WEEKLY NEWS SUMMARY - AUGUST 12, 2026
In this week's Intersect, read about:
Michigan Primary Tests an Old Warning on Education
"Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary this week, and the numbers behind his win tell a story far bigger than one race. His victory came almost entirely from the state's most educated counties, while working class communities went a different direction." Read more at Million Voices...
THINK.
- El-Sayed's win was fueled by counties where at least 40 percent of residents hold a college degree, but his rhetoric on Israel, calling it an "evil" and "rogue state," shows academic credentials did nothing to steer him toward moral clarity. That gap between education and judgment is showing up in progressive primaries well beyond Michigan.
- The split between El-Sayed's college-town coalition and Haley Stevens' working-class, rural, and older-voter base exposes a real fracture inside the Democratic Party. Retiring Senator Gary Peters himself admitted Democrats cannot win statewide without rural support, a warning sign for November that goes far beyond one Senate seat.
- Founders like Noah Webster and Benjamin Rush warned that knowledge without virtue is dangerous, not reassuring. Rush wrote that "without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty." Proverbs 1:7 puts it plainly: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." A resume full of degrees is no substitute for a heart shaped by good principles.
PRAY.
Lord, we ask for discernment for voters in every state, that they would look past credentials and rhetoric to the character and convictions of those who seek to lead. Raise up leaders whose wisdom flows from You, not merely from degrees or institutions. Guard Your people from mistaking confidence for truth, and give the Church courage to model good principles in a culture that too often forgets them. In Jesus' name, Amen.
ACT.
Get to know the candidates on your ballot beyond their resumes, and research their actual positions on life, family, and religious liberty, not just their credentials. Encourage your church and community to engage civically by praying for wisdom over every election, and share trustworthy candidate information with friends and neighbors who may only be hearing one side of the story.
Texas Moms Sue to Remove Ten Commandments
"Three Houston-area mothers filed a new lawsuit against a Texas law that requires the Ten Commandments to hang in every public school classroom. The case landed in Harris County on July 31, just days before students head back to class." Read more at Million Voices...
THINK.
- After federal First Amendment challenges to Senate Bill 10 failed and a federal appeals court upheld the law, these mothers pivoted to a new legal strategy entirely, using the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the state's new Parental Rights Amendment instead. It's a telling shift: when the Constitution won't get you the result you want, you go looking for another lever.
- The law has already reached a massive scale, with posters distributed to over 4,300 Texas schools and more than 3.6 million students, and a Harris County judge's ruling here could shape how other states defend similar laws already moving through their own legislatures this year.
- A passive display a student can simply choose not to read is a far cry from coercion, while hours of secular instruction that ignores faith sends its own message. Exodus 20, the very passage at the center of this fight, has shaped the moral conscience of this nation since its founding, and a poster on a wall does not force any child into a particular belief.
PRAY.
Father, we ask for Your favor over this case and every classroom where Your Word is displayed. Give judges wisdom and courage to rule according to justice, and give Christian parents boldness to defend the moral foundations You have given us. May Your commandments remain a light in our schools, not hidden away out of fear of controversy. In Jesus' name, Amen.
ACT.
Reach out to your local school board to ask whether your district is in compliance with any classroom-display laws in your state, and volunteer to help place posters in classrooms that still need them. Support organizations that provide these materials to schools free of charge, and pray regularly for the judges and attorneys handling religious liberty cases in courts across the country.
Ballots Don't Need ID, But NYC Groceries Do
"New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani built his campaign on opposing voter ID laws. Now his own government is requiring ID for something even more basic than voting: buying food." Read more at Million Voices...
THINK.
- Mamdani's administration wants shoppers to show a "library card-esque" ID before they can buy discounted groceries, yet Democrats have spent years calling voter ID discriminatory and burdensome. As Breitbart's John Nolte pointed out, a library card is issued by the government, which makes this a government ID system in every sense that matters, exposing a glaring double standard.
- This is not just a New York story. As Democratic Socialist-aligned candidates gain ground in cities across the country, city-run grocery stores, price controls, and ID-based rationing schemes are becoming a real policy blueprint rather than a fringe idea, and taxpayers everywhere should expect similar proposals to surface closer to home.
- Venezuela's Mercal grocery chain promised the same relief Mamdani is promising now, and it ended in rationed shopping days, fingerprint checks, and empty shelves. Proverbs 11:1 tells us "The LORD detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him." A government that distrusts its own citizens at the checkout counter has no standing to demand blind trust at the ballot box.
PRAY.
Lord, we ask for wisdom for city leaders tempted to expand government's reach into the marketplace under the banner of compassion. Protect small business owners and grocers who serve their communities honestly, and guard our cities from policies that concentrate power rather than serve people. Give voters discernment to see where good intentions can lead to harmful outcomes. In Jesus' name, Amen.
ACT.
Stay informed about local ballot measures and candidates who support government-run alternatives to private business, and weigh the long-term consequences before supporting them. Support small, locally-owned grocers and businesses in your community, and speak up at city council meetings when similar proposals arise where you live.
Gorsuch Is Wrong About America's Christian Founding
"Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch made headlines this week for pushing back on a simple idea that many Christians hold dear: that America was founded as a Christian nation. Speaking on PBS's 'Firing Line,' Gorsuch said he does not see it that way, pointing to Vice President JD Vance and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts as the conservatives making that claim." Read more at Million Voices...
THINK.
- Gorsuch named Vice President JD Vance and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts directly as the conservatives making the Christian-nation claim, putting a sitting justice at odds with prominent voices in his own political coalition. It's a reminder that not every judge appointed by a Republican president rules, or reasons, the way conservatives might expect.
- Gorsuch's argument leans entirely on denominational diversity among the colonies, but founding documents like the Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut open by invoking "the Glory of God" and "the advancement of the Christian Faith" specifically. Every one of the thirteen colonial charters used biblical language, and eight had official state churches. That's a shared moral foundation, not modern religious pluralism.
- The founders disagreed about baptism and church government, but not about whether life had value, marriage was between a man and woman, or whether God created only two genders. Those questions weren't even contested three centuries ago. Psalm 33:12 reminds us, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD," a truth the founding generation clearly understood even amid their differences.
PRAY.
Lord, we thank You for the faith of our founders and ask that You would help this generation rediscover the moral foundation they built upon. Give judges and justices wisdom to rule with humility and truth, even when it challenges popular opinion. Protect the true history of this nation from being rewritten, and raise up voices who will defend it faithfully. In Jesus' name,
ACT.
Study America's founding documents for yourself rather than relying on secondhand commentary, and share what you learn with your family and community. Support organizations that preserve and teach accurate American history from a biblical perspective, and pray for the justices and leaders shaping how this history is taught and applied today.
My Faith Votes— is a ministry that motivates, equips, and activates Christians in America to vote in every election, transforming our communities and influencing our nation with biblical truth. An estimated 25 million Christians who are registered to vote, fail to vote in presidential elections. My Faith Votes is on a mission to change this statistic by helping Christians act on their faith and vote in every election. When we pray unceasingly for our nation, think biblically about the issues, and vote consistently in every election the impact of Christians taking action from the local to the state and federal level will be unprecedented.
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