Gender Transition Surgeries Being Forced on Kids - with Mat Staver

Rick Green: 0:12
This is the intersection of faith and the culture. Thanks for joining us on WallBuilders. This is the place where we take on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. I'm Rick Green, America's Constitution Coach and former Texas legislator, here with David Barton, America's premier historian and our founder at WallBuilders, and Tim Barton, the national speaker and pastor and president of WallBuilders. We're thrilled that you are with us today and I know you're going to enjoy this program, even though it's a tough topic, even though, you know, often we have to take on tough topics here on WallBuilders. Because we do take on the hot topics of the day, because we need to know what does the Bible say about these things, what can history teach us about these things? And then, of course, how do we live this out under our Constitution, in our particular form of government, a constitutional republic, where we, the people, are in charge and therefore, if we're in charge, we're responsible for what's happening in our culture. So we do take on the tough topics of the day and hope that it's empowering and equipping to you, that it's not just educational, but it's things you can act on and things that you can do something about. And then, of course, we want to challenge you, as part of that action, to be a force multiplier, to share the program with as many people as you can get others learning these biblical, historical and constitutional perspectives on the issues of the day. And you do that by simply going to our website at WallBuildersLive.com. Grab the program, share it on your social media feeds, email it out, however you want to get it to your friends and family. Text it to them and just say, hey, that was a great program today. Text them the link and have them listen to it. They can listen to it anytime, on our website or on podcast apps out there, or on the many stations across the country that we have with Bott Radio and in all of our other partners. So check all that out today at the website and share it with your friends and family and make sure that that they know to get engaged and to do their part, because they've got a responsibility as well and they need to know that. And maybe it's you that will be the catalyst that shares that with them and encourages and equips them to make a difference as well. Alright, David and Tim, we got Mat Staver joining us. A little later we're going to be talking about the pushback on these, literally child surgeries and this, this, what transitioning, but is literally carving up children and destroying lives, and we're already experiencing a lot of that pain. We're hearing the testimonials of kids in their early 20s saying how did you, let me do this in my teens, and so you know legislation being filed and passed there's just a lot on this, on this subject. But I got to be honest, guys, I would have never predicted this, even even ten years ago. I mean, even even when the homosexual movement really took off and we talked about you know, that's going to lead to other things. I I did not envision that we would be to the point where they would go after the kids like this so blatantly, and that the president of the United States would applaud it and and be pushing it on on states. So, man, we're in it, we're in a. We're in an interesting situation right now, guys.

David Barton: 2:51
You know, it's an interesting situation in the sense that part of it's starting to, as the old axiom goes, the birds come home derused, in the sense that I actually saw legislative hearings a couple of weeks ago when that these people who have been through this gender transitioning type of stuff and gone through the hormone therapy, they've gone through the surgeries, all the things that go with it, they're now testifying and saying this is this has ruined my life forever. I made these decisions when I was 10, 11, 12 and 13 and now I'm 17 and 18 and it's irreversible. Now I know things I didn't know back then and I was told by you adults that I needed to do this or I'd Commit suicide or I'd never be happy or whatever. And you guys lied to me and I saw that in one of the states after this. It was just, it was heart-wrenching testimony, it's just, it's hard to listen to that the Democrats voted with the Republicans to stop that in the state and that's the first that I have seen that and it was because, actually, of testimony that was given by people who have been through it and it was like, for the first time, democrats said, oh, oh, there's consequences, there's consequences that are negative. Really, we didn't know there were negative consequences and I've been thinking about this in the sense of the. Probably the first Historian of the American Revolution is a guy named Jedi Dymors. He was part of the American Revolution and he wrote a history book about the American Revolution after sober, and In the intro to that history book he's talking about what is the historians supposed to do, and he went through three things You're supposed to show the character of God and man, and and you're supposed to show the providence of God. But one of the things he said is you're supposed to show cause and effect, that everything has a cause and an effect. It's kind of like what the Bible says you're going to reap what you sow. Well, if you sow certain things, you're going to get certain things, regardless of whether you wanted those things or not, and that's a biblical principle that that really progressives have been violated and ignoring for the last decade or two. Even with socialism, yeah, we can do anything when most social is going to work. Well, no, there are consequences to ideas. Ideas always have consequences and I think the fact that we've gotten so far away from even teaching history, and especially teaching history that shows causes and effects, you know, far be it from us to criticize somebody's choice of lifestyle or anything, even if it's detrimental, even if it's going to hurt them, even if it destroys who they are. Far be it from us to tell them that that's a bad idea. And that's what adults are supposed to do. They're supposed to help those who don't have knowledge Understand the consequences of what could happen if you do. Sir, you know You've got your driver's license. It's probably really not a good idea to drive 95 everywhere you go. You know you. You've never been behind the wheel to really know that.

Mat Staver: 5:43
So let me tell you.

David Barton: 5:44
We don't do consequences anymore and so we really are letting people do things that medical science and other things say, hey, that's not a good idea, for whatever reason. We just don't want to say anything and that's not good.

Tim Barton: 5:58
Well, and Dad, to your point, we're not, we're not evaluating the consequences of that behavior, I'm right. I mean to say we don't do consequences anymore. Of course there are consequences, but the fact that we are are being intellectually dishonest and ignoring those consequences when, when we are saying, hey, you know, kids should be able to determine for themselves and you know, if this is how they are an adult, you shouldn't tell them. Right? The irony that you're going to take a child, that you would not let that child choose their own bedtime but you're going to let them choose their own gender, that that that doesn't seem consistent, right, that we will let them make major decisions but not the minor decisions. You have that backwards. If the child doesn't get to make every decision in their life, why in the world would they make the decision over their gender? And then also the the dishonesty when there are parents and doctors who knowingly, when they go and get this hormone therapy for this chemical castration, but they, they are telling people that, well, you can reverse this process, right? If, if, for whatever reason, later in life you decide you're, you're the gender you were actually right, biologically born as a female, and you think later, hey, I'm a female. All this is reversible. If you're a boy, all this is reversible and and they know it's not they are being so dishonest about this. And, Dad, going back to your point where we haven't done a good job of Measuring the consequence of actions, and if we just started looking at at what certain behaviors have produced over time, and if we were honest about those, there's a lot of behavior that that, universally, we would kind of come together as a nation, as as human beings, and say, hey, that's, that's, that's really not great behavior. We probably shouldn't do that kind of stuff anymore, based on what it is producing. But we have, for the last several decades, gotten so much in the feel bubble that this is how I feel and in subjective Understanding of truth and morality, and it's up to the individual to decide. And who are you to tell somebody else who they can be or Can't be, or what they can do or can't do this? This is so much along the lines of what we read in the Book of Judges, where the Bible says that the people did what was right in their own eyes, that this is where we are. We have rejected a absolute moral standard, and it's not super surprising given the fact that we are becoming an increasingly secular nation. When you go back to the 60s and we're telling kids that you can't have prayer in school and you can't have the Bible in school, and then in the 1980s, you can't post the 10 commandments in school All of these are Supreme Court decisions. And when you are now raising a generation who has been told there is no God and don't pray to God right, don't read his word, don't look at the 10 commandments when we have this increasingly secular generation, and then they're told do whatever you want, how do you feel we think that we can control the outcomes as well as the choices, and that is. It's intellectually dishonest, it's inconsistent. And this is where there should be some adults in the room helping parent their own children, helping lead a culture and generation. And unfortunately we just have not seen that. And so we are seeing the promotion of these ideas where you would kind of think, as some of these stories would come out, as some of this stuff would get exposed, that nationally we would go, hey, we probably shouldn't be doing this anymore, right? I mean, we're seeing these European nations that tried it and they're all saying it didn't work. We should get away from it. As Americans, we should be able to see and make an obvious conclusion that this is not good, we shouldn't do it. And yet you see Democrats and you see secular people who are debiling down on this insanity, saying that we need more of this transgender movement happening in America. America would be better if there was more of this movement, which, of course, is ridiculous. Certainly, I think it's a reflection of a rejection of God, a lack of understanding of biblical principles, and certainly, if you see Christians that are endorsing this position, they do not understand who God is or what the Bible says, or they're just rejecting who God is and what the Bible says, because those two things cannot coexist.

Rick Green: 10:06
Well, and David said, consequences when you make that decision. Like you're talking about Tim, I mean man, I feel like we're living out exactly. He put blessings or curses in front of us right, it's the end there, at the end of Deuteronomy and those last few chapters and the whole. If you do it this way, you're going to be blessed, if you do it that way, you're going to be cursed. It's you know. I say it in Biblical Citizenship, in my simple country boy way. But garbage in, garbage out, good stuff in, good stuff out. And we've allowed, as you said, David to reject God and to choose this path and it has consequences, without a doubt. I think the real question is will the American people see the painful consequences and turn from that?

David Barton: 10:42
You know one thing I'd add too. I want to remind folks that twice in the Bible God says everything I command you is for your good, to keep you alive and keep you prosperous. And one of the things we've done with people in the apologetics courses we go through with young people, et cetera. We take a lot of moral positions and issues and people reject some of that today. Well, that's what you believed in, or that was 100 years ago or whatever. But we're putting medical studies beside it. You know, god says protect unborn life, man. We have dozens of medical studies about the long-term consequences to the woman who has an abortion and what it does to mental health, what it does to increase suicide, what it's 626% possibility increase of breast cancer. I mean, everything is there the same. With homosexual behavior, well, that's 50 years ago. It's different now. No, the studies are still there and the studies are still out there and there's still current out there and we see those studies. I mean that stuff is still available, it's just that nobody wants to talk about it. But I think the good principle to remember is God says everything I command you is for your good. And it's that way with morals as well. It's that way with genders as well. And as much as people want to say, the sun rises in the West and goes down in the East. That's just not true and that's what we're seeing with morals is morals. God got it right and this is what's best for us and he's loving God, trying to help us. And for whatever reason, we've just let it go crazy and it's time to get back to showing causes and effects, and Mat Staver is one of the guys that's having to deal with this on the legal level as well, and so we thought let Mat kind of update us on where things are and what the court cases are and what this looks like, and see if we're really making the progress that I think we're starting to make. I think we're kind of turning the corner in some areas. We'll see, but Mat should have an update on that. That'll be really good for us.

Rick Green: 12:39
Well, like I said, David, those things don't change. You know, the laws of nature and nature's God are still the same and those consequences are going to be the same, depending on our actions. Quick break, we'll be right back. Mat Staver, our special guest today on WallBuilders ół.

Tim Barton: 13:02
This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders, with another moment from American history. In the early 1700s, the Reverend John Wise preached that all men were created equal, that taxation without representation was tyranny and that God's preferred form of government was the consent of the government. All of which is language recognizable in the Declaration of Independence. Why? Because in 1772, the Sons of Liberty, led by founders such as Sam Adams and John Hancock, reprinted and distributed the Reverend Wise's sermons. So, four years later, much of the Declaration reflected the language of those sermons by John Wise. In 1926, on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, President Cal McCoolage affirmed the thoughts in the Declaration can very largely be traced back to what John Wise was saying. Few today know that the Declaration was so strongly influenced by the Reverend John Wise. For more information on this and other stories, go to WallBuilders.com.

Rick Green: 14:00
Welcome back to WallBuilders. Thanks for staying with us. Always good to have Mat Staver from Liberty Council. Lcorg is the website. Make sure you're on the email list. I enjoy getting his emails on a regular basis. So many cases that they're dealing with, so many issues they're dealing with. It's the only way to stay up to date, matt. Thank you, brother, appreciate you coming back on today.

Mat Staver: 14:15
Thank you Good to be with you.

Rick Green: 14:16
Alright, we've covered a lot of topics with you over the last couple of years because you've got so many things going, so many different battles, and now, of course, this whole transgender thing, where they are literally taking this to the kids and cutting up kids. I mean, it's awakened a lot of people, but they're doubling down. It sounds like the medical industrial complex has lost their minds. Is it a money thing? Why are they pushing forward on this?

Mat Staver: 14:41
Well, it's definitely a money thing. It's also an ideology issue, but definitely a money thing. There are hundreds of millions of dollars now in this industry. I mean, you look at, for example, some of these clinics that are popping up and the increase in hormones whether it's estrogen or testosterone prescriptions, puberty blockers, and then these surgeries that are quite expensive. This is becoming a huge moneymaker and we're seeing this happen around the country. On the other hand, while some of these individuals are frankly going against their original Hippocratic oath of do no harm, which they're actually harming these kids and permanently mutilating their bodies for life On the other hand, there is a pushback that's happening by the population and by states, and it's actually not just in the United States, but it's happening globally, where you even have the Travastoc clinic over in the UK. That was this world-leading so-called entity that was pushing these transgender surgeries and so forth. They're now backing away because they're getting a lot of complaints from survivors, people that went through this medication puberty blockers, hormones and even mutilating surgeries and now they are expressing deep regret, and that does seem to be the big game changer in terms of changing minds.

Rick Green: 16:05
For those who hadn't paid attention to this is when you have these kids in their 20s saying, man, I can't believe they. Let me do this to myself and my teens. It's a powerful testimony to just show just how evil this stuff is. You mentioned the legislatures are pushing back, also around the world. I was surprised. One of the best videos I've seen on social media was some guy. I don't even know who he was, stan, and I think it was the Dutch parliament, I can't remember, but he was so spot on in what he was saying and he basically said it this way. He said we will not allow your mental illness or your sexual fantasies to be normalized for our children. And I thought, nope, nobody puts it that blunt, but that's exactly what they're doing. Just a few years ago, this stuff was considered mental illness and now instead they're normalizing it and pushing kids into it.

Mat Staver: 16:53
Yeah, just a few years ago it was considered a GID gender identity disorder and the APA through its manual in its system, they changed it to gender dysphoria. They took out the word disorder. But it is a mental issue and in fact it's also in other areas like epitomnofilia. That's a disorder in a very similar way, where people think that they are a disabled person inhabiting an abled body. And so to get your head wrapped around that, it means that these people think that they shouldn't have an arm, when they actually have an arm and they want to have the arm or the leg or the other body part amputated because they think in their mind they're disabled but in reality they're an able bodied person. That's no different than what we see with this issue here that you're born biologically female or male and now you want to change and become the opposite, or a combination of both male and female, or neither I mean and then you go through the puberty blockers which are going to make you sterile. They're also going to have other physical and psychological effects. Then you go through the lifelong hormones of the opposite sex and then you go through these mutilating surgeries that remove healthy body parts. At the end of the day, your DNA is still how it was created when you were born. You're not assigned male or female at birth. You are male or female at birth Amen.

Rick Green: 18:22
Well, tell me about your take on the legislative pushback. Are we getting some bills passed? You feel like there's momentum at this point.

Mat Staver: 18:29
Oh, I think there's a lot of momentum that's happening now. What we're seeing here is a number of states that are moving forward to ban puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and mutilating surgeries, and this is happening primarily in the red states, but we even have states where the legislature has had to override a veto by a Democratic governor, for example, and they've been able to do that. So we're seeing more and more of those efforts across the country. We've seen this, for example, in Florida and other places. Florida just through its regulating body of medical and osteopathic physicians. They have banned this kind of practice. Surgeons and other doctors can lose their license for amputating healthy breast, healthy body parts because of this agenda. But more and more states are moving in this direction. I think it's a good thing, and I think what we're seeing also is people like Chloe. She was raised in California. She bought all the propaganda. Her mother was told that if you don't allow her to go down this road with puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and surgery in this case a double mass actomy then she would commit suicide. Now that she's turned age 18, she dreadfully regrets what happens and she is speaking out. We're also now starting to see lawsuits against these doctors, as well as the pharmaceutical companies, by individuals who have gone through this terrible road of destruction, and they are filing lawsuits against the pharmaceutical companies, against the doctors who led them down this path. We have at least 31 states that have passed or are considering legislation that seek to protect minors from the so-called transgender ideology in areas such as healthcare and sports, and we have so many things that are happening not just in the surgical arena, but also states are saying that if you're a biological boy, you're going to compete in boys sports. You're not going to be able to jump over to the women's swim team, and I think what we're seeing also is the girls, for example, whether it's in the high school or the college level, they're saying this is ridiculous. I mean, they spend a lot of their time reaching the very top of their gain, like Riley Gaines, for example, and then that gets overshadowed by some guy who can't compete in the men's swimming competition, so he pretends that he's a woman and then beats her out of the competition. I mean, just absurd. So we're getting a lot of voices from a lot of sectors of society that are saying enough is enough.

Rick Green: 21:12
Yeah, yeah, absolutely no. I think it's encouraging, man. Everything you just listed just gives me hope that people are waking up and the insanity can be stopped if we step up and, like you said, I mean to override a governor's veto. That's a big deal, and so there's some big victories happening across the country. Matt, thank you for keeping us informed. Thanks for being on the front lines. You know I used to not like the word law fair, but I think we have to now, and so these suits against some of big pharma and some of the things that are happening against the government I mean it's absolutely necessary. So we're just so thankful for you guys and what you do, and I know y'all have been just overwhelmed with cases and all the different things going on, so I really want to encourage people to support you LCorg. That's where you can make your donations Very important investment in freedom. The things Mat and his team are doing are absolutely incredible. Appreciate your brother. Thanks for coming on today. Thank you, good to be with you. Stay with us folks. We'll be right back with David and Tim Barth. Have you noticed the vacuum of leadership in America? We're looking around for leaders of principle to step up and too often, no one is there. God is raising up a generation of young leaders with a passion for impacting the world around them. They're crying out for the mentorship and leadership training they need. Patriot Academy was created to meet that need. Patriot Academy graduates now serve in state capitals around America, in the halls of Congress and business, in the film industry, in the pulpit, in every area of the culture. They're leading effectively and impacting the world around them. Patriot Academy is now expanding across the nation and now's your chance to experience this life-changing week that trains champions to change the world. Visit PatriotAcademycom for dates and locations. Our core program is still for young leaders 16 to 25 years old, but we also now have a citizen track for adults, so visit the website today to learn more. Help us fill the void of leadership in America. Join us in training champions to change the world at PatriotAcademycom. We're back. Ron Walbunsch, thanks for staying with us, and thanks to Mat Staber for joining us today as well. I was thinking even as talking to Matt, but it was something you said earlier, David. I mean, you actually say this in our Biblical Citizenship class. You talk about truth and courage, and I think it's Thessalonians. I can't remember for sure, but I think it's in Thessalonians. You use this verse about when you reject truth and you buy the lie, and you point out that God sends the delusion. And so you get deluded and it's basically judgment and I've been asking myself this over and over again the last few weeks and months the insanity that's happening. It is delusion. I mean rational people would not make these decisions. What do you think? Is that a delusion? That is potentially judgment from God, a partial judgment, not total judgment. I don't think we're in a situation where he's ready to rain fire and destroy America completely. But is a delusion even potentially part of that?

David Barton: 24:07
Well, the interesting thing about the passage 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 10 through 12, the scripture says because you did not have a love of the truth, so because you rejected truth, you didn't love the truth. You wanted to make your own truth because you didn't care what the truth was, you didn't want to hear the truth. Because they rejected a love of the truth, god sent them a strong delusion. So God didn't send them a delusion until they said we want nothing to do with truth Again a consequence, right A consequence the sinning of the delusion was a consequence for them rejecting the truth. That's right. And then, once it happened, it said then they believed a lie and there was bad consequences as a result. And so what's happened is we've rejected the truth. There's no absolute moral truth. That's all made up, that's a construct that doesn't exist. Then God says okay, is that the way you want to believe? And then they choose to believe the lie after the delusion comes, and then they pay consequences for it. And that's really what we're seeing here, and that's a sequence you see in 2 Thessalonians 2, 10 through 12. So the most important part is have a love for the truth, even if it's hard, even if you disagree with it. If it is the truth, accept it, and that's really crucial.

Rick Green: 25:19
Last question, guys, before we close out Tim, do you think the pain and the consequence is causing people to seek truth a little bit more? Do they want to know a better way?

Tim Barton: 25:28
Well, I think, as people are hearing more of the story and as they're discovering more truth, it's bringing more people to an awakening perspective where kind of the light is exposed in the darkness on some level. And I think there are people hungry for truth right where we know that the Holy Spirit stirs in us something. There's a hunger and thirst and so many people looking for something, that kind of God-shaped whole, that God-shaped void that times people speak about. And I think there are people waking up. We've talked about it often in this program. We think there's an awakening happening in America and so we think more and more people are going to wake up. But there's certainly some major issues we are dealing with between now and when enough people wake up that we can get this thing turned around.

Rick Green: 26:11
Hi folks, lots of work to do out there. You heard Mat Stover talk about the legislation that's being pushed in states across the country Tennessee, Texas, a lot of others. Good stuff happened and, of course, this presidential administration filing suit against those states trying to stop it. It's really a violation of federalism, but that's why we need to return to actual federalism, but that's a topic for another day. Sure, appreciate you listening. Today You've been listening to WallBuilders.