Ninth Circuit Allows Hawaii Man To Keep His Gun: 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 a Harvard Law Journal concludes that a preborn child is a constitutional person. That the Ninth Circuit allowed a Hawaiian man to keep his gun. How Planned Parenthood loses a legal battle! And much more!

Air Date: 08/24/2018

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 are always doing it from a Biblical, historical, and Constitutional perspective.

We’re glad you’re with us today. And you can find out more about the program and get some archives about the program. Actually, over the last few months right there at our website WallBuildersLive.com. It also has a list of all the stations we’re on across the country.

And then, you can send in your questions to [email protected]. That’s an opportunity for us to answer your questions on our Foundations of Freedom Thursday programs. Which are available at the website right now at WallBuildersLive.com.

We’re here with America’s premier historian, David Barton. Also Tim Barton”€™s with us national speaker and pastor. And my name’s Rick Green. I’m a former Texas legislator.

It”€™s Good News Friday

We’ve got a lot of good news coming at you today.  This is Friday here at WallBuilders. We call it Good News Friday. Been doing this for quite a few years, guys. It’s a chance for you guys to pump me up a little bit. Give me a little pep talk. That’s there’s good news out there so I’ll keep fighting.

Now I think a lot of our listeners are in the same boat. They like to know that the system works if we work the system. And so, these victories across the country and communities across the country. Sometimes out of Washington, D.C., sometimes out of state capitols, sometimes out of people’s backyard with their school board.

But these opportunities to hear good news of the trends in the country and of specific examples of people making a difference. Really it is fun to do that on Friday.  

So looking forward to this with you guys. I think David, you got the first piece of good news today.

Hell Has Officially Frozen Over

David:

I do. And the announcement for the day is that hell has officially frozen over.

Rick:

Uh-oh.

David:

End of story. There we go. That’s good news.

Rick:

That is good news. I hadn’t seen that reported anywhere for sure.

David:

By the way, does anybody even know what that idiom means anymore?

Tim:

Hmm.

David:

Come on millennial in the room.

Tim:

Well, certainly not used very much and I wouldn’t use it in vernacular. But I’m allowing you to communicate with the words that make the most sense to you.

But, no hell freezing over doesn’t mean much anymore. Because that would seem to indicate that people believe in an eternal perspective and there must be absolutes or morals. And actually nobody goes to hell and  really goes to heaven is what current polling shows. So, yeah I don’t think that statement has much meaning in modern culture today.

Hell Freezing Over Doesn’t Mean Much Anymore

David:

That used to mean something that was extremely, extremely, extremely improbable that this certain thing would happen only when hell freezes over. Which wasn’t likely to happen since the Bible says that there is a hell. And there’s raging flame and Jesus says the fire never goes out and is never quenched.

So, that was an idiom that was used to say I never thought this would happen in my entire life. I’m looking here at a report from Harvard Law Journal. This article in the Harvard Law Journal concludes that the preborn child is a constitutional person. And is entitled to constitutional protection.

Rick:

Because of Harvard.

David:

And I did say Harvard on that.

Rick:

Yeah.

David:

And that’s what makes it absolutely improbable that Harvard would ever allow the printing of any article in its Journal.

Harvard States That Unborn Child Has Constitutional Protection

Tim:

Who writes the Law Review? And who wrote that article for the Law Review is my question?

David:

So, a law review. They invite people to write articles and contribute for them. I’ve been invited to write in Law Review. I have written law review articles.

They contact you and say we want you to contribute an article.  The Harvard Law Review. It’s made up of a Law Review board. There are people  and there is a Law Review editor with the board. And they reach out to folks and say we want you to do this.

This particular article was written by Josh Craddock. So he’s a Harvard law student at Harvard Law. He was asked to write this article for Harvard.

Tim:

And it got printed in their journal?

David:

It got printed in their journal.

Tim:

Wow.

Harvard Law Student Makes Compelling Argument

David:

Ok we could say they’re being truly liberal and allowing both sides to be presented. But that’s not consistent with what Harvard has been.

Tim:

I mean this sounds like we might have a rising Mike Lee, or Ben Shapiro, or Ted Cruz, or somebody. Who is up to the next level.

Rick:

Heading up the Law Review This year.

Tim:

But the fact it”€™s getting published in the Harvard Law Review, that’s a big deal.

David:

I got to tell you as I read it was really impressive. Because as he points out even Justice Scalia did not believe that the Constitution addressed abortion. And therefore protected unborn life, even though Scalia was pro-life.

He opposed Roe v. Wade. Thought it was judicial activism. He did not believe originalist that there was a constitutional protection for an unborn life. So this kid and I’m calling him that because he’s a student in law school.

So, this young man in law school went back and said oh OK. What we’ve got here is– we have. And by the way, this is called selective incorporation. This is something he didn’t specifically talk about.

Selective Incorporation

But selective incorporation is where that the U.S. Supreme Court has taken the 14th amendment. And said well through the 14th Amendment we’re going to apply the 1st, and the 3rd, and the 5th, and the other amendments against the states. Originally the Bill of Rights was only to limit the federal government.

But the federal government turned around in the courts. And said well through the 14th Amendment we’re going to apply this against the states. That puts the federal government in charge of what the states can a can’t do.

Under the 14th Amendment, this law review student went back and said OK. So, at the time the 14th Amendment was passed. It says you have to guarantee due process and equal protection rights for all persons. And the question he had was in 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment was done, was an unborn child a person?

What he did was he went through all of the laws of the time. And showed that in all of the states they had anti abortion laws. They called the unborn child a person. All the abortion laws were in the crime against persons category.

At the time of the 14th Amendment, there’s no question that in the states”€™ minds an unborn child was a person and they called it that in the laws.  Then he went and said alright let’s look at the guys who wrote the 14th Amendment. He went through the chief sponsors of the 14th Amendment. The guys who drafted it and showed what they thought about it.

An Unborn Child Is A Person Under The 14th Amendment

And so, he makes an extremely compelling argument.  That under originalist view, “€œpersons”€ included unborn life at the time of the 14th Amendment.  And therefore, since that’s what we use today is the 14th Amendment. That means unborn life is protected. They are persons under the Constitution.

Tim:

That is a very well thought out argument. And what was the young man’s name again? The student who’s there at Harvard.

Bravo Josh Craddock

David:

The young man who did this is, Josh Craddock.

Tim:

And we’re saying young man. For all I know, he could be 45 or 50. I don’t know that he”€™s a young man just that he”€™s a student at Harvard Law School. But this really is somebody who is going counterculture even at Harvard.

Because certainly from what we’ve seen coming out of Harvard. This seemed to be the position of most people who are professors at Harvard. But for someone to actually go back do some research, draw the connections, conclusions that really is very well done. And bravo to that student. I definitely think we will see his name again in the future.

Rick:

Yeah no doubt. Hey guys quick break. We’ll be right back with more good news. Tim Barton, up next with our next piece of good news. Stay with us here on WallBuilders Live.

 

Join WallBuilders In Israel!

Rick:

Hey, friends! Rick Green here from WallBuilders Live. The WallBuilders team is going to Israel and we’d love to have you go with us. It”€™s going to be January 28 through February 7th, a Holy Land tour that is the experience of a lifetime.

Just imagine sailing on the Sea of Galilee. Imagine going to the Elah Valley where David slew Goliath and even picking up pebbles from the very brook where he picked up those stones to slay Goliath. We’re going to go to Jericho, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the pool of Bethesda, and so much more. And you can go with us.

David and Tim Barton, and myself, Rick Green, you”€™ll just have a great time. The fellowship’s going to be phenomenal and the Bible is going to come to life right before your eyes. Join us January 28th through February 7th, 2019. But you need to get in and make your reservations now. Check it out at WallBuildersLive.com for this very special trip to the Holy Land.

 

Rick:

We”€™re back at WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us. Tim Barton’s next up with some good news. Tim.

News From The 9th Circuit

Tim:

Alright guys, this is coming out of well, California-ish Hawaii. It’s really Ninth Circuit. And speaking of hell freezing over or unlikely things to ever happen. This is one of those things coming from the 9th Circuit. Or as it”€™s often referred to on the show as the 9th circus.

Those judges who are extremely liberal.

David:

And by the way perspective, they are are over 54 million Americans. It is one of the largest jurisdictions in the United States.  54 million, seven states. It’s massive stuff that they have.

Tim:

So, they are. Their decisions impact a lot of people is the point. There was a decision that essentially a lower court had given. That in Hawaii there was a man who was carrying a gun and it’s illegal to carry a gun in public in Hawaii. Now, they do have some situations where concealed carry law states can determine who can and who can’t.

9th Circuit Says Second Amendment Gives People The Right To Bear Arms

Well, this guy is involved in this court case. Because he says I have the right to be able to carry. And what happened is the district court of Hawaii said that you do not have a right to carry a gun in public for self defense purposes as the man argued. The Ninth Circuit came back and it was three justices. Two of the three justices said actually you do have a right.

And what’s interesting is part of the ruling they said, but for better or for worse the Second Amendment does protect their right to carry a firearm in public for defense. So what’s interesting is they acknowledge we might not be happy about this for better or for worse. We’re not happy.

But the Second Amendment does say that he can carry a gun in public for defensive purposes. And the ruling goes on to give a few more details of why. This is just rather amazing when you consider the gun laws in Hawaii. The gun laws in California where that the Ninth Circuit seems to really have most of their material coming out of California.

But this situation in Hawaii. We’ve been to Hawaii many times. And it certainly is not a gun friendly state in a lot of regards. We have friends that live in Hawaii. We have friends.

Actually, one of the guys who is a  scuba dive instructor. And Rick, every time my dad and I get to go to Hawaii we always try to plan a couple of extra days just to go scuba diving over there. Usually when we’re there we’ll take two or three days. We’ll get in 10 or 12 dives and have a great time.

Well, this guy has a second job. Our scuba instructor has a second job. Because it’s really expensive to live in Hawaii. And he’s actually a Rangemaster at a gun shop over there. And apparently I think he’s only one of two or three on the island.

David:

There’s not many.

Even A Rangemaster Can Not Carry In Public In Hawaii

Tim:

To my recollection. But he talks about how even though he’s a Rangemaster. Right? And has so many certifications. He’s not allowed to really have a gun anywhere on him in public or anything else because of the laws of Hawaii.

But, here is a decision coming out of the Ninth Circuit. Where they are saying actually, the Second Amendment does seem to indicate for better or worse. The Second Amendment does give you the right to carry a gun in public displaying it in public– open. Because they did say that each state can determine their own concealed carry laws.

But, they cannot restrict you from carrying a gun openly in public for self defense purposes. This is pretty amazing coming from the Ninth Circuit. Who we certainly don’t expect a lot of good things from.

In fact, dad I think you’ve mentioned the Ninth Circuit is the most overturned on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. They gave so many bad decisions. People appeal it goes to the U.S. Supreme Court.

And the U.S. Supreme Court more often than not it seems, says the Ninth Circuit you’re wrong. You can’t say that. This is one where we would look and go I think they got this one right.

Supreme Court Overturns 95 Percent Of 9th Circuit Rulings

David:

Yeah, for a number of years it was roughly 95 percent of Ninth Circuit decisions that made the U.S. Supreme Court were overturned. So, they are the most overturned court of any court in America.

We watched it for a number of years. It was like 25 out of 26 or 26 out of 28. It was just every year 20 or 30 of their cases made the court. And 95 percent get overturned.

So, this is quite amazing. This sounds more like a current U.S. Supreme Court decision. Than it does a Ninth Circuit decision.

Tim:

It really sounds like a decision that would come out of one of the states from maybe your heartland Texas. Well, not heartland Texas, heartland America. I confused America and Texas because we’re Texans and we confuse those two quite often. The nation. We live in Texas or America I don’t remember.

But one of them and it’s great. Yeah. So, you would assume this to come out of the heartland of America or a state like Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, somewhere like that.

But to hear the Ninth Circuit make this decision. Dealing with Hawaii is certainly not what you’d expect to see. And it is really good news.

Hawaii Now Allowed To Carry Publicly For Defense Purposes

David:

We need to contact our friend in Hawaii.  Ask him if it’s made any visible difference. If he started to wear a gun now.  And if other people are.

Because there’s a lot of Second Amendment folks in Hawaii. They’ve just been bound by state laws. And boy what a difference that would be if they start getting to actually have guns in Hawaii.

Rick:

Well, we probably would have been happy to see this decision come out of any   appellate court. We would have been celebrating. And saying that’s a great decision. A type of decision that we need.

So. you guys are right. I mean to have it come out of the Ninth Circuit. Big deal. And needed more in Hawaii and California than anywhere else. I’m like you guys. When I travel over there and go speak at conferences and things.

I hate it.  I mean I love going to Hawaii. But I hate the fact that I can’t carry. Can’t protect my family. Even to have it in your apartment or condo where you’re staying while you’re there. You got to go register with the Honolulu Police.

I mean it’s just a very cumbersome kind of ridiculous system. So, hopefully this will lead to some much better laws. With people of Hawaii who will be able to live free and protect themselves and their families.

Quick break guys. Be right back with more good news. Stay with us. You”€™re listening to WallBuilders Live.

We Want To Hear Your Vet Story

Share a veteran’s story

Rick:

Hey friends! If you have been listening to WallBuilders Live for very long at all, you know how much we respect our veterans and how appreciative we are of the sacrifice they make to make our freedoms possible. One of the ways that we love to honor those veterans is to tell their stories here on WallBuilders Live.  Once in awhile, we get an opportunity to interview veterans that have served on those front lines that have made incredible sacrifices have amazing stories that we want to share with the American people.

One of the very special things we get to do is interview World War II veterans. You’ve heard those interviews here on WallBuilders Live, from folks that were in the Band of Brothers, to folks like Edgar Harrell that survived the Indianapolis to so many other great stories you heard on WallBuilders Live.

You have friends and family that also served.  If you have World War II veterans in your family that you would like to have their story shared here on WallBuilders Live, please e-mail us at [email protected].  Give us a brief summary of the story and we’ll set up an interview. Thanks so much for sharing here on WallBuilders Live!

Americans Last Year Gave 410 Billion Dollars To Charity

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live on this Good News Friday. David Barton’s next. What’s our next piece of good news, David.

David:

Well, it deals with Americans in general. The stats are out for last year. And last year Americans broke a record with the charitableness they displayed by their giving. Americans last year gave 410 billion dollars to charity. That’s really, really generous.

That’s again a new record. That is higher than it’s ever been. And what’s interesting in that is the single largest recipient of charitable giving are religious organizations.

So, Americans not only are very generous. They’re very religion minded in giving generously to religious organizations and religious efforts. Which is good news.

Tim:

One of the things by the way, worth pointing out guys. Is one of the things that sometimes we will teach even in our presentations. About how Christianity has influenced America so much. And America has based so much of even the current operations of our nation on the principles of Christianity. Benevolence or generosity is an easy thing to point to.

Because most nations of the world do not think about their own. The people in poverty. Their own people who are poor and needy. They don’t have the same thoughts necessarily toward them if they are not a Christian based nation. Or have not been heavily influenced by Christianity.

The Parable of The Good Samaritan

Just kind of for example when you look inside of Christianity you have principles like the golden rule. That we’re supposed to do unto others as we’d have them do us.  Right? We see people in need. We want somebody to help us. Then we should help them.

The parable of the good Samaritan. Where the man asked Jesus who is my neighbor? And Jesus tells a story. The Samaritans at the time were a very hated people group.  Right?

The Jews weren”€™t really excited about them. But Jesus tells a story of someone not really good friends. You don’t like them. And you can read the story.

You can go to the Gospel of Luke. You’ll find the story of the parable of the Good Samaritan.

But, what’s interesting is this is kind of shaped the way we think about helping people in need. Even if we don’t like the person. If they”€™re in need we are to help people if there is a need. And we are able to help them we should do that.

If you grew up in America and you were an atheist in America. You’ve probably still been shaped into thinking you need to help people in need. Because that’s what good people do. Well, it’s not because it’s what good people do. It’s because that’s a principle of Christianity.

If you go to a Muslim run nation they don’t think the same way. And if you go to China, or India, or Russia, they don’t think the same way. You can’t make a good living being a beggar on the street in those nations. Whereas in America you actually can make some significant money.

Christianity Has Influenced Our Nation

And this is where the principle of generosity or benevolence. Certainly the principles of Christianity doing unto others, helping people, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

All of those things have led even the people who don’t believe in Jesus. Maybe they don”€™t think they’re religious. Those principles have still shaped the way they think about helping people. Because it’s how much Christianity’s influenced our nation

David:

Not only has it influence our nation. But it’s interesting. I’ve got a story here that”€™s semi related. That really kind of I don’t want to say goes the opposite direction. But instead of giving it’s not giving. And it deals with Turkey.

Turkey is one of America’s allies. It”€™s a NATO ally. It”€™s in NATO. But Turkey after that Arab Spring that happened under President Obama. They definitely had a coup. And they moved left.

Turkey Arrests American Pastor

So, their new leader is much more ardent Islamicist. Not nearly as tolerant as they had been. And so, what they’ve done is they’ve arrested an American pastor. Who was over in Turkey and he’s being held in jail there. His health is going down as a result of the way they’ve been treating him.

And so, President Trump came out and told Turkey we’re imposing sanctions on you. We’re going to withhold money from you. You’re not going to take a Christian pastor and persecute him and throw him in jail. We don’t care if you’re an ally, a NATO ally or whatever else. We are withholding money.

So, here we were talking about giving money because of a Christian heart. On this side it’s like you know what? If you’re going to persecute Christians we’re not going to reward you for that. We’re not going to.

Trump Sanctions Turkey For Persecuting Christians

It’s another interesting story of economics related to Christian principles. But kudos to President Trump for standing up and willing to impose economic sanctions on a nation. Because they arrest a Christian pastor.

Tim:

And that’s something guys that we’ve certainly seen a difference in this administration from previous administrations. Where there were other times that Christians were put in prison because of their faith. And there was persecution because of their faith.

We didn’t see our government doing as much to help those people. But President Trump, many things we can fault him for and almost on a daily basis. Right? There’s things we can point to and say ok he shouldn’t have said that. He shouldn’t have done that.

But he’s doing some really good things that don’t always get credit. This is one of those things where he’s coming out against a nation. And saying, “€œGuys, if you’re going to treat a Christian this way. Then we’re not going to be very good friends.”€

It’s just very interesting and actually encouraging.  Especially Good News Friday, right? It’s encouraging to see a president saying we’re going to defend Christians. And we don’t mind telling you you’re wrong and actually going against you. If you’re the one persecuting Christians.

Rick:

Stay with us folks. One more piece of good news when we come back. Here at WallBuilders Live.

Front Sight Handgun Training

Rick:

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The Barton”€™s and the Green”€™s had an amazing time doing this with many of you back in April, so we’re headed back in the fall.  Visit RickGreen.com today for the dates and the details.

We”€™re giving away this $1,000 course for free to the first 100 supporters of WallBuilders Live that register for the course at RickGreen.com. Come learn the real purpose of the Second Amendment and why the Founding Fathers believed it was so important for we citizens to be armed.

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And the $1,000 course registration is completely waived for the first 100 WallBuilders Live supporters to register. You pay for your travel and ammo, but we’re giving you the course for free as a gift to our supporters. I look forward to seeing you on the range this fall. For all the details visit RickGreen.com today.

Planned Parenthood Loses Legal Battle

Rick:

We’re back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live on this Good News Friday. And also don’t forget WallBuildersLive.com for more programs like this. Let”€™s see I think Tim’s up. Tim, Good News.

Tim:

Yeah, guys. The good news I have is we’re wrapping up this last segment. The title of the article says Planned Parenthood loses legal battle over Trumps Title 10 family planning rules.

I think we’ve talked on the program before about how Trump put in Title 10. Or there is the idea that maybe from the Department of Health and Human Services. And I guess that’s Ben Carson running that Department.

Government Will Not Fund Planned Parenthood

David:

That’s right.

Tim:

They were not going to fund Planned Parenthood. I think Trump said that and we talked about it. Well, yeah.

David:

Title 10 is grant funding. And they were not going to make that block grant funding available for anybody that did abortions. And so what they did is they say you still have Title 10 funding Congress requires that. But we’re not going to let that funding go to institutions that do or promote abortions.

Tim:

Well, so this a federal judge threw out a legal challenge from Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups. I guess they signed onto to this challenge and essentially said that the Trump administration has the authority to choose what groups they’re going to give it to.  And in this case it is faith based groups and organizations that promote sexual abstinence as opposed to the things that Planned Parenthood and these other abortion groups promote.

So this is really good news. And we’ve talked many times in the program before about how much good news has come out in regards to life and protecting life and how we’ve seen over the last five six seven eight years whatever it is we’ve really seen so much growth from legislators and states and government officials coming in to protect the unborn. This is is unique because this is on a higher level than what we have seen from government agencies.

David:

Well, it is actually double good news. Because I didn’t realize. So, Planned Parenthood lost the legal battle. It stays in place that we don’t give money to groups that do abortions or promote them.

But I didn’t realize that it had that additional requirement. That we give it to groups who promote abstinence. Which that’s even a step beyond.

This Is Double Good News

Tim:

And I’ll say I don’t know that the specific details say that they are required to. This is the attack against them by Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood said, “€œWell, you’re giving it to the faith based groups.”€

So, whether it’s because of the way they are measuring things. Saying, “€œHey, let’s just measure the metrics. Let’s see who does the best job.”€ And it just so happens that faith based groups do the best job. I don’t know what that measurement is.

We do know that Planned Parenthood lost it. And that they’re accusing these faith based groups of getting all of their funding. So, really it is double good news.  We’re not funding the bad guys. And people that promote those same values are getting the money. Nonetheless, seeing this from the President’s Administration – higher than the Governors, State Legislators we’ve seen before. So, this is really good news.

Defunding Abortion and Funding Pro-Life

Rick:

Well, Tim, you pointed out. We definitely had a lot of good news on this front. Over the years none of that though happens by accident. It’s not just luck. It is not just oh somebody finally decided to do something good.

It is because of people taking action. It’s because of people getting involved in the system.  Getting out there and voting. And getting good people in office. People willing to run for office.

People Getting Educated And Sharing Makes A Difference

People getting educated. And a big part of that is you sharing information with your friends, family, and neighbors, people in your church.  So that they can get educated. Get some of the WallBuilders DVDs, Sunday school classes, and different things like that to get the people in your circle understanding how important these issues are.

That’s how we get the kind of results that David and Tim get to share on these Good News Fridays. So, go to WallBuilders.com today. Get some of the materials and share them with friends.

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