Preident Trump Delivers Strong Religious Liberty Message to Christian Students
President Trump urged the 2017 graduates of a Christian university in Virginia to challenge the status quo and live their faith boldly and without ceasing.
Trump spoke to an estimated 18,000 students from Liberty University, the largest evangelical university in the U.S., CBN News reported.
Falwell invited Trump to give this year's commencement address as early as December last year.
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"I'd love to hear him talk to the students about what he plans to do for them to make it a better job market, to make the United States a better place for them to raise their families," Falwell told The Washington Post. "And then I'd like him to tell them what he needs them to do to help him make America great again."
In his speech, Trump encouraged the graduates to stand by their Christian beliefs and values as they step into the world outside the confines of their university.
"Now you must go forth into the world and turn your hopes and dreams into action. America has always been the land of dreams because America is a nation of true believers," Trump told the graduates.
"When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, they prayed. When the founders wrote the Declaration of Independence, they invoked our creator four times, because in America we don't worship government; we worship God," the President pointed out.
He also encouraged the students to challenge the status quo.
"Carry yourself with dignity and pride. Demand the best from yourself and be totally unafraid to challenge entrenched interests and failed power structures," he said.
"The more people tell you it's not possible, that it can't be done, the more you should be absolutely determined to prove them wrong. Treat the word 'impossible' as nothing more than motivation," Trump exhorted the graduates.
Near the end of his address, Trump told them that "as long as you have pride in your beliefs, courage in your convictions and faith in your God, then you will not fail."
