On today’s program: Jim Baird, U.S. Representative for the 4th District of Indiana, comments on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s historic trip to Judea and Samaria, Israel’s plans for the future of Gaza, and the DOJ’s investigation into the Russia
SPEAKER 04 :
From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, good afternoon and welcome to this Tuesday edition of Washington Watch. So glad to have you on board with us today. I am Jody Heiss, your August host. As we get going through this month, I’m senior fellow here at FRC and so glad to have you with us. All right, we’ve got a lot to bring your way today. We’re going to begin in just a moment by having Representative Jim Baird. He will be with us to discuss the latest as to what’s happening in Israel. And there is a lot taking place there. Not the least of which, the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is there visiting Samaria and Judea. So we’ve got a lot to cover with Congressman Baird here in just a few moments and then a little bit later in the program we’re going to be looking at Texas. Again, it’s unbelievable what’s happening there. A host of Democrats have fled the state. The legislators, Democratic legislators have fled the state as the legislators there are trying to make some redistricting decisions. The governor’s response is to issue a warrant for their arrest. So we’ll be speaking with Representative David Spiller, state representative of Texas, as to the latest of what’s going on there as the program unfolds. And then we’ve got some good news as it relates to marriage. Divorce rates are down, in fact, down at 50-year lows. How amazing is that? And what is the cause behind of all of that? Well, Carter Skill will be joining me. He’s the executive director at the Institute for Family Studies. And we’ll try to break down some of those great news. And then we’re gonna shift gears and look over to California. One of the most dangerous bills as it relates to parental rights ever in the history of our nation appears to be unfolding there. And we want to bring you the latest. Gina Gleason with Real Impact will bring us the latest there. And friends, I tell you, this is something that will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. So you want to be aware of what’s happening there. And then we will conclude the program today. with joel richardson he’s a biblical researcher and teacher and a best-selling author and we’re going to be talking with him about how christians should be responding to the antisemitism that’s taking place across the country and literally around the world so we’ve got a lot to bring your way today a lot to cover you don’t want to miss any of it but if by chance you do as always our website is tonyperkins.com you want to be sure to keep that website handy as not only this but many other programs as well as a wealth of information is available there for you. All right, let’s jump into our first topic. Yesterday, House Speaker Mike Johnson arrived in the region of Judea and Samaria as part of an official visit that he’s making. And what makes it so special is the first time that a sitting U.S. Speaker of the House has visited that area. the area that many people have been referring to as the West Bank. And so after a week of the legacy media trying to suggest that there’s a growing wedge between the United States and Israel, here we have Just the opposite seems to be taking place. Well, here to discuss this and more with me is Congressman Jim Baird, who serves on three House committees, including the Foreign Affairs Committee. He represents the 4th Congressional District of the great state of Indiana. Congressman Baird, welcome to Washington Watch. Great to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thanks. Good to see you as well. How are you doing, Jody?
SPEAKER 10 :
I am doing great, thank you. All right, listen, let’s first of all, is it clear that the US, and I’m gonna put it this way, and maybe this isn’t the best way to phrase this, but the relationship between the US and Israel, is it better than ever? Or do you think there’s some tension between the countries? What is this right now from your perspective?
SPEAKER 13 :
From my perspective, the fact that Hamas attacked Israel really strengthened that relationship from my perspective, and it’s important to recognize that I feel, and I think a lot of others the same way, that Israel had a right to defend itself and has a right to continue to clean up what Hamas did to them on October the 7th.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, you know, I pose that question, Congressman, because here we have more anti-Semitism perhaps than we’ve that I can remember, probably in my lifetime at least. And and yeah, you’ve got it seems to be a faction in the country. But at the same time, there seems to be great relationship between the Israeli prime minister and the White House. And right now, the speaker of the House is visiting there. So I my my I would tend to agree with you, at least from the perspective politically, from the party that’s in charge right now here in the United States, but there is some shaky ground at the same time. Wouldn’t you agree?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I think you have to really analyze what is taking place, and I am very comfortable with President Trump, and I’m very comfortable with Speaker Mike Johnson. I think both of those really care about other people and even other societies. And so they’re gonna work to try to bring peace. And yet there are those that are making it difficult to accomplish that. And yet they were advocating for other means of government that, and I’m talking about communism that we know doesn’t work. And so I’m very comfortable and appreciate all the things that the President has done and the Speaker of the House has done. And I’ve been to Israel a time or two. And I really enjoy and have been excited to see what Prime Minister Netanyahu has done.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, absolutely. And you mentioned the Speaker of the House. I was not aware until seeing this today that as the Speaker is there right now in Judea and Samaria, some call the West Bank. It’s the first time that a sitting Speaker of the House has done so. But speaking of that, there seems to be a growing interest. to that particular region being called for what it is historically Judea and Samaria rather than the West Bank. What’s your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I think that’s probably a valid perspective. And then it removes the West Bank concept. And maybe that’s a good thing under the current circumstances because it gets away from what’s happening. By using the West Bank name.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. There’s been some outrage this week, and I’m sure you, like many of us, have seen some of the images that have been released of the way that Hamas has been caring for, not caring for some of the hostages, just emaciated captives. It’s just horrible. What do you think of Hamas and the reactions to all of this as these images continue to come forth?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, you know, I think their actions are barbaric, and that’s one of the reasons I think Israel has a right to clean it up. And, you know, when people will attack young people at a music festival and start killing those people that are innocent and then starving to death, they took 251 hostages, and they think there may be somewhere in their neighborhood of 20 of those still still alive and they think there’s 50 hostages with the other 30 that passed away. But President Trump wants to bring everyone home, including those that have passed away. But I think that’s really, I think the treatment of the hostages illustrates what Hamas is capable of, as well as the attack in October the 7th. And when you got people like that are promoting the instability in that region and the instability in the way they’ve treated other people, it’s just horrific. And so- It really does. Just amazing.
SPEAKER 10 :
So it is. And, you know, it appears to me and there’s some reports out there that Hamas is under pressure right now. Does it appear to you from what you’re seeing, what you’re hearing and talking in conversation with your colleagues and others that perhaps new talks, negotiations could be happening soon? Do you think that’s a possibility?
SPEAKER 13 :
I do think that’s a possibility. And, you know, some of the scenes that that have just recently been released on the news, it really shows that RAFA is just destroyed or demolished. And so I’ve been to that border and I’ve seen the trucks sitting there waiting to go in. And then when they do get in, sometimes those, AMAS takes the food and food is fungible because it’s just like money. And if you’ve got it and it, It’s illustrated by those people trying to get enough food, and you see the activity that takes place when they meet these distribution centers. And you know, while we’re talking about that, this group, the Gaza Humanitarian Effort, that’s run by a lot of former Special Forces individuals from the United States, and they’ve been able to give out a million meals a day, and they’ve been able to keep control of that situation, and they got four distribution points. But back to your issue about if you think there’s a possibility, I think Hamas is being under a lot of pressure, and I think Israel has been doing that, and the fact that Israel is considering moving forward, Netanyahu’s having his cabinet get together sometime this week to decide what the next steps are. And I think they’re concerned about what those might be.
SPEAKER 10 :
If I can switch gears for you real quickly, we’ve only got a couple of minutes left, but yesterday, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the Department of Justice officials to open a grand jury investigation into how the Obama administration officials handled intelligence about the Russian interference in the 2016 elections. What’s your take on what’s been unfolding there? It seems like that is just taking a lot of attention from the news.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I really think, I’m really glad that Attorney General Bondi is going to do that. I’m glad that the Director Cash Patel and the DNI Tulsi Gabbard are all going to take a look and get to the bottom of this. And I think the American people deserve that. And they need justice because this has been going on for years and it’s all been against President Trump. And I don’t think that’s fair. I think we need answers. And I think this investigation and subpoenas will help get to the bottom of this.
SPEAKER 10 :
The subpoenas that came out today I saw from James Comer and the Oversight Committee released a list of people that they are going to subpoena from Hillary and Bill Clinton all the way down to a host of others. I mean, we’ll see what will happen there. Probably some of them will just simply plead the fifth and carry on. But this is an issue that we need to get to the bottom of, potentially, some are saying, potentially one of, if not the greatest scandal in the U.S. history. Do you agree with that?
SPEAKER 13 :
I agree with that. And, you know, how do you ever build trust in our government? under these kind of circumstances when it’s been advocated for years now, this Steele dossier and the Rice and Hoax, and yet now we’re finding out that it wasn’t true and that it was a hoax. So how is the American people going to ever develop trust in our government if we don’t get to the bottom of it and find out what we need to do to correct it?
SPEAKER 10 :
Good, good question. Thank you so much, Congressman Jim Baird. Indiana, always great to see you. Thank you for taking time to join us today on Washington Watch. We appreciate it. You too. All right, friends coming up, we’ve got a lot more to cover. Democrat lawmakers in Texas have fled the state for the sole purpose of blocking a vote that legislators are trying to deal with in redrawing congressional districts. And now arrest warrants have been issued for them. What in the world is going on? Well, we’ll discuss it right after the break, so stay tuned.
SPEAKER 08 :
The family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure. That’s why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan and daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us and stand on the word.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you for tuning in today to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss, an honor to be filling in for Tony this month and deeply honored to have you on board with us as well. All right, this next story is incredible. The Texas House of Representatives convened today, I’ll put that, but they had to adjourn for a second day in a row because the state House Democrats are AWOL. Well, yesterday, arrest warrants were issued for dozens of them. These are lawmakers who have fled Texas, and as you probably are seeing on the news, they’ve gone to various blue states. It’s all in an effort to try to block the state legislature from voting on legislation to redraw congressional districts there. So, I mean, what do you make of this lawlessness, more lawlessness from the left, and frankly, a pushback on the will of the people? Well, joining me now to discuss this is Texas State Representative David Spiller. He’s from the 68th District of the great state of Texas. Representative Spiller, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you, Jody. I appreciate you having me.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, it is an honor to have you. And boy, all of us have tons of questions and intrigue over what’s happening. Let’s begin. Why don’t you just give us a little background on what’s been happening there over the last few days?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, we got called in Texas. We meet for 140 days, once every two years. We did that. We completed that. But then the governor can call us back into special session anytime he wants to. and he puts certain things on the call and those that special session can last up to 30 days. Well, one of the things on the call there were 18 matters on the call, but on down the list was congressional redistricting and it needed to be addressed because of some legal reasons under a Fifth Circuit case and so forth that came up last year. But in any event, we address those and we also first and foremost, have a special committee appointed to address the flooding and the flooding victims and disaster relief and preparedness relative to Kerrville, Kerr County and the Hill Country. And so, and everyone’s aware of the devastation that occurred there. So which first and foremost is what we’re trying to do, but we’re also trying to deal with these redistricting. I’m on the select committee on congressional redistricting. I’ve attended all the hearings, but when it comes time to vote, And those matters come to the House floor. Will many of my Democrat colleagues decide to flee the state and run off and hide to blue states and blue states? Incidentally, that have already redistricted in a very compelling way, but they want to claim that we’re racist and inconsiderate and how this is wrong and. illegal and unconstitutional. So here we are trying to do business, but we have to have a quorum, which out of 150 members of the Texas House is 100. So there were 88 Republicans. We had 88 Republicans show up today and eight, with all due respect, there were eight Democrats that showed up, but we were at 96 folks altogether. We were short of a quorum, and so hopefully we can get one soon.
SPEAKER 10 :
So is what your Democratic colleagues doing part of the process there? I mean, is this legitimate or is this a violation of the law or the rules of the House or what? Is this a legitimate thing they’re doing?
SPEAKER 09 :
Jody, great question. It is neither. It is both. It is both a violation of civil of our rules. It’s a violation of the law. Governor Abbott has even raised the issue that it may be considered a criminal offense of to the extent that these folks have accepted benefit in return for their non vote and non participation. So but when I took an oath to be a state representative, I still remember what I swore under oath to do, and that was to faithfully execute the duties of the office of state representative. and to preserve, protect, and defend the constitutional law of the United States and this state, so help me God. These folks have completely ignored their oath of office and have fled the state. It is not permitted under the House rules to do so. When they say, well, this is a procedure, this is a rule, I’ve read the rules in the House rules, it ain’t in there. So it’s a blatant violation, and it’s a slap in the face to not only all Texans, but especially to those folks that we’re trying to do important work in the state of Texas for, including the flood victims of Kerr County.
SPEAKER 10 :
So this is an illegal act. Bottom line, I suppose the governor is in full, I guess, the rights, I guess, as the governor to issue arrest warrants. Is that correct?
SPEAKER 09 :
Interesting, yes, and I applaud Governor Abbott. He’s done a great job. Our House Speaker, Speaker Burrows has done a fantastic job. These people are working with Texas Department of Public Safety to try to round up those and execute these civil arrest warrants. We’ve got two processes going on. I’m an attorney, so let me kind of get into some legal stuff here. But you’ve got two processes going on. One is a civil warrant where they can actually, if they find them within the state of Texas, they can handcuff them, bring them to the House floor, and literally lock them in the building. That process is being done and some of those folks we believe are in the state of Texas and can be found and can be brought to our house. Interestingly, when you talk about a charge of bribery, to the extent that if a charge is actually filed, that’s a criminal offense. And I believe the last time I checked, we could extradite from Illinois or New York if there was a felony arrest warrant issued. So interesting where we’re going to go with this. But I’m going to tell you this. I went through this when I was in the legislature in 2021. They pulled this same stunt. We eventually got everything done that we needed to get done, but I’m tired of it. Quite frankly, I’m missing a vacation with my wife, my kids, and my grandkids on a Disney cruise, so I’m not very happy. I’m down here working, doing the work of the folks of the state of Texas, and I don’t appreciate these folks just sticking a finger in mine.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, it’s going to be very interesting to watch how this unfolds. I know you’ve seen Governor Gavin Newsom from California and Kathy Hochul from New York. They’re all indicating now that they may take up mid-decade redistricting in their state. But as you referenced a while ago, they’ve already done this. I mean, they’ve done this kind of thing years ago, and there’s not a whole lot of room for them to do much more gerrymandering. We’ve only got 30 seconds or so, but do you want to respond to that?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, the pickings off those bones would be pretty slim. I would tell you because they you can’t imagine when you look at what the top five Democrat states in the country have done and how they’ve done this and the advantage that they’ve created for themselves is outrageous. And the very idea that these people go run to those states, California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, all of those states. And you look at what they’ve done and the advantage that they’ve created for themselves and how disingenuous it is.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. Thank you, Texas State Representative David Spiller from the 68th District. I appreciate you joining us and sorry you’re missing your vacation.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s all right. Thank you, Joe. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, friends. You bet. Coming up next, we’ve got some great news on the marriage front. Divorce rates have been falling at a 50 year low. Stay tuned. We’ll bring you all the details right after this.
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SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss. Glad to have you joining us today. All right. You probably have heard, like most of us have, the saying that half of all marriages end with divorce. Well, it turns out that may be some outdated information based on an analysis of marriage trends in recent years. In fact, in recent decades, the divorce rate has actually been falling, and now it’s at a 50-year low. Amazing. So what can we draw from all of this? Well, I’m glad to have my next guest with me, Carter Skeel. He’s executive director at the Institute for Family Studies, which released this new research last week. Carter, welcome to Washington Watch. It’s great to have you.
SPEAKER 14 :
yeah thanks jody it’s great to be here and uh thanks for showcasing this exciting and groundbreaking new research for those of us who care deeply about marriage and family so yes you’re right the the idea that divorce is or sorry that marriage is essentially a coin toss right that your odds of being able to stay in a stable and secure marriage are about 50-50 is no longer correct. It’s actually closer to 40%, which is of course still higher than we’d like it to be, but is in a much better position for those who are thinking about or entering into their first marriages.
SPEAKER 10 :
Can you tell this, and I don’t know if your study dealt with this at all, but the 50-50 thing for years always was a big question mark to me because oftentimes we’re even told that the church is no different from the world, that just as much divorce rate within the church as outside. I can tell you as a pastor for almost 30 years, that was not the situation in any of the churches I pastored. Our families, we did have some divorce. I mean, don’t get me wrong, but for the most part, those families that had a relationship with the Lord stuck together. It was rare, let me put it that way, in our churches to see divorce. Is that a real accurate picture within the church?
SPEAKER 14 :
Sure, so that was that particular analysis beyond the scope of this survey, which is drawn mostly from analysis of national data. But we are looking to study precisely that phenomenon perceived phenomenon that as religious adherence grows, the likelihood of divorce goes down. So I do think anecdotally that’s that’s true. We’re looking to back that up with with some research and a forthcoming study.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I look forward to you coming up with that. But what you’ve got already is just absolutely fascinating. So the picture that you’re seeing now, the trends that you’re seeing now, how does this compare to past decades?
SPEAKER 14 :
Right. So specific to divorce rates, as we’ve discussed it, it’s down from 50% to 40%. We’re also seeing positive trends in non-marital childbearing, which peaked at 41% in 2009 and now has leveled off. It’s still at 44%. So a modest positive trend there. But if you also look at the share of children that are raised in married parent families that bottomed out at 64% in 2012 and has since risen to 66%. So I think it’s easy to look at those and say, okay, it’s a couple percentage points, but it’s also always useful to contextualize this and think of the thousands of families and tens of thousands of, in a lot of these cases, kids that are now raised in married parent families with a mother and father that love them and are biologically bonded to them so we’re obviously cautiously optimistic about about these trend lines but even to see um trend lines like these level often in some cases modestly reverse is is huge news and and really the impetus for um publishing the why marriage survives uh account in the atlantic last week
SPEAKER 10 :
So what’s driving all of this, Carter? Because whatever it is, we need to keep doing it. So what’s behind all of this?
SPEAKER 14 :
Right, of course, yeah. So there is a selection effect here. So the idea that marriage… is becoming more selective with the three big drivers being religious adherence, as we talked about, affluence, so as you go up the socioeconomic scale, the rate of marriage increases, and then education, so more educated people are more likely to be married. So I think that’s one story that should be told. I also think the idea of the quote-unquote family revolution that drove a lot of the negative trend lines starting in the late 60s, 70s, and 80s is seeming to peter out. I mean, there’s still on both, especially the online right, but especially on the left, there’s still criticism about the traditional family and even the idea of having kind of a normative family structure at all. But at the same time, I think there’s an element of not practicing what is being, or sorry, yeah, not practicing what is being preached there, especially among the elite who themselves are getting married and staying married and having kids, but then preach a very different gospel to the broader culture.
SPEAKER 10 :
That’s amazing. I was really encouraged with all of this, too, that it appears the marriage comeback is strongest with black families, which is encouraging to see as well. So based on your research, we’ve just got about a minute. What advice would you give to churches to keep these trends going?
SPEAKER 14 :
Right. I mean, there are positive network effects here of if you are in a community with high marriage rates, you’re more likely to get married. Unfortunately, it’s also there’s some correlation with divorce rates. So if you have a friend that gets divorced, you are then more likely to get divorced. So I really think. And this is part of our work at the Institute for Family Studies, disseminating this research as, if nothing else, an encouragement to young people or to parents or to these church congregations and communities that you can get married, that it’s not a bad bet for young men and women to make.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. Carter Skill, Executive Director of the Institute for Family Studies. Awesome news. Thank you for bringing this information to light. Great, great news. Thanks for joining us on Washington Watch. All right, marriage is doing better, but boy, parental rights is suffering in California. Stay tuned. We’ll bring that story your way right after the break.
SPEAKER 01 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 16 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 18 :
There’s so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, right? Because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 16 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
SPEAKER 18 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
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SPEAKER 21 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture. and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss filling in for Tony. Thank you so much for joining us today. Well, you have probably heard the statement somewhere along the way that whatever happens in California, it never stays in California. And whether true or not, that is precisely right. while we often take note of what is happening in the Golden State. And whatever it is they’re doing, coming out of left field, we want to keep an eye on, even if it’s something that’s unimaginable in other states. Well, there’s a bill right now in California that’s getting a lot of attention. In fact, critics are saying that it obliterates parental rights and that somehow it even creates legal loopholes, making child kidnapping easy. Is that just hyperbole or is it reality? Well, joining me now to discuss this is Gina Gleason. She’s the director of Real Impact. Gina, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 02 :
So glad to be with you. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right. We’ve got to get straight into this. So just give us the lowdown about this bill, AB-495.
SPEAKER 02 :
well it’s just as you described it jody it’s as simple as a person printing an affidavit off of a website signing out the form presenting it to school authorities or child care authorities and saying that now i am here to pick up this child and i have the authority to do so this form does not require a parent’s signature this form has a check box that this fraudulent caregiver can and say I tried to contact the parent to tell them that I wanted to be the caregiver, but I couldn’t reach them. It’s that simple.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. Alright, so what? What’s the makeup? The California Legislature is specifically as it relates to this bill. What is the perspective of this bill actually passing?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, they have a super majority, the Democrats, and Republicans are in the minority. So usually the Democrats get pretty much everything that they want unless we as the church, as conservatives, stand up and speak up. And that’s what we’re trying to do with this bill. If we make enough noise, if we get enough attention, we will back off. But it’s a big uphill fight and we don’t always win, but we are determined because this bill is probably one of the worst bills that I have seen come across our state legislature.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, so what else does it do for parental rights in terms of chipping away at it or totally ignoring it altogether? I mean, parents there in California and parents who are not in California but are watching what’s happening there, what are the highlights here that just make chills go up your spine?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, because they’re constantly after our parental rights. Just a few years ago, Governor Newsom signed into law AB665. That bill said that a minor 12 years old and older can be placed in a residential shelter without the parent’s permission or knowledge. That was signed into law, and the governor did not even require that police were notified if the child just didn’t turn up at home one day. So that’s the path they’re on in California. And I just don’t understand it. Most people don’t understand it. They want to take custody, care, rights away from parents and control our children.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. So I know you’ve got a rally that’s scheduled coming up in a couple of weeks at the Capitol there in California. Tell us more about that. What is this intended to accomplish? What are you hoping and praying for?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, because we need to get the attention of our state legislators. Our state senators need to know that we are standing in opposition to this dangerous bill. The only way to really get their attention is to actually show up. So we will be there on Tuesday, August 19th at 1 p.m. at the West Steps of the Capitol. And we’re calling people from all over California to join us.
SPEAKER 10 :
So I know from what I understand, there’s going to be some training there too to help people get prepared for lobbying and even to lobby legislators and so forth. So for those who want to attend the rally, what can they expect?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, they’re going to come and hear speakers like Pastor Jack, Heidi St. John, and others. And once we finish with our speaker’s portion, we’re going to go on to what we call lobby training. And for any person that really wants to make sure that our state senators know they want a no vote, on this bill, we will show them step-by-step how to walk into a legislator’s office, what to say, give them a packet of materials to hand over to the legislature, to the legislator, and make sure that they understand we in hundreds and thousands are showing up asking for a no vote.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow, that is outstanding. So those of you who are considering attending this, you’re not just going to attend a rally. You’re going to be trained and equipped to step in the gap, not only for your family, but for hundreds of others and lobby the legislators and others to make a difference with this. So again, when is that going to take place, Gina?
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s Tuesday, August the 19th at 1 o’clock. And believe me, we do make a difference. Several years ago, we came up against a bill that was going to legalize infanticide. We showed up, about 3,000 people, give or take. We made enough noise, got enough attention, that that portion of the bill was pulled. And infanticide is not legal in California because I believe we stopped it.
SPEAKER 10 :
Amen. And that’s going to happen again. We are joining you in prayer and believing that’s going to happen again with this bill. What is next, by the way, for this bill? Where is it right now in the process? Where’s it lying? What’s next?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, next step is the Senate Appropriations Committee, which will be heard on Monday the 18th. And after that, it goes to the state Senate floor, which means every senator are going to vote on this bill, but hopefully with our presence and the noise that we’re making, we will get our senators to vote no.
SPEAKER 10 :
thank you so so much gina gleason director of real impact for standing in the gap for uh for and so many of you pastor jack as you mentioned and a host of others stepping up to the plate for righteousness for parental rights and so forth may the good hand of god be upon you in each of you as you engage this battle. And please know that we are praying for you and we’re calling upon our viewers and listening audience to do the same. Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch. Okay, before we conclude today’s program, I do just want to say, friends, this is an urgent matter to pray for what we just talked about. The stripping away of parental rights is something that must be defended and protected. So I want to encourage you to write that issue down. Put it on a piece of paper somewhere that will remind you to pray for Gina and Pastor Jack and a host of others who are standing up trying to defend parental rights. And again, I want to thank you for joining us and supporting them in prayer. And now I want to turn our attention to some other very concerning news. Earlier today, the FBI released some new data on hate crimes, and they reported the highest ever increase reported single bias, anti-Jewish hate crimes, the highest ever, last year and although jews make up about two percent of the u.s population the reported single bias anti-jewish hate crimes comprise 16 of all reported hate crimes folks this is just uh incredible uh in the the statistics here So how should we as Christians respond to all of this? Well, joining me now to discuss this is Bible teacher and bestselling author Joel Richardson. Joel, welcome back to Washington Watch. We deeply appreciate you coming on.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right. So what do you make of this rise in anti-Semitism here in the U.S. and around the world?
SPEAKER 05 :
So obviously we’re seeing like actual hate crimes. We’re seeing violent attacks. We saw those that young couple literally just murdered in cold blood in Washington a few months ago. But far beyond that, beyond the hate crimes, it’s the national discourse. You know, we’ve seen people who were Recently, just recently, darlings of the right, we’re not talking about radical leftists. We’re talking about people like Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, who they’re going off the rails, embracing not just mild forms of criticism of Israel or this type of thing, but embracing full blown, like some of the most lurid base ideas. ridiculous like disproven intellectually bankrupt forms of anti-semitism and these are the influencers you know joe rogan the single most listened to podcaster in the world hosting uh historians who are literally entertaining the idea that hitler was the good guy of world war ii and churchill was the bad guy and we have a whole generation right now of young people who are embracing this so the reality is even what we’re looking at right now the data the fbi data from
SPEAKER 10 :
2024 i don’t see that going away i believe it’s going to get a lot lot worse so let’s try to dive into this uh joel what’s behind it what is driving this whole hatred is anti-semitism uh what is behind it all
SPEAKER 05 :
Look, it was Jesus himself who said, you know, all nations will hate you because of my name. And Christians debate that. It’s from the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. They go, well, he was talking to Jews. He was talking to Christians. But the context of what he was talking about was a time of unparalleled tribulation, specifically in Israel, in Judea. And so this is the fulfillment of the words of Jesus. This is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. So what’s behind it is Satan. It’s very simple. The Lord has a plan of redemption. He has chosen to put his son on Mount Zion to rule the nations. And Satan wants the throne of David. And so he’s going after God’s people. That is what’s behind it.
SPEAKER 10 :
So what do you say to the person who professing believer or not? Let me just say, what do you say to the person that says there’s a difference between the Israel of the Bible and the Israel political state today? Why should we care? Why should we be concerned with what’s happening in Israel today?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, first of all, it’s a foolish statement. It’s the same people. It’s the descendants of the people in the first century. It’s the same piece of land, same people, same piece of property. The Lord’s covenant to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the children of Israel was everlasting. I will give you this piece of land. So the suggestion that it’s not, I mean, of course, it’s thousands of years later, but it is Israel. And look, just take… Take the Bible and set it aside for a moment. Just last week, five minutes up the street from my house, I mean, five minutes walking distance, there was an individual out on the street corner with a Palestinian flag. And I live in a very affluent Midwestern suburb of Kansas. And he was out there, I filmed him literally screaming that he’s gonna destroy every single blanking Jew, every one of, you know, reported to the FBI. What we are called right now as Christians to do is be good neighbors. And so we can talk about the theology and the ideas that are behind this hatred, the bad theology that leads to the mistreatment of the Jewish people, as it has throughout literally all of Christian history. But right now it’s time to be good neighbors. And as you said, the hate crimes in the United States against Jews is disproportionate. The Lord calls us as his followers to stand with the poor, the downtrodden, the persecuted, the hated, the marginalized, the little ones. That is always the central issue on God’s heart. And so right now it’s time for Christians to stand up and be good neighbors and also provide intelligent theological responses to a lot of the nonsense that is just exploding out there.
SPEAKER 10 :
Sounds like what you’re describing is something that needs to be spearheaded in the churches across America and the church leaders of this country who tend to shy away from oftentimes from items that are highlighted in the news to begin with. But this is a biblical issue very clearly. What would you say to pastors right now by way of encouragement for them to step up and and teach and train their congregants as to what a Christian response ought to be towards the Jewish community right now.
SPEAKER 05 :
So pastors and teachers, first of all, they need to educate their people. There is, you know, when we as a community try to interact with the Jewish community, they’re often very, very leery, very suspicious with good reason. We have to acknowledge the long history of, quite frankly, the blood on our hands as Christians, whether we identify with the kind of Christians, the denomination of Christians that did these things. Jews don’t know the difference. They just say, your people did this to my family and my people. So we begin with repentance. That’s a very legitimate, I mean, necessary first step to a healthy relationship. And we need, as pastors, to educate our people. The majority of the pulpits today are not going deep. It’s shallow, surfacy, self-therapeutic sermons, and the people are not equipped. And those that are, unfortunately, again, the church is divided. Split right down the middle. Those that are embracing replacement theology, supersessionism, these ideas. Once you believe and teach that God is no longer done with this people, God’s mad at this people, it’s his will that they’re dispersed among the nations, then it’s very logical. It’s very logical for you to say, well, if I’m a servant of God, then I should treat them harshly as well. And that was exactly the logic of Martin Luther. so many other Christian theologians. So we need to educate our people. The Jewish community is very well aware of how we’ve mistreated them, but most Christians are oblivious to it. And this sort of historical selective memory or amnesia is something that needs to be addressed.
SPEAKER 10 :
In about 30 seconds or so that we have left before I need to wrap up, to those who are not pastors, but just Christians who are listening, watching you right now, how can they pray with their families, with their friends to start moving the hearts of others in this arena?
SPEAKER 05 :
Look, I think by bridge building, we can pray, you know, pray for our neighbors. But I think it’s by bridge building, by getting in front of people face to face, eye to eye, and building relationships so that they’re not just theoretical, that there are neighbors, and build those relationships, because those are the things that survive when the storms come. Relationships just theoretically online, that’s not going to do it. It’s going to have to be much more real and substantial.
SPEAKER 10 :
Outstanding. Thank you so much, Bible teacher and best-selling author Joel Richardson. We appreciate you so much coming on the program. God bless you.
SPEAKER 05 :
God bless you. Thanks so much, Jody.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, friends, that wraps it up. A lot to cover, and we try to do it all from a biblical perspective. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch. We will see you tomorrow, same time. Have a great evening.
SPEAKER 04 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
