TCC Podcast with Jim Pfaff: God’s Providence inspired Providence RI, now occupied by illegals
Published: March 31, 2025
Network: The Conservative Caucus
Analysis: Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff
During a recent visit to Providence Rhode Island, Jim Pfaff, President of The Conservative Caucus, explored the stark contrast between the city’s founding principles and its current political reality. Named for God’s Providence by Roger Williams in the 18th century as a haven for religious liberty, Providence Rhode Island has transformed into what Pfaff describes as a “sanctuary city nightmare” that has abandoned the Judeo-Christian values that made it a beacon of freedom. Speaking from the Roger Williams National Memorial, Pfaff highlights how the city’s current policies represent a complete departure from the vision of its founders.
Topics Covered
- The Legacy of Roger Williams and Providence’s Founding
- The Sanctuary City Crisis in Modern Providence
- America’s Judeo-Christian Foundations Under Attack
- St. John’s Church: From House of Worship to Political Monument
- A Call for Renewal of Founding Principles
- Key Takeaways
The Legacy of Roger Williams and Providence’s Founding
Standing at the Roger Williams National Memorial, Pfaff reflected on the profound significance of the city’s name. Providence Rhode Island was deliberately named to honor God’s Providence—divine guidance and protection—which Roger Williams believed was instrumental in establishing the colony as a refuge for religious freedom. This wasn’t merely symbolic; it represented a foundational belief that God’s favor and direction were essential to building a just and prosperous society.
Williams, a religious dissenter who fled persecution in Massachusetts, founded Providence in 1636 as a place where people of all faiths could worship freely without government interference. This radical idea—that religious conscience should be protected from state coercion—became one of the cornerstones of American liberty that would later influence the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“This idea is totally lost on this town in this day and age. In fact, Rhode Island is, as I’m learning, a sanctuary city nightmare here in the United States.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus
The irony, Pfaff notes, is palpable. A city founded on the principle of ordered liberty under God has become a place where lawlessness is sanctioned through sanctuary city policies that prioritize illegal immigration over the safety and well-being of citizens.
The Sanctuary City Crisis in Modern Providence
During his stay in Providence, Pfaff encountered firsthand accounts of the city’s sanctuary policies creating real problems for residents. A hotel employee—someone who would typically vote Democrat—expressed disgust with the sanctuary city status and its impact on public safety and local culture. This conversation revealed a growing divide between progressive political leadership and working-class residents who bear the consequences of these policies.
What Are Sanctuary Cities?
Sanctuary cities are jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. These policies prevent local law enforcement from inquiring about immigration status or detaining individuals solely for immigration violations, even when federal authorities request such cooperation. Critics argue these policies shield criminal illegal aliens from deportation and undermine the rule of law.
The employee’s concerns centered on tangible issues: safety risks, cultural disruption, and the sense that local government prioritizes the interests of illegal immigrants over those of citizens and legal residents. This sentiment reflects a broader frustration across sanctuary jurisdictions where residents feel their concerns are dismissed as xenophobia or racism rather than legitimate policy disagreements.
Pfaff contrasts this current reality with the vision of the founders, who understood that “orderly society was helpful” and that such order required “constraints upon the government” while simultaneously ensuring “greater freedom.” Today’s sanctuary policies, he argues, represent the opposite: government actively undermining order while restricting the freedoms of law-abiding citizens to feel safe in their communities.
America’s Judeo-Christian Foundations Under Attack
Pfaff addresses the ongoing debate about whether America is a “Christian nation,” offering important distinctions. While not every colonist was a devout Christian, and while religious diversity existed from the beginning, the nation’s founding principles undeniably emerged from Judeo-Christian tradition. Rhode Island itself exemplifies this: founded explicitly by Christians with Christian intent, yet established as a haven for religious pluralism.
“What is consistent among all of them is they came from the Judeo-Christian tradition that had developed in Europe that had, by the time the 18th century came around, come to a place where they understood that God’s laws and God’s plans were good for mankind.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus
The Judeo-Christian framework provided several essential elements for American governance: the concept of natural law existing above human authority, the inherent dignity and rights of individuals created in God’s image, the necessity of moral restraint on both citizens and government, and the understanding that freedom without virtue leads to chaos. These principles, rooted in biblical teaching and refined through centuries of Western thought, created the intellectual foundation for constitutional republicanism.
Modern secular governance, Pfaff argues, has abandoned these foundational principles without offering a coherent replacement. The result is a society increasingly characterized by moral relativism, expanding government power unchecked by transcendent principles, and the erosion of the very freedoms that the Judeo-Christian framework was designed to protect.
Pfaff sees hope in the 2024 election results, which he interprets as 50-60% of Americans demonstrating “some sense” of these traditional values and a willingness to “shake off the shackles of Democrat government.” This electoral shift suggests that despite decades of secularization, a significant portion of the American public still recognizes the value of the nation’s founding principles.
St. John’s Church: From House of Worship to Political Monument
Perhaps the most poignant symbol of Providence’s transformation is St. John’s Church, originally founded as King’s Church in 1722 by a French Huguenot seeking religious freedom in America. For nearly three centuries, this building stood as a testament to the religious liberty that defined Providence Rhode Island’s founding purpose.
The church closed in 2012, and local authorities decided to repurpose the historic structure. Rather than preserving its religious heritage or celebrating its role in America’s story of religious freedom, officials chose to convert it into a memorial focused on the evils of slavery.
The Huguenots in America
French Huguenots were Protestant Christians who faced severe persecution in Catholic France, particularly after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Thousands fled to America, bringing with them strong work ethics, skilled trades, and a deep commitment to religious liberty. Their experience of persecution made them passionate advocates for freedom of conscience—a value they helped embed in American culture.
Pfaff acknowledges the importance of remembering slavery’s evils but questions the appropriateness of this particular choice. “For this historic building so old, 1722 guys, for this building so old, there is no need at all to make it a monument to the evils of slavery,” he argues. Instead, he believes it should remain “a monument to the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ and in the Judeo-Christian ethic founded in the Ten Commandments that brings real freedom to mankind, real prosperity, and real hope.”
The repurposing of St. John’s Church represents a broader cultural trend: the systematic erasure of America’s religious heritage in favor of narratives emphasizing only the nation’s failures and sins. While honest historical reckoning is necessary, Pfaff suggests that eliminating positive religious history creates an unbalanced and ultimately destructive understanding of American identity.
A Call for Renewal of Founding Principles
Pfaff’s message from Providence Rhode Island is ultimately one of both lament and hope. He mourns what has been lost—a culture that understood and valued its Judeo-Christian foundations—but he also sees potential for renewal. His prayer for Rhode Island and the nation is that Americans would rediscover the “rich history and heritage that most people in this town and in this state probably don’t know about or have a good sense of.”
The path forward, in Pfaff’s view, requires rejecting the “secularized systems of this world” that offer no transcendent purpose or hope. True freedom, prosperity, and hope can only be found by returning to “the God of the Bible, Yahweh, who created all things.” This isn’t a call for theocracy but rather for cultural renewal rooted in the same principles that made Roger Williams’ Providence a beacon of liberty.
“There is no hope in the systems of this world now that are secularized and turning away from God. There is only hope in the God of the Bible, Yahweh, who created all things.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus
The contrast between Providence’s founding and its present state serves as a microcosm of America’s broader trajectory. A nation founded on the principle that rights come from God, not government, has increasingly embraced a worldview that denies any transcendent source of truth or morality. The consequences—visible in sanctuary city chaos, cultural confusion, and the erosion of ordered liberty—demonstrate the practical bankruptcy of secularism as a governing philosophy.
Yet Pfaff remains optimistic that Americans can reclaim their heritage. The 2024 election suggested a populace weary of progressive overreach and hungry for a return to common sense governance rooted in traditional values. Whether this represents a temporary political correction or the beginning of genuine cultural renewal remains to be seen, but the opportunity exists for those willing to articulate and defend America’s founding principles.
Key Takeaways
- Providence’s Forgotten Heritage – Providence Rhode Island was named to honor God’s Providence and founded by Roger Williams as a haven for religious liberty, a history largely unknown or ignored by current residents and leaders.
- Sanctuary City Consequences – Rhode Island’s sanctuary city policies have created real safety concerns and cultural problems, frustrating even traditional Democrat voters who see the disconnect between progressive policies and their lived experience.
- Judeo-Christian Foundations Matter – America’s founding principles emerged from Judeo-Christian tradition, providing essential concepts like natural law, limited government, individual dignity, and ordered liberty that secular alternatives have failed to replace.
- Erasing Religious Heritage – The conversion of historic St. John’s Church from a religious landmark into a slavery memorial symbolizes the broader cultural project of eliminating America’s positive religious history in favor of narratives focused solely on national sins.
- Hope for Renewal – The 2024 election results suggest a significant portion of Americans still value traditional principles and are willing to reject progressive governance, creating an opportunity for cultural and political renewal rooted in founding values.
- No Hope in Secularism – Secularized systems divorced from transcendent truth offer no genuine hope, freedom, or prosperity; true renewal requires returning to the biblical principles that created American liberty in the first place.
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About The Conservative Caucus:
The Conservative Caucus is a grassroots public policy action organization, formed in 1974. Headed by President Jim Pfaff, the Caucus is committed to advancing free enterprise, limited government, and traditional values.
Originally broadcast March 31, 2025 on The Conservative Caucus.
Peter J. Thomas is a veteran conservative political strategist and seasoned policy expert dedicated to upholding the principles of the Constitution and democracy. As a founder and the chairman of the Conservative Caucus, he has played a pivotal role in promoting and shaping the conservative agenda across the nation for over half a century.