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Category Archives: Coronavirus

Lee Edwards: Presidential Prayers: Turning to God in Times of Need 0 (0)

by Lee Edwards

Since the founding of the Republic, Americans have appealed to God in times of crisis. From George Washington to Donald Trump, our presidents have been no exception.

One of Ronald Reagan’s favorite images was that of Gen. George Washington kneeling in the snow at Valley Forge, when the American cause seemed hopeless. That image, Reagan said, “personified a people who knew it was not enough to depend on their own courage and goodness; they must also seek help from God, their Father and their Preserver.”

Abraham Lincoln turned to God time and again. His Emancipation Proclamation, for example, ends with the words:

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, … I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

Lincoln captured the necessity of our leaders’ having a relationship with God when he said: “I would be the most foolish person on this footstool earth if I believed for one moment that I could perform the duties assigned to me without the help of one who is wiser than all.”

In war and peace, our presidents have called upon the Almighty, as did Franklin D. Roosevelt in his address to Congress asking for a declaration of war against Japan after the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor: “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.”

In announcing that D-Day had arrived and the invasion of France was underway, Roosevelt closed his national radio address with a heartfelt prayer that conceded the certain cost of the operation:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy Kingdom.

One of the most famous invocations of World War II was the weather prayer requested by Gen. George Patton, eager to advance against the Germans in the critical Battle of the Bulge but blocked by unrelenting winter weather. The Rev. James O’Neill prayed:

Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend.

Grant us fair weather for battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.

Miracle of miracles, the snow stopped; the skies cleared, and Patton’s 3rd Army, unleashed, went on to crush the Germans and help end the war in Europe.

Thousands of miles away in the South Pacific, God also was invoked. After Japan had unconditionally surrendered, President Harry Truman declared Aug. 19, 1945, to be a day of prayer and acknowledged God’s essential role:

[Our victory] has come with the help of God, who was with us in the early days of adversity and disaster, and Who has now brought us to this glorious day of triumph. Let us give thanks to Him, and remember that we have now dedicated ourselves to follow in His ways to a lasting and just peace and to a better world.

Prayer is integral to America. A National Day of Prayer was first proposed by the Second Continental Congress in 1775, again by Lincoln in 1863, and then made a national tradition in 1988 by Reagan, who designated the first Thursday of May as a National Day of Prayer.

Reagan recognized God’s enduring presence in our nation’s history and made no secret of it.

In May 1982, for example, the 40th president proclaimed: “Through the storms of revolution, Civil War, and the great world wars as well as during times of disillusionment and disarray, the nation has turned to God in prayer for deliverance. We thank Him for answering our call, for, surely, He has.”

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in September 2001, a somber President George W. Bush, speaking from the Oval Office, asked the nation to pray for the victims:

I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security have been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.’

Our current president has followed his predecessors in confessing his belief in God’s saving power.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit America, Trump quickly proclaimed March 14 to be a National Day of Prayer. Reminding us that “no problem is too big for God to handle,” the president said:

As one nation under God, we are greater than the hardships we face, and through prayers and acts of compassion and love, we will rise to this challenge and emerge stronger and more united than ever before.

One constant in our presidents has been their acknowledgement of the need for prayer in our lives.

Barack Obama, that most self-contained of all presidents, asserted at a National Prayer Breakfast held as the nation struggled to emerge from the Great Recession: “What better time than these changing tumultuous times to have Jesus standing beside us, steadying our minds, cleansing our hearts, pointing us toward what matters?”

Today, as we face an increasingly deadly national epidemic, a National Day of Prayer is a powerful idea.

An even more powerful idea is a daily prayer, by individuals of all faiths, to a loving God who we know will hear us and keep us and give us peace.


Lee Edwards is the distinguished fellow in conservative thought at The Heritage Foundation’s B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics. A leading historian of American conservatism, Edwards has published 25 books, including “Just Right: A Life in Pursuit of Liberty.”

Wayne Allyn Root: The Lessons of Coronavirus 0 (0)

by Wayne Allyn Root

There are many lessons to be learned from this coronavirus crisis. To quote former President Barack Obama, this is a “teachable moment.”

First, I’m on record. I warned about the dangers of this pandemic when few knew it even existed. So I think I’m justified to now report we are all overreacting at this point. Eighty-one percent of those infected develop mild symptoms. This is certainly going to be a hit to the global economy. But the sky isn’t falling.

The lessons of coronavirus:

1. Always expect the best, but prepare for the worst. Get educated and prepared just in case. That doesn’t mean you should become hysterical, stop shopping, stop traveling and sell off stocks. In the long run, I always bet on America.

2. Thank President Donald Trump for quickly restricting flights from China to just a few airports, a brilliant move. I remember when America was threatened by Ebola and Obama refused to cancel flights from Africa — a tragic, naive mistake that could have killed thousands of Americans. We got lucky. Now we have a president who acts decisively and doesn’t depend on luck.

3. This is living proof that President Trump is right about creating “Fortress America.” Now, more than ever, we need walls and secure borders. We must know everything about every person entering our country. Democrats support open borders. That’s pure madness. Open borders will lead to disease, death and massive damage to business, stocks, tourism and — worst of all — the Vegas economy.

4. President Trump is correct about government-run health care. Democrats want government in charge of every aspect of our health care. That’s a disaster. Ask the people of China. Communist China’s incompetent and botched response to this crisis is proof that the last thing we want is government in charge. The odds are America holds up dramatically better because our private health care is the best in the world. You want the Department of Motor Vehicles or the IRS in charge of health care? I don’t.

5. If I get coronavirus, I want an American doctor who earns $1 million a year as my physician. If you put government in charge and turn doctors into government bureaucrats, you’ll attract the worst to medicine, not the best and brightest.

6. This is living proof that Trump is right about “America First.” We need our supply chains right here in the United States. It is a matter of national security to manufacture antibiotics, prescription drugs, masks and other medical supplies inside America.

7. Odds are the coronavirus vaccine will be developed in a capitalist nation. No socialist will ever find the cure. Why? Because capitalism works. The scientist or doctor who finds the cure will make a lot of money. God bless capitalism.

8. Israeli scientists claim they are only three weeks away from a vaccine. If that’s correct, what will Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib say? The most prominent Democrats want to boycott Israel. Democratic presidential candidates just boycotted the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Will all the Israel haters refuse the vaccine? Will all the miserable liberals who support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement boycott the vaccine? Will Iran and other Muslim nations that chant, “Death to Israel,” refuse the vaccine?

9. Lastly, stop listening to hysterical coverage from the biased, liberal mainstream media. They’ve failed a thousand times in three years to bring down the Trump economy. They screamed, “Recession is already here.” Each time they were wrong. The media’s track record is miserable. If they say we’re headed for disaster, my guess is things are going to turn out just fine.

TH: https://townhall.com/columnists/wayneallynroot/2020/03/01/the-lessons-of-coronavirus-n2562338


Wayne Allyn Root is a CEO, entrepreneur, best-selling author, nationally syndicated talk show host on USA Radio Network and the host of “The Wayne Allyn Root Show” on Newsmax TV nightly at 8 p.m. ET.