While giving a commencement speech at Liberty University, Vice President Mike Pence warned against declining religious freedoms in the United States. Pence said freedom of religious is “under assault” and shared his own experiences of being attacked for his Christian faith.
He said, “We live in a time when it’s become acceptable and even fashionable to ridicule and even discriminate against people of faith.”
Later, he added, “Throughout most of American history, it’s been pretty easy to call yourself a Christian. It didn’t even occur to people that you might be shunned or ridiculed for defending the teachings of the Bible. But things are different now. Some of the loudest voices for tolerance today have little tolerance for traditional Christian beliefs. So as you go about your daily life, be ready. Because you’re going to be asked not just to tolerate things that violate your faith. You’re going to be asked to endorse them. You’re going to be asked to bow down to the idols of the popular culture.
“So you need to prepare your minds for action, men and women. You need to show that we can love God and love our neighbor at the same time through words and deeds. And you need to be prepared to meet opposition. … But just know this: if like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego you end up in the fire, there’ll be another in the fire.”
Watch the full speech here.