On Monday, President Donald Trump launched the "America Prays" initiative to encourage Americans to pray for unity and return to the country's faith-based founding as the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches. He also spoke about protecting religious liberty and promoting prayer and Bible reading in public schools.
As the first football coach to implement a full-time chaplain in the 1990s, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) applauded Trump's initiative and said it was vital for the future of America.
"We have to put structure back in this country. If you're going to have a team like we have in the United States of America, we have to have something to believe in," Tuberville said on Fox Business Network's "Kudlow." "And we have the Democratic Party that's fighting against all of this."
He continued, "I started prayer back on college football teams back in 1995. I was the first coach to implement a full-time team chaplain for a football program. Now, today, 30 years later, we have one in almost every school across the country. And that's where you have to start. You have to start in the family, you have to start in schools. Prayer in schools, Bible in schools, when we kicked it out and we turned God the other direction, our country turned the other direction."
Tuberville said having something to believe in and lean on can help people work through difficult times.
"There's many times that I've got on my hands and knees, and you don't ask for God to give you anything; you ask just for the opportunity. And that's all we need in this country is an opportunity," he said.
Citing rampant crime in major cities, murder and problems with mental health and addiction, Tuberville said, "The only thing that's going to help us is God and God's prayer."
But the healing won't come easily with Democrats likely to push back hard against any promotion of religion, he said.
"President Trump will get a major pushback on this by the liberal media. It's coming," Tuberville said. "They're coming after him because they don't believe in this. They want to keep the Bible out. They want to keep prayer out. They want to destroy the family. By doing that, it's going to bring this country under."
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