Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday recognized the National Day of Prayer and spoke of the power of prayer in his own life, as well as his administration’s devotion to teaching children that rights come from God Himself — not from any man or government.
Speaking at the Hialeah National Day of Prayer breakfast, DeSantis briefly described actions the state has taken in recent years, including keeping churches open during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, guaranteeing children a moment of silence in schools, protecting unborn children, and placing an emphasis on American Civics so children can know that “our rights come from God, not from government.”
“We were the first, probably the first state in the country last year when I signed a bill that says in our schools, we are going to teach our kids about the horrors” of communism, he said, noting that purveyors of the “evil” ideology “rejected the existence of God himself.”
“They viewed the state as supreme and you were supposed to worship some authoritarian and if you dissented from that, then they would persecute you. In the United States, we were founded on a much different idea,” he said, explaining that “freedom is a gift from God.”
“[T]he primary purpose of … government is not to quote, ‘give us rights.’ We already possess these rights,” he said. “Understanding that ultimately there’s a higher power, it should humble us.”
“You know, some of these authoritarians, they think they have all the answers,” he said before talking about what his family has personally gone through following his wife’s breast cancer diagnosis last year. After prayers and treatments, she is now considered cancer-free.
“And I can tell you, prior to us announcing that, it was a very difficult, emotional thing to deal with, particularly for my wife,” DeSantis said, explaining how much prayers and support lifted his wife’s spirits.
“So don’t let anyone tell you that this doesn’t matter. This matters. And when you’re standing up and you’re, you’re taking the time to pray for somebody else’s well-being, to offer these prayers and support of someone going through some difficult times, it makes a difference,” he said.
“I can tell you because we saw it make a difference in our own life,” he added, thanking attendees for “really reminding people about the power of prayer.”
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