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Speaking to a very enthusiastic crowd in Poland yesterday, President Trump said the people of the West are "crying out for God."
He told the crowd that communist rule advanced a brutal campaign to demolish your faith and your freedom and even your identity.
He reminded them of their united prayer in the first Mass conducted by Pope John Paul II on June 2, 1979, saying he believes that was a turning point in Poland.
The secular press missed----intentionally or otherwise---the essence of President Trump's speech to the people of Poland yesterday.
The first news reports out of Europe yesterday read like this: "President Donald Trump browbeat Russia on Thursday for its 'destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran, and urged Vladimir Putin's government to join the US and its allies in the fight against violent extremism."
They continued: "...in front of a memorial to the Warsaw Uprising, Trump railed against 'the steady creep of government bureaucracy, radical terrorism, and powers that seek to test our will, undermine our confidence and challenge our interests."
Yes, the president was direct in his comments regarding Russia and terrorism, but a careful listener would have heard much more---if they wanted to hear it.
I read the text of his speech and watched the video.
He said, "Through four decades of communist rule, Poland and the other captive nations of Europe endured a brutal campaign to demolish freedom, your faith, your laws, your history, your identity---indeed the very essence of your humanity."
"In those dark days," he said, "you have lost your land, but you never lost your pride."
I heard him speaking in defense of faith and freedom and family.
Our president recalled how on June 2, 1979, Poles gathered for their first Mass with Polish Pope John Paul II.
He said the communists in Poland must have known that day was a turning point.
Spiritual renewal always precedes political renewal.
President Trump said, "They must have known that exact moment during Pope John Paul II's sermon when a million Polish men, women and children suddenly raised their voices in a single prayer. A million Polish people did not ask for wealth. They did not ask for privilege. Instead, one million Poles sang three simple words, 'We Want God'."
He continued, "As I stand here today before this incredible crowd, this faithful nation, we can still hear those voices that echo through history. Their message is as true today as ever. The people of Poland, the people of America, and the people of Europe still cry out 'We Want God'."
Railing? Browbeating? I didn't see or hear that. I heard straight talk and historical accuracy, in the spirit of conviction.
The president spoke at length of the way Polish people worked and risked their own lives to protect the Jews from the Nazi's who sought to exterminate their race.
He talked about the famous "Jerusalem Avenue" and the "Warsaw Uprising"---and how the actions of the Polish people have been driven by their spiritual convictions and values.
He said this about "Jerusalem Avenue":
In August of 1944, Jerusalem Avenue was one of the main roads running east and west through this city, just as it is today.
Control of that road was crucially important to both sides in the battle for Warsaw. The German military wanted it as their most direct route to move troops and to form a very strong front. And for the Polish Home Army, the ability to pass north and south across that street was critical to keep the center of the city, and the Uprising itself, from being split apart and destroyed.
Every night, the Poles put up sandbags amid machine gun fire -- and it was horrendous fire -- to protect a narrow passage across Jerusalem Avenue. Every day, the enemy forces knocked them down again and again and again. Then the Poles dug a trench. Finally, they built a barricade. And the brave Polish fighters began to flow across Jerusalem Avenue. That narrow passageway, just a few feet wide, was the fragile link that kept the Uprising alive.
Between its walls, a constant stream of citizens and freedom fighters made their perilous, just perilous, sprints. They ran across that street, they ran through that street, they ran under that street -- all to defend this city. "The far side was several yards away," recalled one young Polish woman named Greta. That mortality and that life was so important to her. In fact, she said, "The mortally dangerous sector of the street was soaked in the blood. It was the blood of messengers, liaison girls, and couriers."
Nazi snipers shot at anybody who crossed. Anybody who crossed, they were being shot at. Their soldiers burned every building on the street, and they used the Poles as human shields for their tanks in their effort to capture Jerusalem Avenue. The enemy never ceased its relentless assault on that small outpost of civilization. And the Poles never ceased its defense...
The memories of those who perished in the Warsaw Uprising cry out across the decades, and few are clearer than the memories of those who died to build and defend the Jerusalem Avenue crossing. Those heroes remind us that the West was saved with the blood of patriots; that each generation must rise up and play their part in its defense -- (applause) -- and that every foot of ground, and every last inch of civilization, is worth defending with your life.
Our own fight for the West does not begin on the battlefield -- it begins with our minds, our wills, and our souls. Today, the ties that unite our civilization are no less vital, and demand no less defense, than that bare shred of land on which the hope of Poland once totally rested. Our freedom, our civilization, and our survival depend on these bonds of history, culture, and memory.
As I read and listened to his speech, I recalled my own time in Poland, working with pastors around the country--- and living with a Protestant pastor and his family of 6 in their two-room 400 square foot flat on the 4th floor of a 200-year-old building.
I saw the scars on his back from multiple beatings---simply because he was a Christian pastor. I got to know his kids.
I'll share more of this today on my live radio program. You may join me live from anywhere in the world at 9 AM PDT. Here's how.
I heard and read President Trump's words to the Polish and to the world in the context of this statement: "We can have the largest economies and the most lethal weapons anywhere on Earth, but if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive."
"We want God."
Be Informed. Be Bold. Be Thankful. Be Prayerful.