TED CRUZ, RALLY FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY in DES MOINES, IA
TED CRUZ, RALLY FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY | DES MOINES, IA
- Senator Ted Cruz speaking at the DC Defund Planned Parenthood
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TRANSCRIPT AT THE RALLY FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY | DES MOINES, IA
honored and humbled I am to be standing with so many patriot air in this room
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and with so many heroes who have gathered to tell us their tale of
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courage our nation was founded with a bloody revolution and yet with God's
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providential blessing America prevent there was a second revolution a
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revolution more important than the revolution fought with guns and may
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announce the far more important revolution was the revolution of ideas
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for millennia man had been told that our rights come from kings and queens handed
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down like crumbs our country began with a fundamentally different proposition
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that our rights do not come from government they come from Almighty God
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there is a reason why in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights the
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very first protection in the very first amendment of the Bill of Rights is the
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freedom of religion if we cannot worship God if we cannot live according to our
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faith in our dictates all other liberties fade away and you know I have
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to say these threats have been growing they had been growing for decades but
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never have the threats been greater to religious liberty than they are right
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now and here today so it is my hope that all of us gathered here today all of the
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home parties all of the churches that are watching online that believers
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across this country will come to know and love these ordinary men and women
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who are living their lives they didn't ask for conflict they didn't ask for
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confrontation and the government came after them and said shoes between your
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faith and obedience to government power and they said I file follow a higher
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power and that is gone all night
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and so in telling these stories I want to start with one that many of you know
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are ready
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chicken videoGuard
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thank you for telling your store let me ask you why did you first begin hosting
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weddings in the church that the two of you we love weddings business love to do
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the flowers and we had a restaurant and we had everything all in one location
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beautiful event's when you first found out you were being sued how did that
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impact the 2003 holy bout was devastated I knew that the girls house ever be the
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same these two men who wanted to get married that there there were other
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facilities where they could do that is that correct cars but they wanted it in
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your church for you to celebrate their you let me ask you what a cynic but a
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skeptical person what a secular person might say which is why didn't you just
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get in why didn't you just agree to allow the same sex wedding will be
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celebrated in the house we could not celebrate us and we cannot take part in
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what we believe is this
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for 18 months and then earlier this month you close the business altogether
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tell us about what that means to you to close this business hosting weddings
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that you loved so much
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this was my passion this is our passion we had worked for thirteen and a half
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years to build this business
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tell me about the public reaction we had a lot of supporters and we we cherish
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those interesting part about it is that many of those supporters don't want to
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support is publicly they didn't want to be seen supporting us well and I know a
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lot of ugliness and vitriol was directed at the two of you because a hater and a
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bigot just overnight you become something you don't recognize yourself
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sure tells us that God has ordered our steps and I will tell you I'm convinced
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you have gone down this journey you have endured the pain you've endured the
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attacks were the hatred precisely where you are here today for such a time as
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this
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religious freedom now that is very disheartening I just did not anticipate
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that my career within the search terms
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stage of the freedoms that we enjoy two years later to be told that because I
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hold you really gets to the fullness of God when you stand up for his truth is
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word my worst day
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kids have seen that there's a real costs are serving the Lord
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why would I as a business owner want to bring this on my company if anything I
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would stay as far away from that is possible the very thing that caused me
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to get my job
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ultimately has cost me my job
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definitely understand freedom in a different way before another world but
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when it happens to you and it will happen to you when they come to take
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that away
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takes on a whole new meaning
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business
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to our definition of freedom in the united states of america is changing
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right before I believe that those very freedoms at risk and our beloved United
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States of America today ladies and gentlemen please welcome our heroes to
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the stage
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we have burgers florists shirt maker military man and a fireman everyday
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people these are not people that majored in culture war at the seminary they're
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not united states senators want to start with you she cochran if I could given
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all of the merit badges you've earned all the way through life right you
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clearly must have been derelict in your duty you must have done something wrong
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in your job to cause you to be fire except that wasn't the case about three
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and a half years ago I was conducting a min small group Bible study at my church
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called the quest for authentic manhood in the book that dealt with sexual
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challenges that Christian men have and spoke of biblical marriage and Biblical
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sexuality and that's what caused the trouble that led to initially met
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thirty-day suspension without pay and subsequent termination from employment
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with the city of Atlanta nothing wrong with his record at all to the point that
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he is appointed to one of the highest post you can be as a fireman he's
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working literally for the president of the united states and for expressing his
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christian viewpoint in print in his own private time his own private time you
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lose everything else that's me bring you into the conversation next it's just
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flowers especially because you've sold them to this client so many times what's
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what's different about this time in men and women when Rob came in and asked me
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to talk about his witty and I put my hands on his and i said im sorry I can't
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do your wedding because of my relationship with Jesus Christ as much
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as I love her off I couldn't sell it reaches witty he asked her the one thing
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from her and she could not provide another story here in our panel that I
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know a lot of you are familiar with Aaron Melissa Klein Melissa want you to
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share with the audience what it was like interacting with fellow believers and
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the support that you got
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from the community or in some cases to support that you did not get we've had a
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lot of emails saying you know we support you we are praying for you we had lots
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of people that would come in and they do like you know we're just so proud of you
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guys are so glad you know that you're standing up for your faith and then
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they'd want to order stuff we want to support you and then I'd go to put
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always put my sticker on the box since we kicked by Morrison it was black
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sticker with no panic writing and at some point ladies and gentlemen we're
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going to make a decision
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whom do we fear more than one they can take the jobs away or destroyed the body
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or the one who can destroy the body and cast the sole into Hell whom do we share
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conversation because you're the person on this panel who has 14 anybody that
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was our main message didn't matter what their belief system was or who they were
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it was really the message that if someone presents a message to me that
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conflicts with my beliefs which contradicts with the Word of God for me
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it's just that's the line which is something that I can't print in the
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judge I think he got it right because he looked at the history of our company and
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we had rejected messages from different groups across the board
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conflicted with my faith this isn't about discrimination this is about
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whether someone anyone regardless of what they may be doing in their private
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lives or whether they go to church or not can walk into your place of business
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or in your home your private property or intellectual property and demanded you
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do things with it that violate your conscience bringing sergeant monkeys we
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conclude our conversation here this evening you are willing to lay down your
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life for the people that disagree with you right from the start you called me
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today and I would drop everything and I will go anywhere this country needs me
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and I'll put my life down for you whether your gate straight young or old
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we will do that
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military right now you can not come back from a deployment open lesbian commander
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she wants me back into a corner once to know my views on marriage I will tell
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you this AM backed into a corner between a major on my Maker I know where I'm
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going
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10 plus years we've been fighting overseas the real war for america was
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happening right you I would just encourage you all just you know stan
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forgotten be strong because you will see him moving your life like you've never
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seen him before so if we lose our freedoms you lose your freedom it's time
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to stand and fight to choose between living out their faith in keeping their
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job but if you ever faced with the choice of living out your faith are
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keeping your job living out your faith is always the right choice
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directly to the youth to the kids there in this room don't ever substitute for
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truth they have to go together love in truth go together so speak truth and
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love and don't give up on their ladies and gentlemen tonight's heroes give them
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a round of applause
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this campaign it is our first freedom all our other freedoms derive from this
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we can't have god-given rights if we can have our God now there is someone in
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this audience at the highest levels of government and two of our three branches
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is already shown he will fight for these rights ladies and gentlemen senator Ted
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Cruz
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across this country
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listen to those stories these heroes have boldly resisted the state
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encroaching on their first amendment rights they have fought back against the
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washington elites war on faith you listen to these incredible Braves
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stories up here and you wonder is the next victim of persecution your pastor
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standing at the pulpit on Sunday morning is it the grade school that your little
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girls go to is it the charity where you volunteer your time and a crisis
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pregnancy center we have descended from an attack on life to marriage and now
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her marriage to religious liberty we gather today here in the heartland of
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America to take a stand against religious bigotry and intolerance and
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for those brave heroes who have lost their livelihood and their positions of
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Honor I standing for faith this rally is a chance to stand for freedom and for
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the idea that rights don't come from black-robed lawyers or from politicians
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in Washington they come from God
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it is this understanding it is this revelation that has made America an
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exceptional nation and indeed the exceptional nation in the history of the
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world in this country right now they're roughly 90 million evangelical
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Christians in the last election fifty-four million evangelical stayed
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home
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54 million you wonder why we have a federal government that comes after our
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free speech rights that comes after a religious liberty that comes after light
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that comes after marriage that comes after our values it is because 54
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million evangelical Christian stayed home while I'm here to tell you we will
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stay home no longer
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we will not be silent we will not take court rulings as a mandate to forget our
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faith while Washington elites tried to force their values upon us
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and I give you my solemn word if I'm elected president on my first day in
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office I will instruct the Department of Justice and the IRS and every federal
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agency in washington that the persecution of religious liberty and
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today
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a nation willing to subject itself to the tyranny of man standard is not
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worthy to be called a free nation as horrific as the persecution is growing
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here at home
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Christians across the globe are facing torture and murder are facing
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imprisonment and what I'd like to do now is recognized one more hero wife a
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pastorPastor Saeed Abedini view here know the story a passenger
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side is an American citizen and his wife two beautiful children pastor side
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travel to around and was sentenced to eight years in prison for the crime of
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preaching the gospel tell us about pesticide
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heart-breaking misses embrace over three year he won't back down on his faith in
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Jesus Christ he's been tortured and beaten it was news from prison to prison
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because he's not only not tonight has faith that he's shared his face with it
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was in prison
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how is his health holding up how is he doing he's not doing very well I wish I
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could say he was one of the worst person in the world of beatings he endured the
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first month was horrible he was put in solitary he's been put in and out of
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solitary three or four times now and they've never treated it doctor says
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that he needs surgery and he's he's he was hospitalized last year but Iranian
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government refuses to treat him in part of their tortures to allow him to suffer
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in his pain someone shared up here that when their test faith was tested
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actually grew stronger that's how I feel my face with God that actually when I
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hit rock bottom I discover crisis in a more intimate way and found him you know
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why I could never question God's goodness of actually discovered it every
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one of us here we are lifting you up in prayer we are standing with you
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I'd like to say something very very clearly President Obama bring pastor
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side home
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heroes to come back to the stage and I want to close this portion of the
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program and prayer and let me say to the folks who are at home to the folks who
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are watching online stream to the folks who are watching in-home groups are
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church groups I would encourage you to please come sign our national petition
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in defense of religious liberty at set-piece after website Ted Cruz dot org
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Ted Cruz . or or you can text the word liberty to the number for 1444 father
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God we come to you today on our knees celebrating your glory celebrating the
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courage and face of these heroes and father God we come here today claiming
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the promises a prescription Jesus told us bless it are those who are persecuted
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for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven we claim that promise
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tonight father God Galatians 6.2 tells us bear one another's burdens and so
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fulfill the law of Christ these heroes
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I'm not standing alone there standing
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surrounded by hedges of protection with prayer warriors and intercessors in this
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room across the state across this nation across the world
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the body of Christ to standing together and we thank you for this great nation
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in which we live with the religious right
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liberty that each of us is guaranteed under our constitution and we pray that
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you awaken the body of Christ across this nation that believers and lovers of
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liberty that we stand together to reclaim this nation we thank you and we
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pray in Jesus name
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