Nothing about the National Day of Prayer was conventional — but for Americans, hungry for hope in dark times, that didn’t matter a bit. By now, people are used to getting creative with their events. And Thursday was no exception.

They were standing through sunroofs, sitting on asphalt, or just bowing their heads in their cars — but no matter how they were observing the day, they were doing it in record numbers. Out in Nebraska, so many hundreds of people pulled in for the drive-through prayer gathering that they had to set up a secondary location. “We’ve never had this level of response," said an astonished Steve Johnson, the local coordinator for the National Day of Prayer. But then, "We’ve never had this level of trials either.” While the service streamed across a jumbotron and area radio stations, he looked out over a sea of cars and thought, wow. People really need hope.

It turned out to be true — not just in Nebraska — but everywhere. In Abilene, Texas, families pulled right into police headquarters to hold their service. Before the broadcast got started in the parking lot outside, organizer Chuck Farina asked everyone listening on KGNZ to honk. He joked later that he was sure there was a Psalm to the effect of “Praise Him with loud-sounding horns.”

Stories started pouring in to local newspapers and the National Day of Prayer task force about virtual prayer walls and prayer parades — people waving tiny American flags as they drive down county streets. Kathy Branzell, who took over for Shirley Dobson as the head of the national event, shook her head in amazement at how God had put all of this in motion long before anyone knew about the coronavirus. “I spent days fasting and praying over this theme verse, and God kept taking me back to Habakkuk [2:14]," she said. ”For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.“ When the task force announced it last fall, she remembered people saying, "Where is America in this theme?” Now, looking back, Kathy smiles, “God obviously knew the whole world would need prayer.”

In his own remarks, President Trump pointed to the faith community, recognizing how critical their work has been on the ground. “We’re also profoundly grateful to be joined by many faith leaders who are helping to care for our neighbors in their hour of need. Thank you all for providing meals to families, medical supplies to hospitals, and for providing spiritual strength and encouragement to your communities. You’re very important people, very respected people, and very much-loved people.” And, in a pointed rebuke of New York City liberals, he took a moment to single out Samaritan’s Purse and its tireless volunteers in Central Park. He quoted one of the nurses, Brittany Akinsola, who said simply, “We just keep sharing the love of Christ through our gifts of nursing.”

In between services and proclamations, the White House went about the day by emphasizing the freedom that makes it possible: religious liberty. Deep in discussions with other administration officials, the president’s team decided to reject the CDC’s recommendations for re-opening places like churches. Worried that they were “overly prescriptive” and “infringed on religious rights,” HHS’s Roger Severino, who runs the agency’s Office of Civil Rights, told the New York Times that officials have to find a way not to overregulate churches. “Governments have a duty to instruct the public on how to stay safe during this crisis and can absolutely do so without dictating to people how they should worship God.”

Internally, Severino is fighting for churches to be treated the same as everyone else. “Protections against religious discrimination aren’t suspended during an emergency,” he insisted. “This means the federal government cannot single out religious conduct as somehow being more dangerous or worthy of scrutiny than comparable secular behavior.” It’s a message that continues to resonate — not just from HHS, but DOJ, the White House, and courts around the country where the president’s 200 confirmed judges continue to air on the side of the Constitution.

For all of the challenges our nation continues to face, the National Day of Prayer was one moment to reflect on the answered ones: a president, leadership team, and administration that continues to fight for what’s right.

Originally published here.

The Fix Is in Like Flynn

It was a case that, as former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy said, “stunk to high heaven.” Now, three years into a bogus controversy that ruined General Michael Flynn’s career, the DOJ is dropping the case against the former national security advisor. It wasn’t a pardon — but maybe, some say, it was better. It finally got prosecutors to admit what most people suspected all along: the case was a hoax.

In the end, Flynn was just another victim of the Democrats’ ruthless do-anything-destroy-anyone mission to get at the president. He just happened to provide a scenario the Left could exploit. “The FBI and the Obama administration had recordings of these calls and knew Flynn had done nothing improper,” McCarthy points out. But, “the fact that they occurred was used to stoke the claim that Flynn may have agreed on Trump’s behalf to drop sanctions Obama had imposed on Russia. He had not, but the mere mention of sanctions was politically explosive. There was no basis to believe Flynn, a decorated former U.S. combat commander, would ever be Moscow’s mole, much less that he had committed a crime.”

But the Democrats never let the facts get in the way of a good smear campaign. They went to work almost immediately, hyping up “collusion.” The reality, Attorney General William Barr pointed out, is that this was never a “bona fide counterintelligence investigation” to begin with. In fact, the FBI was ready to shut it down when they cleared Flynn’s call with the Russian ambassador. But then, when every other avenue for launching an investigation against the president didn’t work, they reconsidered. “They found out that they had not technically closed the earlier investigation. And they kept it open for the express purpose of trying to catch [and] lay a perjury trap for General Flynn.”

The fix was in from the beginning. “It really is a startling revelation,” Congressman Jody Hice (R-Ga.) said on “Washington Watch.” To be honest, he went on, “it’s something many of us were afraid of… and now it’s becoming a reality [that] Michael Flynn was set up. He was targeted. He was put in a [no-win position] in an attempt ultimately to go after the president. And it was based on an absolutely false dossier. And the FBI knew that it was false. They knew that it was erroneous and fraudulent all along.”

But, thanks to morally compromised agents, Flynn lost his job, his home, and his good name to a bunch of sore-loser extremists desperate to tarnish Trump — and everyone in his circle. And while the general paid for it — dearly — Americans lost something too: trust in the basic functions of government. We’re talking about the top law enforcement agency in the nation, using the government’s own resources to eviscerate a three-star general. Not because he was guilty of a crime, but because he was guilty of working for this president.

That same abuse of power and authority continued for three and a half years. “The impeachment [was] built on it. And now, we learn… it was all fake,” Hice shakes his head. “Now, quite frankly, we need to go after the crooks who set Michael Flynn up. This never should happen in America, especially at the top levels of our government. We need to ensure liberty and justice for all American citizens.”

Nothing can ever make up for what Michael Flynn went through. But at least Americans are getting another glimpse behind the curtain — where the only people truly caught in a lie are the Democratic Party.

Originally published here.

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