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Consider This from NPR

A prayer festival calls for more religion in politics, not less

Consider This from NPR

NPR

News, Daily News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A prayer festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC was partially organized and funded by the federal government. Its evangelical Christian messaging and call for more religion in politics not less, aligns with the Trump administration's fusion of faith and governance. NPR's Emily Feng went to the event to understand the audience for this approach, and she spoke with author Eric Metaxas, a speaker at the Rededicate 250 festival.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story.

0:04.5

On the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, thousands of people gathered as part of a prayer event, partially funded and organized by the Trump administration called Rededicate 250.

0:15.4

I went down to understand what the organizers were looking to achieve and why many people traveled a long distance to come.

0:22.2

We're standing here on the lawn pretty close. We can see the Washington Monument.

0:27.0

There are people streaming in as we speak. People are singing in the background. They've set up picnic blankets.

0:32.3

And they're all here to rededicate the nation, as they say, to God.

0:36.8

The scene was striking.

0:38.1

The stage was set up to look like a mix of a church and a federal building with a really

0:42.4

large white cross.

0:44.2

I spoke to Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service about what he noticed.

0:48.2

The security here is super tight, bigger than I've seen for most events or protests or demonstrations

0:53.6

on the mall.

0:55.1

I've been talking to people in the crowd, and it is overwhelmingly evangelical folks who identify

0:59.7

as evangelical or with non-denominational churches.

1:03.8

Visually, it's a lot of folks wearing USA gear, which tracks,

1:07.8

given that this is supposed to be part of a 250th celebration of the United

1:11.3

States, but also a lot of crosses emblazoned on those shirts.

1:15.5

I spoke to one group of women who were all wearing one nation under God shirts, and they told me

1:21.0

that they saw this as rededicating America to God and that that is long overdue.

1:26.6

So a very particular subset of Christianity seems to be deeply represented here today.

1:31.7

It was a nine-hour event, and because of that tight security, many people waited hours to get in.

1:37.6

When President Trump addressed the crowd via video, there were cheers.

...

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