history

Smithsonian Museum Has Transformed into Hub for Radical Anti-American Ideology

Instead of celebrating the good of America’s history, freedoms and achievements on our nation’s 250th birthday, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH) promotes a radical, activist ideology that denigrates America. 

President Donald J. Trump’s Domestic Policy Council recently released a report explaining that “NMAH has refused to celebrate the Nation and its history.” Museum staff and exhibits focus on issues like transgenderism, sexuality, climate change, economic inequality and race. 

The review, “Saving America’s Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage,” states that NMAH mostly ignores America’s history: 

It has not created any exhibit dedicated to presenting a general narrative of American history or telling the story of any of our Founding Fathers, the Second Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolutionary War, or the achievement of independence and the establishment of the constitutional rule of law – even in the 250th anniversary of the first of those pivotal events.

Visitors go to the museum to “encounter the story of the United States told with honesty, seriousness, and pride,’ “Saving America’s Story” says, adding that NMAH “should help the American people understand where America came from, what makes it distinctive, and why it is worth preserving.” 

Instead, visitors see an incomplete, radicalized, negative version of America. The report documents: 

  • The museum has “no major exhibit dedicated to America’s Founding era, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, other Founding Fathers, the Continental Congress, the Pilgrims, the Puritans, or major moments of the American Revolution, such as Washington’s crossing of the Delaware.” 
  • Exhibits – and education materials for teachers and students – proclaim false “transgender”ideology, “asserting that there are more than two genders, biological males can become ‘girls’ and ‘women,’ and men should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.”
  • Children are exposed to inappropriate material: The Girlhood (It’s Complicated) exhibit, designed for young children, includes “the pages of a 6-year-old girl’s diary where she expresses fear about ‘getting boobs’ and wishes for her nonexistent ‘penis to grow.’”
  • The museum does not focus on history, but it has become a “prime tool for social justice,” training up children to be activists who support illegal immigration and oppose enforcement of federal immigration laws; engage in anti-white activism; and despise American customs and laws.  
  • “In both theory and practice, NMAH is a clear and institutionalized example of intersectional critical theory – an intellectual framework rooted in Marxism that seeks to radically transform society by revealing and challenging alleged ‘overlapping systems of oppression.’”

The rot starts at the top, with Director Anthea M. Hartig, who “was appointed in December 2018 and took over the position in February 2019 with a starting salary of $300,000.” Bemoaning her “whiteness” and bourgeois upbringing, she “has explicitly stated that she sees history as a ‘prime tool of social justice.’” 

Rather than celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, Hartig said she wanted to “problematize” it. 

Hartig created and implemented NMAH’s “Interpretive Plan,” directing staff – regardless of the topic – to address “the core issues of our time,” including race and identity; gender and sexuality; environmental change; immigration and migrations; economic inequality; technological change; and nationalism and globalism. 

This is far from the roots and purpose of the Smithsonian Institution, which was created by Congress in 1846 after British scientist James Smithson bequeathed his entire estate to the United States to found “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” 

But as “Saving America’s Story” states, NMAH has been overrun by activists who have “moved the Museum’s mission away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.” 

The investigation into NMAH began after President Trump issued an executive order in March 2025, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” citing “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.” 

The order directed Vice President JD Vance, as a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, to eliminate “ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history.” 

The goal is to restore the museum to a place where Americans are reminded of “our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.” 

The Smithsonian Institute is a national treasure. Let’s hope the administration can achieve those goals. 

Read the report: “Saving America’s Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage”

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7 Prayers That Helped Save and Shape America

According to James, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (5:16).

But does prayer shape or even change history?

On this 75th anniversary of the National Day of Prayer, an annual observance that strives to mobilize and encourage believers to appeal to the Lord, it might be encouraging to consider just how often God has answered the cries of His people here in America.

Here are just seven:

1. The Thwarting of French Forces

Prior to the American Revolution, colonists recognized their desperate need for divine guidance.

The dramatic story is told of France’s violent plans to conquer New England and beyond in 1746. They sent 70 ships and over 13,000 men to get the job done. Word spread to Massachusetts. In response to news of the ominous invasion, Governor William Shirley called for a “Day of Prayer and Fasting.”

The Reverend Thomas Prince of Boston’s “Old South Church” gathered his congregation and prayed that God would thwart the attack. He prayed from the pulpit:

“Send Thy tempest, Lord, upon the water…scatter the ships of our tormentors!”

According to the record, the skies drew dark, the wind picked up, and even the church bells rang – even though nobody was there to ring them. A hurricane blew in from the Atlantic and sank the French fleet, killing over 2,000 of the troops. 

The famed poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote about the remarkably swift and decisive answer to prayer:


“Admiral d’Anville had sworn by cross and crown, to ravage with fire and steel our helpless Boston Town…From mouth to mouth spread tidings of dismay, I stood in the Old South saying humbly: ‘Let us pray!’…Like a potter’s vessel broke, the great ships of the line, were carried away as smoke or sank in the brine.”

A mere coincidence?

God answered their prayers.

2. The American Revolution

Just prior to the American Revolution, the Continental Congress called on the colonists to pray:

That we may with united hearts confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and by a sincere repentance and amendment of life appease His righteous displeasure…

God answered their prayers. 

3. The Brutal Winter at Valley Forge

During the brutal winter encampment at Valley Forge, George Washington called on his men to pray on countless occasions. Here is one prayer that was recorded:

O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords… prosper the means of education and spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth.

God answered their prayers. 

4. The Fog that Saved America

Many believe it was prayer that led to the Continental Army’s miraculous escape from Brooklyn in August 1776. Trapped, cornered, and vastly outnumbered, the 9,000 troops were only able to evade the British because of a dense fog that suddenly descended on the area. 

In the days following the daring escape, George Washington and his troops talked up the “providential” and “miraculous” fog. Previously bedraggled and demoralized, they took the night’s turn as a sign that God’s favor was upon them – and it gave them energy and hope to keep going.

God answered their prayers.

5. The Constitutional Convention

We know that the delegates in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention were at a stalemate until Benjamin Franklin urged them to pray – and keep praying each day of the gathering. They soon settled their differences and agreed on the framework and final wording of the Constitution.

God answered their prayers.

6. The Civil War

President Lincoln called for multiple days of fasting and prayer during the Civil War. He once observed, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”

God answered their prayers. 

7. D-Day

During World War II, just as Allied forces began driving to liberate France and Western Europe, President Franklin Roosevelt led the nation in prayer on the radio. Appealing to God, he said:

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith … Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces … With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace, invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.

God answered their prayers. 

Of course, there have been countless times in American history when prayers were offered and answered – but then all too quickly forgotten. When we pray for safety and provision and then nothing bad happens and our needs are met, we don’t always have a dramatic story to tell. 

When a would-be assassin is thwarted or a bullet from his gun misses the mark, do we attribute such occurrences to good luck, random fate – or prayers for protection?

We believe that God is sovereign, but men and women are responsible – and one of their responsibilities is to pray for America and her leaders.

On this National Day of Prayer, never forget: God answers our prayers. 

3 Reasons Saint Patrick Still Matters

We know his first name, but not his last. 

We think we know when he died, but it’s unclear when he was born. 

Over the centuries, plenty of legend has taken root about Patrick as firm fact, but there’s enough known about his life to celebrate and devote an entire day on the calendar to remembering his missionary courage, along with his contagious love for Jesus Christ.

This British-born giant of history referred to himself only as “Patricius” in his writings. 

Born around 385 A.D., we see him in our minds as a tall man in green with a flowing white beard, usually wearing a colorful bishop’s miter on his head and holding an ornate staff in his hand.

But Patrick wasn’t some fictional character reduced to a painting or figure etched in stained glass.

Maybe he looked like that. 

Maybe he didn’t. 

We know he was a real man. 

And we know he made a difference in people’s lives. 

Patrick will be toasted in bars today by people drinking too much, and many of us are honoring and acknowledging him by wearing green. Over 30 million Americans claim Irish heritage. From coast to coast, shamrocks sit as centerpieces on family dinner tables filled with corned beef and cabbage, along with loaves of soda bread. 

Yet, although he lived over 1,600 years ago, his life and legacy shouldn’t be reduced to mere traditions involving food and fashion. We can all benefit from studying Patrick’s life and remembering how the Lord used him to spread the Gospel – and how those lessons forged during his journey can help our journey today. In fact, we should pause and remember these three things:

First, his life is a reminder that good things can come from tragedy.

When he was just sixteen, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold into slavery. He worked for six years herding sheep in horrible conditions. He was often cold, isolated and alone. 

How did he handle his fate? According to Patrick himself, he prayed up to one hundred times during the day and another hundred times at night. He reported that an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him, “You have fasted well. Very soon you will return to your native country.”

Nobody likes to be in exile. Perhaps you’re struggling during this season of your life and you’re somewhere you don’t want to be. Just remember how Patrick’s prayer life exploded during his captivity and how yours might also as you plead with the Lord to help you.

Second, Patrick teaches us it’s never too late to pursue your calling.

After his enslavement, Patrick walked over 200 miles back to Britain. He was now years behind his peers, not to mention dealing with the emotional toll of his imprisonment. Nevertheless, the young man was determined to become a priest and entered seminary. It took him 15 years to complete his studies, and he wasn’t ordained until he was 46.

Against the wishes of his family, he returned to Ireland and began evangelizing the people there. “Patrick was really a first—the first missionary to barbarians beyond the reach of Roman law,” wrote Thomas Cahill in his famous book, How the Irish Saved Civilization.

Third, righteous anger is healthy and consistent with the Christian faith.

Long settled in Ireland, Patrick wrote a scathing letter to a British tyrant named Coroticus and lambasted him and others for murdering and kidnapping Christian converts. Along with his autobiography, it’s one of just two remaining pieces of literature from Patrick.

In his letter, the famous missionary warned him of the coming wrath of God if Coroticus refused to repent. 

“I bear witness before God and his angels that it will be as he made it known to one of my inexperience,” Patrick wrote. “These are not my own words which I have put before you in Latin; they are the words of God, and of the apostles and prophets, who have never lied. ‘Anyone who believes will be saved; anyone who does not believe will be condemned’—God has spoken.”

Are we more concerned with being liked than warning people of eternal damnation? There is nothing unbiblical about anger rightly and lovingly communicated. In fact, it can be the most loving thing to do.