Americans Say Mainstream Press is Fake News, We Have the Truth: Good News Friday today on WallBuilders Live!   In this episode, we discuss things such as, good things happening out of the Trump administration, taking a stand for morality, and a new tactic we are using that could save countless lives. 

Air Date: 06/02/2017

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.  Additionally, names may be misspelled because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Welcome

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture, this is WallBuilders Live! Where we”€™re talking about these hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture, always looking at it from Biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective.

We’re here with David Barton, America’s premiere historian. Tim Barton, president of WallBuilders. And my name’s Rick Green, national speaker and author. And Tim Barton is a national speaker and pastor.

And David Barton by the way, when I say, “€œAmerica’s premier historian”€ you gotta check out the original documents at WallBuilders.com. The Bartons have compiled this incredible library – largest collection of the Founding Fathers’ documents. So when we”€™re quoting from the Founders it’s an original document we’re bringing it from.

That’s why WallBuilders is known as a pro-family organization where we present America’s forgotten history and heroes with an emphasis on our religious, moral, and constitutional heritage.

Check it out at WallBuilders.com and then for the radio website WallBuildersLive.com. You can get a list of our stations across the country carrying the program and even check out some of the archives.

The Majority Of Published Stories About Trump Are Negative

Rick:

Today is Friday and every Friday we try to do some good news. So today is Good News Friday. And David and Tim have been compiling some stories that probably you have not and I have not seen in the major media. And so it’s a chance for us to share some of these victories in the culture. Sometimes even outside of America but usually in America.

So sometimes it’s court cases, sometimes it will be legislative victories, might just be something happening in your backyard, in your community. So send that into us if you’d like to share it. You can send e-mails to [email protected]. So David, Tim, looking forward to today, we”€™ve got a lot of great news to share so let’s get started.  Who’s going first?

David:

Rick, I’m going to start. I’ve got several good news stories out of the Trump administration which may seem kind of unusual for people to hear that. And that’s because there was a study done here a few weeks ago that said 93% of the media stories that have been published about Trump so far have been negative. So people are used to hearing all this bad stuff, not the good stuff. But I’m happy to point out good whenever it happens.

Tim:

Actually, I think Harvard came out with a study just a couple of weeks ago that was dealing with television coverage and 80 percent of all television coverage of the Trump administration has been negative.

And so I guess this 93 percent number is all media outlets of coverage. But at least for television, and I know a lot of people who are watching TV and getting their information on TV, all we hear about are all the negative things.

Obviously, one of the things we try to do on Good News Friday is to present stories that most Americans have not heard the good things going on and apparently there’s a lot of good things-

Two-Thirds Of Americans Say Mainstream Press Is Fake News

David

There is. And jumping on even what you were saying with what Harvard found. Here is something just from a few days ago. It’s the latest Harvard Harris poll which says, “€œTwo-thirds of Americans say that the mainstream press is full of fake news.”€

So two-thirds of Americans think that what’s being said is fake news and that includes 80 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of independents, and 53 percent of Democrats think that what is out there is fake news.

Eighty-four percent of voters say, “€œIt’s hard to know what news to believe online because there’s so much fake news out there. So because of that there are so many good things you don’t hear.  93 percent is negative, and 80 percent of TV is negative, and two-thirds of the nation thinks that fake news is what dominates.

Good Things Happening Out Of The Trump Administration

So I’m going to take the first one which has to do with our treatment of ISIS. Over the last eight years, the military approach toward ISIS is what has been called “€œattrition tactics”€ where we try to keep them from getting a foothold in any place. We keep them hopping from Syria, to Iraq, to all around. And so we just don’t let them dig in and get a foothold and that’s what we used for the last eight years. But now Secretary of Defense General James Mattis has announced that we’re shifting from attrition tactics the new approach is now called “€œannihilation tactics.”€ We’re just flat going to wipe them out so they can’t shift.

Rick:

There’s no misunderstanding that word, right?

David:

Oh, that’s real easy. And by the way, we have an American military that is quite capable of doing that. We have the most powerful military in the world by a long shot. We can end this when we decide we want to end it.  When we keep the political guys out of it and when we keep the media out of it and say, “€œThe best way to save American lives is to go put an end to this even if it means losing some civilian lives. That will save thousands of civilian lives over the next 10-20 years because you keep doing this attrition stuff and you keep have unintended casualties on both sides.”€

So what General Mattis said, and this is his quote, “€œOur intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, or to Africa. We’re not going to allow them to do so. We’re going to stop them there and we’re going to take apart the caliphate.”€Â 

Hooray, hooray. We’re starting to act like a military and this can be won.

Why ISIS Doesn”€™t Bother Israel

And by the way, this is not that hard of a deal. And I know that sounds kind of strange, but is is a great example that. We’ve got a friend in Israel, he’s special ops kind of guy. And he was talking to the Israeli generals and he said, “€œWhat do we do with ISIS?”€ And they laughed at him said, “€œISIS? That’s a bunch of thugs in Toyota pickups.”€ Have you noticed? Israel does not have trouble with ISIS.  ISIS doesn’t pick on Israel because they know exactly what will happen to them if they do.

So they’re all around Israel and they hope Iran sends in a nuclear weapon and blows up Israel but they’re not going to send their guys into Israel because they know exactly what will happen. So this is good news that we’ve now moved away from attrition tactics to annihilation tactics.  Look for a change in the outcome

Tim:

And by the way, just to make some moral clarity on that.  I can certainly imagine a lot of people are thinking, “€œWait a second, annihilation? That’s so rough, it’s so mean, and it”€™s so intolerant, and all these new faux pas words that the snowflake generation has embraced. But the reality is that this is a very clear moral delineation between right and wrong, good and evil. And what ISIS is doing-

There Is A Right And Wrong

David:

That’s your problem. You think there’s a right and wrong, a good and evil. That’s where you lose the generation.  You can can”€™t think that way.

Tim:

Not just lose a generation, but we’re losing even a lot of the perspective war even between now right and left. That”€™s where you see the breakdown of the perception of good and bad, of good and evil, right and wrong, is really almost right and left now as far as the perception of what is right and wrong.

But when you look what ISIS has done and who they’ve declared war on and how they’ve murdered, and mistreated, and raped, and abused, and all the things they’ve done, if you have people that are joining ISIS they have put themselves in an agreement, in alignment with evil. And so when we’re saying we want to annihilate this is not just annihilating individuals this is annihilating evil. So there really should be some moral clarity to this position that we’re saying, “€œWe’re not just going to now play chase with the bad guys anymore.” We’re going to say, “No, if you’re going to join the evil team then you don’t get to exist anymore because we’re going to annihilate evil.”€

So just perspective, it’s not just individuals.  It’s a whole scheme of evil we’re talking about. And so it really is good news that we now have government leaders that are saying, “We’re not going to play chase with evil, we’re going to annihilate evil.”€

We”€™re Sending A Clear Message To ISIS

David:

And that sends a message and that will save tens of thousands of lives by an annihilating evil will do that. We now know there’s about 90,000 Christians a year that are being killed largely through these kinds of extremists. And we send out a message that says, “€œDon’t mess with these guys. Leave them alone. Don’t kill any more Coptic Christians in Egypt. Matter of fact, we’re going to make sure you guys can’t because you won’t exist anymore.”€  It’s going to mean tens of thousands of lives being saved as a result of moving from attrition to annihilation.

Rick:

Tim, I think your phrase was exactly right, “€œmoral clarity.”€ And not only in what this is but just the clarity that we’re hearing from the administration on this and from the military. It’s just great to once again feel good about the fact that they know what their mission is.  They know what their purposes are, not trying to dance around world opinion and all that and trying to figure out with moral relativism what the right thing to do is. 

Instead, they’re going, “€œWait a minute, there are moral absolutes. It is wrong to allow these people to be murdering Christians and the other things they’re doing and we’re going to do something about it.”€ So it’s just great to have that clarity all the way around.

Quick break.  We’ll be right back with Tim Barton.  He’s up with some good news when we return on WallBuilders Live.

A Moment From America”€™s History

This is David Barton with another moment from America’s history. In several decisions, over recent years the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that it is unconstitutional for the government to encourage religion.

Did our Founding Fathers agree with this? Consider the words of Henry Lawrence, a signer of the Constitution, and a president of Congress. Henry Lawrence declared, “€œI had the honor of being one who framed that Constitution, in order effectually to accomplish these great ends set forth in the Constitution. It is especially the duty of those who bear rule to promote and encourage respect for God and virtue and to discourage every degree of vice and immorality.”€

Founding Father Henry Lawrence believed that the goals of the Constitution could not be fulfilled apart from a fear and a respect for God and that it was, therefore, the duty of government to encourage this among the people. For more information on God’s hand in American history. Contact WallBuilders at 1 800 8 REBUILD.

Four Out Of Five Millennials Don”€™t Believe In Moral Truth

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live.  Thanks for staying with us on this Good News Friday. Started off with some good news coming out of the American military and its vision and purpose. Tim Barton is up next.  Tim, what have you got?

Tim:

Guys, this one is related to the nation. This is kind of tying into the end of the first segment where I mentioned “€œmoral clarity.”€  And of course, Dad, you chuckled with the thought of talking about a moral position because we’ve identified with George Barna the majority of Americans do not believe in moral absolutes anymore. So to suggest there can be moral clarity would really suggest you have to believe in morals.

Which statistically we know over 80 percent of millennials don’t believe there’s any moral truth, I think two-thirds-

David:

Two-thirds of the general population and four out of five millennials believe there is no such thing as absolute moral truth.

Tim:

So what that tells me is we actually have a very confused generation of millennials and confused population as a whole of what moral truth is because I have a survey, or I guess a study from Gallup. It’s related to the perspective of abortion and the title is Americans still believe killing babies and abortion is morally wrong.

David:

Wow.  How can that be?

Americans Still Believe Killing Babies in Abortion is Morally Wrong

Tim:

Exactly. If you don’t believe there are morals how can this be morally-

David:

If one out of three believe there’s something morally wrong and the majority of Americans believe abortion is morally wrong, they’ve just contradicted themselves.

Tim:

So, either we’re really bad at math and we don’t understand one-third and two-thirds or, we really have a confusion in culture. And this is what I’ve argued for a long time is that, of course, every millennial, of course, every American does believe in moral absolutes.  They just don’t want to say they believe in moral absolutes. 

But when you get down to it, “€œDo you think murder is wrong? Do you think rape is wrong?”€ Go through moral behaviors that are negative behavior and, of course, they’re going to identify and say, “€œOh, I believe that’s wrong.”€

So, perhaps the good news is that we do have people that do recognize there are moral rights and wrongs.  And the really good news in this situation is that they recognize that abortion is still morally wrong. So the majority of people in this survey and actually the number that they identify is 57 percent. But then there are some studies that it’s 49 percent. But the reality is-

David:

But the majority is on the other side.

Tim:

That”€™s right.  The 49 percent find abortion morally wrong as compared to 43 percent who say, “€œAbortion is morally acceptable.”€ And we could even at that point go to the 43 percent that say that it’s morally acceptable, some of those might be just in certain situations. And so it’s not abortion on demand.  It’s not all the time, whenever you want-

Pro-Life Is Going In The Right Direction

David:

The numbers consistently run only about 20 to 22 percent of the nation say that abortion on demand, under all circumstances, anytime you want it.  Only about 22 percent say that that’s acceptable.

So you’re right.  Even that 43 percent that says, “€œI’m not saying abortion is morally wrong.”€ They’ll probably still say, “€œBut I do think you shouldn’t have an abortion at nine months or eight months.”€

Tim:

So the good news is that, first of all, we have people that acknowledge there are moral truths and absolutes. And we recognize that abortion is one of those things that is morally wrong.

So this is good news again where the American population is the majority do recognize abortion is wrong and they recognize that it”€™s an absolute, that there are morals that exist, and that this is one of those morals.  So good news.

Rick:

So the good underlying values are still there.  Sometimes we need to point out and clarify and really it comes back to almost that application, just like the role of a pastor to teach you how to apply God’s word. Folks are hungry to serve God and follow God’s Word.  You still need direction on how to apply it. 

Tim, their basic values when they answer these surveys are headed the right direction. We just need to make sure we’re explaining and applying it to the issues of the day.

Tim:

There’s no doubt. And I would I would clarify, I don’t know if we could argue that their basic values are headed the right direction, but at least on this issue, they are.

Rick:

On this one.

Tim:

If we talked about human sexuality or identity. It might be different on different issues. But at least on the issue of life, on the value of life, certainly we are seeing things going in still a positive direction. We’ve talked about for years on this show good Friday where we’re seeing life go the right direction and that is still the thing we’re seeing. So it’s still good news.

Rick:

Good news!  Alright, we”€™re going to take a quick break. We’ll be right back.  You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.  It”€™s Good News Friday today.

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.

Viral Lies

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live! It’s Good News Friday today. I”€™m Rick Green here with David and Tim Barton and they are sharing some good news from across the nation and around the world.  David Barton’s turn.  David, what’s next?

David:

Well, I’m going to do some more out of the Trump Administration. It relates to the trip that he had a few weeks ago in the Middle East area where he went to Saudi Arabia and then he went to Israel, etc.

And by the way, on that trip, he ended up being part of the G7 economic conference. And we were talking in the first segment about how that there’s this fake news out there and people believed that. And that G7 economic conference where you had the world leaders from the largest nations come together for an economic conference.

The BBC guy took a picture of Trump at the conference and said, “€œLook, he’s so disengaged that he’s not even listening to what the Italian prime minister is saying.”€ And they showed a photograph of Trump and sure enough, he didn’t have a headset on.  He didn’t have anything in his ear that he was listening to, and he didn’t speak Italian.  So needs a translator, so he was clearly disengaged.

Well, that got tweeted 10,000 times, except the problem was Trump didn’t have a headset because he had an earbud in the right ear and they took a picture of the left ear. Other photographers at the conference took pictures and showed the right ear and there’s the translator right there in the right ear.

So when that was pointed out to BBC guy he retweeted and said, “€œHe did have one in the right ear.”€ But that only got retweeted by 45 people. But 10,000 sent out the tweet that Trump is disengaged, he’s disrespecting the Italian guy. And only 45 sent out the correction. So that”€™s the kind of fake news that’s out there. Within that, there was a lot of news that didn’t even get reported. And that’s I think that’s part of fake news too, is not telling the full story.

Trump Is The First President To Visit Jerusalem While In Office

But Trump went to Jerusalem as president.  Now that’s a really, really, really big deal. Back for the last several presidents, they will visit Israel when they’re candidates but they don’t go back as president.

They are happy to be a friend of Israel and be close to Israel before they get in. But once they become president, “€œWell, we’ve got to be neutral. There’s balance interests in the Middle East. We’ve got to be friends with them.”€ And that’s not what Trump did. He went to the Western Wall, the first U.S. president to be at the Western Wall. And on top of that, he’s there for Jerusalem Unification Day.

Tim:

And actually, he was the first president who visited while he was president.

David:

That’s right.

Tim:

Because other presidents have gone when they weren”€™t president. But he”€™s the first president while he’s a sitting president to go to that Western Wall.

David:

The first sitting president which is a really big deal.  That’s a really big stand. And that sends a message to all of those around Israel that hate Israel. So we’ve taken a very very clear position here and is there on Unification Day.

Tim:

And by the way, he visited Israel on a direct flight which also had never happened. And I guess Trump just doesn’t like layovers. I mean, really some remarkable things that happened in that as you’re explaining.

David:

Yeah, and that’s just part of it. And I, didn’t hear the media talk about that. I didn’t hear them talk about him being there.  What was it? Was it 50 or 100 thousand that were at the western wall? Because it was Unification Day when they had a unified Jerusalem after the 1967 War they got all of Jerusalem under Israel’s control.

And so he is at a very significant time with a key ally.

A New Tone

And by the way, the nation before that was Saudi Arabia and in Saudi Arabia, he didn’t talk about Islam being a religion of peace he says, “€œDrive them out.”€ Do you remember he kept using the phrase, “€œDrive them out. Drive them out.”€ Somebody did a great job because that is a phrase that appears time after time in the Koran.

In the Koran, it talks about driving out the infidels, the bad guys, and it’s a phrase that used time and time again. “€œDrive them out of the mosque.”€ And that’s the phrase Trump kept using. He kept using Islamic language with those of Islamic faith to make real clear that it’s in your faith that you have to drive these guys out of your faith which is such a huge tone difference from anything we”€™ve had. Bush didn’t do that and Obama definitely didn’t do that. And so he goes in and sets a different tone for Islam. But then he goes to Israel as a sitting U.S. president. That is a huge deal.  That’s good news from where I sit.

Rick:

You know, we talked during the election about the court being the most important issue. But then on this program, we talked many times about needing a friend of Israel and right towards the end of the Obama Administration there were just additional swipes against Israel.

So what a difference, I mean, what a change right now.  Again, not being covered in the media but we really want people to realize this was a major bright spot I guess I should say, in terms of where we could have been right now with a different president. Right now we’ve got a good friend of Israel in the White House. 

So more good news when we come back. Stay with us, folks.  You’re listening to WallBuilders Live!

Bring A Speaker To Your Area

Tim:

Hey, this is Tim Barton with WallBuilders.  And as you’ve had the opportunity to listen to WallBuilders Live, you’ve probably heard a wealth of information about our nation, about our spiritual heritage, about the religious liberties, and about all the things that make America exceptional. And you might be thinking, “€œAs incredible as this information is, I wish there was a way that I could get one of the WallBuilders guys to come to my area and share with my group.”€

Whether it be a church, whether it be a Christian school, or public school, or some political event, or activity, if you’re interested in having a WallBuilders speaker come to your area, you can get on our website at www.WallBuilders.com and there’s a tab for scheduling. 

If you”€™ll click on that tab, you’ll notice there’s a list of information from speakers bio’s, to events that are already going on. And there’s a section where you can request an event, to bring this information about who we are, where we came from, our religious liberties, and freedoms. Go to the WallBuilders website and Bring a speaker to your area.

Taking A Stand For Christians

Rick:

Welcome back to our final segment today of good news.  It’s Good News Friday.  And if you want more good news, by the way, visit our website WallBuildersLive.com. You can go to the archive section there and listen to some of the previous Friday programs. I think Tim, you’re up. What’s our next place for good news?

Tim:

Well, the next place is really more of a topic that happens in several places. It’s dealing with religious liberty. We”€™ll start off in Washington, D.C. First, where a couple of weeks ago Trump gave an executive order dealing with religious liberty.

And he said that he would not allow people of faith to be targeted bullied or silenced again and will never stand for religious discrimination. Now that’s a huge thing for a president to say because he put all the agencies and really so many law organizations, schools — however you want to classify it.  But kind of put them on notice and said, “€œHey, here is a position of the administration. We believe in religious liberty. We believe in and the rights of Christians.”€

And then in some cases, whether it’s the rights of churches and sermons, maybe even a baker, or you kind of go through the list but you have a president taking a clear position on defending religious liberty.

David:

Tim, on that. It”€™s interesting.  Some of our very friends that we”€™re very close with, they came out very critical of the president’s order. And they came out saying, “€œThat did not go far enough. He did not do enough. This is this is not as substantial as it should be.”€ And I’ve got to say, I understand what they’re saying, but the problem is what Trump did was exactly what the president is supposed to do. They were wanting him to make a policy.  The president doesn’t make policies.

Tim:

They wanted him to pass a law.

David:

That’s ex d him to have a pen and a phone. And the pre-release, the trial balloon that they did back in early January looked like it was going to be that kind of a deal. I mean, he was really stepping out there and this one came out and it didn’t say that Sisters of the Poor is off the hook, etc. But what he did say is, “€œMy administration is not going to prosecute this kind of stuff.”€

Tim:

So he was actually more constitutional than some of our friends wanted him to be. But again, they’ve probably seen the last eight or 12 years as it were, our president not being constitutional.

David:

That’s right. They’ve seen activism for the last 12 years or so. Where the president does have a pen and a phone and they’re used to a policy being made by the president. And that’s not it. And I was thrilled, I tell you.  It didn’t make much news but I was thrilled at the fact that what he did was so constitutionally correct as opposed to what other people wanted him to do. I was thrilled that it didn’t go as far as everybody wanted.  Although I would like the results, I would rather do them through the constitutional means.

Rick:

And it wasn’t that it was completely empty, either.  Remember?  We had Matt Staver on and talked about this will have an impact through the agencies which is the executive branch and that’s what he’s supposed to do.

But like you said, David, it’s so important that he did stay on the right side of the constitutional line on this.

Taking A Stand For Morality

Tim:

Yeah. Whether we’re talking about the IRS or HHS, there’s a lot of agencies that this will certainly impact, and how they respond to the American people. Well, actually, there were several states, following some of this initiative protecting religious liberty.  You had Alabama where their state legislature decided that faith-based adoption agencies and other children placement services that they can select parents on the basis of the organization’s religious belief, which is a big deal. Because it used to be, “€œWait a second, if you’re a faith-based organization and a homosexual couple lesbian couple wants to adopt, you can’t say “€˜no”€™ because they don’t match your values.”€

Now we”€™re saying, “€œWait a second, if it’s a religious organization their values can make a difference.”€

In North Dakota, there was a situation where there were two Christian schools that had a state championship. They were playing in a public school stadium and they were told that they’re not allowed to say a prayer before their football game-

David:

And it was two Christian schools playing.

Tim:

Right.  Christian schools because you can’t have an invocation. So the North Dakota State Legislature has now done legislation that students have the right.

David:

And by the way, that’s our friend Kim Koppelman, the state rep and North Dakota head of judiciary committee there. He’s the guy who picked this up two sessions ago and pushed this through and has gotten the bill passed.

Tim:

So based on this, now private and parochial schools have the right to pray at school athletic activities that are hosted on public school or in this case maybe government “€œowned property.”€

So there are a lot of positive things you’ve seen even since President Trump made this executive order stating, “€œWe’re going to protect religious liberty. We’re not going be hostile.  We’re not going to-“€  States are moving the right direction to also protect this.

Rick:

Excellent!!  Good, man. There’s so many different areas of good news. That’s why I like these days with you guys because people don’t realize all this stuff is happening. As you were talking about earlier all the negative media coming out about the Trump Administration. 

I used to hear everybody say that, but I don’t watch typical media so I would just hear that and think, “€œOh, that’s bad.”€ But now my phone, for some reason I get this CNN thing on this news pop up every day. And every day it just starts up with these horrible headlines about the Trump Administration. So now I get what you guys have been saying.

David:

Which is why CNN has only seven percent favorability rating as far as people trusting their news– 7 percent.

Rick:

And somebody e-mail me and tell me how to turn that thing off. Anyway, thanks for listening today, folks. It’s been Good News Friday all day today on WallBuilders Live!