Air Date: 12/2/2016

Summary: Hear good news articles from across the nation that you may not have seen in the media! NFL player, Cyrus Kouandjio, stands up for National Anthem, Iowa Church wins legal battle, Texas federal judge upholds right to gender specific bathrooms.

Guests: 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.

Hear good news articles from across the nation that you may not have seen in the media! NFL player, Cyrus Kouandjio, stands up for National Anthem, Iowa Church wins legal battle, Texas federal judge upholds right to gender specific bathrooms.

Rick:

Welcome to the Intersection of Faith and the Culture this is WallBuilders Live!  Thanks for joining us today.  Learn more about us at at WallBuilders.com and WallbuildersLive.com.

We are taking on the hottest topics of the day, looking at them from a Biblical, historical, and Constitutional perspective. All of that here with David Barton America’s premier historian, Tim Barton national speaker and author, and I am here Rick Green a former Texas state representative. Guys, it is Good News Friday! We get to dive into some good news today.  There is a lot of good news actually happening across the country right now.  I feel kind of a resurgence coming.  It is an exciting time to be an American!

GOOD NEWS! Christmas Victory!

David:

Yeah, there is a lot of good news coming! I have got one I want to start with and I think you will find real interesting!

Rick:

Wait! Is the good news that you recorded a Christmas album? I mean, is it just because it is the first Good News Friday after Thanksgiving weekend that you just had to jump right into the Christmas music? Let me point out, that if the good news is, “€œJoy To The World The Lord Has Come,”€ we know that. He came thousands of years ago. I don”€™t see the connection here.

David:

Well, the connection is that is for Rick”€™s benefit.  This story I am going to tell you about is actually sent to us by one of our listeners of Good News Friday.  David sent this. Here is the way he describes it, “€œ I am sure David Barton will love this station, Rick Green might not.”€  

Rick:

Might not love what station?

University and State Capitals Are Usually the More Liberal Parts of the State

David:

The station I am about to tell you about because this station is in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin is a very liberal part of the state of Wisconsin. And like so many other college towns/state capitals in any state where there is a college town or state capital that is usually the more liberal part of the state.  Texas – Austin we”€™ve got the state capital there and have the University of Texas there. They are wacky there.

Freedom From Religion Foundation Goes After Any School That Has a Religious Event

Well, Madison is the same way and Madison is also the home of Freedom From Religion Foundation. We have Annie Laurie Gaylor there. They are the ones all the time that are going after anybody who mentions God.  It”€™s crazy.  They go after any school that has a religious event or has a religious song or anything else. But they have a station there in Madison because that is their home base. Freedom From Religion Foundation is in Madison and their station is WXXM. That is progressive talk radio station in Madison Wisconsin, or at least it used to be.  Not anymore. All the sudden they opened up one morning recently doing nothing but playing Christmas music 24/7.  

Rick

Oh and I was supposed to be the anti-Christmas guy. So I”€™ve got this Scrooge reputation now.

David:

I am just telling ya, the people who listen to this.  I didn”€™t say anything, I just-

Rick:

I thought maybe you were saying- he was saying – I wouldn”€™t like liberal, downtown, with all the left wing stuff with college town, seat of government.  I was all for that, but “€œ I don”€™t like Christmas?”€ Tim, how did I get a bad rep man?

Tim:

Rick, it”€™s not your fault. Some people are just born differently, and you were just born with a heart that was just two times two small.

Christmas 24/7, 365

Rick:

Haha, well for the record, I like Christmas too. I just have to temper David”€™s 24/7, 365 days a year Christmas music.

David:

See, I don”€™t understand. Why does that needs to be tempered?  Doesn”€™t everybody like Christmas music on the Fourth of July? And on September 30th and on all the other. –  I mean, Christmas music, that is good stuff all year long, Bro.

Rick:

Do you have Christmas lights up at your house all year round? I bet you do, don”€™t you?

David:

My Christmas tree has not been down in several years.  Christmas lights stay on, on that Christmas tree, and Christmas music is a steady part of my daily repertoire.

Tim:

Rick, don”€™t feel bad just because he won”€™t touch you with a 39 ½ foot pole. That doesn’t really mean anything.  That is not a Grinch necessarily.  It is just coincidence.  

Rick:

I guess I should.  You know, even this last Sunday, our pastor was preaching on the reason we have Christmas lights is because we are celebrating the light of the world.  You know? We are supposed to.  So I guess doing that year round is probably the right thing to do. So I give, alright? So who ever this listener was that sent this in, I am going to turn from my Grinch ways and I will talk to my producer. One Christmas song a day from now – no, maybe not, but-

David:

We will record that, and we will be doing this throughout the year now!

Freedom From Religion Foundation Also Attacks Those Who Express Their Faith

Rick:

I totally got you side tracked, Bro. So to get this straight, in the hometown of The Freedom From Religion Foundation, and for any of our new listeners that are wondering, “€œWho are these people and why are they talking about Christmas music and arguing about it?”€  You may or may not be familiar with Freedom From Religion Foundation.  But like you said, David, these guys – we have been up against them on a lot of issues.  And they have come against Christians and churches and anybody expressing their faith all over the country. So they have been really a nemesis to the Christian faith in America and people’s ability to express their faith. So, this is kind of almost funny but really a blessing.  So it was a progressive station, actually.

Now They Have a Station Playing Christmas Music 24/7!

David:

Yeah, it was a station in Madison and they were part of that station.  Why would they change it? Well, there could be several reasons. But generally, it is market forces that drive the change. And so if market force is driving the change, it looks like even in Madison Wisconsin these guys are too Atheistic, Agnostic, freethinker, even for Madison – which is hard to do. But there in Madison now, they have a station 24/7.  They call it “€œHome For The Holidays.”€ And it does nothing but play Christmas music “€˜round the clock. We will see what the format is like after Christmas is over.  But for the time being, what a change in Madison Wisconsin! To go from airing Freedom From Religion Foundation on their program, to airing Christmas carols- which is the antithesis of what they stand for.

Rick:

Would it be- you guys tell me if my nastier side is coming out here- but would it be OK to pray that one of these Freedom From Religion Foundation guys is driving along and they go to hopefully hear their progressive talk or whatever it would have been before.  And Christmas music is on and the dial on their radio station gets stuck? Would it be ok to pray that?  They just get stuck with it for the next however long?

David:

Well, you know, they are stuck with it.  And they have always got the option of getting out of the car and walking, I guess. Haha.

People Getting Sued For Celebrating Christmas!

Rick:

That is fantastic! Well, I know we are probably going to talk about issues like this over the next few weeks.  In fact, we have some interviews coming up over the next few weeks on some of our naughty and nice list and that sort of thing.  So why is it so important to celebrate Christmas and to NOT  keep people from being– I mean, because people think we are just joking about all this.  But we do get people who sue over Christmas music. We have had shows where they sued over wearing red and green at the school play and things like that.  I mean, there are people who definitely want to keep Christmas from being celebrated, publicly. Why is it so important that we defend the ability to even say, “€œMerry Christmas”€ to people as you welcome them in a store?

David:

Last Sunday, I actually heard a sermon that covered some of this.  It was a sermon that Tim Barton preached. It is one of the few times of the year that I actually get to be home at church. Tim was talking about the fact that if you’re thankful, if you have God in your heart, it heads you in a totally different direction.  

The Acknowledge of Christmas is Being God Conscious

He talked about Romans 1 and also if you go over in 2 Timothy 3 and what happens when you don’t retain the knowledge of God in your heart. It leads you into all sorts of bad directions. So he was talking actually about Thanksgiving if you have a thankful heart you are not selfish. Selfish people don”€™t have a thankful heart. So what happens is something as simple as Christmas and the acknowledgement of Christmas is being God conscious. And when you are God conscious your behavior is totally different, your morals and values are totally different.

So even little- like just those ten seconds we heard of “€œJoy to the World,”€, a famous hymn by Isaac Watts. Isaac Watts is a theologian from back in the 1700s in England. I mean, just hearing that much is another reminder of God. Anything that helps remind you of God and keeps you with a God conscience will help you have a thankful heart, which keeps you from being selfish. It will also take you in the direction of different behavior those who deny God or refuse to think about it.  Romans 1 talks about what that behavior leads to. So it really is a big deal, Rick.

People say, “€œWhy have a lawsuit over “€˜Under God”€™ in the Pledge of Allegiance? It is only two words. Who cares about “€˜In God we trust”€™ – four words, so what?”€

God Consciousness Changes Behavior in a Positive Direction

No, it is not a “€œSo what”€ for me. A Biblical perspective: if you can keep a nation God conscious, it changes their behavior in a positive direction. That’s why acknowledgement of God even at Christmas time like this – even though we joke about this, it really is a big deal.

Rick:

Hey! So Tim, that service that David is talking about from last Sunday teaching about the acknowledgment of God and how that changes cultural perspective in the way people act, is that a streamed sermon where people can download it, if we provide the link?

Tim:

Yeah! You can go to the website.  WallBuildersLive.com is the place you can go to get that link.

Rick:

By the way, that friend and listener that sent in the email about the Wisconsin thing, I just want to say, “€œMerry Christmas.”€

Outro Two:

An American Moment in American History:  George Washington and Congress support Chiefs in learning above all, about Jesus Christ.

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 American schools on June the 12th, 1779, George Washington told them you 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 contact WallBuilders at 800-8 REBUILD

Rick:

Tim, you got any good news for us today?

Church in Iowa Gets Sued For Labeling Bathrooms – Judge Drops Case

Tim:

I do! I got an email from our buddies over at Alliance Defending Freedom. And for our listeners, many of you are probably familiar with them. We have had some of their attorneys on the program before and they are a group that does a lot with religious liberty. They are one of the many law firms that fights to defend our individual liberties but specifically our rights of conscience, our Christian beliefs and faith as those come under attack in culture.  

Iowa Civil Rights Act Placed a Ban on Places of Public Accommodation

I got an email of a victory. This one was rather interesting.  There was a church in Des Moines, Iowa, and the church had fallen under what they call the Iowa Civil Rights Act.  The Iowa Civil Rights Act placed a ban on  “€œplaces of public accommodation.”€  That’s kind of a quote unquote– “€œpublic accommodation”€– if they would directly or indirectly make persons of any particular gender/identity feel unwelcome. So, they were saying this church could not regulate their bathrooms or showers– and this is a church. A church can not say, “€œMen, you need to use the men’s and women you need to use the women”€™s.”€ And then they were also regulated that you can not even speak against these gender identities.

So, if you are a pastor in the pulpit, you can”€™t even say, “€œ Hey, this is what the Bible says marriage is. This is why God  made them male and female. For this reason the Bible says a male leaves his father and mother and joins his wife and two become one etc.”€  They were not allowed to do that under this civil rights act and so they filed a lawsuit.  Well they were going to take this as far as they had to go.

Judge Deems Church Exempt!

Fortunately, a judge in Federal District Court ruled that churches are not places of public accommodation as this civil rights act says.  That”€™s not what a church is. This isn”€™t a venue, so to speak, where someone rents out this venue in the same way they rent out a public venue. So, the church got an exemption from this.  And the judge threw it out, saying, “€œThis is ridiculous. A church shouldn”€™t have to worry about this.”€ So, the church was able to pull back their lawsuit.

But it is just great news that in the midst of this craziness there was actually a judge who recognized that this is ridiculous, that a church shouldn”€™t have to deal with or put up with this. The church has a reprieve in the midst of this, which is great news! Now, it is still very silly that  Des Moines, Iowa has this civil rights act going on, which is really not even a civil rights act.  But it is great news that this judge recognized that a church should not be subject to it.

Separation of Church and State was to Keep Government From Telling Churches What To Do

David:

And Rick I”€™ve got to throw on here this right here, that action by that official absolutely shows that they know absolutely nothing about history or absolutely disregard it. That is the separation of church and state that Jefferson wrote against in his letter. He did not want the government regulating what churches did. That had been the way of the world for twelve hundred years, where the government took over churches.  They told you what your doctrines would be, what you could and couldn”€™t preach on the pulpit. I mean, that is exactly why we had separation of church and state. Not to keep the church out of things, to keep the government from telling the church what to do.

So that is the essence of a 1st Amendment violation in itself. Government can not tell people how to practice their faith whether they are bakers, florists, photographers, or whether they want — to have bathrooms for men and women. That in itself shows how poor education is today. That every single person in America today does not recognize that as a twelve hundred year violation that lead to the 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

VICTORY!  The Judge Got It Right!

Rick:

So, what you are saying is the judge actually properly applied a constitutional concept of “€œgovernment can not tell churches what to do and can not tell people how to live out their faith.”€ In this case specifically, dealing with a church building, but you are saying, “€œHey, that also applies to the bakers, the florists, and everybody else. It’s all an expression of faith.”€

David:

That”€™s right. And we talked about this also in the last segment. Freedom of Religion Foundations, they are the ones that love to throw around separation of church and state. They should have gone to this case right here and said, “€œHey, separation of state and church. Government, you can”€™t tell this church what to do with their bathrooms. We stand for separation of church and state. That is the way it should have been. And the judge got it right, got the historical perspective right, got the legal perspective right,  It is Freedom From Religion Foundation and other guys like that, the city official who tried to use the civil rights act on the church, they are the ones who do not have a clue what separation of church and state actually means.

Rick:

Well, it was a great victory and good news there,Tim. And thanks to our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom for that case and so many others. I mean, what a great network of thousands of attorneys across the country defending religious liberty.

 

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INTRO

Rick:

Tim had the last segment.  David, what is our next piece of good news?

David:

This is apparently turning into a musical program today.

Rick:

So we started with “€œJoy to the World”€™

David:

Now we are going somewhere else.

Rick:

Uh Oh.  Not Christmas.

< David plays the National Anthem.>

David:

Alright, we are going to the National Anthem

Rick:

Wait a second, we are standing up, hand on our hearts, we are not pulling a Colin Kaepernick here.  If you are driving, you can disregard it a little bit.

Tim:

Or pull over.

National Anthem:  To Stand or Not To Stand

David:

So, National Anthem.  Tim hit it.  This is football season and we have had this nonsense going on since football season about certain players who won’t stand for the National Anthem. In fact, they do exactly the opposite as an act of discontent, rebellion, and discord and will kneel rather than stand, doing exactly the opposite of what is expected. And as Rick mentioned, Colin Kaepernick is one of those guys.  Well, here is another story that had —

Rick:

Who, by the way, is now a fan of Fidel Castro, not that those two are related or anything, but anyway – go ahead.

Tim:

Yeah, he did come out this past weekend in saying that he thinks that what the people in America have been enduring recently is no different than the people of Cuba. Because we have problems here and we have persecution and all these things happening to minorities here and we are no better than they are.  So who are we to judge them? I mean, just ridiculous. But yeah, that is really where he went.

Rick:

Wow! That is ridiculous.

So anyway, I got us side tracked on not so good news for Good News Friday.

Public Schools Have Taught Our Kids To Hate America

David:

But you mentioned Castro”€™s death.  If you want to see a contrast in worldviews, read the official White House statement of Castro done by Barack Obama. And then read the statement put out by candidate Trump, now President Elect Trump on Castro and compare the two. It is a worldview difference. Whereas, Obama praises the stuff that is happening in Cuba, Trump condemns the brutal dictator and all the people he murdered and the regime of blood.

And so Colin Kaepernick is a guy obviously who has gone to public schools in America because he has learned to hate America and that we have the same oppression that happens in Cuba. Trump being seventy years old, obviously came at a different time frame where we actually taught some world history and taught some American history. That is unrelated but it is that sense of what we have been talking about in this program. The difference in worldview about America, you have either been taught to love America or hate America. That is a generational difference right now. Millennials need to catch up on history, including on separation of church and state so they will understand why we have been the nation we have been for 240 years.

There is a Huge Difference in the History of the Cuban Regime of Castro vs. The American History of Freedom

Rick:

And study the ones who have lived through it too. I mean, you listen to the statements from Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and their families and the people in their districts that have all fled from Cuba. Man, you get a totally different perspective than what the White House said. I didn”€™t realize Trump had done one as well. So, you are basically saying his was inline with  what Rubio and Cruz said?

America is the Land of Freedom, Cuba is the Land of Oppression, Death, Dictatorship

David:

Yeah, his statement is very much in line with consistent history of someone who actually knows the history of Cuba and knows the history of the United States as opposed to knowing the pablum that professors and so many school teachers put out now. Actually knows what happened there and is a very, very powerful statement.  America is the land of freedom, Cuba is the land of oppression, death, dictatorship, and all the bad things. As opposed to Obama who had great things to say about Cuba and the people and Castro and what is happening. It is a worldview difference.  And it is like Kaepernick.  

Ted Cruz”€™s Father, Rafael, Lived Through Castro”€™s Regime

Rick:

We might oughta get our friend, Pastor Rafael Cruz, Ted’s dad on the program again. We have had him on a few times but this would be a good time to get a reminder from what he lived through there and the real difference between communism and our American form of freedom.

David:

Yeah let’s do that.  We”€™ll read the statements of both Obama and Trump and let Rafael who lived through that, who was part of the Cuban revolution who was there when Castro came to power. Let him tell what happened. I think that is a great idea, Rick. Let’s do that.

Rick.

Yeah. Alright David so you have some good news that has to do with the National Anthem.

NFL Player, Cyrus Kouandjio Statement:  In Africa His Family Found Hardship. Found Opportunity in America, Stands For National Anthem.

David:

Has to do with the National Anthem, has to do with the NFL, and it has to do with the Buffalo Bill lineman from Cameroon, Cyrus Kouandjio. His brother is also in the NFL as a lineman over at the Washington Redskins. But just a few weeks ago Cyrus became a citizen of the United States, he is from Cameroon and he said in Africa his family found hardship, they came to America and they found opportunity.  

Colin Kaepernick Kneels to National Anthem, While Cyrus Kouandjio Appreciates Christian Values

So what does he do with the National Anthem? Here is what he says, “€œI can”€™t kneel during the anthem. I do not blame Colin Kaepernick for doing what he did.  But for me, I have too much respect for our flag and our anthem that represents freedom and liberty. I am a Christain and I feel like the forefathers of this country built this constitution around Christian values. Christian values like freedom and liberty and the pursuit of happiness and I am just glad to be apart of it. “€

Now that is a guy from outside the county who hasn”€™t been raised in the pampered lifestyle here. He says, “€œMan, when I hear the National Anthem, I am on my feet. I am at attention. This is good stuff that this National Anthem represents.”€ As opposed to Colin Kaepernick who”€™s been pampered here in America, who has the bad history views, not experienced the stuff these other guys have.  And what a difference. Good news that we”€™ve got NFL guys standing up, in their case it is because they have personally experienced what Americans take for granted. But we shouldn”€™t be taking this for granted but a great story from a Buffalo Bill line man.

Rick:

Great reminder for all of us. It is interesting how those who come from other nations, especially those who come from tyranny when they have experienced that and they come here they are the most outspoken when they see this stuff happening in our country and saying, “€œPlease.”€  We have had many guests that have gone through that and have talked about, “€œHey, I have seen where this goes. We need to appreciate our freedom more.”€ I wish that every kid in America could hear from these guys and realize just how blessed we are.  We get a little bit spoiled in our country.

David:

We get a whole lot spoiled in our country. Which again is why people need to go back and get some good history. Don”€™t take what you get out of the school books as school. Go back to some old school books. On the website at WallBuilders.com we have all sorts of recommended reading books. A lot of them are old history books that were published in the 1800″€™s. Because the history of America from the 1400″€™s on is not changed except in the minds of professors who now write the current textbooks. If you want to see the way we used to teach it and what actually happened, we have all sorts of great links on our website.

Rick:

We have a couple minutes left.  Either of you got a quick question to close us out with today?

Obama Administration Bathroom Policy

Tim:

You bet! This one is from Texas.  This one is from a federal judge and it deals with the bathroom policy from the Obama administration. The Obama administration says, “€œHey, based on how someone identifies, they should be able to use that bathroom, locker room, shower, and even play on that team,”€ as the case is now becoming. Well, a Texas federal judge denied request from two federal executive branch departments to lift the ban on the Obama administration policy. Because in Texas we said, “€œHey, this is not what we are doing.  It is not the direction we are going.  We are going to protect girls and their privacy in the girls”€™ bathroom, locker room, teams, and in the girls”€™ showers.”€

Texas Protects Girls From Perverts

David:

And by the way, I have to add. I saw a buisness sign in East Texas by one of the marques. You pass by and the sign said, “€œ Democrats want to put perverts in the bathroom with your wife and daughter.”€ I sent that to a friend in California and he said he would never see a sign like that in California. But Tim is saying that in Texas, we stood up for the daughters and  the wives in that sense that we don”€™t want male perverts in the bathroom with you. So, Tim back to your story.

Tim:

There is a clear delineation.  Because one of the problems with the Obama administration is it doesn”€™t protect someone that might be confused about their gender identity. What it does is it opens up and it allows opportunity for every sexual miscreant, every sexual pervert, to have access, and no one can tell them, “€œNo.”€ Nobody can stop them anymore. “€œWell, that is how I feel, that is how I identify today.”€ And so there is a major problem with the process behind this optimism. There are a lot of philosophy issues in general but-

David:

Just to add to that, we have used the word pervert because that is the word on the sign. But-

Gender Confusion?

Rick:

It”€™s Perversion.

David:

If they are confused about it, and people have sympathy, “€œOh well, they are just confused. They don”€™t know.”€ If they are just confused, then why are so many of them taking cameras into the bathroom with them when they go into a girls”€™ bathroom? They don”€™t do that in the guy’s bathroom.  And there is an element to this that is definitely on the twisted side. And that is what we are trying to protect from is those on the twisted side.

Rick:

And frankly is anything still a perversion anymore? Or is it all ok? Right? I mean are we going to draw a line anywhere at this point?

David:

Well,we are told in Jeremiah 8,  the Scripture says very clearly there that “€œMy people no longer know how to be embarrassed.”€ And that is almost the point where we are in America. It is really hard to get people in America embarrassed anymore. But Tim finish your story.

Tim:

Well, if someone is confused, obviously, we want to help them in their life.  And we have compassion and concern for people that are confused. We want to help them have clarity.  But in this case, we want to protect the rights of women and our girls in these situations. So this Texas federal judge said that he is not going to lift the ban that we have in Texas saying, “€œ We can not allow boys and men go into the girls”€™ restrooms, bathrooms, and locker rooms.”€ So this is great news coming from Texas that we are still going to protect women and our girls.

Rick:

Even when it is not popular in the culture. So this judge did the right thing, I guarantee you, he is getting a lot of hate mail. But he oughta get some good mail as well and people oughta know he did exactly the right thing.  Hey folks we have allot more good news.  We are out of time today.  But every Friday, we will share good news with you.  Thanks so much for listening to WallBuildersLive!