NEW ORLEANS, La. (BP) — Former Secretary of State and evangelical Christian Mike Pompeo was the featured guest speaker at a June 13 event related to religious liberty.

“Twilight’s Last Gleaming: The State of Religious Liberty in America,” which took place Tuesday evening in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel, was hosted by Liberty University, its Standing For Freedom Center and the Conservative Baptist Network.

“Will the pulpit save the public square?” That was the question of the day.

“Silence is consent,” was one of the chilling statements made to the more than 700 in attendance.

A panel of three – Tony Perkins, Tom Ascol and Jeff Shreve – discussed the subject first, with additional deep-diving questions asked by moderator Ryan Helfenbein, executive director of the Standing for Freedom Center.

Perkins is president of the Family Research Council and host of the syndicated “Washington Watch” radio program. Ascol is pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., and president of Founders Ministries. Shreve serves as pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas, and is the founder of From His Heart Ministries.

Research shows 90 million Americans identify as evangelical Christians, Helfenbein said. No more than 40 percent are registered to vote. Fewer than half of that 40 percent actually do vote.

Does that matter?

If people don’t vote, they are left with the resulting policies of those who do, the men concurred. This has resulted in acceptance of abortion, weakening of the family structure and a non-biblical worldview taught to children.

“People will emulate what they hear from the pulpit,” Perkins said, with fellow panelists concurring that pastors need to stand up for what God wants.

“We are going to get the government we vote for or don’t vote for,” Shreve said. “There is sin and there is righteousness, and you need to know the difference.”

When Pompeo was Secretary of State, religious freedom was of primary importance, Perkins said. That turned on its head the minute Joe Biden became president and made the LGBQT agenda his number one priority.

“That’s the consequences of elections,” Perkins said.

A soloist with the worship team from Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, which earlier had opened the gathering with hymns and praise songs, performed Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” with enthusiastic audience participation.

Jack Graham followed. He is pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, a north Dallas suburb, and was a frequent guest in the Trump White House.

“You can love Jesus and your nation,” Graham noted. “One of the things about the Trump administration was that there were so many Christians.”

Graham was present one day when then-CIA Director Pompeo was asked if there really was a “deep state,” and Pompeo’s response to this day chills him to the bone, Graham said.

“It’s darker than you can possibly imagine,” Graham quoted Pompeo saying.

“The only way to turn off the darkness is to turn on the light,” Graham said. “It’s darker now, and going to get darker. … We (pastors) need to talk about the biblical worldview. Our people will vote the right way if they know what that is.”

Christians are needed to run for political office, he said, a stance the panel previously touted.

“Religious freedom: We have it because a generation or two, three, four before us fought for it,” Graham said. “On our knees we will see God move.”

Pompeo began speaking about 45 minutes into the evening. His political career began when as a fifth grade Sunday School teacher he became a member of his homeowner’s association, he said. In time President Trump chose him as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and later, Secretary of State.

“If we’re waiting for Washington to fix it, we’ll be waiting a long time,” Pompeo said. “If we think we can hide in our church … politics will find you. The government will take away that which is most precious to you.

“… Be fearless in your faith,” Pompeo urged his listeners. “Religious freedom is important for American security.”

The man identified as “God’s diplomat” by the Washington Post said other nations have become leery of the United States.

“We’re confronting them with a decadence they don’t want in their country,” Pompeo said. Another problem: “Religious freedom [in other nations] is not a priority for American ambassadors today.”

Yet another problem: “Educational freedom [in America] is at risk.”

“We need churches and parents engaged in their children’s education,” Pompeo said. “We need men and women to be engaged in a serious way in our school boards. … This is a nation that depends on virtue. Be prayerful. It’s possible to be a faithful Christian and committed patriot.”

Bob Pearle, pastor of Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, closed the gathering in prayer.

“We know You are in control,” Pearle prayed. “Help us take our stand. Use us for your glory.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Karen L. Willoughby is a national correspondent for Baptist Press.)