Jobs Outnumber Joblessness For The First Time In 20 Years: 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. In this episode, we talk about how Nikki Haley blasts U.N. Human Rights Council as ‘cesspool of political bias’ as U.S. withdraws, how U.S. jobs outnumber jobless for the first time in 20 years, how Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, promises to fulfill a dying teen”€™s last wish to end abortion! And much more!

Air Date: 07/06/2018

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. Transcription will be released shortly. 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:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. This is WallBuilders Live! Where we”€™re talking about today”€™s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture. We always do that from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective.

We’re here with David Barton, America’s premier historian and the founder here at WallBuilders. Tim Barton”€™s with us, national speaker and pastor, and president of WallBuilders. My name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas legislator.

You found us on Friday. Around here we call it Good News Friday because it’s a chance to catch up on the good news across the country and around the world that you probably haven’t heard. It’s not in the major media. And there’s story, after story, after story, at the local level, the county level, the state level, the federal level. There’s all kinds of great things happening in Washington D.C. believe it or not, in state capitols across the country, even in some of the more liberal states, and in local communities across the country and even in the courtroom.

So, all of this different good news is happening out there and we want to bring that to you. So, if you don’t get enough today, we’re going to fire as much at you as we possibly can in our short time together. But if you don’t get enough today go to our website, WallBuilderLive.com, click on the archive section, and you can scroll back through some of those previous Friday programs to get some additional good news. But let’s get into some good news right now. David and Tim Barton are going to share some good news with us and David Barton is up first.

David:

Okay, Rick, first I’m going to start with just a little trivia quiz here. Can you tell me what characteristic or what is in common if I name these nations – Sudan, Syria, China, Libya, Cuba, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia. What characteristic do they have in common? Now there’s probably going to be a lot, but just from a political standpoint.

Rick:

They don’t sound like bastions of freedom.

David:

Oh you got it right off the top bat. So, they’re not bastions of freedom. How do these nations do on civil rights?

In Charge of Civil Rights Around the World?

Rick:

They don’t have any, right? Not very well, let’s put it that way.

David:

So, they’re not good on civil rights. So, now, not being good on civil rights and being pretty immense violators of civil rights, guess what? They’re on the Civil Rights Council for united nation. These are the people we put in charge of fighting for civil rights around the world.

Rick:

It is the nations that are doing the worst job end up being the ones on the United Nations committee.

David:

That’s right. That’s right. So, there are the ones that get to speak with moral clarity for the rest of the world. This is what the Civil Rights Council with the United– or its actually the Human Rights Council. So, the Human Rights Council with the United Nations has all these great human rights defenders. Not quite.

Now, interestingly, our U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley– and by the way, just a little commentary on the side, I would point out that over the last few weeks some names I have not heard on on TV with CNN, and MSNBC, and in a lot of the mainstream media. I’ve not heard much about Nikki Haley, I’ve not heard much about Mike Pompei, so I’ve not heard much about Sam Brownback, and these are all guys that are really key in any human rights efforts.

But what I have heard about is what was written on the back of the First Lady’s jacket, and the fact that she was wearing stiletto shoes, and Trump’s tweets, and I’ve heard all sorts of outrages about Trump, but nothing about this. And what happened in that period of time was that Nikki Haley has just announced she has pulled the United States off the Human Rights Council at the U.N.. We’re no longer part of that. This is the first time in its history that someone has voluntarily left that council. So, we have voluntarily left the council. We’re no longer a part of it.

Voluntarily Leaving the Council

David:

And the reason is pretty simple. It’s a hypocritical council. This council has actually condemned Israel more than they have any other group. And matter of fact, with all of this going on in Venezuela right now they have yet to come out with the condemnation of Venezuela. But they are condemning Israel for what they’re doing to the Palestinians. They haven’t gotten around to condemning Hamas yet, they haven’t gotten around to condemning the PLO, or any of that.

So, the human rights council spends their time condemning Israel in a very high percentage. And so for that Nikki Haley said, “€œWe’re not going to be part of this. This is a farce. This is not even real. You’re not concerned about human rights – you’re concerned about whacking Israel.”€ And she points out that it has become such an anti Israel Council that the United States will not be part of it. Now I find that really, really, interesting.

Tim:

And, Dad, let me jump in real quick because you mentioned what’s happening right now in Venezuela, you mentioned what’s happening with PLO. I think probably a lot of people haven’t heard of what’s happening. And as you mentioned, a lot of the news doesn’t cover some of these things. So, what is going on in Venezuela, what are other things happening that probably this U.N. council should be condemning and they are silent on? Also they’re attacking Israel who certainly does not deserve that condemnation.

David:

Well, in Venezuela you’ve got a lot of political turmoil. You’ve had dictators and the people are trying to get back to an elected government. And so the dictators don’t like that and they go from one dictator to another. So, when the new dictator comes in the people try to rise up and say, “€œWe want freedom”€. And so what’s happening in Venezuela you have all these protesters being killed, you have all this political turmoil, all this hard fistedness from the dictator trying to squash any effort for a Republican elected government. Nothing is really wrong with that from the U.N. standpoint, I guess, because they’re not saying anything about it.

Hypocrisy at the U.N.

David:

And the fact that all of these rockets that have been launched against Israel that have come from Hamas. And actually, Iran has been funding Hamas to launch these rockets into Israel, and the Iron Dome has been knocking them down. Hamas and PLO have been funding all these people to attack from Gaza and create tension on the border there. All this fund– and by the way, Hamas and PLO all are officially recognized as terrorist organizations.

So, they’re not getting condemnation. Israel is. Israel’s defending herself from all of these terrorist launch attacks. And so she’s the one being condemned and nobody is going after the Palestinians using funding to push these literal terrorist recognized organizations. So, that’s part of the hypocrisy of what goes on at the U.N..

And so there’s many situations like that across the world. What’s happening in the Sudan and other places as well, you’re not getting condemnations. But I have to say I loved what the secretary of state said about this. And by the way, does anybody even know who the secretary of state is now? Hopefully people who listen here would know that Mike Pompeo is the secretary of state. But I think probably most people would not.

Rick:

And a little background on him, David. So, he was a congressman first and then he was over at CIA right?

David:

Yeah, he was a congressman, and he went to CIA, and he– they really fought him over going to CIA. Because for people who don’t recall, the opposition came out to him and said, “€œHe is not competent to run the CIA or to hold any national position.”€ Because as a congressman he was very clear that he thought marriage was between one man and one woman. And he thought that sexuality should be between a male and a female. And for holding that traditional position, which is, again, a longtime position, and it’s the position of most nations of the world, his opposition really went after him.

Some Background on the Secretary of State

David:

So, he was the head of the CIA and intelligence and now he has been confirmed over as the secretary of state. Which means here’s a guy with basic traditional moral values who is now handling how we deal with all these other nations. So, it’s interesting that while pulling out of the U.N. Human Rights Council did get picked up by some conservative news media it really didn’t get into the mainstream media at all. I saw nothing on CNN, I heard nothing about it on MSNBC, I saw nothing about it on ABC, CBS, NBC, none of those covering it.

But interestingly, when they held the press conference where the secretary of state announced– and Nikki Haley was there with them, she’s the ambassador to the U.N. from the United States. He said, “€œWe have no doubt there was once a noble vision for this council.”€ he said speaking about the human rights council and the U.N. He said, “€œBut today we need to be honest – the Human Rights Council is a poor defender of human rights. Worse than that, the Human Rights Council has become an exercise and shameless hypocrisy with many of the world’s worst human rights abuses going ignored and some of the world’s most serious offenders sitting on the council itself.”€  

That’s a great statement and that is so true. But I’ve got to say it is good news that we’re drawing a moral line in the sand and saying, “€œHey, we’re not going to be part of the hypocrisy.”€ This is such an anti Israel group that they don’t even look at civil rights abuses elsewhere, they”€™re look at Israel and blaming her and we’re not going to be part of that. And so kudos to these folks from the Trump administration who have actually stood up and defended Israel once again. But actually come down on the right side of civil rights and not the facade that the U.N. Human Rights Council has become.

Rick:

Now, this is the kind of stuff we used to see this hypocrisy at the U.N. level and say, “€œMan, I wish we would not participate in that kind of stuff, but the politicians are never going to poke their eye and poke their finger in the eye of the U.N. They”€™re not going to poke that bear, or whatever.”€ I love the fact that Trump, and Nikki Haley, and these folks with backbone, “€œNot a problem. We”€™re going to do what’s right. We’re not going to be part of the hypocrisy.”€ They don’t care about the people being naysayers and saying, “€œOh, you can’t mess with the U.N. and you can’t do anything that’s going to offend these countries.”€ I love the fact they just do what’s right and let the chips fall where they may.

Quick break, we’ll be right back. More good news when we return on WallBuilders Live.

Constitution Alive

Have you ever wanted to learn more about the United States Constitution but just felt like, man, the classes are boring or it’s just that old language from 200 years ago or I don’t know where to start? People want to know. But it gets frustrating because you don’t know where to look for truth about the Constitution either.

Well, we’ve got a special program for you available now called Constitution Alive with David Barton and Rick Green. It’s actually a teaching done on the Constitution at Independence Hall in the very room where the Constitution was framed. We take you both to Philadelphia, the Cradle of Liberty and Independence Hall and to the WallBuilders”€™ library where David Barton brings the history to life to teach the original intent of our Founding Fathers.

We call it the QuickStart guide to the Constitution because in just a few hours through these videos you will learn the Citizen’s Guide to America’s Constitution.  You’ll learn what you need to do to help save our Constitutional Republic. It’s fun! It’s entertaining! And it’s going to inspire you to do your part to preserve freedom for future generations. It’s called Constitution Alive with David Barton and Rick Green. You can find out more information on our website now at WallBuilders.com.

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us on WallBuilders Live. It’s Good News Friday today. Be sure and get more of that good news at WallBuildersLive.com. Tim Barton is up next with some good news – Tim?

Tim:

Yeah, this is something that has gone viral and so I would think many of the younger listeners in the audience, there”€™s chance they saw this somewhere on social media. There’s a, I guess, still a TV show, I’ve never watched it, I think it’s still a thing, MTV apparently. Because there are still MTV Awards.

Recently at the MTV Awards, Chris Pratt was given an award. And Chris Pratt, famous actor, he’s been in some of the Avenger movies, *, and actually he’s got a pretty significant acting career whether it be Jurassic Park, the multiples that have come out. And I’m sure they’re going to try to make many more and try to make a lot of money. He was in a TV show, *Parks and Rec, and so he’s become a fairly well known actor. And he actually has been fairly open about his faith, about being a Christian.

Nine Points for Success

Tim:

Well, at the MTV Awards when they gave him the award he got up and he gave his nine points for success in life. And actually, the points he gave, there were some very deep and significant points. One of the things that was so cool about it, there were several Christian elements to it where he talked about you have a soul, and you need to pray, and you’re not perfect and you never will be. But somebody shed His blood, laid down His life for you, there’s grace for you. Several of the things he said were very much rooted in Christianity and his Christian faith.

It was it was actually rather impressive. You actually can get on YouTube and you can watch this award where he gives these 10 points. And every time he mentions God it seems like the loudest cheers from the audience are when he mentions one of the spiritual things. But also what was so impressive to me is in the midst of them listing these things, he did a really, really, good job at mixing in humor and–

Rick:

Yeah.

Tim:

–the oddity that he’s come to be known for. In fact, he talked about if you’re giving, I think it was number four, after giving a dog a pill, put the pill in a hamburger and the dog won’t know he’s eating a pill.  

Rick:

Right.

Tim:

He says these funny things. Actually, I think there was some underlying tone that because he was being so humorous–

Rick:

Yeah.

Tim:

I think he actually was putting this spiritual message inside of the hamburger meat to give to the audience.

Rick:

I love it.

Promoting Faith in Hollywood

Tim:

They didn”€™t even know they were eating something spiritual. But it was just so cool because, again, I don’t watch TV, so I really don’t even know what all the air on MTV these days. I didn’t even know it was still around until this award show where Chris Pratt. His acceptance speech has gone viral and it’s all over social media. But the impressive thing about it is that you have somebody promoting faith in Hollywood where, really, that’s not been the norm, that’s not been accepted, right.

Where we’ve seen Hollywood very recently. You’ve got like Robert De Niro that came out and was dropping the f bomb against Trump. And really, you see Hollywood going a very anti Christian, a very anti-American, certainly anti conservative way. And here you have an actor in Hollywood who’s standing up and saying something very different, very countercultural of Hollywood, and very pro faith. Which, MTV of all places, I’m surprised they even aired as much as they did. But just a really cool thing this speech from Chris Pratt.  

Rick:

Tim, I think you just made a great observation in how he delivered that. Some of our folks are going to probably go google this and go watch it and they’re going to, on the humorous parts, think well, why did he have to bring up, talk about goofy stuff. I think it was brilliant. I think it was masterful that he used the humor, like you’re saying, to put the good stuff, the spiritual stuff, into that hamburger meat. And that audience, because they were laughing at every other one the way that they were, then immediately could listen to the spiritual message.

A Masterful Job

Tim:

If he had just done the spiritual items they had probably  not aired it, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, or they would have booed him off the stage, they wouldn’t have listened. I just think it was honestly a masterful job of knowing your audience and crafting that message. Here’s this guy that some people would just dismiss as a comedian, or actor, or whatever and I think God used him to really plant some fantastic seeds. Like you said, the ones that he put in there on the spiritual items were, honestly, powerful, powerful, points.

Tim:

Absolutely. I think we sometimes look at Hollywood and we hear so much liberal rhetoric we don’t often give them credit for being strategic or thoughtful a lot of times because a lot of what they say doesn’t always seem thoughtful. But this was one of those speeches where there was a lot of strategy in the midst of this. You’re mentioning, I think it was number seven where he talked about pooping at a party and you”€™re like, “€œDude, like this is ridiculous”€. In fact, in the midst of him giving that there’s shots of the crowd and it’s people just raising their eyebrows and kind of their hands like, “€œWhat”€™s he talking about?”€

But he mixes in things that were ridiculous, that were funny, that was very off setting as far as the spiritual nature, as far as getting you off guard, that kind of off setting–

Rick:

Yeah.

Tim:

–where they got you off guard to where it really made it so palatable when he was offering them something very deep and spiritual. So, again, just very cool coming out of Hollywood.

Rick:

No doubt. And if you guys don”€™t mind, I’m just going to read a couple of these. He said, “€œYou have a soul. Be careful with it.”€ He said, “€œIt doesn’t matter what it is, earn it. A good deed, reach out to someone in pain, be of service. It feels good and it’s good for your soul.”€ He said, “€œGod is real, God loves you, God wants the best for you. Believe that – I do.”€ He said, “€œLearn to pray. It’s easy and it’s so good for your soul.”€

Lastly, he said– this is so good right here– he said, “€œNobody’s perfect. People will tell you that you’re perfect just the way you are. You’re not. You’re imperfect. You always will be and there is a powerful force that designed you that way. And if you’re willing to accept that you will have grace and grace is a gift like the freedom that we enjoy in this country. That grace was paid for with somebody else’s blood. Do not forget that. Don’t take that for granted.”€ There’s a good, strong, theological stuff embedded in there.

Quick break. We’ll be back in a moment. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live on Good News Friday.

Leadership Training Program

Rick:

Hey, friends! We’ve got a great program to share with you today. It”€™s the WallBuilders Leadership Training Program and it’s an opportunity for 18 to 25 year olds to come spend two weeks diving into the original documents we’re always talking about here on WallBuilders Live.

Tim, you’ve already been doing this a couple of summers and seen the results of young people coming to this program. We’re going to see more of them coming this year.

Tim:

Yeah, Rick, it”€™s something that”€™s been cool to see the transformation with young people coming in. The emphasis, for us, largely is a pursuit of truth. We have a culture that doesn’t know what truth is. We don’t know what biblical truth is, or constitutional truth, or the American heritage that we have. And so we really dive into original documents and say, “€œWell, what did they actually write? What did they actually do? Not just what did somebody say, what is actually true, and the truth is what’s transformational.

David:

Yeah, guys. This really is a remarkable opportunity. And for those who want to spend time with us and spend time in the original documents, this is a great program. So, if you’re from 18 to 25, or you know someone who’s 18 to 25, send them to sign up for one of our three sessions this summer at WallBuilders.com/leadershiptraining.

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live on this Good News Friday. And David Barton is up next with some good news. David, since we got Chris Pratt, some of his nine rules for life. What’s the David Barton nine rules for life?

David:

Oh no, don’t go there. I’m not even going to compete on that. I would love to mix humor in like he did. I”€™m probably not real good at mixing the humor in. So, I’m–

Rick:

Alright, then good news in.

Lowest Unemployment in 50 Years

David:

I’m going to go to good news and I think this is good news. I’m just not hearing many folks talk about it. Now the Labor Department comes out with statistics and they”€™re usually a month or two late on statistics. But what I find kind of interesting is when you look at all of the people who are looking for jobs in America you’re talking about 6.35 million people looking for jobs in the month of April. When you’re talking about all the job openings that are available in America you have 6.7 million open jobs in America. Now, if I’m understanding this, there’s 6.7 million open jobs and 6.35 million people looking for jobs. We”€™ve got more jobs and we have people? Yup.

So, this is the lowest unemployment rate we have had in 50 years. Half a century – I would think that that would be good news that somebody would want to highlight. I’m just not hearing all that much about it. But that’s a real turnaround. And by the way, they started keeping stats on this a number of years ago. And so in this last month this is the highest percentage of Americans who have been satisfied with the way things are going, the highest number it looks like in 13 years. So, there’s a real change in the direction. I don’t seem to hear that change when I listen to most national media.

But when you look at unemployment– and by the way, also hourly wages increased 2.7 percent in May. That’s 3 percent in one month. If you extrapolate that over the year, you’re talking a 36 percent hourly increase in wages over the year. Well, not every month is going to be the same, but a 2.7 percent increase just in the month of May, there’s just a heck of a lot of good economic news out there that I don’t think most people are hearing and catching.

It Would Be Constant in a Different Administration

Rick:

Can you imagine how much we would have heard about these numbers over, and over, and over, again if it had happened during Obama’s administration? I’m just saying. It would be constant.

David:

You’re exactly right. Which is part of the irony that you have such massive numbers –  lowest unemployment in 50 years and the highest satisfaction rate in 13 years. And just not even out there. So, I don’t think we have to question whether there’s bias in the media any more. I think we’ve got more than enough evidence to say, yeah, there’s bias. Because even the guys in media should be happy with the low unemployment rate. They should be happy with increased wages, they should be happy with a satisfied country are the most satisfied– They should be, but even they are not content with that because it’s just not for their narrative. So, you’re exactly right, Rick.

Rick:

Yeah, it doesn’t fit their narrative at all. Quick break. It fits our narrative because we like good news wherever it comes from and whenever it happens. More good news when we come back. Stay with us. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Moment From American History

This is Tim Barton with another moment from American history. As the American War for Independence began, the president of Yale was the Reverend Naphtali Daggett. When New Haven, the home of Yale, came under attack about a hundred citizens rushed out to meet the British.

The Reverend Daggett galloped by them on horseback, his clearable robes flowing behind him in the wind. He took up a solitary position atop a hill. The 2,500 British soon put the townsfolk to flight but the Reverend Daggett continued to stand alone firing down on the advancing troops.

A British officer confronted him, “€œWhat are you doing there you old fool? If I let you go, will you ever fire again on the troops of his majesty?”€ Nothing more likely was the preacher’s reply. America’s early pastors personally confronted danger and courageously led their communities.

For more information on Pastor Daggett and other colonial Patriots, go to WallBuilders.com.

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live. Good News Friday today. More good news at WallBuildersLive.com. Our last piece of good news coming from Tim Barton – Tim?

Tim:

Yeah, guys, this is a really cool story that came out of Texas. The Make A Wish Foundation is an organization that kids that have cancer that are fighting that battle, some of them don’t make it through it. So, they try to help these individuals with cancer if there’s a wish they have. So, they try to grant these wishes which is a really cool deal.

Well, there”€™s young man, Jeremiah Thomas, 16 year old who had cancer. And his whole life he said he’s been battling against abortion and he wants to see abortion ended. And so for his Make A Wish, the actual wish that he had, he wanted to talk to Governor Abbott. So, Make A Wish connected him with Governor Abbott. And so during that phone call he said, “€œFor my wish, I wanted to talk to you and discuss a bill of abolition about abortion, ending abortion.”€

A Special Make A Wish

Tim:

He said, “€œSir, you’d be representing the demands of Texans if you would pass this bill. We want to end abortion here and now.”€ And Governor Abbott responds and says, “€œWell, son, your wish is part of the Republican platform, and it’s something we’re pursuing, and we’re trying to to outlaw abortion altogether in the state of Texas.”€

And so Governor Abbott says, “€œSo, son, your wish is granted.”€ So, Governor Abbott tells this kid that we’re going to work to abolish abortion, the abolition of abortion, here in Texas. But just, it was a really cool story of this young man battling cancer, obviously he’s dealing with a lot in his life. And yet in the midst of all he’s going through he says the one thing I really want, the one thing I want to see solved, is this abortion issue in Texas. And Governor Abbott says, “€œI’m going to grant that wish.”€

So, just really a cool story. And obviously, we are hopeful and prayerful that Governor Abbott will follow up on this and that we will see abortion ended in Texas. But just a cool story coming from Jeremiah that that was his Make a Wish.

Jobs Outnumber Joblessness For The First Time In 20 Years

Rick:

Folks, there”€™s more good news at our website, WallBuildersLive.com. You can listen to some of those past Friday programs there. And you can help us share more good news and create more good news. If you come alongside us and partner up with us it’ll help us to do our pastor’s briefings, our youth training, put out more material that will equip and inspire families, you can do all of that at WallBuilders.com, WallBuilders.com, that’s our main website.

You can do a monthly donation or a one time donation. And then go to WallBuildersLive.com and share the radio program. Share it on Facebook, and Twitter, and all your other social media outlets. Help us spread the word and continue this great work here at WallBuilders. We appreciate you listening to WallBuilders Live.