’re very close to a deal and he hopes Hamas will accept it. For Netanyahu’s self, he said that he praised Trump’s leadership and he would support the plan.
SPEAKER 14 :
I support your plan to end the war in Gaza, which achieves our war aims. It will bring back to Israel all our hostages. dismantle Hamas’s military capabilities, end its political rule, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.
SPEAKER 20 :
With that being said, Netanyahu added that if Hamas refuses the plan, Israel will continue its campaign to root out the Hamas terrorists in Gaza. This comes after a wave of countries recognized the Palestinian state at the United Nations last week. And Tony, it now appears that the annexation of Judea and Samaria is off the table. More than 200 evangelical leaders led by the Family Research Council are calling on President Donald Trump to support Israel’s claim to Judea and Samaria. In a letter since Sunday, they urged President Trump to back Israel’s right to apply sovereignty over that territory, which many call the biblical heartland, Tony.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, that’s right, Casey. The letter that we helped put together says Israel’s control of Judea and Samaria would make the country stronger. And not only that, it aligns with both scripture and history. So frankly, this should be a non-negotiable issue for U.S. policy that Israel has the right to exercise sovereignty over that region. And as you mentioned, it did not come up. in this meeting. So that’s at least a good sign for now. We’ll have to wait to see where this plan leads. We’ll talk more about that later. But I want to turn to a deeply troubling event. And this is the attack on the Mormon meeting house in Michigan yesterday. What do we know about that, Casey?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, Tony, this is a sad story. Authorities in Michigan are investigating a deadly attack at a Mormon meeting house in Grand Blanc. The 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, a former Marine and Iraq War veteran, he drove his truck into the Mormon meeting house during a service, opened fire, and then allegedly set the building on fire. He was later killed in a shootout with police, leaving at least four people dead, eight others injured. And in fact, some people are still unaccounted for. So this, unfortunately, it fits this trend we’re seeing, Tony, for a few years here of violence in the U.S.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, Casey, you’re right. In fact, a recent report from Family Research Council shows that U.S. churches are still facing a high number of hostile incidents, including threats, vandalism and arson, and increasingly more attacks with guns.
SPEAKER 07 :
We found 415 incidents of hostility against churches. And compared to 2018, when we found 50, that is a massive increase over a small amount of years. And the fact that we’re seeing more incidents of these acts of hostility against churches seems to indicate a rise in this sort of animosity towards Christianity in our culture.
SPEAKER 19 :
That was our own Ariel de Turco, author of the Hostilities Against Churches report, who spoke about that last month, about the incidents that have been tracked in 2012. And while we’re seeing rising hostilities against Christians here in America, religious freedom is also under a threat overseas. Pastor Son Hon Bao has been arrested on charges of violating election law, and his is in charge with violating election law for apparently supporting conservative candidates. What do we know about that, Casey?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, so Pastor Sona Bussan Seguero, Presbyterian Church, he’s a well-known conservative voice and leader of the Save Korea movement, but he was charged today with breaking election laws. Pastor Sohn has been a vocal supporter of protecting traditional values and opposing the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yool. Prosecutors accuse him of promoting conservative candidates during church services and sharing his message online, including a meeting with American conservative activist the late Charlie Kirk earlier this year. So there’s growing concern about government hostility towards Christians in the country. In fact, South Korean Christian leaders met here at Family Research Council to discuss the threat to religious freedom in their country, Tony.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thanks, Casey. We’re going to talk about that a little bit later with Travis Weber when he joins us. So we’ll talk to you later, Casey. Thanks so much for giving us the headlines. Very troubling. And I think it’s something we’ve got to pay close attention to, to what’s happening in South Korea. And we’ll talk more about that later because I think it’s a harbinger to what we see even in our own country. But now I want to go back to our top news story, the meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Join me now, Congressman Pat Harrigan, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He represents the 10th Congressional District of North Carolina, veteran of the United States Army. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. Good to see you again.
SPEAKER 18 :
Hey, Tony, thanks for having me. It’s always great to be with you.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, I want to get your take on the proposed 21-point plan. But first, just moments ago, Democrat leaders from the House and Senate emerged from a White House meeting with the president saying that they, Schumer says, the president, they made proposals to the president, but no agreement. And so it appears that the shutdown, which is midnight tomorrow night, the clock’s still ticking. It looks like that’s where we’re headed.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, the vice president even said that it looks like we’re headed for a shutdown, which is really frustrating. I think at this point, it’s very clear that if that is the ultimate result here, the Democrats have shut this government down. House Republicans, we did our job two weeks ago. Senate Democrats have to do their job. And the reality is, is if they choose to shut the government down because we’re not willing to increase Affordable Care Act subsidies by one and a half trillion dollars that’s absolutely a ridiculous claim from the Democrats that ultimately they’re not going to vote for a continuing resolution that they already voted for last year that’s unbelievably disingenuous and I think the American people will hold them accountable for it but I hope that cooler heads can prevail before close of business tomorrow
SPEAKER 19 :
As you mentioned, the House already passed a clean CR, meaning just continuing the present funding while the appropriation bills can be done. And this is a funding level that the Democrats have voted for before, but they won’t do it now.
SPEAKER 18 :
That’s exactly right. And so ultimately, if Chuck Schumer is going to bend the knee, he’s going to bend the knee to the radical left of his party rather than take the perceived political lump on the head of having to side with Republicans in voting for something he’s already voted for in the past. I mean, this is how crazy things are right now in Washington. It’s just unbelievable. And I get it. When you have a tough political choice, you need to do the right thing for the country. And the right thing for the country is keeping the government open.
SPEAKER 19 :
So I hope he chooses to do that. It’s the politics. And I know his personal politics in New York have to be weighing in on him as well. I want to move back to this top story. The president meeting with the prime minister of Israel, your former special forces in the United States Army. You know about urban conflict. The situation in Gaza, they’re at a standstill in trying to eliminate Hamas. This 21-point peace plan that has been proposed appears to be a way out for peace, but it’s hard to determine. I’m going to get your thoughts.
SPEAKER 18 :
Look, I think it’s long terms that have been proposed that are really acceptable to Israel based off of their commentary today from Prime Minister Netanyahu, but really, I would say, uncomfortable for them to agree to. also terms that seem to be uncomfortable for Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to agree to. And so, look, in a situation where you’ve got such motivated, politically charged, historically charged arguments on either side, I don’t think either side are going to be happy with any type of negotiated resolution this seems like that would be one of those circumstances that might end up getting across the finish line uh prime minister netanyahu has said that they would accept it they would support it now it’s up to hamas and the palestinian authority to see if they will do the same i mean the the israeli leadership has as you said has agreed to accept it but but i want to ask you this as a combat veteran understanding more of what happens on the ground is can they have can israel have success without completely eliminating hamas and finishing the war there by pulling back now i’m very doubtful tony and look i think we’ve got historical precedent this deal calls for the release of 250 uh terrorists that have been given life sentences in israel israel has done that before it has not worked out well for them in the past where we end up right back in the same cycle of violence. So my concern over this deal is that it’s long on hope, very short on assurances from a political military perspective, and certainly being somebody that’s fully vested in a positive outcome for Israel here. As much as I am the other side, given how this conflict was started, I’ve got serious concerns about whether peace can actually be achieved through this deal. But if the United States is saying as a third party, an independent broker, we’re willing to back this, President Trump has the full faith and authority of the United States government to enter into that. Netanyahu has the same ability for Israel. If the other side comes in and President Trump uses his force of personality to do it, it’s possible.
SPEAKER 19 :
But could this be Israel’s Afghanistan?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, there’s no question about it. I mean, Tony, you and I have talked about even before that reengaging and going back into Gaza was kind of the best of a bunch of terrible decisions that Netanyahu had before him, because ultimately you want to see Israel get to a safe place here where the safety and security of their people, their national security is assured. You can’t just go back into the same cycle of violence that has always plagued this part of the world. And that seems to be the track that no matter where we turn, Hamas is determined to keep their foot on the throat of the Israeli people. That’s not acceptable long term.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah. Well, I put a lot of stock in your opinions on these things because you’ve been on the ground, seen the difficulty of fighting an enemy like this, ideologically driven, and there’s no halfway. You have to win if you’re going to be secure. Congressman Pat Harrigan, always great to see you, my friend. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 18 :
Tony, thanks for having me. Always great to be with you. Have a great evening.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right. And folks, you really can’t see this conflict in the Middle East apart from the spiritual significance and implications. And it really helps to have a biblical worldview to understand that region of the world and this conflict that is taking place. We’re going to talk more about that later. But next, we’re going to play an interview that I did over the weekend with House Speaker Mike Johnson. So that’s coming up next. Don’t go away.
SPEAKER 09 :
Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple, the abortion drug. Today, over 60% of US abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic. Without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone, unborn lives will remain in grave danger, and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
SPEAKER 13 :
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the New Year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us in Stand on the Word.
SPEAKER 19 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in on this Monday. Well, coming out of the weekend, it’s clear that Democrats are still very much dug into their position. They will not agree to keep the government open unless Republicans agree to inflate federal spending. So with about 30 hours before tomorrow night’s deadline, our nation, quite frankly, appears to be headed toward a government shutdown. Going into the weekend, I had a conversation with House Speaker Mike Johnson for my weekend program this week on Capitol Hill. And we talked about the situation that we now find ourselves in and why this will be owned by the Democrats if the government is shut down. So I’d like to share that part of our conversation with you right now. Here is how we got into that discussion.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s talk about the shutdown, Tony, because it’s a serious, serious issue for the American people. Every Democrat in Congress has decried the danger of shutdowns because it hurts the people who need hurting the least. I mean, you have troops that won’t be paid. You have all the federal employees that will go on furlough. It also affects benefits and services to people around the country. Why are we in this situation? Very important to remember, House Republicans have moved us back to regular order. We have done 12 separate appropriations bills, as the law is supposed to work, through the House Appropriations Committee. Three of those have been passed off the floor. The Senate passed three appropriations bills, and those two groups, because the bills don’t match, are going to a conference committee to work out the differences and keep the appropriations process going. tony this is a massive improvement over the way things have been done here for a long long time and we’ve got to keep it going but we’re about to run out of clock because the end of the fiscal year is september 30th so we just need a little bit more time so we put on the floor the obvious logical thing a simple clean continuing resolution as you said that just continues everything at status quo until november 21st so that our appropriators can finish the job the democrats don’t want want to do that, even though they voted on that stuff many times in the past. Suddenly they want to throw in $1.5 trillion in new spending, Tony. That’s with a T. They want to have American taxpayers give free health care to illegal aliens again. They want to reinstate that. They want to give a half a billion dollars to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting so they can prop up left-wing media outlets. That’s just part of it. We’re not doing that. The American people did not vote for that stuff. And they’re playing games with very serious issues.
SPEAKER 19 :
Mr. Speaker, if I can, the history has been that there’s been a lot of games played in our nation’s capital when it comes to the government funding. And oftentimes the Republicans, you know, before they even start, they bring out the white flag. The House passed a clean continuing resolution. As you said, the Democrats have voted for this before. And the House recessed. And they went back into work in their districts. The Democrats were expecting you to come back Monday so that they could kind of posture and force the Republicans into accepting something. You’ve actually said the House isn’t coming back the first part of the week because you have given them something to deal with. I mean, to me, that’s taking a conservative stand, which we haven’t seen in a while.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, and it’s the right thing to do for the American people. And we had to put an exclamation point on the end of that action to show Chuck Schumer that we’re not playing those games. And he’s going to own the shutdown. I mean, it will be the Democrat shutdown. They’ve made very clear that that’s their intention. And real people are going to be harmed by this, and it’s a shame. But we’re not going to be a party to that. So I’ll bring everybody back middle of next week after the Democrat shutdown begins. But we’re going to hold the line. We have to. We’re not going to give in to their radical left proposals to spend more money and to to effectively give free benefits to illegal aliens. We’re not doing that. And that’s that’s something a conviction that we have. And I think it’s the right thing. So we’ll see how this shakes out.
SPEAKER 19 :
So this will be the Schumer shutdown if it happens.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and Hakeem Jeffries and the House Democrats are a part of this as well. And they’re digging their heels in. And, you know, I guess they think that Republicans will fold. But there’s absolutely nothing in this measure that they can possibly object to. All they want is to add additional things that we just can’t do.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, let’s say I want to move on to some other issues, but I do want to point out that our friend Russ Vogt sent a letter out giving direction to the government stating what the president would be cutting. I mean, the president has latitude to make some significant decisions as it pertains to the federal government during a shutdown.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, he does. And whomever the president has all the dials, so to speak, of the executive branch of government, all the agencies, all the services. And so there’s a broad amount of discretion that any president has in a scenario like this. You know, Russ Vogt at the Office of Management and Budget may well take this opportunity, as he’s indicated, to cut a lot more wasteful spending, fraud, waste, abuse, inefficiencies in government. That’s what Republicans are for. And they’re about to give the White House a whole broad latitude to do exactly that.
SPEAKER 19 :
I mean I would think Chuck Schumer is in a very uncomfortable position.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, as usual, he finds himself there because that’s his strategy, paints himself into those corners. But there’s a lot riding on this, Tony, and it really isn’t a game.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, let’s talk an indictment handed down into the week of former FBI Director James Comey for lying to Congress. You sat on the House Judiciary Committee. You’ve been through a lot of those hearings. Your thoughts?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, this is a long time coming. I mean, many of us have long understood that Mr. Comey has a problem with the truth. He acted as a partisan activist, effectively, in his role when he was the head of the FBI. And he clearly said things to Congress that were not true, and he did that under oath, and that is a problem. it commit perjury in front congress so the grand jury looked at all this the evaluated objectively and they said well but yeah this merits an indictment and so that’s what’s happened uh… you know he could have been brought up on many more charges but the statute of limitations ran out on a lot of that so uh… will go to trial and and he’ll have to uh… you have to stand for that i don’t think there’s any way he can answer for that there’s no way for him to meet him to explain but he somehow didn’t know about the background of the russian dossier the foot you know that the big big uh… a charade that they put on and who funded it and all the rest. He knew who was involved, he knew the details, and he told Congress he didn’t, and that’s plain and simple.
SPEAKER 19 :
You know, I was talking with Philip Wegman about this earlier, that in the first Trump administration, there were many who wanted to see justice fulfilled when it came to Hillary Clinton, others who violated their security clearances, released information or made it vulnerable. And the Trump administration just kind of moved on from that. It appears different this time.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, yeah, it does. And, you know, this is the Department of Justice doing their job. I mean, you have to set limits. You’ve got to make examples of people who who take advantage of this in light of Congress. And we just can’t stand for it.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, that was part of my conversation with House Speaker Mike Johnson on the weekend program this week on Capitol Hill. To find out more about the program, you can visit this week on Capitol Hill or. Text this week to 67742. That’s this week to 67742. After the break, we’re going to have our Standing Together segment and highlight an organization that is making an impact on Gen Z. As I’ve been talking about, we want to highlight those organizations that are helping to advance the kingdom so that you can know what they’re doing and be encouraged by it. So don’t go away. More straight ahead.
SPEAKER 20 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
And of course, Stand Firm wherever you go. At Family Research Council, defending the family isn’t just a mission, it’s our daily calling. Every team member at FRC uses their God-given talents to stand for biblical truth, protect life, and uphold religious freedom.
SPEAKER 21 :
Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m defending the family by working in the Center for Biblical Worldview to provide cutting edge research and resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian parents.
SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 21 :
Thank you for your support. It is so critical to the work that we at Family Research Council are doing day to day as we support and strengthen the family. So thank you.
SPEAKER 19 :
Welcome back to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. Let me encourage you, if you’ve not yet downloaded the Stand Firm app, go to the App Store, get the Stand Firm app. That way you can watch Washington Watch no matter where you are. You can also get our news and commentary from a biblical perspective, the Washington Stand, and my daily devotional, Stand on the Word. All of that can be found on the app, plus so much more. Go to the App Store and download the Stand Firm app. Last week on Washington Watch, we introduced a new special feature that we’re going to have every Monday called Standing Together. This is where we highlight organizations that share our commitment to advance the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, and freedom. Because none of us, no single organization can meet today’s challenges alone. In fact, it’s not by God’s design. It’s one body, many members. Together, we can advance God’s truth in our culture and shape public policy. So we want to share with you how God is working through other like-minded organizations. So today I want to share with you one promising organization that God has been using to impact the lives of young adults, Counteract USA, whose mission it is to embolden Christ’s followers to counteract ever-changing political and cultural ideologies worldwide. with grace and truth according to the scripture. And joining me now to share what they are doing is the organization’s founder and CEO, Abigail DeJarnette. Abigail, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks so much for having me. We are huge fans of Washington Watch and everything that Family Research Council does.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, thank you, Abigail. And one thing that I’m encouraged by is that your work is anchored in scripture. So talk about Counteract USA.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so Counteract USA, we’re a ministry that seeks to, like you said, equip young Christians to apply biblical worldview to cultural and political conversations. I grew up in Northwest Arkansas, which is the heart of the Bible Belt and a Christian school, wonderful family, Christian environment, graduated high school with about 30 students from my Christian school. And then about a semester of college in 2019, about half of my graduating class of Christians abandoned their faith completely. And so we were kind of left wrestling, wondering, how is this happening? And so often, it’s these sociopolitical issues that cause my generation of Christians to deconstruct their faith, when in reality, the Word of God speaks to all of these issues, every question that my friends, my generation were asking as we headed into 2020, which was even more tumultuous, all those questions could be answered in the steadfastness of scripture. So we kind of, the Lord laid it on our hearts, myself and a few friends, and we were going, okay, listen, If our generation of Christians knew how to apply the truth of the word of God, the hope of the gospel of Jesus to the key issues of our day, we could change culture as hearts and minds are turned toward Christ because he’s the hope that we’re looking for. He’s the answer to every question that we’re facing.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, I’ve been along with others, been saying this for so many years. We’ve taught our children Bible stories instead of biblical truths. And so when they’re challenged, not just in college, but even in high school, they’re walking away from their faith because they cannot defend it. And what I’m excited about, Abigail, is that this is not new. Your ministry has been growing. It’s taken root. And in this moment, In this moment that we find ourselves in culturally and as a country with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it appears that the young people now are looking for those answers. And you’re in a great position to begin sharing those truths and helping meet the demand that no single organization can do.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right, absolutely. And like you said earlier, I think it’s so important to recognize that we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of another. So we are so blessed and honored and excited that the Lord has positioned us to be able to really step into this cultural moment. We start small groups of young believers across the country who essentially meet and discuss these issues through the lens of a biblical worldview, things that are going on right now, like the assassination of Charlie Kirk. And in all of these groups across the country on social media, wherever we are interacting with young believers, we’re seeing this, this hunger for truth. We’re seeing this desire, even if it’s a, we talk to Christians who are saying, I’m ready to take the Lord seriously. I can’t help but share the gospel with people. And so there’s an energy, a momentum that we were seeing even before this moment, but now we’re just seeing it catch fire. And we’re just hoping that it takes root and believers step in to meet the moment.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, Abigail. First, how can people find out more about Counteract USA?
SPEAKER 04 :
You can go to counteractusa.org. You can check us out on social media. We’re pretty accessible. So if you have any questions, just let us know.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right. So you’ve got an event coming up that I’m really excited about being a part of. Talk about the event you have coming up and who’s going to be there and who can come and how they can find out more about it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. So this is our Resolve to Stand national conference. And that’s our goal is to just do that, equip believers to resolve to stand upon the truth of the word of God, no matter the cost. It’s rooted in the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel. But we get believers of all ages. We kind of span 13 to 30 is our target demographic for our ministry. But we have believers from the ages of seven to 87 that come to this conference. We worship, we listen, we learn, we connect and fellowship. And we’re just so thrilled. for you to be a part of it. And then our amazing speaker lineups, we have Lucas Miles, who’s the director of Turning Point USA Faith. We have Nancy Piercy, who is just a brilliant scholar and author. We have commentators like Alex Clark, testimonies from people, pro-life advocate, Tony McFadden and detransitioner Walt Heyer. We have Gen Z leaders. We have public policy advocates. We have Mina Kim, who is the founder of an organization called Build Up Korea, and more. We’re just thrilled to see the body of Christ come together in this way. So you can find out more about that event. You can get tickets right at counteractusa.org. Everything you need to know about Counteract, about the Resolve to Stand conference, it’s November 7th and 8th in Rogers, Arkansas. You can check it all out at counteractusa.org.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, Abigail, look forward to being with you and keep up the great work. So proud of you and grateful for the work that you’re doing.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, thank you so much for what you all do.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right. Folks, that’s what encourages me is that we have groups and we’re going to highlight these young people who are anchoring their cultural engagement in the word of God, because without that, it either they’re going to run into resistance and they’re going to walk away from it or they’re going to become angry. And you have to know the truth. And it’s the word of God that provides that foundation. All right. More to come. So don’t go away.
SPEAKER 06 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 16 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 08 :
There’s so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, right? Because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 16 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
SPEAKER 08 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
SPEAKER 16 :
Order today at embracethedesign.com.
SPEAKER 12 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 19 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in. All right, in less than three weeks, like-minded Christ followers from across the nation are going to gather at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills for the PrayVote Stand Summit. Are you going to be there? If there were ever, if there was ever a time that we needed God to move in our nation, it is now. And so we need to pray to that end. I encourage you to join us October 17th and 18th in California for a powerful gathering as we seek not just cultural renewal, but spiritual revival. To learn more and to register, visit PrayVoteStand.org. PrayVoteStand.org. There’s still room, but register now. Our word for today comes from 1 Corinthians chapter 8, where Paul reminds believers that there’s nothing inherently wrong with eating meat that may have been offered to idols. After all, an idol is nothing in the world and there is no other God but one, he writes. Yet Paul quickly adds a warning. Beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. Now this is a powerful example of how biblical principles apply across time and culture. Most of us will never wrestle with meat sacrifice to idols, but we do wrestle with how to exercise Christian liberty. Paul expands on this in chapter 10 where he says, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. In Christ, we are free, but freedom must be guided by love. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. If our choices cause a brother or sister to stumble, we sin against Christ himself. This truth is especially important for leaders whose example carries lasting influence. For more on our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742. All right, over the weekend, there were several headlines that intersected with the work that we do here at the Family Research Council, among them being President Trump’s White House meeting today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the attack on a Mormon house of worship, and the indictment of a pastor in South Korea. So here to discuss all of this and a bit more, our panel for today, Travis Weber, FRC’s Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs, and Casey Harper, Managing Editor for Broadcast at the Washington Stand. Travis, Casey, thanks so much for joining me today.
SPEAKER 21 :
Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 19 :
Okay, so let’s start, Casey, with you. Ahead of the president’s meeting today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were some concerns expressed over what came out from the president’s meeting last week with Arab and Muslim leaders. There was discussion about not allowing Israel to annex portions of Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank. That apparently did not come up in the meeting today, but there was discussion about a 21-point peace plan Let’s talk about that.
SPEAKER 20 :
Sure. This peace plan is really a crescendo on a very dramatic two weeks for Netanyahu, Israel, Gaza, even Qatar and others in the region. Of course, last week at the UN, Netanyahu gave kind of a fiery speech as people walked out in a dramatic fashion. And he even had that speech transmitted into Gaza where people there could hear that his message was, hey, Hamas could end this war today if they lay down their arms and release the hostages. That came around the same time that we had news that President Trump actually met with Arab leaders and said that he would not allow Israel to annex Judea and Samaria. And so that was the precedent coming up to Netanyahu’s visit and his meeting with Trump today and press conference. And out of that, we see this 21-point peace plan. We can dig into it as much as we like, Tony, but a top-line takeaway is this looks closer to a two-state solution than things that we’ve seen in a while. And there are some big question marks on this peace plan.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, I think, Travis, I’m going to get your take on this. I mean, I think the 21-point plan, there’s some things on the top that are problematic. In fact, one of the references is to President Trump’s 2020 peace plan that sets some goals in place for the Palestinian Authority, which most people think they’ll never reach. But if they did, it would allow for a Palestinian state. However, the good news is that there was no discussion in this meeting about the Israelis not being allowed to exercise sovereignty over portions of Judea and Samaria, which was the focus of a letter that we spearheaded with over 250 pastors and Christian leaders signing to the president today. But, Travis, I want to go to you and get your thoughts on this.
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, no, Tony, I think certainly we still have to wait to see how things will be finalized in detail, rolled out, implemented. But if you just look at some of the basic points that are being discussed, I’ll take one, point six, about Hamas members committing to peace, living peacefully in Gaza, should the plan be implemented. And you think about that one point. It just doesn’t make sense at its core. You know, this is an organization that inserts and imbues their educational curriculum, training up the youngest generation from when they’re toddlers to hate murder, dehumanize their opponents. How can you have that? And yet as adults, after they’ve all been living in this in this culture that is reflective of this type of educational curriculum? How can you expect them to live and commit peacefully to the future? It just doesn’t make any sense.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, yes, you’re right. They had a shot at it. But now there is a commission, a trilateral commission or committee that will be put in place. It includes Israel, the US, and Qatar, which we’ll have to watch very closely. As you said, there’s a lot we don’t know. Here’s what we do know. We need to continue to pray as this as the facts come out. And of course, we will keep people posted on this because whatever plan is adopted, it needs to be in alignment with God’s proposal and what he plans for the land. If not, whoever proposes something counter that has a problem. All right, let’s move on, Casey. Another unfortunate, violent weekend. A number of shootings, one yesterday in Michigan at a Mormon meeting house. And I’m just going to say this as we set the stage for this, as you give us more details on that. But I just think we cannot see what’s happening, the violence that’s happening apart from the spiritual climate, the spiritual warfare, the manifestation of evil that is happening in our country today. So give us the latest on this attack on a Mormon meeting house in Michigan.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, so police, law enforcement have released the name and identified the shooter who was actually killed in an exchange of gunfire with police there. He killed four people before himself being shot and also wounded eight others. He allegedly also said that it was him that set the building on fire. The police said that he’s actually had prior run-ins with law enforcement and operating while under the influence charge as well as burglary. and the 40-year-old man was also a Marine veteran. So I agree with your point, though, Tony. We could talk about these violent instances so often now, and I think we’ve become desensitized to them, but it really hasn’t always been this way.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah. Well, another shooting on Saturday night in North Carolina was a Marine veteran, both, I believe, Afghanistan veterans. And, again, it’s troubling and problematic what we see, and it’s another thing to be praying about. But, Travis, I want to bring you in for just a moment on this because FRC just recently released its hostility toward churches annual report, which shows that while there has been a leveling off to a degree, there has been an increase in the number of shootings related to houses of worship. Now we track Christian churches, but we see this trend across the board.
SPEAKER 21 :
We do, Tony. And this is, you know, we put out the report to get a sense of something that we felt was being reported anecdotally, but didn’t have any trends attached to it. And that was violence against places of worship, specifically churches, because while we want to track anti-Semitic incidents and violence against Jews and others as well, we felt there was a gap. There was no report tracking the trend of violence against Christian places of worship. So we started just absorbing the publicly available data. This is just what’s already reported in the news. And we found starting in 2018, the few years after 2018 through 2022, we were tracking less than 100 incidents per year. But then as we jumped into 2023, we found 436 incidents in the last year. that we released the data for this August, 415 incidents. So a very concerning uptick. Tony, I believe is an indicator of where the culture is with regard to Christianity. Certainly the motives are different for some of these attacks. And even as you were just referencing some of the violence we’ve seen, there’s an element of mental illness. We have to address the effects of combat some of these veterans come home and are facing.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, and it’s not and we don’t have time to get into this, but it’s not the psychedelic drugs that some are proposing in Congress, which just opens people up to more mental illness, oppression by demonic forces. I mean, again, we cannot look at these things apart from the spiritual nature. We need to pray into this. And next topic I want to go to. Again, I think it’s almost a harbinger spiritually for the United States, and it’s coming out of South Korea. Pastor Sohn, a South Korean pastor, arrested over the weekend, indicted. Travis, last week at the Family Research Council, we hosted a delegation of South Korean Christian leaders who were saying, this is happening. This is a country that I remember Pastor Cho, largest church in the world at the time. He remembered, this was in the 80s, he was telling a story about praying in his prayer closet and the president of the country calling him because the president would often look for counsel. We’ve been tracking this over the last year and what pastors from South Korea have been saying, and this is the warning to the United States, they became complacent and stopped praying because they had political power. And as a result, that power now is being used against them.
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, Tony, we really have to take a look at what’s happening there. And I would just say for most folks, they probably think of South Korea as a beacon of democracy. And historically, in recent history, that would be true. Certainly, if you look at the region, foes like China and North Korea, you know, South Korea has been a place of freedom. But we have to… we can’t assume that’s always going to be the case. And we have to observe what is happening. So Tony, as you’re alluding to, what we’re observing is raids on churches. The largest church, Full Gospel Church, Pastor Cho’s church, raided this past summer. Billy Kim, who was Billy Graham’s interpreter when he was in Korea, his organization was raided, Pastor Sohn and others. And these are political opponents of the current communist-aligned regime who are being raided and targeted because of their conservative and their Christian principles. And so we have to at least ask the question, what is happening? There are some who are saying the CCP is behind the infiltration and meddling within South Korea’s freedom and its democracy. And as you’re saying, Tony, the church needs to exercise its spiritual authority and seek God’s hand, blessing, and favor on Korea and really cry out to God on behalf of their country, as we need to do in the United States. So this is a lesson for churches, the people of God, wherever they are. But we at FRC, as you were alluding to with understanding what’s happening, meeting with the Koreans who are connected to the situation, understand it, then advocate with government leaders here to step in because there’s a window. I think the decline that we’re seeing can be stopped, but at some point, if things continue down a downward slide in South Korea, it’s gonna be very, very difficult, if not, just very, very difficult. I mean, God can always reverse it, but we want to see the historic freedom preserved in the South, and we really wanna see that spread to all of Korea and the region.
SPEAKER 19 :
It was a vibrant place. It was a place where the church was growing. Democracy was taking root. But it was the prophetic voice of the church that was praying and appealing to heaven. And again, by their own admission, as I’ve spoken to many of these pastors from South Korea, the church became complacent and lost its prophetic zeal. And it’s something that we need to take note of here in the United States. Casey, I want to go to you. We just have a few minutes left. AB 2060 or AB 260. This was a bill that was signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom. It is bolstering the state’s existing shield laws designed to protect abortionists who are mailing abortion pills out of state. This is more of this that we see happening, these blue states mailing abortion pills into pro-life states, undermining the laws that the Dobbs decision had recognized they had the right to do. But it’s happening because of the federal government’s policy on Mifeprestone.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, that’s right, Tony. Someone who hasn’t been paying attention to that issue, they might be shocked and say, it’s incredible. How could that be that a pro-life state could still be having just as many abortions? And as you pointed out in the program before, abortions have actually risen since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And so we’re by no means in some post-abortion society since Roe v. Wade. And the way this is working at the state level is there are these states that pass pro-life laws. But then other, usually blue states like California, have doctors that are willing to prescribe imifepristone, which is the chemical abortion pill, to people in places like Texas. And so it’s sort of a constitutional crisis, in my opinion. But now we’re seeing that the, maybe for instance, the husbands or other people who are related want to sue the state of California for, or the doctors rather, for facilitating this abortion that would be illegal in their state. So how does California react? Well, instead of respecting the sovereignty of Texas, they’ve passed laws where they’re creating basically two sets of books. They’re creating, if a doctor prescribes an abortion pill, he can now do so anonymously. which is pretty scary thing. And you have to ask the question, if it’s not wrong, why do you have to hide it? But they have a set of books that only California law enforcement can see. And then there’s another set of books where someone suing would be allowed to see or federal law enforcement. I’m not sure that this would really fully hold up in court.
SPEAKER 19 :
So that means that the prescription coming across state lines into a pro-life state, the prescription for Mifeprestone would not have the prescribing doctor’s name on the prescription. Therefore, they would not be able to track down who issued that kill pill.
SPEAKER 20 :
Or if it’s a valid prescription, by the way.
SPEAKER 19 :
Right. I mean, how do you know?
SPEAKER 20 :
If there’s no doctor’s name on it. I mean, anyone can get a prescription for that at that point. If you don’t need a doctor’s name on it, it’s not even a prescription.
SPEAKER 19 :
Travis, you just have about 30 seconds left. I know I’m going to sound like a broken record, but you can’t look at this without considering the spiritual implications here.
SPEAKER 21 :
Tony, yeah, we know that God is light and in him there’s no darkness at all. So when people are trying to hide, like these states trying to seal their doctors when the doctors want to hide, we have to ask why. And it’s because there’s a cultural death behind what’s happening here, not a culture of life. And we need to promote and shed light on the culture of life everywhere we can.
SPEAKER 19 :
And folks, I need you to weigh in on this and help get the word out. You can text the word unborn to 67742. That’s unborn to 67742. Casey, Travis, thanks so much as always for joining me. Thank you. And folks, I want to thank you for joining me as well. And until next time, I want to leave you once again with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything that you can do, when you’ve prayed, when you’ve prepared, and when you’ve taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 15 :
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.
