Sekulow

Will Haines: Welcome to Sekulow and happy Friday to you all. I'm Will Haines, and we're going to be talking about the fact that Congress is out of session. They have been sent home early as they all will be campaigning to keep their jobs in the House of Representatives, as we are only 46 days away from the midterm elections. Now, this isn't that early; they would be going home soon anyways. But Speaker Johnson decided to adjourn the House a little early because, surprise, surprise, Thomas Massie decided he would try to have one last shot at relevancy before he drifts off into obscurity without a job in the House anymore. He introduced articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for what he said are waging unconstitutional military operations in Iran and Yemen. But that, as it were, would eat up time that is pointless. So, the Speaker of the House decided let's just go home early. Now, there are some that aren't happy about that. There are members of Congress like Representative Ralph Norman from South Carolina saying canceling yet another day of votes is unacceptable. He goes on to how many days they've not been voting and that the founders didn't envision taking this much time off and still getting paid, etc. This is kind of where the country is around Congress on both sides, though. There is so much obstructionism between the opposite party and so many times even within the own party that they can't get an agenda through because they can't agree about what an agenda is. And that's what we're seeing here. The Republicans in the House have had a little bit harder time coalescing than those on the left, mainly because there is a much broader spectrum of ideas within the Republican Party. So, you end up with people who were Republicans like Thomas Massie, who seem to disagree with everything that the Republican Party is trying to get done in Congress, and it becomes obstructionism in its own party. But in 46 days, the country will decide about who controls Congress, and then at the beginning of the year in January, that will be one mark of a new Congress, and we'll see who is in charge. But we also will see the second half of the Trump administration. It's half over, folks. That's wild that we have gotten here so quickly with all that has gone on. But today we're also going to talk about a lot of the work of the ACLJ, because I won't beleaguer you with just talk of Congress, a very polarizing subject. They always say that people, when asked polling questions, despise the institution of Congress. They say, "Oh, it's broken, nothing's getting done." But they tend to really like their own member of Congress. So, when you see opinion polls that Congress isn't working, it's the lowest-rated American institution when it comes to favorability, it's not always like they just are going to throw everyone out. Voters tend to vote for their incumbent who they like; they typically like that person to remain representing them. So, we'll see what happens in November. We'll see what the balance of power shakes out and we'll see what that agenda looks like for the President of the United States in the second half of his presidency. But today we also want to show a lot of the work that we have done this week and showcased throughout the week from the ACLJ, whether it be victories for our clients in Colorado where pastors and churches can continue their ministry by reaching a good settlement with the city in Colorado, or whether it be victories for clients in Pakistan, or whether it be topics like what's going on in pop culture with Macklemore and his cancellation, yet everywhere you see him being more popular than ever due to his support of the Palestinian cause, despite his racist trope past. But you can support the work of the ACLJ. You can support this broadcast. You can support the legal work that you're going to hear about coming up in the next segment by going to aclj.org and donating today. Every dollar counts. No gift is too small. Aclj.org, give today.
Guest (Male): The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, and our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedom, defending your rights in court, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line: we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at aclj.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today at aclj.org.
Guest (Male): Welcome to the all-new ACLJ app. Expert analysis and insight Big Tech can't censor. Customize your news and get real-time alerts on the issues you care about. Advocacy is now at your fingertips. Take action, make a difference. Support the causes you care about with just one tap. Be the first to know; breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox. Everything you need, all in one place. Stay informed, stay empowered. Download today.
Logan Sekulow: We are so excited to announce the ACLJ's brand-new app, completely redesigned to provide you with the best tools available to partner with us at the ACLJ. You can watch the daily Sekulow program, sign the petitions, customize your ACLJ membership experience, donate with the click of a button, and receive up-to-the-minute critical updates that the mainstream media can't censor. Just scan the QR code on your screen or go to your phone's App Store, search ACLJ, and click Install. It's that simple.
Will Haines: Just saw a bit of a flashback if you were watching online, which, by the way, you should be watching online. It's a great place to interact with the show. There's a great chat feature. If you're on YouTube or on Rumble, you can get involved that way. But also you get to see us, which is always nice, and you see our pretty faces. Well, but along with that, during the commercial breaks, you get special video presentations our team put together. We just flashed back to earlier this year with one of our lawyers, Garrett Taylor, who led this. You can actually read what he wrote on our website right now. If you go to aclj.org, you can see the article about this case, so you can go to that and really get more of a deep dive on the history of this case. Again, it's been a little over a year of working. We've been talking about it for nearly a year. The ACLJ again stood alongside these pastors and church members to make sure that they were able to still practice—not just again, having a church service or something like this. This was an outreach to people in need that was being shut down. The city saying you can do a lot of things in the public park; helping people? No, that's not one of them. But the ACLJ was able to work hard and work with them, by the way, too, to get what is really a victory for our clients to continue again this ministry to people who are in need, and specifically people who are homeless and that really could use the support of the church. It's what the church is called to do. And now that we were headed towards discovery in the lawsuit phase, we were able to create a settlement, work together, our ACLJ lawyers and this team, to really develop a collaborative effort to make sure that sort of this newly proposed language protects everyone. It's really again a big moment. It took months; it took months of our team working hard on this. And again, what this does is, of course, it affects the local community there in Colorado, but it also starts building precedent for what we can take around the country if needed.
Will Haines: Well, and once again, I want to point this out because of the hard work of our team. The criminal citations that were issued to pastors and church members that were using the park for their ministry, they were issued on September 18th of 2025. We were able to receive the client, fight back, get the criminal charges dropped, as well as file a federal lawsuit and get a settlement in less than a year. That for the work of the speed of things is remarkable because going through the court system, as you all know if you watch this broadcast, takes a long time sometimes. So, just even that, three days shy of a year, and we're talking about the repealing of the ordinance that happened last night and replacement with something new. That is remarkably quick because also we mentioned we were able to come to this settlement. There was positive outreach from the city as we neared this discovery phase. We had multiple potential resolutions in conferences and then developed this collaborative effort among the parties that crafted this new proposed ordinance that would replace the old one. Going into the discovery phase takes a lot of man-hours; it takes a lot of interviews, depositions, as well as documents, going through all of that. That was about to be a big chunk of even our attorney's time moving forward towards the end of this year as this lawsuit progressed. So, not only are we able to get this for our clients, and everyone is happy in Colorado as they are able to continue their ministry, as well as the city is able to still have restrictions that they deem to be safety for the parties. But we pointed out in our lawsuit, Logan, that it wasn't just the old ordinance was not broad for the safety of everyone. It was specifically targeting those that in the way it was being applied, that were religious groups doing ministry work. That's what was being targeted.
Logan Sekulow: And remember, I need to clarify. We're here celebrating this, but this may be happening in your hometown. It may be happening to you. Remember that the ACLJ team is there for you at no cost. Remember, no bill was ever sent to these pastors or to this church. That's not how this works here. Thankfully, people like you support the work of the ACLJ, and because you do that, we're able to represent all of these amazing clients that need our help for absolutely no cost. By the way, those clients one day may be you. It maybe it could be you right now, and you may be watching this going, "I think this is happening to me." And maybe you thought you were helpless or hopeless and you didn't think it was worthwhile. Well, you know what? There's a real easy way. You just go to aclj.org/help, fill out a simple like just survey, couple quick questions. If it's within the scope of the work here at the ACLJ—religious freedom matters, of course constitutional crises that maybe occur—we'll jump into action. We get our team of lawyers on it immediately. You get attached to a lawyer pretty much immediately and told whether or not this is something the ACLJ can do. And if it is, we jump into action. The legal system moves slow. This is one of the faster ones, and it was nearly a year. So, you got to remember that. So, if you feel like this is happening to you, don't wait. Jump in now. Call ACLJ or get involved with ACLJ even by going to aclj.org/help and be a part of this big movement that is happening. Because we can get things done. We can get things done that again, you may go, "This is a small potatoes. This is looking at what's happening here in Colorado; this is a public park in Colorado in this one community. Who cares?" Who cares? Obviously, the people of this community, who they are ministering to, people that need food, people that need supplies, people that are struggling, people that need Jesus. Who does it also affect? Obviously, the pastors, the churches, the people who run the ministry. And inevitably, the wake goes beyond them, and it gets to you. Somewhere in this country, this is happening somewhere else, and we need to know about it. That's why the ACLJ team is continually fighting for this. It means nearly a year of fighting for these Colorado churches. Again, cited for so many different things, including just worshipping in the park. But we have new language. The ACLJ team was able to work. And that's also the truth here, too. You know what would be a lot better for a lot of organizations like ours? To say we're not going to settle, we're going to take this thing all the way, we're going to battle it out in the court system, we're going to make sure that we squeeze every second out of this. But that is not what our team does here. We go for the win. We go for what's the victory for the client. And that may take two days, it may take two years, it may take twenty years. But we're not going to do this because the organization decides, "Oh, we think it's better for us in fundraising to stretch this out over years and years and years." There are cases that go years and years. Trust me, I would much rather have our team be able to move on. And thankfully, we're able to find some common sense with some people here in Colorado, work with them, rework this language to make sure that our clients are represented fairly.
Will Haines: That's right, and that's exactly what you see here. When you look at the lawsuit, and I encourage everyone go read on aclj.org. Garrett Taylor, who really did a great job on this, was able to work with the city and able to come to this agreement. But as we said, it's up at aclj.org, has a lot of other information, which actually can help, as you were talking, other people that may be in situations like this. When they read the things about this ordinance was, we challenged it in the lawsuit on vagueness and overbreadth, not narrowly tailored, religious targeting, viewpoint discrimination. When you read the descriptions of that, you may think, "Oh, that's exactly what I've seen happening in my own town with this ordinance or with my church group," because this isn't a novel thing that happened here in Colorado. This is something that city councils and local governments do across the country. You have to challenge it when it is discriminating against one group, and that's what we challenged here. And as you mentioned, he was able to then work with the city council not only to repeal that ordinance that was bad law that was affecting our client, but also to make something stronger for everyone. So, that's where they've passed a new ordinance that is able to govern the city parks, the usage of city parks, so it doesn't completely hamstring the city to be able to protect its citizens. But it also isn't targeting the church members that are using the public facilities that anyone has access to, to conduct their ministry. And so, it's a very important balance that you see around the country. But when the government decides we're sending police officers, we're going to criminally cite people for their involvement in ministry, that's when it goes too far. And sometimes it may even be that the ordinance never had that intended effect, that it wasn't like you had members of city council sitting around thinking, "We're really going to get those church groups." But then that's how in practicality it plays out with the police and the way it's enforced. We can work together sometimes, and that's what you saw here in Colorado. I do think it is important. Once again, we talk about it; this was done in under a year. We really started the representation back in February. It also takes people that realize my rights are being violated to contact a group like the ACLJ. Sometimes, as you say, it's easier for a church to be like, "We'll just go to a different place. It's not worth it." Sometimes we need a wake-up call, and hopefully this show can be one of those for you today. I encourage you, if you feel like you're so moved to support the work of the ACLJ, it's a great time to do it. Go to aclj.org right now, and if you can make a donation, I'll earmark today as those of you who are reaching out specifically because of people like this, when these victories for our clients can happen. And a lot of times they tell me the fundraising group that we work with, our team here that does a lot of that, they go, "Logan, sometimes victories, sometimes successes, they don't always move the needle, if you will." And I always say, "I got to—we got to celebrate. We got to celebrate when the ACLJ team does incredible work." So, celebrate with us today. If you can support, support financially. If you just want to call in, say a thanks or a prayer to our team, to these churches. I see former members of these churches in the chat. Give me a call at 1-800-684-3110. 1-800-684-3110. I'll take calls in the next segment. We're also going to give you a little bit of the news of the day of what's going on around the world, but I had to start off with this great news. We'll be right back.
Guest (Male): Welcome to the all-new ACLJ app. Expert analysis and insight Big Tech can't censor. Customize your news and get real-time alerts on the issues you care about. Advocacy is now at your fingertips. Take action, make a difference. Support the causes you care about with just one tap. Be the first to know; breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox. Everything you need, all in one place. Stay informed, stay empowered. Download today.
Logan Sekulow: We are so excited to announce the ACLJ's brand-new app, completely redesigned to provide you with the best tools available to partner with us at the ACLJ. You can watch the daily Sekulow program, sign the petitions, customize your ACLJ membership experience, donate with the click of a button, and receive up-to-the-minute critical updates that the mainstream media can't censor. Just scan the QR code on your screen or go to your phone's App Store, search ACLJ, and click Install. It's that simple.
Guest (Male): For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedom, defending your rights in court, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at aclj.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. Aclj.org.
Will Haines: Before we get to some of the news of the day that we want to hit you with, there's also another victory the ACLJ team was able to secure, and this is one that happens worldwide. You know, I wanted to hit domestic front first because I think that those connect with you on a personal level. Maybe you've been involved in one of these ministries to the communities that are in need in your local area. You can feel it, you can connect with it. Sometimes we take things overseas and I'll be honest that I feel like some of it gets, if you want to say, quote-unquote "lost in translation" because it's hard to imagine what the world is like for Christians in different nations that don't respect your religious beliefs or religious freedom like we do here in America. But now I want the ACLJ world to go a little bit beyond what we do here in this country, because we have another success to report.
Logan Sekulow: That's right. And when you look at these cases, sometimes it seems almost hopeless, but we fight very hard and we get results in places even like Pakistan. This is the case of a now 19-year-old Christian in Pakistan, Zuba’im Masih. And when Zuba’im was arrested, he was 17 years old. He and four other Christians around his age were arrested in September of 2024. And they used these blasphemy laws that Pakistan has on the books still, and they use them to persecute Christians, local places especially. Their crime was publicly sharing their faith in Pakistan. According to the police complaint, one bystander filed with the police that they were offended because a young woman in the group, so not even our client, used a loudspeaker to preach that salvation comes only through Christ. So, the core tenet of the gospel, and that was an offensive message to the individual that reported it. And they also said it hurt the religious feelings of other Muslims nearby. We represented this individual and are pleased to announce today, and I got this very early in the morning, that our client Zuba’im Masih and the other four co-defendants were all acquitted in that blasphemy charge today. Amazing. At the hearing, our team briefed the new judge; there was a new judge on this case. And this judge acquitted everyone, including the defendants that weren't our client. So, our team was able to get victory not just for our client that we've been representing, but all the others as well. Because at the end of the day, we will fight for religious liberty all around the world. And we know that in places like Pakistan, it can be hard. But if we are there and we are on the ground and we are fighting, we can get victories like this. The judge, Muhammad Nasrallah, I don't believe was siding with the individuals because he's a Christian himself. Right, it is because our team was able to present the facts and the law and get them acquitted of these laws that shouldn't exist. Blasphemy laws should not exist. We still have other clients that we are fighting hard for as well. Some are on death row for very similar type charges. These were not facing the death penalty, fortunately, but we were able to get them acquitted completely, and that is such a wonderful victory to share today.
Will Haines: These are the real issues that are happening around the world. And this is why our team is so important. We're able to get lost sometimes in the news of the day here in the United States of America, and sometimes it feels trivial. But again, I come to you with these victories that our team is able to produce because of one, the hand of God, and because of people like you. And again, I'll be honest, and I'm not just saying this, by the way. I could probably show you an endless supply of calls and emails and meetings where the fundraising groups that fundraising committee kind of we work here with and that we work on, they'll tell you that these when we're putting out an email, whatever it is, that our audience doesn't seem to respond when we tell you about these victories. I want you today to prove them wrong. I encourage you to go to aclj.org, make a donation of any kind. It could be five dollars. I don't care. I want to see the number of donations skyrocket today because of this victory. So, maybe you already gave your seventy-five dollars, whatever it may be. Maybe you're already an ACLJ champion. It could be five bucks just so I can go back and say, "Listen, our viewers, our supporters, they care about these victories." They want to know about them, they want to be updated on them, because I love sharing them with you. It's the fun part of the job, if you will. We can get caught up in the deep and the dark and the disturbing, and look, plenty of days for that. It's not like we're living in a world where that doesn't happen every day. But there are some times where we can take a moment, praise God, and say thank you for what we've been able to accomplish here at the ACLJ. And that's what we've done the last 25 minutes of this show. That's it, only last 25 minutes, and we've got other news to cover. Rick Grenell's going to be joining us. We got a lot more to cover, but we've just given you two senses of what could be quote-unquote "victories," and really it's funny to kind of even say that because it's things that never should have happened in the first place. A Christian mission, essentially, being shut down from helping people in need in their community, feeding people who are homeless, all of these kind of things. And then in Pakistan, someone who is just talking about their faith, witnessing, because again we have to put in perspective what religious persecution is worldwide and how it is different than what is in America. In America, you may have a ministry shut down, and we're able to actually come up with a settlement, work with the city to figure this out, work with a county to figure this out, or a state or a government. There is some rationale here in these situations in Pakistan or over the world; you may not be able to get there. But thankfully, this time we were. And once again, why is it important also when you give to the ACLJ to continue these fights? Because the fights aren't over in Pakistan. This is a great victory to celebrate, but we have many other clients that still are on, some on death row, because of the very same charges, the very same laws that are on the books there. And we have to take that lawfare fight, because that's what they're using; they're using the law to persecute Christians in Pakistan. We have to take the fight there to make sure that it doesn't keep coming and encroaching here at home. We fight for those at home, which these are both equally great victories for people, but the persecution that we see in the United States, thankfully, is not at the level of putting you in prison or on death row for sharing your faith yet. But when you start to see what's happening in Europe, where they're not calling it blasphemy laws because they're not a state religion there that's saying you're offending our religion, but they are going after free speech in the UK, in France, in many of these places that are Western, that believe in the freedom of speech and religion on paper. But if you don't fight where it's happening, where it's so blatant blasphemy laws, when they start targeting your speech or your beliefs in Western countries, friendly countries, it creeps over the ocean back home. So, we can't just let a city ordinance stand if it violates the Constitution and the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, just like we can't let a blasphemy law in Pakistan stand because it is unjust and violates humanity. So, we are going to go, whether it's Pakistan or here, and continue that fight.
Logan Sekulow: Around the world, the ACLJ continues on. Now listen, in the next half hour, we do have a show, by the way, that continues on for the next half hour. And we do have phone lines open. I know you've been listening very closely, you've been watching very intently, but I want to hear from you. I know we haven't really given you an option to call in today very much because I haven't really posed this. But we are going to address the Supreme Court of the United States has made their decision on the mail-in balloting situation. Some of you may not be too thrilled. We're going to continue that conversation in the next half hour. Give me a call if you want to talk about it: 1-800-684-3110. Rick Grenell's going to be joining us. But again, we have a second half hour of the show. I want you to be a part of that second half hour. Find us broadcasting live on aclj.org, Facebook, YouTube, Rumble. We're there live, 12:00 to 1:00 PM Eastern Time each and every day. Of course, archived on however you get your podcasts immediately following the show. And we'll be right back. Second half hour coming up, and this is our shortest break, so give me a call. Less than a minute. We'll be right back.
Guest (Male): For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedom, defending your rights in court, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at aclj.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. Aclj.org.