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Millennial Takeaways From a Traditional Summit held for Conservative Christians

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The 17th annual Values Voter Summit carried a poignantly unique tone this year.

While the event, held each fall in the nation's capital, routinely boasts conservative values, it carried a narrative of new hope for religious liberties and pro-life activism this year.

Family Research Council President, Tony Perkins, told CBN News that President Donald Trump is a crucial element to  part of this hope.

"President Trump not only re-emphasized the importance of religious freedom at the summit, but he went further to articulate his commitment to protecting religious freedom. There's still skepticism among some Christians. Understandable, but look what he's done, look at his policies," Perkins said.

"We may not have the same theological holdings but he's made a commitment to protect and promote religious freedom in this country. He's made a commitment to protect the unborn. He's doing it, and not just in words. He's following through with his promises more than any other president in my lifetime," Perkins also commented.

President Trump served as a keynote speaker this month at the Values Voter Summit 2017 and delivered a message saturated in support for religious liberties.

"The American Founders invoked our Creator four times in the Declaration of Independence – four times. How times have changed. But you know what, now they're changing back again. Just remember that," Trump said.

Speakers from across the professional spectrum encouraged those in attendance to stay strong in their faith - regardless of the oppression they face.

Millennials made up a large demographic of the overall attendance showing a strong alliance with the summit's agenda.

Millenial Ben Webb identified a problem of communication among our culture today,

"There's a fierce cultural divide based in where people find their political association. But as far as critical thinking goes there aren't enough people asking "why" to important issues. They receive a half-decent answer and because they're uneducated or willing to be satisfied with whatever answer they're given, they just go with it," Webb said.

Jordan Stuart identified media as a means of coercing Christians from focusing on their faith.

"I think a big issue that Christians have to deal with is the rise in social media. Our generation, more than others, has to battle our own issues but now we have the added burden of social media and the sin and distraction that it adds. Everywhere you go it's thrown at you," Stuart told CBN News.

When asked if faith belongs in politics, two interns with Family Research Center had this insight to share:

"Culture affects what we see in the Supreme Court. Cases of students bringing their Bibles to school, Obergefell (Obergefell v. Hodges), and now bakers having to compromise their faith to fit contemporary policy...those cases got there because of failures that conservatives, and especially Christians, have had throughout their time in society," Nicholas Hamilton said.

"Rather than saying that Christ is separate than all of these things, you need to let Christ go into all of those things. If you're following God in every area of your life then it's going to permeate in the area of places that people say it doesn't belong but as a Christian there is no other alternative than that faith belongs everywhere," Bailey Johnson told CBN News.
 

 

 

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About The Author

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John Wesley
Reid

John Wesley Reid is a senior fellow with the Hungary Foundation. Before moving to Budapest, John worked in Washington, D.C. for over six years covering politics, the Supreme Court, and church relations within the political sphere. John studied political science at Biola University and is an alumnus of Hillsdale College’s James Madison Fellowship. During his tenure in D.C., John was the editor-in-chief of Liberty University's Freedom Center, a producer with CBN News, digital media director for the Family Research Council, and he is a contributing author for various publications. John is a