Good News Friday:  We call it Good News Friday because it’s a chance for David and Tim to share some good news from across the nation and around the world. We don”€™t often hear good news from the media but here on WallBuilders Live we are about to share with you just some of the good things happening right now. In this episode, we talk about how the Massachusetts college changes speech policy so students can hand out copies of US Constitution, that Poland is going to start buying natural gas from the United States, only 29% of Americans Want Abortion Legal for Any Circumstance, and so much more!

Air Date: 01/12/2018

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

You”€™ve found your way to the intersection of faith and the culture.  Thanks for joining us today on WallBuilders Live! Where we talk about today”€™s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture. Always from a Biblical, historical, and Constitutional perspective.  We’re here with David Barton, he”€™s America’s premier historian and our founder here at WallBuilders. Also, Tim Barton, national speaker, pastor, and the president of WallBuilders. And my name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas state legislator.

You can find out more about us and the program at our two websites. The first one is our radio site, it’s called WallBuildersLive.com. You visit that site, you can get archives of the programs and all kinds of great information. And then WallBuilders.com, our main website.

Rick:

We’re here with David and Tim today for some good news. It’s the second Good News Friday of the year. David, Tim, give us some good news.

David:

You know, good news is really kind of a subjective term. Because if it’s good news for us, it”€™s bad news for a lot of people with an opposite worldview. Just think about it – if, for example, football teams – it’s good news for one side if they win. That means it’s bad news for the other side. And so when you have a worldview conflict like we often do between Biblical values, Christian values, Constitutional values etc.

Bunker Hill

David:

When we talk about good news, then that means there are some losers on the other side. And the good news I’m starting with today is really bad news for progressives in Massachusetts. And it deals with the fact that in Massachusetts at colleges there, and I think in the Boston area, if I remember right, there are more than 80 colleges in the Boston area all by itself. And if you think of something like Bunker Hill Community College. I mean, Bunker Hill, man, what a place of freedom that was, the heroes who fought there.

And you know black patriot Peter Salem was the hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill. And blacks and whites fighting side by side for what was going on in America. And it”€™s just such good stuff. And yet, at Bunker Hill Community College, when kids there tried to pass out the Constitution, that was deemed to be unconstitutional at that college. So, giving out the Constitution, they got nailed for.

I don’t think this is the college where they actually arrested the kids for passing out the Constitution, that was another college that did that. But at this college, the kids were told unequivocally, “€œYou cannot pass out copies of the Constitution. That’s against whatever.”€

Tim:

Well, the Founding Fathers didn’t intend for people to have their own Constitution, right?   They wrote it on one document, they put it up, it was secured, it was locked away. Yeah, I can understand. I support the college here. You don’t want kids knowing the Constitution.

David:

Yeah, that could be really dangerous–

Tim:

Yeah.

David:

–for people to know the Constitution.

The Easiest Way to Enslave a People is to Keep Them Ignorant

Tim:

Look, if you’re going to live in tyranny, you don’t want people to know their rights, right? The easiest way to enslave a people is to keep them ignorant. So, don”€™t let them know– no. So, yeah, I totally support this ludicrous– No I don’t. This is the dumbest thing that you’re not going to let somebody hand out the U.S. Constitution.   Living in the United States, living in a free nation, you can’t be free in a free nation. Seems like a little ironic in that scenario.

David:

Yeah.

Rick:

On college campuses where we’re supposed to be debating ideas, supposed to be free thought, all the good stuff. You”€™re not even going to let them pass out the Constitution?

David:

Well, polling shows that both parents and university presidents believe that one of the top two purposes of universities is to prepare students for good citizenship. And so somehow not reading the Constitution makes you a good citizen today? Don’t think so. But our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom took the college to court. And even in the District Court in Massachusetts.

Even in Massachusetts where you have– and your justices in the state are appointed from folks within the state. And so even your Republicans up there whether it’s Romney, or Weld, or any other Republicans tend to be really liberal. Even there, they said, “€œNo, this is not acceptable. You can’t go this far.”€ So, that’s good news.

And by the way, one other good news piece that’s related to courts is, you remember when we had Chief Cochran on, the fire chief out of Atlanta? You remember we talked with Chief Cochran?

Rick:

This the guy that got– he got fired for– he wrote a book, right?

David:

He wrote a book for his church.

Rick:

He had his own book and it didn”€™t have anything to do with his job for the fire department–

David:

That”€™s right.

Rick:

It was a personal kind of deal. But he stood for marriage. He said, “€œI believe in marriage being one man, one woman.”€

Problems in the Bible Belt

David:

He stood for marriage. And it was for a church lesson for Sunday school, men’s lesson, something of the sort. But he wrote a lesson on it – how that marriage was a good deal and how to strengthen your marriage. And for that, the mayor of the city axed him, fired him, because he wrote a– And this is the Bible belt, by the way we’re talking about. The Bible belt, Georgia.

And the mayor of Atlanta fired the fire chief for actually having a position in favor of marriage. Even though Georgia voted strongly for marriage with their marriage amendment. Well, Kelvin went to court, absolutely won the case hands down. The court really smacked the city around for requiring that he have any kind of pre-approval to be able to say what he wants to say even his own private life, even in church etc.. So, that’s a really, really good thing.

Hopefully, the U.S. Supreme Court, when they come down– I”€™ve seen people thinking that the Jack Phillips case, which is the Masterpiece Cake case. Which is, does he have a right to have personal expression himself with his business? Or does he– can he be forced to participate in homosexual weddings. People think that that may come down the march. I think that’s really unlikely.

That will be a controversial decision. Doesn’t matter which side you’re on, one side is going to be really ticked. And so generally they release those the last week of June and then leave town so they don’t have to hear all the editorials about it. But we could see that as early as March some prognosticators are saying. But nonetheless, this is a really good decision that I would love to think that that maybe is a local judicial prophecy for what may happen at the Supreme Court come later in this term.

Rick:

That could be a huge victory. And we’re really looking forward to that case. And like you said, it could be as early as March that we find out about it, but maybe the summer before we find out. Let’s take a quick break and we’ll be right back. Tim Barton’s up next with some good news – you”€™re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Moment From American History

This is David Barton with another moment from America’s history. Although education has remained an emphasis in America for nearly 200 years. What has changed the most over that period of time is the philosophy of education. For example, while religion finds no place of refuge in our schools today, such was not the case at the time of our founding fathers.

In fact, when the Delaware Indian chiefs brought their youth to be trained in America schools on June the 12th 1779, George Washington told them, “€œYou do well to wish to learn our arts and our way of life and above all the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.”€

According to George Washington, what students learned above all in American education at the time of the Founding Fathers was the religion of Jesus Christ. For more information on God’s hand in American history contact WallBuilders at 1-800-8-REBUILD.

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us today on this Good News Friday. Tim Barton has the good news next for us. David Barton already sharing some in the first segment. Tim, go ahead.

Unusual GDP Growth

Tim:

Well, guys, this one is a recap from the last quarter of last year. And it’s identifying that there was a 4 percent GDP growth. Which is unusual considering where we’ve been in the last 12 years or so. To see a 4 percent growth is a huge deal economically. We’ve identified on Good News Friday programs, actually very recently, a little bit maybe today we may have referenced it.

But I know last week we talked a little about it, about some of the jobs coming to America. Whether it be vehicle manufacturers, dealerships, different things coming. But there is economic growth in America. And this is an article just outlining the fact that we have a 4 percent GDP growth the end of last year, last quarter. So, really is good news seeing our economics kind of go a different direction.

And of course, with President Trump doing things with taxes, hopefully, that will continue to encourage economic growth here in America. But really, it’s encouraging to see our economics potentially take a turn and go a healthy direction.

Rick:

What was the– so, when you say 4 percent growth in this first year of the Trump presidency, how does that compare? What would be a normal GDP growth, say, in the Obama years?

David:

Rick, when you look at the two years prior to Trump being elected, and of course he’s had three straight quarters of three plus GDP. You go back to just before he was elected, under President Obama it was 1.2. The quarter before that was 1.8. The quarter before that was 2.8. Before that was 2.2.

Before that was .6. Before that was .5. Before that was 1.6. That takes us back two years, so–

Tim:

So, it was not looking that strong or that healthy.

David:

No. It’s not looking that strong, that– There were some times in the Obama administration where you would get a quarter that would really jump up. But nothing sustained in the sense of three straight quarters of plus three. You have to go back, I think, either 12 or 17 years to get that. And certainly, in the last couple of years leading up to Trump’s election, it was–

What Obama”€™s Economy Was Defined By

Rick:

Yeah, I was trying to look that up even while you were answering that. And according to The Times, Washington Times says, “€œObama’s economy was defined by three things – a painfully long recovery from the 08 recession, the lack of enough good paying full-time jobs, and a very sluggish growth rate.”€ This says, “€œThat was largely stuck in the 2 percent range over his entire presidency.”€ So, if you kind of average that out over his eight years, according to them, roughly 2 percent. So, what did you say, Tim, a 4 percent for the third or fourth quarter there?

Tim:

Yeah, for the last quarter it was 4 percent, but it was over 3 for the last three quarters. So pretty much once he got in and took over, it’s just been climbing quarter, by quarter, by quarter. And it does seem like a lot of positive growth with businesses coming back, with the tax cuts and employers giving money back to their employees. So, just some really positive things.

Rick:

And no more socialist policies of bailing out companies and bailing out bad decisions in the marketplace. So, that–

Private Businesses Too Big to Fail?

David:

I hope so. We haven’t had– we haven’t seen that because we haven’t seen the crash of those kinds of companies. But hopefully, there will not be any of this nonsense about private businesses being too big to fail.

Rick:

Yeah.

David:

That was done under Bush, it was continued under Obama.  Hopefully, President Trump will let the– We’ve talked before about the law of seasons. That you need a winter where it’s cold to kill off the bugs. And you need those kinds of things happening economically. You need adjustments in the market where that it kills off the false stuff that’s there. The economy has been largely propped up by the Treasury Department pumping billions of dollars a month extra of printing money into the economy.

At some point, you”€™ve got to let that Turkey come home to roost.

Rick:

Yeah.

David:

And so we’ll see. So, we haven’t– Trump has not faced the situation yet of needing to bailout private businesses. But nothing we have seen indicated to this point would suggests that he would. He tends to be, so far, pretty good on free market stuff.

Including the fact, we talked about last week, that for every one new regulation he’s put in, they have repealed 16 regulations. That’s really good free market stuff.

Rick:

Well, I like the sound of three plus and 4 percent GDP growth. So, very good news from Tim right there. We’ll be right back. Stay with us – you’re listening to WallBuilders Live. We’ve got more good news when we return.

Patriot Academy

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, in 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 is your chance to experience this life changing week that trains champions to change the world. Visit PatriotAcademy.com 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 PatriotAcademy.com.

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us on this Good News Friday here on WallBuilders Live. Tim, I think you said you had another one as we come back from break here?

Tim:

Yeah, Rick, let me jump in. And this is something that actually happened at the Google headquarters. And like many companies, Google periodically will bring people in to come and speak to their staff, to their executives, and people.

David:

Now, wait a minute, is this the Google that’s the bastion of conservatism?

Google Invites a Pro-Life Speaker to Talk

Tim:

No, that’s a different Google. I’m actually not familiar with the Google you’re referring to, bastion of conservatism, I don’t know a Google like that. The Google I’m familiar with is a little more Silicon Valley liberal. Nonetheless, so Google brought in someone very, very, surprising – Stephanie Grey, who is a Canadian. And it’s not surprising because she is Canadian.

It’s surprising because she is a pro-life apologist. And they invited her to come speak and give a pro-life talk to the people in their organization. Which to me is–

Rick:

Google asked for a pro-life talk?!

Tim:

Right, now Google, one of the things this article points out is that Google has brought in people like Tim Keller who wrote The Reason for God and he’s actually a Christian apologist. And so it’s not unprecedented for Google to bring in someone with what might be described as opposing views for them. Maybe they have a little bit of openness and not necessarily hostility toward Christianity or a conservative position. However, it still is not the norm for Google from all outward appearances. But when Stephanie went in, what’s interesting is Google has also had someone else, Cecile Richards, am I saying that right?

David:

Cecile Richards.

Tim:

See, I don”€™t know.

David:

Cecile is the daughter of Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas. And Cecile is the one who runs Planned Parenthood.

Tim:

Exactly. So, say it again, Cecile?

David:

Cecile Richards.

We Value Life

Tim:

So, Cecile– not intentionally trying to be disrespectful in saying her name, I can disrespect in other ways, but not the name– So, she comes in and gives a talk and this was years previous. But what they identified is, when Stephanie Gray gave her talk and just really laid out some very well thought out strategic apologetic positions of how we value and protect life and we respect and honor people that value and protect life. She talked about heroes such as Captain Sully, the guy that has to put down the plane in the harbor. And he’s a hero because he saved lives and because we value life.

So, she unfolds beautifully this idea that we value life, we want to protect life, we want to save life etc.. Well, when she finishes this, over the next 24 hours this speech got so many hits that it actually passed everything that Planned Parenthood Richards had done. In just the first 24 hours this pro-life speech surpassed all the hits, the clicks, the views, that Planned Parenthood had received when it came and gave their talk. And so really, it’s interesting that it seems like people at Google are very interested in this pro-life position. Anyway, it’s kind of cool and good news that Google is bringing in people to come and give a pro-life talk, apologetics for the value of life.

And then it gets a lot of traction in the first 24 hours with their staff and their employees.

Rick:

I would not expect to see– I know this happens to us a lot on Good News Friday, we get good news from areas we don’t expect it from. Sometimes the courts, sometimes California, Massachusetts, but I would have never guessed you would give us good news from Google. I just think of Silicon Valley companies like that, especially the more left-leaning ones, as just being the antithesis and not being open to this kind of thing.

Tim:

Well, and if we talk about good news from Google, it might be the good news that they’re not filtering out conservative sites and making your third and fourth page, right, changing some algorithm. We might think something more technological being positive from Google, but certainly not a pro-life position. Or that it gets so much traction within the company. So, this is really cool.

Rick:

Alright, well good news from, of all places, Silicon Valley and Google. So, David you’re up next, bro. What’s our next piece of good news.

Natural Gas and Poland

David:

I’m going to talk about overseas, but it really comes back to America. It deals with natural gas. In many ways, Tim and I were over in Poland not long ago, we were over there with a congressional delegation and we met with government leaders there. As we were meeting with government leaders, one of them confided to us privately that with the congressmen there he said, “€œWe just had a visit from your Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.”€ Well, Rick’s a good friend, we’ve known Rick for forever.

And what he’s done here in Texas when jobs were just booming and busting. And it was just amazing what he did economically in Texas. But while we were there, this minister cabinet member told us, he said, “€œWe have a real problem in Poland because we need natural gas. We don’t have natural gas here in Poland. We don’t have oil to speak of and we have to get it from Russia.  And that makes Russia be able to blackmail us. Because if we don’t do what Russia wants, then they can just cut off our gas and then it’s a cold country.”€

And so it was really difficult, and I forget the need, Tim, you may remember, but it’s like they needed 180 billion cubic feet of natural gas a month or something of the sort. And they were talking to Rick Perry about that and Rick said, “€œHave I got a deal for you. We’ve got available just for you 180 billion cubic feet [or however much it was] per month.”€

And so now we’ve got this headline article where it’s really good. As Poland tells Putin, “€œIt’s been fun, but we’re going to start buying our natural gas from the United States.”€ So, it’s really cool that Poland now is not under the thumb of Putin anymore. Which is really good because Poland is one of our strongest allies overseas. But now instead of us having to import all this natural gas and oil as we have been for years when we refuse to drill.

Now that we’re back to drilling, and we”€™ve got the Keystone Pipeline, and we’ve opened up 77 million square miles of, or square acres, of drilling land, federal lands. We’re being able to export to other nations which is helping them be free of nations they really need to be free of. So, I really consider that good. We don’t hear much about Rick Perry as secretary of energy, but he is all over the world and just doing wonderful things for America as well as for the world.

Rick:

Good stuff. Alright guys, quick break, we’ll be right back. We have more good news for you, folks. Stay with us. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Biographical Sketches

Hi friends! This is Tim Barton of WallBuilders.This is a time when most Americans don’t know much about American history or even heroes of the faith. I know, oftentimes as parents, we”€™re trying to find good content for our kids to read.

If you remember back in the Bible, the Book of Hebrews it 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 wanted to let you know about some biographical sketches we have available on our website. One is called, “€œThe 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.

There’s a second collection called, “€œHeroes of History“€ in this collection you read about people like Benjamin Franklin, Christopher Columbus, Daniel Boone, George Washington, Harriet Tubman, 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.

Rick:

We’re back for our final segment of good news today here on WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us. David and Tim Barton are sharing good news with us. I think I lost where we were, guys. Tim, you up next?

Tim:

Yeah, I’ll jump in. I have one, it”€™s based on Gallup polling. It came out at the beginning of this year, at least this article came out the beginning this year. And it identified from Gallup, and this is a collection of 2017 polls, their polling data found only 29 percent of Americans want abortion legal for any circumstance.

Only 29 Percent Support the Provisions that Roe v. Wade Set Forth

David:

Now, that’s Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade said abortion on demand, period. End of story. So, that essentially equates to only 29 percent support the provisions that Roe v. Wade set forth. That”€™s, that”€™s wrong.

Tim:

What’s interesting about it too is there are so many breakdowns again in their data of the things that they’ve surveyed and discovered. What’s interesting is more than four in ten Americans say having an abortion is morally wrong – it’s 44 percent. While only 19 percent of Americans think it’s morally acceptable. So, you’re outnumbering–

David:

Two to one. That’s great.

Tim:

Two to one. Those that think, “€œWait a second, that’s morally– that”€™s wrong, you shouldn”€™t do it.”€

David:

And that’s pretty good considering America doesn”€™t believe there are moral rights and wrongs on anything.

Tim:

Well, that’s what we’re told anyway. Yeah, it seems that there are people that do believe there are rights are wrongs. Now, what’s also interesting to me is 34 percent of Americans said it’s not a moral issue. Abortion is not a moral issue. I don’t know how you can look at the unborn, and talk about dismembering an unborn child, murdering a child, and thinking that’s not a moral issue.

Which could be to your point where we don’t think things are moral anymore. There are no morals, it”€™s all subjective, whatever you want, however you feel. So–

They”€™d Have to Say it”€™s Not a Moral Issue

Rick:

Which, the 29 percent would have to think that, right? I mean, to be in any way congruent with themselves, they’d have to say it’s not a moral issue in order to say you can kill that baby at any time.

Tim:

You would certainly think so.

David:

I wonder what polling would have shown under Hitler with the Jews. That’s not a moral issue. That’s a medical issue. They’re doing medical research there.

Rick:

Yeah.

Tim:

Well, it would be interesting. I don’t know, but I would contend that probably their numbers if it was a secret ballot–

David:

Yeah.

Tim:

–might not be a lot different from what we have here in America. The difference was, of course, you’re not going to oppose Hitler or you’re going to be executed, wherever else happens to you. So, there was a lot of people under Hitler that went along just to get along, just to survive. *

The Nazi Party Wasn”€™t a High Percentage of the Nation

David:

We don’t support people who turned their head because the Nazi party really wasn’t a high percentage of the nation.

Tim:

And a lot of people just didn’t want to deal with the drama–

David:

Yeah.

Tim:

–didn”€™t want to deal with the mess. And it always seems like there’s a lot of Americans who just don’t want to deal with the drama, don’t want to deal with the mess. “€œYou know what, it’s not my unborn child they’re murdering. I’m not going to worry about it.”€ And that’s where I could certainly see that 34 percent that say it’s not a moral issue.

However, of the people that took a position, it’s still two to one those say it’s morally wrong as opposed to those who say it’s morally right. And then, back to the beginning point, where only 29 percent of Americans want abortion legal for any circumstance. So, that is a very small portion of Americans that support abortion on demand. Which again, is good news considering that it looks then that the majority of Americans do not support abortion on demand. So, it is good news as we’re looking at the beginning of this year.

David:

Yeah, and interesting with that is you have a higher percentage who support abortion sometimes. Like the three exceptions rape, incest, life of the mother. But Americans have come to equate Roe v. Wade with abortion and it’s not. Roe v. Wade is with abortion on demand which is a real different thing. When you get down to the number of Americans who think that abortion is okay under the exceptions, well, it goes up pretty high.

But that’s only 1 percent of abortions essentially. I mean, you’re talking 99 percent. When you go to abortion on demand, that’s amazing it’s only 29 percent. But we really do need to make the distinction that Roe v. Wade is not about abortion. It’s about abortion on demand.

Which, Tim, you covered last week abortion on Down’s babies Ohio has banned. But that would be covered under abortion Roe v. Wade because that’s abortion on demand.

Note the Distinction of Abortion

Tim:

Right, and one of the things too, it is important to note the distinction of even abortion. Because generally, if you’re arguing against someone who is pro-abortion, the general argument comes out, “€œWell, what about–“€ And they went on to list one of these exceptions, “€œWhat about rape, what about incest.”€ Actually, Shapiro I think does such a brilliant job of dealing with this and he says, “€œYou’re talking about a point, you know, whatever of 1 percent.”€

Right, this is such a minuscule point. If– can we put that on a separate note and can we say all other abortion is wrong? And then let’s talk about this one. And so really it goes back to the big issue because this is kind of these novelty abortions almost. Where it’s just such a minuscule portion of abortions that happen that are under these circumstances.

The majority are convenience abortions. And this is where the majority of Americans are not in favor of these convenience abortions.

David:

And that’s what we used to instruct candidates when candidates were running for office. Because the media would often try to get them with a “€œgotcha”€ on rape, life– rape, incest, life of the mother, which has high support. And they would try that and we told them, “€œLook, your answer is, “€˜Look you’re talking about the one percent. I’m talking about the 99 percent. Once we get rid of the 99 percent, then come back and ask me about the one percent.”€™”€

And that was the way we taught candidates to turn off the media. Because they’re always wanting to talk about the 1 percent and make it look like the 99 percent. But, Tim, you’re exactly right, it’s not. It’s real different.

The Majority of Americans Oppose Convenience Abortions, Good News Friday

Tim:

And the majority of Americans do oppose convenience abortions. Which is good news that the majority of Americans do not support abortion on demand. And so we’re not where we need to be, but it looks like we’re going in the right direction.

Rick:

Yeah, good news all the way across today, guys. Thanks for sharing so much with us. Folks, there”€™s more good news at the websites, so be sure and visit there today. It”€™s WallBuildersLive.com. You can click on that archive section and go back to some of those previous Friday programs.

We sure appreciate you joining us today on WallBuilders Live.