The Christian faith includes belief in miracles. Miracles are extraordinary events caused by God’s intervention in the world. They can do more than merely manifest God’s goodness; miracles often help deliver a message God desires to proclaim to man. Some miracles involve Christ or His saints speaking to people, such as when, in the Book of Acts, Saul is temporarily blinded and hears the voice of Christ. Many Catholics believe that there have been many such miraculous appearances over the centuries, particularly of Mary, the mother of Christ. Our Lady of Fatima is one of the most famous. The apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima took place between May and October of 1917. Mary repeatedly appeared to three young shepherd children (Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco) in Portugal. It was during World War I—which was physically and spiritually devastating Europe—that she appeared. Mary appeared six times to the children, always arriving on the 13th of the month. Mary told the children to pray the Rosary daily, particularly for the repentance of sinners. She even showed them a terrifying vision of Hell in which they could see the torment that occurs to souls who reject God’s love. At its core, the appearance of the Blessed Mother in Portugal was about her message proclaiming the need for the world to cling to God, to prayer, and to conversion from sin. On July 13, Mary told the children that she would perform a great miracle. She said, “You must come here every month, and in October I will tell you who I am and what I want. I will then perform a miracle so that all may believe.” On October 13, roughly 70,000 people gathered to wait and see if the children’s message received from Mary would come true. Those in attendance ran the gamut. Some were devout, some were tepid believers, some were doubters, and some were completely opposed to the idea that a woman who lived nearly 2000 years before in the Middle East was appearing to shepherd children. As the crowds grew, so did the inclement weather. There were overcast skies and heavy rain. According to eyewitness accounts, all of a sudden the clouds broke free and the skies cleared. The sun appeared and began to act in a way that clearly defied the natural laws of physics. It was moving across the sky rapidly, spinning and changing direction. The eyewitnesses could even stare at the sun without hurting their eyes, simply feeling its warmth and light. The crowds were amazed and convinced that what they were seeing was supernatural. Since then, the event has been labeled “The Miracle of the Sun.” While the miracle of the sun was dramatic, the apparition had a more important purpose: to share messages that have become known as the “secrets” of Fatima because the children only divulged them years later. The first secret was the vision of Hell that the children saw. The second secret was that the only way to prevent the spread of Russia’s power and godless philosophies was to consecrate the world to Mary. Mary explained that, if this consecration did not occur, the errors spread by Russia would bring more wreckage than the current crisis of World War I. The consecration did not occur until decades later, in 1942. Finally, the third secret, which was unknown to the Vatican until 2000. It references a prophecy of a “bishop in white” who will walk through a large city and be shot and killed. On May 13, 1981 (the feast of Our Lady of Fatima), Pope Saint John Paul II was shot in an attempted assassination attempt in St. Peter’s Square. The pope later stated that he believed that one man shot the bullet and that another, “motherly hand,” guided it. Even some of the medical team involved in saving his life claimed that the bullet seemed to have been “deflected.” Ultimately, the miraculous appearance of Our Lady of Fatima serves as an invitation to consider the power and relevance of the Christian message. For what was just recounted is but one iota of the evidence for and power of Jesus Christ: the way, the truth and the life. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

Despite being newly empowered by the Callais v. Louisiana Supreme Court ruling, South Carolina’s Republican-controlled Senate rejected moving ahead with a redistricting plan that would have likely unseated the state’s sole Democrat in Congress, Rep. Jim Clyburn. On Tuesday, the state Senate voted by a 29-17 margin to allow for the General Assembly to work on redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections. This was short of the necessary two-thirds threshold, with five Republican senators defecting. BREAKING: South Carolina Senate kills Redistricting Resolution 29-17!5 Republicans joined all Democrats to kill it Sean Bennett (Dorchester)Chip Campsen (Charleston)Tom Davis (Beaufort)Greg Hembree (Horry)Shane Massey (Edgefield)Vote them ALL out— Adam Morgan (@RepAdamMorgan) May 12, 2026 Clyburn, who is black, represents the predominantly black 6th Congressional District. South Carolina was compelled by a previous interpretation of the Voting Rights Act to maintain the majority-minority district. “We’re at the moment of our state where we have to decide: Are we going to be a Republic state or continue to bow down to the Democrats?” Republican state Rep. April Cromer told The Daily Signal on Monday. Clyburn has been in Congress since 1992 and has distinguished himself as a kingmaker in national Democrat politics, as he provided a critical endorsement to Joe Biden in his 2020 bid for the party’s presidential nomination. It was a critical week for the redistricting effort. In order to be able to work on redistricting before primaries, the General Assembly had to pass a “sine die” resolution to allow it to return after May 14 to redistrict. Otherwise, the Legislature was set to return to session in January. Governor Henry McMaster could still call a special session, although he has opted against doing so. A sine die resolution requires a two-thirds vote in the chamber, meaning Republicans could only afford to lose three votes in the Senate. On Monday night, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social, urging the Senate to advance redistricting. “BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS, just like the Republicans of the Great State of Tennessee were last week!” the president said, referencing the Tennessee Legislature’s pro-Republican redistricting that will likely flip the seat of its sole Democrat in Congress. On Tuesday, Republican South Carolina Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey maintained his opposition to redistricting despite the president’s pressure. Massey now recounting his conversations with President Donald Trump. "These people are crazy," Trump told him of national Democrats. "I agree, Massey responded. He hopes the home team can retain the majority. But if Democrats win, "they won't because of South Carolina." pic.twitter.com/DNwBilDUwS— Nick Reynolds (@IAmNickReynolds) May 12, 2026 “I have too much Southern blood in me to surrender,” Massey said in the Senate, arguing, should Democrats win control of the U.S. House, “they won’t because of South Carolina.” Massey argued that redistricting would make him part of “eroding federalism.” CJ Westfall, chair of the Dorchester County, South Carolina Republican Party told The Daily Signal on Monday that the state’s senators are more immune to Trump’s pressure, as they are not up for reelection until 2028. “There’s a lot of these guys that have been there maybe 30, 40 years who don’t take too kindly to folks from Washington, D.C., trying to tell them how to legislate here in South Carolina,” Westfall, who also works with Republican political campaigns in the state, said. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who is running for governor in the state, told The Daily Signal before the vote that he did not expect progress on redistricting. “Do I think anything’s going to happen? No,” he said. “There’s going to have to be a massive campaign, and it needs to be led by the governor and others.” Massey has repeatedly expressed reservations about redistricting, arguing it could make all of the state’s Republican incumbents vulnerable and would also deprive the state of a Democrat advocate in Congress when a Democrat president is elected. “There’s going to be another Democratic president at some point,” Massey told reporters in the lead-up to the vote. “I hope that’s not the case, but it’s going to happen. It is important, I think, that there’s somebody from South Carolina who can make a call, and that somebody at the White House will answer it.” Democrats in the Senate made similar arguments. “I think it’s a pretty good chance that we pick up a seat [in Congress] if they want to really adopt this map,” Democrat state Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto told The Daily Signal on Monday. “It gives us higher Democratic performance in four districts that we don’t currently have.” Hutto told The Daily Signal before the sine die vote that Democrats “fully expect to face this same map in January” when the Legislature returns, “even if we don’t take it up now.” South Carolina State Senate Majority Leader @shanemassey: "We are the most gerrymandered Republican state in the country already." pic.twitter.com/88ca7LJFZO— CSPAN (@cspan) May 12, 2026 Hutto asserts that Clyburn “is going to win reelection under either map,” whether South Carolina redistricts or not. Clyburn has similarly argued the redistricting could inadvertently benefit Democrats and that he can still win reelection, despite continuing to oppose the redistricting. Hutto also remained in opposition, saying Democrats “decry” the Supreme Court’s decision and think last-minute redistricting “is a terrible idea.” Former Rep. Adam Morgan told The Daily Signal that actions speak louder than words, and that Democrat legislators’ continued opposition to redistricting revealed the likelihood Republicans could secure a 7-0 map. “I think the proof is in the pudding,” Morgan said. “They’re freaking out about it because they know that they’re going to lose that seat.” Westfall similarly argued that Republicans are able to “very strongly win a 7-0 map with the current map that’s being considered” when assuming  the 2018 “blue wave” numbers, the 2022 numbers, or Republicans’ strong 2024 results. “Barring some kind of absolute disaster, I feel very confident in the maps that are being considered,” Westfall told The Daily Signal. Morgan had few kind words for Gov. McMaster, who he says sabotaged the redistricting effort by not calling a special session. The Daily Signal reached out to McMaster for comment. “The problem is we need a two-thirds vote because of … our weak, do-nothing governor who refused to call a special session,” Morgan told The Daily Signal. “If he called a special session, it would have been a simple majority vote on this.” Westfall, however, told The Daily Signal that the effort would be “completely dead” if the Senate did not pass the resolution. “President Trump, if he doesn’t win the midterms, we feel that he’ll be kneecapped and facing impeachment and won’t have the political capital to get something like this done in the future. So, we feel that this is the only time we can ever get this done,” he said. Related PostsVirginia Redistricting Fight Shifts to High Court After VoteAfter voters in Virginia approved a mid-decade redistricting plan Tuesday that will give Democrats a big edge for U.S. House races, the battle has now shifted to the state’s highest court. Yesterday, voters approved a constitutional amendment to redraw Virginia’s state congressional map, granting a likely 10-1 advantage for Democrats in future elections. On Wednesday,…Virginia Democrats’ Redistricting Gamble Succeeds in Special ElectionVirginians voted in favor of Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Democrats’ effort to completely overhaul the commonwealth’s congressional map to favor Democrats, the Associated Press reported Tuesday evening. The Associated Press called the race in favor of “yes” at 8:50pm eastern time with an estimated 81% of the votes counted. At the time of the…Republican Redistricting War Heats Up in MississippiAfter the Supreme Court struck down congressional redistricting done solely on the basis of race last week, Republican officials in Mississippi are split over whether to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of the midterm elections. “It’s time for Mississippi to redraw the lines and eliminate the racially gerrymandered district that exists solely to protect…

Tonight at 8 p.m., Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives will gather on the chamber floor for a public declaration of faith, celebrating prayer, praise, and thanksgiving as Washington prepares to rededicate America as “One Nation Under God.” Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., will be joined by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican members as he leads them in prayer and a scripture reading on the House floor after votes Tuesday night. Brecheen will read from the Old Testament, ‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬–‭20‬, which calls believers to “remember the Lord your God.” “You shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing in the valleys and hills,” Deuteronomy 8:6–7 states. As Speaker Johnson quoted President John Adams, America’s “Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” https://t.co/Ja02z0Wl1m— Congressman Josh Brecheen (@RepBrecheen) April 21, 2026 The 10 Republican representatives who have committed to join Brecheen and Johnson include Chip Roy and Brian Babin of Texas, Gary Palmer and Robert Aderholt of Alabama, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Tracey Mann of Kansas, Mark Alford of Missouri, Mark Harris of North Carolina, Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee, and Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania. The congressman will also read from past governmental proclamations of National Days of Prayer made throughout American history. The highlighted proclamations span from 1775, when America was on the brink of the Revolutionary War and the Continental Congress called for Americans to pray and fast for their country. Proclamations for these days of prayer have been given by countless presidents and governments since America’s founding as “One Nation Under God.” John Adams issued one in 1798, James Madison during the War of 1812, President Zachary Taylor in 1849 when sickness struck, President James Buchanan as the Civil War loomed, and President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Glorify God among the nations! @SpeakerJohnson opens the 75th National Day of Prayer this morning in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.“Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”1 Chronicles 16:24 @DailySignal pic.twitter.com/hWNCaEIa7r— Virginia Grace McKinnon (@virginiagmck) May 7, 2026 The special order, led by Brecheen, comes ahead of the Rededicate 250 event this weekend on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump has called for Americans “to come together on our National Mall to pray, give thanks, and rededicate America as ‘One Nation Under God.’” The Freedom 250 organization will host public officials, pastors, and worship leaders for a day to rededicate America to religious faith. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is inviting you to join us on May 17 for Rededicate 250, a national jubilee of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving on the National Mall in Washington, DC.Get your FREE tickets today pic.twitter.com/eEnJqdPwrh— Freedom 250 (@Freedom250) May 4, 2026 Confirmed speakers at the May 17 event include Johnson, Secretary Marco Rubio, Secretary Pete Hegseth, Jonathan Roumie from “The Chosen,” Grammy Award winner Chris Tomlin, the Hillsdale College and Liberty University choirs, and others.

For more than a decade, Vidalia High School students in Georgia took courses at Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center as part of a partnership. Now the center and the Vidalia City School District are clashing in a federal First Amendment lawsuit. The school district terminated the longstanding agreement with the Christian center after its founder, the Rev. Gady Youmans, criticized a proposed school board tax hike, and after the superintendent raised concerns about the center’s “particular interpretation” of the Bible, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia on Friday. The center and Youmans are represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a national religious freedom legal group. “Every American has the right to publicly criticize the government—that’s what makes the First Amendment guarantee of free speech so special and the envy of the world,” ADF legal counsel Mercer Martin said in a statement. “Vidalia City Schools can’t punish Rev. Youmans—or his ministry providing high school students with free religious education—for simply sharing his opinion of a proposed tax hike. We are urging the court to reinstate Sweet Onion’s released-time program and restore Rev. Youmans’ constitutional freedoms.” “Released time” means when students are released from school during school hours for clubs or other activities. The Supreme Court has held since 1952 that noncompulsory, nontaxpayer-funded religious instruction can occur during such time, as it does not violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. The Daily Signal left voicemail messages with Vidalia City Schools Superintendent Sandy Reid and the district’s community relations office seeking comment. Neither responded. The school district website did not list an email contact. The complaint shows that Reid objected to a Facebook post by Youmans that caused an “outpouring” from staff for offending teachers in the district. Georgia-Lawsuit-Vidalia City SchoolsDownload The school board approved the agreement in December 2014, and students first began taking courses at the center in September 2015. Youmans taught courses including Biblical Finances, Survey of the Old Testament, Survey of the New Testament, Biblical Psychology, and Comparative Religions. Students were able to receive dual-enrollment credit from Brewton-Parker Christian University for some classes. According to the complaint, the arrangement was satisfactory until September 2025, when Youmans objected to a Board of Education property tax increase and specifically raised issues about how much top school administrators were being paid. He noted 17 administrators, one coach, and one teacher were paid a combined $2.2 million. When someone replied to his post that children aren’t being educated at the center, Youmans replied, “My students told me today, ‘We have to educate ourselves in several classes. You actually teach.’” The lawsuit further states that at a November 2025 school board work session, Reid provided a report on the center that “parents have previously expressed concerns about the course content, specifically a perception that some instruction reflected a particular interpretation of the Bible rather than presenting information in a neutral or well-balanced manner.” “On Feb. 5, 2026, Superintendent Reid sent Rev. Youmans an email informing him that Vidalia City Schools would no longer permit the Center to operate the released-time education program for Vidalia High students,” the lawsuit states.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has spread its woke activist agenda in education to at least 169 school districts in 42 states, according to a new report, and the impact of teachers unions helps explain this expansive influence. Learning for Justice, the SPLC’s education arm, promotes “social justice” activism, pushes racially divisive messaging, and advocates transgender ideology. The program, launched as “Teaching Tolerance” in the 1990s, dropped the emphasis on “tolerance” amid the Great Awokening in February 2021. Around that same time, the program removed its own impact statement from the website, which had previously bragged that “more than 500,000 educators” read its magazine, screened its films, visited its website, and used its curricula. The parental rights group Defending Education exposed Learning for Justice’s broad influence in an exhaustive report Tuesday. “Unbeknownst to parents, the Southern Poverty Law Center has been poisoning pupils’ minds around the country for years with its toxic curriculum,” Nicole Neily, the group’s president, told The Daily Signal. “SPLC lesson plans on issues such as queer theory, white privilege, and anti-racism have supplanted traditional coursework in history, social studies, and other core classes—teaching children to view themselves and others through the lens of identity politics, and that America is forever stained by its original sin.” How did the SPLC spread its tentacles this far? America’s two largest teachers unions—the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers—help explain it, as does the American School Counselor Association. “By promoting and integrating Learning for Justice content and standards into mental health programming and curricula, the teachers unions and ASCA are giving the far-left organization credibility,” Rhyen Staley, director of research at Defending Education, told The Daily Signal. “This is deeply troubling for a variety of reasons, especially since the SPLC has put parents on its ‘hate map’ for simply raising concerns with their local school districts.” The SPLC gained its reputation by suing Ku Klux Klan groups into bankruptcy, but weaponized that history to smear conservatives and raise money. In 2023, it added Moms for Liberty, Defending Education, and other parental rights groups to the “hate map,” placing them alongside Klan chapters and calling them part of “the infrastructure upholding white supremacy.” Last month, a federal grand jury indicted the SPLC on wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy charges for sending $3 million to KKK members. While the SPLC claimed it was paying “informants” to prevent violent attacks, the Justice Department says it was using donor cash to prop up the very “hate” it claims it exists to “dismantle.” The SPLC has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The SPLC enjoys undue influence in the media, in corporate America, and with a vast network of donors, so it stands to reason that Learning for Justice might achieve a broad impact. Even so, the boost from teachers unions and the American School Counselor Association can’t have hurt. The Teachers Unions The Defending Education report cites the National Education Association’s January 2021 “Racial Justice in Education” resource guide, which touts Teaching Tolerance as a “partner” and notes that the NEA partnered with Teaching Tolerance to “create a three-part webinar series” to help “address the climate issues.” The National Education Association claims 3 million members. The association’s President Becky Pringle condemned the SPLC indictment. “Civil rights organizations work to ensure we can live free from discrimination,” she wrote on Bluesky. “By indicting a group that fights bias and tracks extremists, Trump’s Department of Justice is abusing its power, making us less safe. They will stop at nothing to crush free speech and further hate.” The National Education Association did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time. The American Federation of Teachers has promoted the SPLC program as far back as 2016, listing “Teaching Tolerance” as a resource on “school discipline.” In a social media post, the federation’s President Randi Weingarten also condemned the indictment. “It’s absurd but predictable [the SPLC] is being wrongfully targeted, an org that has documented hate & extremist groups for 50+ years,” she posted on Bluesky. She called the indictment “part of a coordinated attack on civil rights and an escalation of the campaign against those with whom this admin disagrees.” The American Federation of Teachers has approximately 1.6 million members. These unions, which have a well-documented leftist slant, enjoyed tremendous influence in the Biden administration. The American Federation of Teachers did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time. The School Counselors The Defending Education report also noted that the American School Counselor Association, which claimed in 2023 to have over 43,000 members across the country, incorporated the “Social Justice Standards” into its key documents. The association modeled its Student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success and Student Standards Crosswalk on the SPLC materials. Neither the NEA nor the AFT nor the ASCA nor the SPLC responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time. The American School Counselor Association did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time. A Rising Movement Moms and dads across the country are taking a stand against the SPLC. Republicans in Maryland have openly condemned the state’s “implicit bias training” that incorporated Learning for Justice materials. Courage is a Habit has exposed ASCA’s reliance on the SPLC. Lake Havasu Unified School District in Arizona has rooted out an education resource that directed students to avoid the websites of SPLC-smeared “hate groups.” Last week, Moms for Liberty leader Rosalind Hanson spoke out at Montgomery County Public Schools, condemning MCPS’ use of the Social Justice Standards. This Defending Education report will hopefully inspire more moms and dads to ask school boards to stop relying on the SPLC. They may find my book, “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center,” a resource in this effort. SPLC IN SCHOOLSA huge thank you to @Moms4Liberty leader @rosalindhanson for calling out MCPS's support for SPLC at the school board meeting today!She called out an MCPS leader demonizing Moms for Liberty and held up my book, "Making Hate Pay"https://t.co/kYpCa1yTyl pic.twitter.com/92G42jsfNA— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) May 7, 2026