Empowering Involvement on Foundations of Freedom Thursday

Historic Quote: 0:12
Samuel Adams said the liberties of our country and the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending against all hazards, and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.

Rick Green: 0:29
Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture its WallBuilders and its foundations of freedom. Thursday we're diving into those foundations and we're taking your questions so you can guide the conversation on which particular area of those foundations we're going to discuss. But we're always talking about hot topics in the culture from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. We're having that conversation today with David Barton. He's America's premier historian and the founder of WallBuilders. Tim Barton is a national speaker and pastor and the president of WallBuilders, and my name is Rick Green. I'm a former Texas legislator. You can find out more about us and the program and you can also listen to some of the past programs over the last few months right there at WallBuildersLive.com. That's our website for the radio program. You can get a list of our stations a lot of other great information there, and then over at WallBuilders.com, you can get some great tools for your family, whether it's DVDs or watching videos online or getting some of the books or just reading some of the articles right there on the website. All of it is designed to equip and inspire you to be a part of the solution, to be a good citizen and live out your freedom in a way that will preserve it for future generations. One of the things you can do, as our founders gave us lives, fortunes and sacred honor, is to invest some of that fortune to actually make a contribution to WallBuilders. Maybe it's a one-time donation, maybe it's a monthly donation, but if you would come alongside us and help support this program where a listener supported program, it allows us to reach more people, inspire more people, equip more people and do our part in preserving freedom for future generations. Check it all out at WallBuilders.com today.

David Barton: 2:24
There's three things that come to mind right off the bat. First, I would say and it's based out of song Solomon 8.13, and it said your friends listened to your voice, so speak. First thing is just teach your friends, train your friends. Find folks, get a little constitution to live class going among you. But there's lots you can do just to train those around you, get them interested, get them informed, help them see things differently maybe than what they're seeing right now. I just say look at your sphere of influence. Who do you have influence with? Who can you have influence with? And start talking to them, Start getting with them, meeting with them, whatever. Second thing I would point out is okay, you've met some legislators. Next thing to do is go volunteer to intern for them. Some Give them some volunteer hours, Say, hey, I've got a couple hours a week. I'd like to give you three hours and they may pick you up as an intern and then they may move you on to the staff at some point. You're learning the system. You have opportunity to influence from inside. That's another really good thing to do, and they are looking for volunteers and office help and everything else. So that's always really significant and along the way. The third thing is just building relationships. If you met legislators or other leaders, just talk to them, Be with them, Help them. However, you can Build a relationship with them and when you do that, then they'll listen to you. They're more likely to trust you, More likely to listen to what you have to say. So all of this is something that's not going to happen immediately. It's going to happen a little bit over time. But I would say, talking to your friends, informing them, educating them, getting a group started is some kind of that. Maybe you guys can target things that you can make a difference with. But the next is volunteering or interning for legislators or leaders or mayor or whoever you've met. And third would be build relationships with those leaders, because that means a lot in the future as far as your ability to influence or have an impact.

Rick Green: 4:14
Yeah, and you know, David, I mean a lot of times I've seen in campaigns 14, 15, 16 year olds be some of the main volunteers like out there, you know, really involved. So it's not that they're just, you know, getting to have a nice experience, they really do make a difference, they're valuable members of the team. So really want to encourage CJ and all the other young people listening Don't be hesitant to go volunteer and just like David's saying, I mean there's a lot of different outlets where you can do that. And just as you mentioned doing a Constitution Alive class, I mean you can actually be. We have no kidding 12 year olds that are hosting constitution classes at their church, doing the Biblical Citizenship class or whatever. So I love getting questions like this from CJ and I hope it's not just CJ that here's what we're saying today but a lot of other young people that are listening right now that have been wanting to do something. There's a lot you can do, a lot you can participate in.

Tim Barton: 5:03
Well, I would say for CJ and even, as you mentioned, for so many other people that might be listening, from a rising generation. We know that if we look at some of the local party meetings and some local club meetings that so often it's usually people that have been around a few times.

David Barton: 5:21
Be careful how you say this, right.

Tim Barton: 5:22
Be really careful how you say this you know, depending on how much hair they have or what color their hair might be, right, kind of that factor in a little bit. But one of the things we know is that not only are they thrilled when there's a younger person there, when the younger person actually has the courage and boldness to stand up and to express an opinion. It's something that is often so moving for individuals from former generations as they see the passion that they hear kind of the heart of the individual, see the energy and emotion, they're very moved by that. And so one of the things, cj, that I think is important to remember too, one of the admonitions the Apostle Paul gave Timothy is don't let anyone look down at you because you're young. Don't think and this wasn't like you know he's walking around in pride like, hey, don't look down on me because I'm young, you jerk right. But like there wasn't a defensive pride thing, but it was more like a mental perception thing of don't don't think because you're young, that you can't reach people that are of a different generation. Because the reality is, I think, so often, especially for young people, as they're navigating life and, cj, as you're, as you're having to figure out things with your friends and the dynamic of different relationships of people around you and your family and siblings and friends and right church friends and classmates and whatever else there is. As you're navigating that for you, it's very easy to feel like that you're in a place that's so different from everybody else, but the reality is that everybody has the exact same insecurities, thoughts, emotions, challenges, struggles, and so when you read the Bible and God speaking something to you, you feel like man. This is so relevant for me as a 16 year old right, as a teenager not recognizing that that's just as relevant for someone in their 30s and 40s and 50s and 60s and 70s and I'm saying that to give a little context that don't think that the issues that are important to you and what you value in your perspective and perception, don't think that's limited to just people that are your age. You literally can show up at some of these meetings and express some of your thoughts, ideas, concerns, and they will be oftentimes as relevant for every adult in the room as they are for you, as you're processing them, and this is why the apostle Paul again, and Modest Timothy hey, don't think your age is going to disqualify you. Instead, regardless, in spite of your age set an example for the believers in life, in love and speech. As he goes through this list and this would be an encouragement for CJ, but also everybody else listening as you're navigating your life don't feel like that you're the only one navigating some of these things. Even for your parents, for adults, they're having to navigate some of the same dynamics with relationships and friends and who they're around and filtering what they're listening or not listening to and their attitudes and their emotions. It's a very similar thing. And so, even as you think about this from a political standpoint, from a constitutional standpoint, how can you encourage and challenge people? Don't think you have to be limited to just people of your age. That's not where your sphere of influence has to stop. You actually can have a much larger voice, and so, even if you show up at some of these local Republican meetings and conservative meetings, whatever the case is, go to be a part of what happens. Go to be engaged in what happens. Don't feel like you have to go and sit in the back of the room and not talk because you're the youngest one there. You can add a lot to the conversation, to that dynamic.

David Barton: 8:44
And I would add to that that that attitude is super important Be a contributor, not just a spectator. But even going back to what you were saying about races, there are previous election cycles where we had what were called strike teams and those strike teams were made up strictly of young people. They would be anywhere from 12 to 17, 18 years old and bring in 60, 70, 80 at a time in the last seven to 10 days of a campaign. In the last seven to 10 days they would do everything from knocking on doors and hanging lit on doors to waving signs at intersections, to making phone calls, et cetera, and it was just young people and we were winning seven out of every eight races in which we brought those young people strike teams in. It was really significant. It really made a big difference, helped me get a lot of conservatives elected to Congress. So don't, cj, don't underestimate what your impact can be. As Tim said, don't let people look down on you because you're youth, but don't look down on yourself because you're youth. But you can be effective in campaigns, you can be effective in meetings where you are. There's a lot of things you can do that'll make a difference.

Rick Green: 9:49
Yeah, and I'll add one more thing before we go to the next question. What Tim's saying is so spot on. I see it all the time where these young, you know, patriot Academy grads will go speak at a club or speak at their church, and when they get up and talk and they're 16, 17, 18 years old and they care about the country and they know the Constitution a little bit and they know what's going on, I'm telling you, for the older people in that crowd it's like a drink of cold water to somebody in the desert. It gives them hope. They, you know, because a lot of people feel like there's no leaders in the next generation, there's no one to hand this thing off to, there's no one to pass the baton or the torch to. And the three of us we know different because we work with so many young people, but for most people out there they don't know that. And so, cj, you can be an inspiration man, you can be a source of hope for them. You can show them that God is moving in your generation and that you're ready and you're saying here I am, lord, send me. They will be so encouraged by that, I promise you. I see it all the time. Really really good points, guys. Okay, let's go to our next question. It's coming from Dennis. He said thank you for all your good work. What is the best and quickest way to get more of the church involved in the pro-life movement? Alright, guys. So how do you get the church to wake up on the pro-life movement? I mean, it probably is the one issue where we see the most movement in the church, but, man, there's definitely still a lot of churches that won't touch that issue at all.

David Barton: 11:13
Easy thing just get more biblical, Okay. Next question yeah, I'm kidding, that could be the answer to every question about why don't more pastors, why doesn't a church?

Rick Green: 11:24
the same answer every time they need to get more biblical.

David Barton: 11:27
And the situation is we're not biblical. So how do you get people to be biblical when they're not biblical, even in a church setting? And part of it is look if you're biblical. That argument's not going to work. That, hey, we don't do political issues, no, no, no, life is a biblical issue. The fact that it may have been politicized does not make it a political issue simply because secular people chose to make that an issue. It's a biblical issue. And so when you get into a biblical viewpoint, you understand what you see in Ezekiel 3 and Ezekiel 33, that when you see someone being led to the slaughter, if you don't intervene, their blood is on your hands. And that's a really strong pro-life verse. If you know that someone is going to an abortion clinic or getting abortions, or is there an abortion clinic in your community and you're not doing something to help keep them from going, or to give them an option or to shut that clinic down, their blood is on your hands. And that's just clear biblical stuff. And so there's so many Bible verses we can point to in the life issue. A life comes from God, it's ordained by God, it's preordained by God. If you read what Jeremiah said before I was in the womb. You knew me when you read that kind of stuff. Man, if you've got any kind of a biblical view, you understand how important it is to save life and, as we've talked politically, life affects your worldview. Your views on life will tell me your views on economics, your views on government, your views on morality, your views on sexuality. Everything else is defined from that one issue, and so if it's hard for a church to find a reason to get involved, they need more Bible. But out of that, the other thing we have is because only about 9% of Christians read the Bible on a daily basis. It's so easy to shove that to the back because I've got things I want to do. My day is really busy, you know. I've got programs I need to watch or I've got things I need to see on social whatever. There's always stuff that will keep us busy, to keep us from getting in there, because people don't like getting involved in controversy. And, man, that's what the Christian life is about. If you live godly, the Bible says you will suffer persecution, which means you will be in controversy. You will be created around you simply by being a right to standard. If you think Jesus had a controversy for you live again, get more biblical. So the bottom line is you've got to get more biblical. But in the meantime, how can you express those biblical thoughts to people who are not thinking biblically? And that's what the challenge is going to be is sometimes it's just information, giving more information, giving even testimonies, giving testimonies of people who decided not to abort a baby and the baby look at this child that's alive, look at the pictures. So anything that can kind of touch their heart and mind is what you have to do. And Jesus did that because he had a very unbiblical generation. So he would sit down and have conversations with the woman at the well and ask her questions and talk her through things. So it's the same thing for us today. But the bottom line is, if you get more biblical, you're going to see why you have to be involved because you will account to God. But how do you get them biblical? That's a little bit step and there's many things you can do.

Tim Barton: 14:24
Well, I think too, daddy, you kind of pointed out, one of the things Jesus did was asking questions and I think a lot of times helping get church leadership to that position is asking them questions, helping them understand that there is a need for some of these issues to be addressed. If you met with your pastor and you go, hey, pastor, I understand the general biblical position on this, but how do I explain that to my friends? How do I help people understand when it comes to, maybe, some of this transgender movement? And when you start asking your pastor and the pastor begins to realize that this is a topic that we need to discuss, the reality of the situation, the truth of God's Word, how do we explain that to a world that is being misled, that is being lied to? Jesus said you should know the truth, the truth that you free, but we have to help people find that truth. So how do I have the conversation, how do I help navigate this? And I think sometimes too, pastors oftentimes get caught up in kind of their bubble of what they're doing and maybe sometimes just need a little help and encouragement that there's people in the congregation, there's people in their church that want to be able to help minister and bring healing and deliverance to some of these people that are struggling with some of these issues in culture. But we would love to have some training, some equipping inside the church. So I think even asking questions of the pastor, helping the pastor see the reality of what's going on because there are definitely some pastors that have a biblical view of the issues they just don't always address the issues and maybe it's because they feel like that's not really their place or not really what's needed. And I think sometimes asking those questions can help bring pastors to the place to help them realize this is something that we need to address and the Word of God gives clear examples, illustrations, guidance etc to these issues. And so asking questions, even to the pastor, helping guide the pastor to this place, can be something you can do as well.

Rick Green: 16:13
And Dennis, one of the best ways to not if you feel like you're the only one in the church that's talking about this stuff, or going to the pastor man host a Biblical Citizenship class. I'm telling you it'll create a group of people there that really want to get more biblical. Just like David said, do that in your church, or maybe initially you got to do it in your living room with just a handful, a few other couples from the church, but we've watched it happen. After thousands and thousands of classes across the country and about a million people going through it. We've seen the result in those churches. So go to WallBuilders.com today and get the Biblical Citizenship DVDs and workbooks, or sign up as a coach and get all your folks taking it, maybe even on Zoom, but I promise you it will get results. We see it all the time. Alright, quick break, guys. We'll be right back with more questions from the audience. Joel is up next and he says Aloha from Florida. So I'm confused. Alright, stay with us. Folks, you're listening to WallBuilders.

Tim Barton: 17:04
Hi, friends, this is Tim Barton of WallBuilders. This is the time when most Americans don't know much about American history or even heroes of the faith, and I know oftentimes for parents we're trying to find good content for our kids to read and, if you remember, back to the Bible, the book of Hebrews has the faith hall of fame, where they outlined the leaders of faith that had gone before them. Well, this is something that, as Americans, we really want to go back and outline some of these heroes, not just of American history, but heroes of Christianity and our faith as well. I want to let you know about some biographical sketches we have available on our website. One is called the Courageous Leaders Collection, and this collection includes people like Abigail Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Francis Scott Key, George Washington Carver, Susanna Wesley, even the Wright brothers, and there's a second collection called Heroes of History, and this collection you'll read about people like Benjamin Franklin or Christopher Columbus, Daniel Boone, George Washington, Harriet Tubman, friends the list goes on and on. This is a great collection for your young person to have and read and it's a providential view of American and Christian history. This is available at WallBuilders.com. That's www.WallBuilders.com.

Historic Quote: 18:07
Calvin Coolidge said the more I study the Constitution, the more I realize that no other document devised by the hand of man has brought so much progress and happiness to humanity. To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.

Rick Green: 18:34
Welcome back to WallBuilders it's Foundations of Freedom Thursday, taking as many of your questions as we can Send them into radio@WallBuilders.com. Joel has me confused because I thought Aloha would always come from Hawaii, but he says Aloha from Florida. So I'm guessing he moved to Florida from Hawaii, joel. You'll have to explain that to me, man. Anyway, he says there are several states right now that are looking to remove President Trump from the ballots in their states due to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment dealing with insurrection. First of all, trump has not been convicted of an insurrection, so for the elections, how does the state get to make that decision? If they're making the decision prior to any court decision, shouldn't it automatically be invalid? At the same time, why can't the Supreme Court or lower federal courts step up and say, without a case formally being brought up through lower courts, when there's something so important and under time constraints, once a state passes something for being on the ballot, if they have the overview, why can't they see the law and do an overview automatically, right now.it seems like so many pieces of bad legislation make it through and have to go through multiple courts in many years, especially when the rules were done by the bureaucrats and not the elected officials. Do you think that some of this bad policy would stop if the court stepped in immediately, instead of waiting for implementation and hurt to occur? So, joel, from everything you're saying, I hear the frustration man. You're frustrated with the process, you're frustrated with the manipulation of the process. So good questions, David Tim.

David Barton: 19:50
This goes back to John Adams, and it goes back to something he said when they rejected the concept of democracy and they went for the concept of republic. He said we're a government of laws, not of men. But you have a very secular philosophy that's come in particularly in the 20th century, now deeply embedded in the 21st century, this progressive philosophy that man is the end, all decide all. There is no justice outside of what we determine. There is no universal standards. We don't answer to God. So now you have a two-tiered justice system, and it is. We choose winners and losers. We're not after what's true, what's right, what's just. We're after winning and losing. We're in the place that Malkie Valley and the Prince talked about. The end justifies the means. This is my objective beat Trump, whatever it is, and so anything I need to do to get there. Now, how do you get judges and elected officials to go along with that? Well, they've got the same philosophy. So, rather than legislating according to the law and realizing there's a Bible, tells judges you stand in the place. You literally stand in the place of God. You should be rendering judgment the same way that God would render judgment. You stand in that place to execute judgment same with elected officials. They don't see themselves as having any kind of accountability to God, any kind of standing in the place to deliver justice. They want to achieve an end. So this is the end justifies the means, and we're starting to see the US Supreme Court get away from that. They're actually going back to reading the Constitution, citing it. There was a great decision given in 2022 where the court said hey, we're not in the freewheeling days of the 60s anymore, and those freewheeling days was a judge would decide what he wanted the outcome to be and he would do it. Now, that's what you have in a lot of other places, even in a state like South Carolina. Their judges there decided nah, we don't think we're that pro-life, so we're going to strike down the state pro-life law in a very pro-life state, which has now led the state of South Carolina. In this next legislative session, they're going to be working on getting elected judges rather than appointed judges. Make those judges accountable. That's a good thing. About 24 states have appointed judges, called the Missouri plan or the Tennessee plan or the modified Missouri plan. That's not a good plan. You need everybody to be accountable, and so law school started in 20s, particularly in the 40s, and especially in the 60s, started teaching about that. Judges and elected officials are social engineers. Where do you want to take the culture? So we have to get away from that, have to get back to a constitutional thinking. There's still a lot of blue states who have appointed a lot of blue judges who they unjustifies the means. We don't like Trump. So we don't really care what the law says. We don't care that the 14th Amendment is being misinterpreted in section three. Here's what we're going to do, because this is what we want and the short answer to that is we got to have better education, we got to train people better and then we got to hold our elected officials accountable. There's not a short answer to that. If you're in some of those blue states, you're not going to see that necessarily fixed before the election, because it'll take an election to make a difference, but it will also take people in that state wanting to make a difference before you see that. So some of the rulings are coming down in some states that strictly decision those elected officials reflecting their personal opinion. It's what we're seeing with Soros, da's and some of these big cities. I don't want to prosecute criminals. I think they're really nice people. So I'm not going to enforce the law. I don't care what the law says, I'm not going to uphold it. I don't care what my oath of office says. I really didn't mean that, I just need to get elected. That's the mentality you're dealing with on that other side and that's that two-tiered justice system. The only way you get back to a good justice system is, as we're told in Exodus 1821, have rulers who rule in the fear of God. If these individuals recognize that they will stand before God to answer for their legal decisions or judicial decisions or political decisions, you get a whole different outcome than people who are the unjustifies, the means, which is the very secular mindset.

Tim Barton: 23:34
Well, guys, one thing I think is worth adding too is that in these states, where we're already seeing efforts to remove Trump off of the ballot which, as a side note, when we talk about election interference and Democrats were blaming Russia for years the Trump-Russian collusion for three years into his administration, there were still blaming Trump for colluding with Russia election interference that was the big accusation. In fact, I think that was the first impeachment attempt. Right was because of election interference, and I guess, even arguably, they would probably say that the January 6th attempt to impeach Trump the second time would have been, again, election interference. The only people that have been found guilty of election interference to this point arguably have been the Democrats and the political leaders of the state that now are actually removing the leading political opponent off of the ballot and, as a question identified that there has not yet been a trial. So Trump is not guilty of anything yet, and so even I think you're reaching a little bit on the 14th Amendment already to make this argument. I don't think it's going to stand up in court, but to say that now there's been an accusation, therefore he's not allowed to be on the ballot anymore. This is something that certainly will be challenged. It will be appealed in the states because Democrats don't want them on the ballot, but Trump is ultimately going to be on the ballot. However, this is ultimately where there is election interference. So that is as you're talking about the importance of having good judges and why it matters that people are involved in the process and we help restore and change these things. This is going to be a long-term solution, a long-term battle that we will have to engage in to solve these problems, but certainly, what we're seeing right now is the epitome of election interference and therefore really reveals a lot of hypocrisy of the left and these Democrat politicians that have accused Trump of doing the very thing they are now doing.

Rick Green: 25:26
Yeah, man, it's exactly. You know these people, like you know David was talking about, they're okay with end justifies the means. They're willing to destroy the system. I mean they're burning down the house, really by destroying the legal system in this way. Or you know, completely, like you said, a major stretch on the 14th Amendment to claim that this is a situation that would fall under that. It was meant for the Civil War situation. So, yeah, I mean we're seeing this with all the law fair and the indictments and everything else. It's just an abuse of the system for a political outcome and, man, that's an injustice. The means mentality that is not biblical and certainly not moral absolutes, but rather more, moral relativism. And it's man, it's. It all comes back to what you guys were saying We've got to get good people elected. You've got to get good people involved. So many of these questions today come back to that same issue. What can we do? Even back to CJ at 16 years old, what can we do? There's a lot we can do, folks. So do your part, get involved, start hosting some classes, start talking to your pastor about preaching on these issues. Every single one of us has a voice. As David said at the top of the program. You got a voice. Speak, let your friends hear it, let the people in your circle hear it. Thanks so much for listening. Today You've been listening to WallBuilders.