 It is an honor to be with you and I flew in a few days ago from New York City But I'm originally if you pick up the accent I'm originally from the deep south and I'll explain that in just a few moments But I got to be honest with you folks my journey over here was a little rough to start off with I Got on board the airplane at JFK International Airport They're in New York City and got pulled over by the the TSA the touching sensitive areas people It was an unpleasant event. I'm not gonna lie Apparently they have pulled me over for the for the full service treatment the we call it the pat and swab over on the east coast I'm not sure what y'all call it over here But anyway after that I get on board the airplane make it all the way over to LAX And I was sort of kind of in a humdrum mood until I saw a sign from the Lord a big sign that said eat more chicken I I'm a huge fan of chick, but we do not have Chick-fil-A in New York City It's like a God forsaken place I mean, how do you not have Chick-fil-A? Because we all know and I think we can all agree as brothers and sisters that Chick-fil-A is the official chicken of Jesus. Amen all right and Then I got really excited this morning when one of the pastors a pastor David took me on a tour of the facilities here and you guys have a beautiful beautiful worship facility And I got really excited when I saw the the holy grounds coffee shop I mean that's pretty cool, but then right around the corner from that you have a barbecue pit area And of course, I'm from the south where we believe that the only good Pork butt is a smoked pork butt and if I didn't know they all had a pork out of brought a pork But with me this morning we would have fellowship after church So wow that's exciting and it really is exciting to hear about the great ministries that y'all have here in this In this part of the country as you reach out and minister to your community And I look forward to sharing those stories with my readers at Fox News You know I was saved as a young boy in a Baptist church many of you may not know me and I want to share a little bit about my Testimony I was not a very good child as a matter of fact after I accepted the Lord My mother asked the pastor to hold me under a few extra seconds in the baptism pool just to make sure I got good and baptized But ever since those early days I've become a passionate follower of our Lord Jesus Christ And it's an honor to be able to tell our stories stories about people of faith at Fox News channel There in New York City But I am a native son of the south born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee Where the tea is sweet the chicken is fried and the biscuits are buttered But for the past 10 years I have been in the big apple where the tea is not sweet The chicken is not fried and the biscuits are called bagels I am just perplexed I live in New York City in this area called Brooklyn, New York anybody familiar with Brooklyn And they I live among the indigenous population there a people group called the hipsters Now are you familiar with these people? They're very nice people the hipsters. You might recognize them They wear the skinny jeans And then they buy those those those t-shirts for like hundreds of dollars that you can buy at Goodwill for two But but they but they're cool. And so Let's be honest when you look at someone like me two things come to mind He's either a republican or a baptist. So I mean it is what it is So I went to the ladies at Fox News We have this this fashion department and they're paid to look us to make us look presentable on the air And I said I I really want to fit in in my neighborhood. What can I do? And they said Todd you got to go buy some skinny jeans So have you guys seen these things? They're like very tiny. They're like, you know teeny tiny So I went to the I went to where you go buy the skinny jeans and I got to tell you something It took a tub of butter and a shoehorn and I couldn't get over my big toe So I'm just going to kind of live like I'm living But it's it's it's really a great area I'm one of those people that that president obama talked about a few years ago up in San Francisco you may remember this you talked about people like you and me people who Cling to their guns and their religion Called us bitter clingers. I think is the term that was that was coined out of all of that Well brothers and sisters, I want to tell you something this morning I'm proud to be a gun toting chicken eating bobble clingin son of a Baptist and I'm not bitter. I'm blessed On that gun toting park and I tell y'all this story this kind of funny story Again in the weekend I don't know how it is here in california But on the weekend all these liberal groups like the people for the ethical treatment of animals and all little alphabet groups They're out there and they want you to give they want you to give money to them and the pita people are especially aggressive And and look I love animals, you know, I don't have anything to do with animals But anyway, um, I'm coming out of the supermarket one day and this is how I solve the problem I come out of the supermarket and like they stand directly in front of you and they with their bucket And so this one day this girl comes out and she says sir Do you love animals and I said only if they're deep fried and then just went on my they don't bother me anymore Do not bother me anymore. So True story, so You know I do consider it to be a A great joy and an honor to to work at fox news because they do allow me to to share our stories And and I cover for for lack of a better term the culture war But I also have a chance to meet some really wonderful wonderful people I've had a chance to interview phil robertson from duck dynasty And paul edin a y'all you guys know paul edin the woman can do stuff with butter praise the lord She's also a hugger though this paul edin and she's she loves to give people bear hugs And she'll say come here sugar and so you come over there and she'll give a big old bear hug And honest to goodness. She smells just like a butter cookie. I mean, it's amazing. I don't understand that I also covered president obama back when he ran for office the first go around I wanted to tell you my president obama story. They were very nice to me on the airplane But I always travel with it with a small study bible about this size when i'm out on the road I like to have a quiet time and uh, I was packing for the trip and I lost my bible And I I'm like, oh my goodness. I've got to get a bible so I can you know You know get into god's word on the on the airplane So I of course I tried to find a christian bookstore But we don't have christian bookstores in new york city because we don't have a chick filet It's a god forsaken place people And so I had to go down to the local retail bookstore and I said I need I need a bible and so they go. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we got your cover So they try to sell me a koran and I'm like i'm a baptist dude So so they finally get around to finding a bible and they don't have any small ones The only bibles they had you guys may have seen these your great grandmother probably has one those hardback bibles Where you can write the family lineage in there, you know like dating back to adam and eve and so So I'm like, okay, I'll take that bible. So imagine the scene We're we're in the middle of Iowa. There's a cornfield There's a tarmac and the plane is out there on the tarmac with stairs going up the back Here I am with my fox news cap and my fox news shirt And I've got this honking big bible here And I can't help but seeing onward christian soldiers as I walk up the steps there So that those poor people they didn't know what they were getting into Well friends this morning I I want to talk to you about some serious business I want to bring a word of warning to you I believe that there is a war on religious liberty being waged in the united states of america This has been my observation after 10 years of reporting at fox news channel And I have compiled in my new book godless america More than 270 pages of evidence that I believe demands a verdict You see this is not a war against people of the islamic faith This is not a war against people of the jewish faith or the hindu faith or the buddhist faith This is a war that's targeting people Of the christian faith This is a war that the mainstream media refuses to cover But there is an aggressive attempt to eradicate christianity from the public marketplace of ideas You might remember that president obama warned us what he was going to do when he first ran for office He said that he was going to fundamentally transform the nation Well brothers and sisters in christ i'm here to tell you that the president has lived up to that campaign promise Time after time he told audiences that we are no longer just a christian nation And i'm afraid that we are well now on that path rick warren told me several gosh several months back at fox news That he believes this war on religious liberty is going to be the civil rights issue Of our generation just think about that for a moment the civil rights issue Listen to this quote from tim shaw He's from georgetown university. He runs the religious freedom project there Threats to religious liberty are mounting. He said it won't be long before great religious institutions in this country Are stripped of their tax exempt status and we will be in a very different social legal and political environment In about 10 years dr. Russell moore of the southern baptist convention wrote these words The sense of alarm is rising churches and religious institutions Must be able now listen closely, especially young people teenagers college students Churches must be able to equip people to keep the next generation out of jail And to train up a generation who is willing to go to jail You know as i mentioned to you i do live in brooklyn new york not too terribly far from the barclays arena if you Watch professional basketball. You know, that's where our team plays the next But it was about a year or so ago that there was another event held there hosted by mtv there was um A young lady a young performer by the name of milie syris who many of you might know And she introduced the word twerking into the national lexicon Now i had just finished writing godless america and i always wait till i write my book and then i go back and i write my introduction And i was having a hard time trying to bring all this together and then one day The twerk heard around the nation happened And i remember sitting there at brunch in my brooklyn neighborhood And it was about that time that phil robertson got himself into trouble for what he told gq magazine about supporting traditional marriage and supporting the bible And that's when i came up with the first words of this book Folks i kind of feel like a duck dynasty guy living in a milie syris world You know where right is wrong and wrong is right and it's as if our value system has been turned upside down So over the next few moments i want to spend some time talking about those areas that are under attack And again these are stories that you're not going to hear on the mainstream media That's why many people have started reading my daily column at fox news dot com and they've been following my radio commentaries And uh you guys see me on the on the channel every now and again So i can talk about these stories You know as i was being given this great tour even greater than that uh the coffee house and the barbecue spot you guys have out there What impressed me the most was right around this corner here I notice there's a a great wall with filled with photographs Photographs of young men and women in this congregation who are currently serving in the united states military And i want to pause for just a moment and ask Do we have any parents here whose children are currently serving in the military? If you could would you just stand for just a moment if we have some folks here? I don't want to put you on this spot, but we've got some could you please give them a round of applause Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you I hope you understand that those photographs on that wall over there those individuals are currently Putting their lives on the line right now so that you and i can worship freely in this auditorium Don't forget that But right now Yes, but sadly under this administration our military has been turned into a social engineering petri dish I want to tell you about a rear abral in the coast guard who told a gathering in washington dc just last year That officers are being told to hide their christian faith A young air cadet at the air force academy was told to wipe away a bible verse that he had posted on his A whiteboard outside of his dorm room because it might offend someone I tell a story in the book about how bibles were briefly banned from walter reed medical center Imagine that you could not bring god's word into a hospital a military hospital I tell a story about two baptist chaplains in san diego who were fired from their chaplaincy program Because they refused to stop Quoting from the bible and praying in the name of jesus imagine that a christian chaplain who wanted to pray in the name of jesus And that's against the rules now It wasn't too long ago that I got an email from a soldier who was serving at a forward operating base in afghanistan And friends i don't mind telling you that as i was reading that email in my office at the fox news corner of the world That i became emotional This young man Was writing this email and he said mr. Starnes as I write these words. They are currently removing the cross from our chapel They took the doors off of the chapel because the glass was shaped like crosses This is happening in our military But even more disturbing than that Was an email I received from a soldier who was serving in mississippi and another who was serving in pennsylvania These soldiers were forced to attend a diversity training workshop and pay attention to that word that phrase diversity training Because that's a buzzword for anti christian activity Let me tell you what happened This young man was in this workshop along with many other 17 18 19 year old kids And the person directing this workshop said that there are issues involving religious extremism in the world And they mentioned al qaeda They mentioned hamas Then they said here in this country We have to be on the lookout for religious extremism too And they said that religious extremism in america is roman catholicism And evangelical christianity Just think about that for a moment They're teaching these young impressionable american kids That what's happening here at calvary chapel this morning in this room Is an act of religious extremism akin to al qaeda and hamas And friends i have yet to hear a clear explanation from our pentagon as to why they are doing that But then i go back and i think about what dr. Russell moore said That we may be facing a day That we have to prepare Our children our families for the fact that perhaps Our religious rights might be curtailed And maybe it's not so much of a stretch to think that One day they might come and they might put padlocks on those doors And they might they might haul the man standing behind this platform into the jail This is what happens if we do not stand up for religious liberty in america But it's not just the military. It's also happening in our public schools A just last week for example, i told the story about what happened in lincoln nebraska a very bizarre story of the nation's heartland Where they were again having a gender and esk inclusivity gender inclusivity workshop And they want all the boys and girls of all the genders And of course i was old school middle ages dark ages when i went to school We just had boys and girls when i was going to school But now we're in this modern progressive age And they actually listed many many forms of genders that the teachers should be paying close attention to And so they told the teachers this When you address the students do not refer to them as boys and girls Do not refer to them as ladies and gentlemen because that might offend someone So you say well todd, what did they what did they want them to call the kids? folks They wanted them to call the children purple penguins Purple penguins what the heck is a purple penguin? And why in the world are you calling a sweet human child created by god an animal? What's up with that? Absolutely makes no sense. So I asked this question in my column. I was just wondering what the gender inclusive word for stupid is Because there's a whole mess of it over in lincoln nebraska Sorry, that's my Baptist getting the flesh moment. So it's but it's it's not just in lincoln nebraska You guys know what's going on here in your own state. Gosh, I've been signing books in the back after the service And I can't tell you how many teachers in this auditorium have come and told me about their own personal experiences Of religious attacks in the classroom But you might remember california state university They told intervarsity christian fellowship one of the nation's best and foremost christian ministries They are no longer recognized as an official club on their campus. Why in the world are they not? Well, intervarsity christian fellowship was told they had to conform to the government's theology They said that you cannot require the leaders of your club to be christians Now just think about that for a moment. They Intervarsity christian fellowships crime was this they required their leaders to be followers of christ But that's against the rules now unbelievable Ventura high school you might recall this The local chick filet wanted to donate 200 sandwiches to the high school football booster clubs So they could sell those sandwiches and use the proceeds to buy football uniforms for young men who might not be able to afford their uniforms But the principal said chick filet is not welcome on this public school campus Because it might offend someone it might make someone angry Now my friends Who pray tell could possibly be offended by a plot juicy chicken breast tucked between two hot buttered buns? Who it makes no sense. But this is again. This is the world in which we live Ronald Reagan told a story And it's really a fascinating story back in the 1970s He had a radio program And he tells a story about what happened when the soviets invaded ukraine You guys may have heard this story The ukrainian people devoutly christian and they love singing christmas carols. Oh boy. They a silent night the first no Well, and when the soviets came in one of the first things they did they outlawed the singing of christmas carols Well, there were young ukrainian teenagers who defied the soviets And they gathered together in roaming gangs to sing christmas carols in defiance of the law They were beaten They were thrown into jail One of the songs though that the soviets decided to keep was silent night But they changed the lyrics and the soviets took out every single reference to god jesus mary everything made it a secular song You might be surprised to learn that last christmas in long island new york An elementary school performed a christmas pageant And they had the little boys and girls in first and second and third grade sing silent night And imagine the shocked and surprised on the faces of the parents as they sat there and watched their sweet little children singing the song And every single reference to jesus god and mary had been redacted Just like the soviets This is happening right now in our country But it's not just the schools and it's not just the military It's our business community because we know those who preach tolerance and diversity are the least tolerant and diverse of all, aren't they I want to tell you the story about erin and melissa climb I mean we know the stories about hobby lobby. We know the stories about chick filet, but what about the small mom and pop businesses Probably many of you here in this room You've got a small business trying to make ends meet trying to meet payroll living the american dream And trying to apply godly principles to your business. That's that's what erin and melissa climb tried to do. They owned a bakery One day a gay couple come in and said we want you to make us a wedding cake and the client said, you know what? We can't do that. We can't make you a wedding cake. We can make you anything else you want But we can't do a wedding cake because of our religious beliefs That gay couple immediately filed a complaint against the Clines They were accused of discrimination their business was boycotted and picketed their three young children received death threats People would call their home and threaten to do incredibly awful things to their family They got so bad. They had to shut down that business and now melissa bakes cakes out of her home Her husband erin works a shift with a local garbage truck So we can keep the lights on so that he can feed his family But the clines decided to take a stand They weren't out there looking for a fight but the fight came to them And they had a choice they could have easily made that cake and nobody would have known the difference But you know who would have the lord So they decided to take a stand and they paid the price It's not just the business community or the military or churches. It's also or the the military or our schools It's also impacting our churches Um Thank goodness Thank goodness that there are churches in california like calvary chapel Where you guys are taking a stand your pastor opens up the pulpit so that people can come in and share what's happening across our country I have to tell you this does not happen in many churches around the around the land We're called to be salt and light, but many churches are on a sodium-free diet You know in their quest to be culturally relevant. They've become spiritually irrelevant And sometimes Sometimes we as believers must stand together In the public arena and we must take a stand to defend religious liberty because if we don't Know what else will But they have started coming after our churches. The internal revenue service is the attack dog here Billy Graham America's pastor supported traditional marriage in north carolina Shortly afterwards Billy Graham was audited they audited america's pastor. Look these people if they're going to go after Billy Graham They may as well go after the pope. I mean it's Outrageous to think that they just immediately targeted Billy Graham And if they go after Billy Graham, they're going to go after all of us We know they they got a hold of pro-life groups and they said you have to turn over the contents of your prayers Can you imagine the audacity? They told a church in Wyoming. You have to turn over your membership roles to us We have to know who's going to your church. This is happening in the united states of america So the question brothers and sisters, what are we going to do about it? Ronald Reagan said we're just one generation away one generation away from losing our freedom You know, I grew up in the breakfast club generation the parachute pants the original Nike shoes with the blue swish You guys know what i'm talking about My generation we dropped the ball We sure did But this generation This generation of young teenagers and college students There's something different about these young people There's there's a there's a fire in their souls And I believe that god is raising up a new generation of billy grams and billy sundays I believe god is raising up a new generation of champions for christ young men and women who are Unashamed of the gospel and I want to tell you about one of those individuals Roy cosner 18 years old He's the high school student in liberty south carolina And roey's a good baptist kid like myself His daddy is the youth pastor of the local baptist church there and roey is smart as a whip Roy was named the valedictorian of his graduating class so he got to deliver the big speech And so roey got to working on that speech and he was so proud of what he think Thank the lord for saving him and for help helping carry him over some difficult times in his high school career It was a great speech Roy got called to the principal's office though and they said roey you got to let us take a look at that speech Five Five high school administrators looked at roey's speech And when he got that speech back they had marked through Every reference to god jesus the bible The whole nine yards roey told me it looked like one of those nsa documents everything was redacted in black Roy was perplexed because that was the speech that god had laid on his heart to give So he went to go talk to his dad the youth pastor and like a good youth pastor He said son go talk to the senior pastor and so roey Now the last service got that one so Now and so roey went to go talk to the senior pastor and they prayed about it And they prayed about it and then graduation day came Now these were not these were not dumb educators, okay They were smart and they they suspected that roey might pull a fast one So what they did was they put that government approved speech right here on the platform And they would not allow roey to walk up on that stage without one without anything in his hands no no piece of paper nothing But those silly educators weren't counting on the power of the holy spirit because let me tell you what happened Roy costner said there was a stirring inside of his soul as he walked up onto that stage And as he walked to that platform He took that government approved speech in his hands just like this and he tore it in half And he set it aside and in front of his grandma and grandpa and mama and daddy and the entire graduating class Roy costner committed an act of civil disobedience He asked the audience to stand to their feet and he said our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name Roy costner took a stand And so my fellow brothers and sisters I ask you this right here this morning Who among you is willing to stand with the roi costner's of the world Who among us is willing to stand right here and now in the face of adversity and persecution You know, they may demand to know the contents of our prayers. They may try to shut down our bakeries They may try to silence our voices, but brothers and sisters. We will not be silenced We will not be intimidated a chicago pastor said this We do not bow down to the republican elephant. We do not bow down to the democratic donkey We bow down to the lion of juda the king of kings and lord of lords Now now I want to say this This is why I wrote godless america Because we need to know the truth We need to know what's happening in our countries Many of my stories have come from folks just like you who send me an email and say mr. Starnes You're not going to believe what they tried to teach my kid at school today Mr. Starnes, you're not going to believe what they're trying to teach my child about islam in the school Mr. Starnes, you're not going to believe what they told my soldier son I tell those stories That's what I do And after the service this morning I'm going to be out there in the back and I want to I want you to come by and say hello If even if you don't get a book I want you to come I want to shake your hand Because we are in this together We need to understand we have to stand up for religious liberty in our country You know the shocking thing about nagme abedini and I was one of the first folks to be able to tell her story What a precious precious woman But the fact of the matter is I was Righteously indignant when I discovered that she has yet to receive a telephone call from her president To assure her that this country is doing everything it can to bring her husband back home We've got to stand together Now I know things may appear to be hopeless But friends hope is not lost You know one of my favorite songs was sung by a man by the name of steve green back in the day He's saying these words. Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful May the fire of our devotion light their way May the footprints That we leave lead them to believe And the lives we live inspire them to obey The responsibility is ours moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas We have to stand alongside this new generation We have to stand alongside them as they march in the streets We have to stand alongside of them If heaven forbid the time comes that they're thrown into jail We have to stand with them The footprints they may be few and that flame may be flickering But there are still footsteps And there's still a spark And we know that true hope and change cannot be found in the halls of congress We know that true hope and change cannot be found at 1600 pennsylvania avenue We know that true hope and change can only be found at the cross of calvary And a life changed by the redeeming blood of jesus christ. Oh precious is the flow That makes me white as snow. No other found. I know nothing nothing but the blood of jesus So rise up. Oh men of god and rise up. Oh women of god And let the cry go out from the hill country of texas to the concrete canyons of new york city That these united states brothers and sisters are still And may they always be One nation under god. Thank you very much and god bless you