You didn’t have to be in Lynchburg, Virginia to hear the starting gun of the 2016 presidential race. The first out of the gate was Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who distanced himself from the competition by announcing his campaign for liberty at Liberty.

Anxious to get a lead on the crowded GOP field, Senator Cruz picked the largest Christian university in America to announce his candidacy. Senator Cruz’s presence on campus [Monday] morning followed a long line of presidential candidates who have fanned the flames of conservatism on Liberty’s campus. Still, [Tuesday’s] speech was significant in that it not only signaled the start of the effort to win the support of evangelical voters (which made up almost 50% of the primary vote in the 2012 presidential cycle), but it once again flies in the face of the pundits who are eager to eulogize social conservatives or the “Religious Right.”

But, as [Monday] morning’s enthusiastic auditorium of thousands of young evangelicals showed, the movement is more alive than ever in the hearts and minds of the next generation. The proud legacy of the school’s founder, Dr. Jerry Falwell, a man unafraid of speaking truth, was as much on stage this morning as the Senator occupying it. While the Republican Establishment would like nothing better than to write off the social wing of the party, Ted Cruz just proved how vital a role these conservatives continue to play.

“Today, roughly half of born again Christians aren’t voting,” he said. “They’re staying home. Imagine instead millions of people of faith all across America coming out to the polls and voting our values.” As a graduate of Liberty, I can appreciate that it didn’t become the largest Christian university in the world by compromising on truth. And like us, Senator Cruz seems to understand that the next generation of believers is looking for conviction – not a milquetoast version of the Gospel that requires nothing. “From the dawn of this country,” Senator Cruz explained, “at every stage America has enjoyed God’s providential blessing. Over and over again, when we face impossible odds, the American people rose to the challenge.”

He asked the auditorium of Liberty students to be those people, the next generation of patriots willing to take their nation back. It’s time to “get back to principles,” he said to huge applause. That means, he explained, repealing ObamaCare and Common Core, abolishing the IRS, securing the border, protecting privacy rights and the Second Amendment, honoring the Constitution, giving every child the right to a quality education, and – as students erupted in cheers – “standing unapologetically with the nation of Israel.” But all of that, he warned, is impossible without first recognizing “that our rights don’t come from man. They come from God Almighty.” While some Republicans seem embarrassed by their faith, Senator Cruz embraced it, making a point to share his testimony and the “transformative love of Jesus Christ.”

“Instead of a federal government that wages an assault on our religious liberty,” he said, “imagine a federal government that stands for the First Amendment rights of every American.” Instead of a government that “undermines our values,” he told the crowd, “imagine a federal government that works to defend the sanctity of human life and to uphold the sacrament of marriage.”

Given the backdrop of the Obama administration, the Texas senator couldn’t have painted a starker contrast between his priorities and the current President’s. And while the race to the nomination is sure to get interesting, Senator Cruz certainly raised the bar in competing for the social conservative vote. This nation is desperate for a pendulum shift – and evangelicals’ response will largely determine if it gets one.

SPLC Exhibits Intolerance at Crime Museum

Not a day goes by that our staff doesn’t pass by the bullet holes in the FRC lobby and thank God for Leo Johnson’s courage. His heroism was on display that tragic August 2012 morning at FRC – and now, it’s literally on display at a special exhibit of the National Museum of Crime and Punishment. Just blocks from the office Floyd Corkins, an LGBT activist, entered with plans to “kill as many people as (he) could,” the gun, backpack, and other pieces of evidence from the thwarted shooting are being featured as a new “Domestic Terrorism and Hate Crimes” exhibit.

Last Wednesday, the museum officially opened the display, which tells the story of Corkins’s mass murder plot and Leo’s bravery in stopping it. For the next five years, the FBI is loaning the materials to the museum for an exhibit that is not only a testament to Leo’s sacrifice, but to the dedication of law enforcement officers – and most importantly, the Lord’s protection.

FRC’s story is told alongside other incidents of domestic terror, including 9-11, the Boston Marathon attack, the Unabomber, and Ku Klux Klan lynchings. The goal, said a museum spokesman, is to challenge people “to reexamine their beliefs on what constitutes a hate crime, how history has been documented, and how prejudices have changed.” In just two and a half years, the attack at FRC has had a major impact on the local community. While one of our staffers was at the exhibit last week, a group of police cadets came by and explained that how Leo handled the incident is now taught to all of the cadets.

On a national scale, the message is just as powerful – that those who want to intimidate by engaging in violence or reckless labeling are the real extremists. During Corkins’s trial, prosecutors revealed in federal court the link between SPLC – the supposed authority on all things “hateful” – and this act of domestic terrorism. Three years later, despite the evidence, many in the media refuse to admit what the Southern Poverty Law Center really is: an organization that inspires hatred through its effort to marginalize and silence those they disagree with on biblical morality and public policy. As August 15th made painfully clear, this is more than dangerous; it threatens our very system of government.

This exhibit stands as a reminder that in a civil society, we must never allow free and open debate to be shut down through acts of terrorism. As Americans we will have our disagreements, but we must all boldly stand up for the freedom to debate these issues without giving into fear and intimidation.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.