Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1024 | First Presidential Debate, 10 Commandments in Schools

Starting point is 00:00:00 The first presidential debate is happening this Thursday night between Biden and Trump. RFK Jr. will not be there. We'll talk about why and what we can expect in that debate. Also, Louisiana is now requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted on the walls of every public school classroom. And the libs are freaking out about it. What should we think about this? As Christians and conservatives, we've got all of this and more on today's episode of Relatable. It's brought to you by our friends at Good Rancher. Go to Goodrancers.com. Use code Alley. Check out. That's go to ranchers.com. Code All right. Hey, guys, welcome to relatable. Happy Monday. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. All right. I don't know if you know this or not. I woke up to this reality this morning that it is the end of June. It's the last week of June. Can you even wrap your mind around how fast this month went or how fast this year has gone? Is it just me that feels this way?

Starting point is 00:01:09 Now, I've mentioned this in passing before, but the concept of time has become very strange to me over the past few years. I think it's probably for a number of reasons. One, COVID, I think, has done this to people. In my mind, it's still 2019. When I think about the fact that 2017 was seven years ago, 2018 was six years ago, 2019 was five years ago, 2019 was five years. with five years ago, because that's how math works. It just blows my mind. Time seems simultaneously, extremely stretched out and very condensed at the same time.

Starting point is 00:01:52 And I think that motherhood also is the other factor at play here. I think about time in relation to my pregnancies and births and postpartum periods. And it's just, I don't know, it's just strange to me. So we're at the end of June and the year of Our Lord 2024, which I don't know if you knew that or knew it or not, but it is an election year. We are already at the 2024 election. And you might be feeling a bit of deja vu because it is, in fact, between Joe Robinette Biden. Is that his middle name? Robin. I think it's Robinette or Robin. And, uh, Donald John Trump. Not Jonathan Trump, Donald John Trump. These are our two candidates and they are headed toward their first debate. I cannot believe that we are already here talking about the debate between Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden. But it is happening this Thursday in Atlanta, Georgia. It's hosted by CNN. Of course, CNN is headquartered there in Atlanta. And this is how CNN is describing this. debate. Biden and Trump are set to make history on June 27th in the first presidential debate between an incumbent and a former president. It will also be the first debate since 2020 featuring either Biden, who did not face a serious challenge for the Democratic nomination or Trump, who skipped those held during the Republican primary race. Remember that? That also seems like forever ago. The Republican primary debates, I almost feel like they didn't even happen.

Starting point is 00:03:36 CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will host the 90-minute showdown in Atlanta. Both candidates have accepted the network's invitation and agreed to accept the rules and format of the debate as outlined in letters sent to the campaigns by the network in May. Just a little fun factoid that really has nothing to do with what we're talking about. I think I've spoken to this before, though. In 2018, which again feels like last year, but simultaneously this feels like a lot of. lifetime ago. I filmed a pilot for CNN. Is that crazy? That's so crazy. Like in April of 2018, I was asked to be one of the conservative co-hosts in a kind of like The View type format shows that I think was going to be a weekend show on CNN. And it was me, April Ryan, remember April Ryan?

Starting point is 00:04:30 Anna, what's her name that's on the view all the time? The liberal, Anna, Anna, Navarro. And then Mary Catherine Ham, she and I were the conservatives, and Alyssa Mastro, Monaco, who used to work for President Obama. So that would have been interesting. So I have met Dana Bash very briefly. That show did not get picked up. What if I got a call one of these days and was like, hey, we saw the tape from 2018. Do you want to, do you want to try this? Should we make this into a show? Should I take the opportunity? Just kidding. I think that the time has passed.

Starting point is 00:05:09 Anyway, so Dana Bash, she is helping moderate this debate along with Jake Tapper. The debate will include, according to CNN, two commercial breaks, according to the network. Sorry, that's what the CNN article says. And campaign staff may not interact with their candidate during that time. The candidates agreed to appear at a uniform podium. Microphones will be muted throughout the debate, except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak. I actually think that that is going to be really great and beneficial for both candidates. While no props or pre-written notes will be allowed on stage, no pre-written

Starting point is 00:05:49 notes will be allowed on stage. Do you think Biden's going to be able to do that? Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water. While Trump talked about this debate that's coming up over the weekend, here's Saltwater. on. Oh, he didn't, he's sleeping now because they want to get him good and strong. So a little before debate time, he gets a shot in the ass and that's, they want to strengthen him up. So he comes out, he'll come out. Okay. I say he'll come out all jacked up, right? All jacked up. Uh, you know, vulgarity aside, I agree with Trump that they are going to have. have to give Biden some kind of upper cocktail in order to make it through this debate.

Starting point is 00:06:45 Not trying to be rude. I think that we've seen enough at this point that if Biden is, if he actually is all there cognitively, if he can put together a coherent thought, it is some kind of strange strategy that they have in place, that they are hiding all of those cogent, coherent moments for when the cameras are off. He is presenting himself like a dottering fool, almost every chance that he gets. And I just don't think at this point he is able to hold his own in a debate. I really don't. Now, you'll remember in the last campaign or in the last election cycle, that awful debate between Trump and Biden, where Biden even four years ago, he really couldn't hold his own.

Starting point is 00:07:36 He was stuttering a lot. He was having a hard time making his points. I think it's even going to be worse now. And yet he still won the debate because Trump couldn't help himself but interrupt and speak over him and really come across like a bully. Now, Trump may have been right in everything that he said. But you ended up having pity, sympathy for Biden and really being frustrated. with Trump and how he was conducting himself. So Trump needs to be self-controlled. That should be the name of the game. He should be confident. He can be forthright. He can be concise. He can get to the point

Starting point is 00:08:24 and say exactly what he means. I think those are things that people love about Trump when he is on in that way. And I also think it would not hurt him at all, at all, to be polite. and deferential with Biden. I'm not saying that Biden's policies and the kind of leader that he has been deserves our respect because I don't think that he has earned that. However, just from a PR standpoint, from an image standpoint, I think that that would help Trump. It could help some people who are on the fence. And believe it or not, there are people who are on the fence who really have kind of zoned out. They haven't been paying attention to politics for a while. They might not even know everything that's happened with Trump in court. But they are watching this debate and they are

Starting point is 00:09:17 seeing how the two candidates come across. This is also going to be a competition of whose mind works better. Like who do we trust more to be competent to be able to think clearly, speak clearly? who has it together? Who can we trust to lead us into metaphorically battle? And unfortunately, it could be literal just considering the state of the world and the role of the president. And it is up to Trump to show that he is the mature one. He's the trustworthy one. He's the self-controlled one. He is the confident and competent one. This is a great opportunity for him to show that. and just allow Joe Biden, this is what I think the mistake that he made in that debate where he just kept on trying to bully Biden. Let Joe Biden make a fool of himself.

Starting point is 00:10:11 Don't stop him. I mean, I know that Trump's mic will be cut off when he's not speaking, but don't stop him from making a fool of himself. If he's stuttering and he has a hard time and he has a hard time articulating what he means, let him continue to stumble and stop. other. Let the world see that. Don't save him from that by interjecting or interrupting. You don't even have to point it out. Just let it speak for itself. That would be my advice, take that for what it's worth. Let Biden's state of mind speak for itself. I don't think Trump needs to highlight it. I don't think he needs to say anything about it at all. People will see it. Just pause and take a look at them. Give them like a very concerned, sympathetic look and let that be it. No need to bully. That would be

Starting point is 00:11:03 my piece of advice. Well, Trump's press secretary was doing an interview this weekend with CNN ahead of the debate to talk about the debate. That interview did not go well. Actually stunning what the CNN host decided to do. So Trump's campaign press secretary, her name is Caroline Leavitt, was doing a live interview with CNN's Casey Hunt. Hunt cut her off when Leavitt tried to point out that the debate's moderator, one of them, Jake Tapper, has maligned Trump for years, even comparing him to Hitler. And her point was presumably that he's probably not going to be that objective.

Starting point is 00:12:00 So here's that exchange on SOT 2. Well, first of all, it's to take someone five minutes to Google Jake Tapper, Donald Trump, to see that Jake Tapper has consistently. We're going to stop this interview if you're going to keep attacking my colleagues. Ma'am, I'm going to stop this interview if you continue to attack my colleagues. I would like to talk about Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who you work for. Yes. If you are here to speak on his behalf, I'm willing to have this conversation.

Starting point is 00:12:25 I am stating facts that your colleagues have stated in the past. Now, ask for this debate. We're going to come back out to the panel. Caroline, thank you very much from your time. You are welcome to come back. Casey Hunt, you seem hysterical. I'm sorry, you do. You seem hysterical in that clip. Unable to be professional, unable to keep your cool.

Starting point is 00:12:45 You asked his press secretary to come on and talk about the debate that CNN is hosting that Jake Tapper is moderating. So she was supposed to talk about a debate without mentioning something that. she thought was pertinent, which is the clear bias of one of the moderators? How was that not relevant to the conversation? How was that not a fair point to make? It's not like Jake Tapper was just catching strays in this conversation and that he wasn't a part of it at all. He is the moderator. It makes total sense for Caroline to bring this up. But Casey was not having it. She said on Twitter, you come on my show. You respect my colleagues. Period. I don't care. What's the side of the aisle you stand on as my track record clearly shows. And by the way, this was not an attack.

Starting point is 00:13:35 I didn't hear an attack. I didn't hear any ad hominem there. She just said, look, Jake Tapper has maligned the president. He's probably not going to be that objective. And maybe part of that is her opinion. Even so, that's not an attack. It is true what Jake Tapper has said about Donald Trump, that it has been negative. And I'll get to that in a second. Caroline responded to what Casey said and said, you cut off my microphone for bringing out the debate moderator's history of anti-Trump lies. This proved our point that President Trump will not be treated fairly on Thursday yet he is still willing to go into this three-to-one fight. What she means by that is it's going to be Biden, bash, and tapper against Trump to bring his winning message to the American people. And he will win.

Starting point is 00:14:23 I think that's absolutely right that this is a three-to-one fight. I don't think Trump has wanted back down from a fight. And so he just has to go in completely assured and confident in that. And just to prove her point, let's go through at least a couple of the comments that Jake Tapper has made about Trump over the years. It's not that I expect every journalist to love Donald Trump, but we should expect, or we shouldn't expect maybe at this point, hope for some kind of objectivity, right? Unless you are just a commentator. If you're a podcast host, like me, I'm not pretending that I don't have an opinion. I am not pretending like I don't have a belief system. I am openly sharing my belief system with you and what point I'm coming from. However, someone like Jake Tapper, who claims to be a

Starting point is 00:15:13 journalist, they are supposed to be at least out front unbiased. Fox News put together some of Tapper's sharpest criticism against Trump over the years. This was from 2020 when Joe, Biden won. Tapper declared, for tens of millions of our fellow Americans, their long national nightmare is over. It's been a time of extreme divisions. Many of the divisions caused and exacerbated by President Trump himself. It has been a time where truth and fact were treated with disdain. Yes, it is, it's Republicans and Donald Trump and conservatives who are treating with disdain, truth and fact, says the side. that believes that men can get pregnant.

Starting point is 00:15:58 It was a time of cruelty, he says, where official inhumanity such as child separation became the official shameful policy of the United States. But now the Trump presidency is coming to an end. I don't watch CNN. I don't watch Jake Tapper. Has Jake Tapper had anything to say about the continued child separation

Starting point is 00:16:21 since Biden took office? Has he had anything to say about how, his domestic and foreign policy has been egregious when it comes to human rights. Has he had anything to say about the violence and the horror Joe Biden's open border policies have caused? I'm curious about that. If he has, then I'm glad that he at least will call up both sides. I just haven't seen it. I think I probably would have seen that circulating on X. Last December, he said this, with four weeks until Ohioans cast the nation's first votes in the 2024 presidential race, the dehumanizing rhetoric of Adolf Hitler,

Starting point is 00:17:01 is once again alive and well on the national political stage. The audacity of Jake Tapper, who I know as a defender of Israel and has seen what is happening to the Jewish people right now. The audacity of Tapper to call such a pro-Israel president Adolf Hitler is really something. But he says the rhetoric of Adolf Hitler is once again alive and while in the national political stage. This time, of course, in the U.S., this time given life by former president and current Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, whose thoughts on immigrants were made shockingly crystal clear over the weekend. That's the same thing he says as Hitler. This is the person who is moderating the first presidential debate. I think it was completely understandable for Caroline Leave it to bring up this bias.

Starting point is 00:17:55 in her conversation with Casey Hunt on CNN and yet CNN cut her mic off. And that to me just shows what this Thursday is going to be like. I am going to be, I am not going to be able to give live commentary on Thursday. I will give commentary as quickly as I possibly can. I will try to tune into this and give you my insight as much as much as possible. But we should all be tuning into this. I know a lot of us have tried to unplug from politics or at least not just be addicted to the news cycle that changes every 24 minutes, but now's the time. We've got to open our eyes and open our ears. It matters. It matters. This election matters. Politics matter because policy matters because people matter. Politics affects policy. Policy affects people. People matter to God. Therefore, they matter to us. And because politics and policy matters, that means that politicians matter.

Starting point is 00:18:55 The politicians that we put in place matters, are any of them perfect? Absolutely not. But the president makes a big difference. Who he fills his administration with, the people that he surrounds himself with, the people who are advising him, all of those things can greatly affect the direction of the country. The direction of the country tends to affect the most vulnerable first and foremost. you'll notice that there is one candidate who is not going to be on the debate stage, and that is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent candidate.

Starting point is 00:19:33 There's some controversy surrounding this. According to Politico, the first presidential debate of 2024 breaks a long tradition of these events being coordinated by the commission on presidential debate. CNN's debate was scheduled without the commission, and it is happening earlier than previous presidential debates. But the cable network did borrow its three main. qualifying criteria from the commission. Eligibility per the Constitution, 35 years old, and a native-born citizen, a polling requirement to reach at least 15% support in four surveys from respected pollsters

Starting point is 00:20:07 and officially making the ballot in enough states to theoretically win 270 electoral college votes. The deadline to qualify was June 20th at 12.01 a.m. CNN says, well, Kennedy doesn't qualify according to these standards. However, Kennedy claimed back in May that CNN chose these requirements to exclude him from the debate per Joe Biden's request. This is what he says. SOT3. We've heard this secondhand, but from first hand sources who are on the call. At President Biden told CNN, that President Biden's staff told CNN that under no conditions,

Starting point is 00:20:50 was I to be allowed on the stage. And CNN told the president, don't worry, because we've made criteria for qualifying for the debate, which will make sure that Robert Kennedy cannot get on the stage. Okay, that was back in May. He also just recently said a couple days ago that actually Biden and Trump colluded to keep him off the debate. This is SOT 4. It appears that both President Trump and President Biden are afraid to debate me and their campaigns are colluding with the CNN to keep me off the debating the stage. The two other candidates don't agree on much, but they do agree about excluding me from that stage.

Starting point is 00:21:43 That's why the Washington Post reported on May 17th that, quote, Biden's advisors quickly let it be known that they had not agreed to any terms that could include Kennedy. The Post also reported that, quote, one of the CNN producers on a Wednesday call with Trump aides had explained at the time that, quote, RFK Jr. will not be on the stage, end quote, while I'm flattered to know that President Biden and President Trump are frightened by the prospect of debating me, shutting me out of that debate makes a mockery of democracy. He also points out this is about a four-minute long video that I saw he posted on acts probably on Instagram too, so we couldn't play the whole thing. But he says that actually Biden and Trump don't qualify, that they don't qualify to participate in the debate under CNN's rules that they lifted from the commission because the debate is happening before the Republican and Democratic conventions, which are in July and August respectively. So they are not technically the nominees yet. That is one of the argument. that he makes. This was published by CNN a couple days ago, June 22nd. As RFK Jr. pushes to gain ballot access in all 50 states, Democrats are ramping up their efforts to block the independent presidential candidate by filing legal challenges seeking to get his ballot petitions thrown out in several states.

Starting point is 00:23:09 The Democratic National Committee and Clear Choice Pack, a super PAC backing President Joe Biden that is focused on countering third-party candidates, have objected to Kennedy's ballot access in four states last month. Some of these challenges have been filed and key battleground states, such as North Carolina and Nevada. Each of the filings claims Kennedy violated state laws that stipulate how independent candidates assemble the paperwork needed to qualify for the state's ballot. Kennedy says, no, that's not true. The challenges mark an escalation of a broader strategy launched by Democrats earlier this year to combat Kennedy's campaign in hopes of keeping the support of voters who backed Biden in 2020, but may consider Kennedy in November.

Starting point is 00:23:48 So obviously he sees Kennedy as a real threat. These challenges are important because they're part of a two-fold strategy. One is educating voters about RFK Jr. D&C spokesperson Matt Corridoni said. And the second part is making sure that everyone's playing by the rules. But here's what Kennedy says. The objections are frivolous. in every case that we brought to court, we've won easily and we will continue to. What they're hoping to do, though, is they're trying to tie him up in this litigation.

Starting point is 00:24:23 They're trying to keep him occupied with this. And I think they're trying as much as they can to drain their funds. Because as long as Kennedy is distracted by all of this and fighting tooth and nail to get on the ballot, then he is unable to, the less he's able to reach. Americans with his message. Kennedy holds a uniquely significant amount of public support for a third party candidate. In a Fox News national poll of registered voters released Wednesday, Kennedy received 10% outpacing both Westin Stein, who earned 2% support each. In that same poll, Biden earned 43% support while Trump earned 42. I mean, both Trump and Biden need all of the support that they can get. That's why neither of them like Kennedy, because Kennedy is,

Starting point is 00:25:12 threatening to take the votes away from both candidates. I'm not sure if it's more Democrats or Republicans. There's probably some polling out there that tells us which side likes him more. I once saw it more among Republicans. I once saw him more as a threat to Donald Trump taking away votes from people who did not like how Trump handled COVID, thinking that he should have fired Fauci. He shouldn't have pushed Operation warp speed. But now that RFK is so outspokenly radical on things like abortion, it does seem to me that it would be more of a threat for Biden if he were to be on all these ballots and he would be and for him to be on the debate stage. So we'll see what happens. Kennedy's campaign brought in, according to CNN, $2.6 million last month, but spent $6.3 million. More than double what it raised,

Starting point is 00:26:13 according to federal campaign finance records. The campaign paid approximately $2.7 million to one ballot access consulting firm. Exceivate 2020. LLC legal battles with the DNC could put additional pressure on the Kennedy campaign's resources. Of course, that's exactly what the Biden campaign are hoping for. You'll also remember that Biden has refused to allow Kennedy to have Secret Service protection. They really hate Kennedy. They do not want him to have a voice. They don't want him to have power. I will say props to Mehta for allowing Kennedy to stay on Instagram and to get his message out. And also like props to Elon Musk and X. He's still there. I think that's important. But clearly the people who fancy themselves, the sentinels of democracy, don't believe in the real democratic process. And of course, that's what we always say. say is that to progressives, authoritarianism is democracy that they don't like. Democracy is authoritarianism that they do like. So it's really important that we define our terms, especially when they're using these universally positive words that people just accept without thinking,

Starting point is 00:27:26 love, tolerance, empathy, justice, reproductive health, freedom, democracy. The question is always, what do they mean by that? You have to pay very close attention. to how they are using these words and go beyond what they say and look at what they are doing. So we'll be paying attention to this. We've got more to say in the realm of politics and policy in just a second. A couple announcements before we move on to the next subject. So we've got our next video coming out for Blaze TV subscribers really soon. I'm pumped about it.

Starting point is 00:28:19 This is our first installment of Relatable at Home. So we've got Debatable, which we did between a Catholic and a Protestant a few months ago. And now we've got our first episode of Relatable at Home. So this is a marriage conversation featuring yours truly, chief related bro. Al and Lisa Robertson. Al Robertson is of Duck Dynasty fame. You probably also know him from the Unashamed podcast on Bleas TV. They have an incredible testimony.

Starting point is 00:28:52 Alan Lisa Robertson do so redemptive, so amazing. You are going to be so encouraged by this. Then also my parents. Ron and Lisa, they've been on this show before, and so you're familiar with them. But they're sharing their marriage stories. And they're sharing details with their marriage stories that I'm sure you've never heard before. I hadn't heard everything from these marriage stories. My husband and I were super encouraged by it.

Starting point is 00:29:16 You're just going to love this. So this is only for Blaze TV subscribers. The reason why we're putting content behind the paywall is really to protect you guys, to protect us to make sure that even if we are deplatformed by these major tech companies, that we still are able to make content on Blaze TV that you guys love, that's adding value to your life. So it really helps us out a lot in all Blaze TV hosts if you subscribe to Blaze TV. If you go to blazedTV.com slash Alley and use my code Alley, you'll get $20 off your subscription.

Starting point is 00:29:51 And then you'll have access to all Blaze TV content, not just my stuff, but all BlazTV content. And we've got awesome documentaries. We've got amazing stuff on BlazTV.com. So go to blaztv.com slash Allie. Use code Alley for that $20 off. And that relatable at home episode will be out on July 1st, Monday, July. lie first. All right, let's move into our next topic for the day. We talked about this very briefly last week, and I wanted to talk about it a little bit more because it deserves more explanation

Starting point is 00:30:26 and more of a response. And this is the story of Louisiana, the state of Louisiana, requiring the 10 commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms. Now, we have gotten to a point in American history that we have been so deluded by secular humanism, disguised as classical liberalism, that we have come to flinch, I think, even as conservative Christians, when we hear a headline like that. We start feeling a little queasy inside. When we hear, oh, no, a state is requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms? What about the separation of church and state? What about the First Amendment? Oh my goodness. Would I want the Quran to be displayed? Would I want a satanic symbol to be displayed in the classroom? If I wouldn't want

Starting point is 00:31:24 those things, that I shouldn't want the Ten Commandments. And I'm here to tell you that that is, well, understandable, a wrong way to think about this story. And so we have to flex our mental muscles, I think a little bit more and dig past. A lot of the presuppositions that have been built up wrongly in our mind over the past 10 years that really are products of progressivism, not true classical liberalism, although I think much of classical liberalism leads to progressivism, and not any kind of patriotic support of the First Amendment. So let me explain the story and then I'll get to my response to it in just a second.

Starting point is 00:32:05 So Louisiana is requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public classrooms. This is according to CBS. It's the first state to do so. This is legislation that Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed into law last Wednesday that requires a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in large, easily readable font in all public classrooms from kindergarten to state-funded universities. The posters, which will be paired with a four-paragraph context statement, describing how the Ten Commandments were a prominent part of American public education for almost

Starting point is 00:32:39 three centuries. I'm very tongue-tied this morning. I'm not sure why it's just because it's Monday, I guess, haven't spoken enough today. So just bear with me. So it must be in place. These must be in place in classrooms by the start of 2025. I think that's also missing, the context missing from a lot of the reports and analysis that I've seen, is that that context, which says how the Ten Commandments were part of public education for a long time. They're an important part of American history, that that is all part of the reason why the two commandments are going to be displayed. Opponents of this law questioned the law's constitutionality and vowed to challenge it in court. Proponents said the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance, which is exactly true.

Starting point is 00:33:23 The law prevents students from getting an equal education. This is what opponents say, and will keep children who have different beliefs from feeling safe at school, says the ACLU. The ACLU is extremely communist in nature and it consistently is on the side of opposing constitutional rights if that means defending progressivism. They are much closer to progressive ideologues than they are to constitutionalists. Not in every single case, sometimes they surprise me, but for the most part. Americans United for separation of church and state and the freedom from religion foundation joined this statement with the ACLU saying how harmful this is. The law violates the separation of church and state and is blatantly unconstitutional.

Starting point is 00:34:09 Now, just a reminder, the separation of church and state is a principle, a concept that is not found in the Constitution, it's not found in the Declaration of Independence. It is found in a letter. That phrase is found in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Danbury Baptist in 1802. That doesn't mean that it's not important. It is important. But it is a principle that was established, that was acknowledged really more for the protection of the church, so that the state would not pray upon the church, more than the church praying upon the state. It does go both ways.

Starting point is 00:34:45 Yes, of course, and some interpret the First Amendment that we should not have a state established religion as meaning the separation of church and state, although those two things aren't exactly similar. that we agree with that. Like we don't believe in an establishment of a state religion. We don't. As much as people want to cast me as believing this, we don't believe in a theocracy in which we are forced to worship, forced to go to a certain church, forced to believe certain things, say certain things subscribe to certain creeds. But the separation of church and state, the First Amendment does not mean that we separate God and law or morality and law. In fact, you cannot, you cannot separate those things. And I have more to say on that, but I just wanted to point out that the separation of church and state is not part of the Constitution.

Starting point is 00:35:45 It is a concept that progressives, I think, really misunderstand and maybe purposely misinterpret. it. The state house of the state representative state house representative dody Horton is the author of the bill. In April, she defended it before the House saying the Ten Commandments are the basis of all laws in Louisiana. Under the law, state funds will not be used to implement the mandate. The posters will be paid for through donations. Okay, there you go. It's not even taxpayer funded. Here's part of the text. To provide for the display of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance, and the Ten Commandments. So all of those things. It's not just the Ten Commandments. It's all of those things that must be displayed in classrooms

Starting point is 00:36:33 to provide for displays in each classroom, to provide relative to the use of donations or the acceptance of donated displays for this purpose, to provide for applicability, to provide for legislative intent, to provide for historical context, to provide for an effective date, and to provide for related matters. There's a lot in this law that we are just not going to read. The, we're trying to address in this law. They say a need to educate and inform the public as to the history and background of American and Louisiana law. In 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States further recognized that the Ten Commandments have historical significance as one of the foundations of our legal system. Recognizing the historical role of the Ten Commandments,

Starting point is 00:37:15 accords with our nation's history and faithfully reflects the understanding of the founders of our nation with respect to the necessity of civic morality to a functional self-government. History records that James Madison, the fourth president of the United States of America, stated that we have staked the whole future of our new nation upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the 10 commandments. This is very similar to that Ben Franklin quote when he says that our republic. was billed for a moral and religious people. None other. It can't stand with any other, sorry, that was John Adams. John Adams said our constitution was made only for a moral and religious

Starting point is 00:38:04 people is wholly inadequate for any other kind of people. So this James Madison quote is very similar to that. And you can see how far we strayed. And you can see as we become more godless, we also vie for more tyranny. We replace the God of Scripture with the God of government, or you could say we replace the God of Scripture with the God of self, and because the God of self is so unruly and so chaotic, we need a strong man to come in and tell us what to do and control our lives. And so it just always leads that way. It leads to sexual depravity, it leads to sexual chaos, and it leads to this lawful evil mentality of wanting the government to come in and to control everything and take care of everything.

Starting point is 00:38:51 And so it was understood in the very beginning that the people of the United States needed to rest their morality on Christian principles, on specifically the Ten Commandments, and that our law giving in the United States is based at least in large part on the law giving of God to Israel. And so that is the significance of having the ten times. Ten Commandments in our classrooms. It's not a religious dictate necessarily. I mean, it is, obviously. We know that it is a dictate in the Bible. However, that's not really the purpose of displaying it in these public schools. It has historical significance. And yes, moral significance too, of course,

Starting point is 00:39:37 those things go hand in hand. But you cannot understand American history. You cannot understand the history of Western civilization without understanding the Bible, without specifically understanding the Ten commandments. You cannot. And that is, I think, part of why the left doesn't want it taught in schools, because they do not want students to think that America is exceptional, that it was based on really good, timeless, tested, and true values, that it was Christianity that led the charge of abolition, that it was Christianity that forged Western civilization that established the concept of human rights that completely upended the godless, pagan, cruel human sacrificing world, and created every good thing that we have today. Of course, because they are trying to teach

Starting point is 00:40:40 kids to be sexually deviant, communist, activists. And so, of course, they don't want the Ten Commandments displayed. They don't want our history taught. They want Howard's End's People's History of the United States that demonizes the free white male and cast everyone else as some kind of victim. This creates a lot of angry activists. They end up being foot soldiers for the Democratic Party and the progressive cause. It all plays together. It's really not about the First Amendment at all. Because these same people who are so concerned about the First Amendment when it comes to this. I mean, they would arrest you for misgendering a dude so fast. So I'm sorry, I just don't believe that these people

Starting point is 00:41:26 are solid constitutionalists. And like I said, there is a solid legal precedent for having the Ten Commandments in these classrooms. I think that this is a great move. According to CBS, in 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Stone v. Graham that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional, and violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Establishment Clause says the Congress can make no law respecting an establishment of religion. The High Court found that the law had no secular purpose, but rather served a plainly religious purpose. So this is Stone v. Graham. It says a Kentucky statute requiring the posting of a copy of the Ten Commandments purchased with private contributions on the wall of each public classroom in the state has no secular legislative purpose and therefore is unconstitutional as violating the Establishment Clause of the first.

Starting point is 00:42:27 amendment. There were also two cases in 2005 examining the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on public property. They were actually decided on the same day. And Van Orden v. Perry, Chief Justice William Rinkwist, wrote that acknowledgments of the role played by the Ten Commandments in our nation's heritage are common throughout America. We need only to look within our own courtroom. Since 1935, Moses has stood holding two tablets that reveal portions of the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew. Among the lawgivers in the South freeze, representations of the Ten Commandments adorn the metal gates lining the north and south sides of the courtroom, as well as the doors leading into the courtroom.

Starting point is 00:43:07 Moses also sits on the exterior east facade of the building holding the Ten Commandments' tablets. Similar acknowledgments can be seen throughout a visitor's tour of our nation's capital. A large statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments alongside a statue of the Apostle Paul has overlooked the rotunda of the Library of Congress's Jefferson Building since 1897. This is all just overlooked by people who say that America was not established as a country with Christian principles. It absolutely was. And in fact, if you go look at some of the requirements for the leaders of states, for the representatives of states, way back in the beginning of the founding of the country, you will see. how necessary they saw Christianity to the survival of the republic. Does that mean that everyone had to worship the same way or think the same way or believe the same way or worship at all?

Starting point is 00:44:05 No, that's not what it means. It is understanding where our laws come from, where our morality comes from. It didn't just happen in a vacuum. David French, of course, agrees that the Ten Commandments should not be displayed. And by the way, I say those Supreme Court. court cases in order to make the point that this is probably going to be a bit of an uphill climb. You already know that there are challenges to this by the ACLU and others. It may make its way to the Supreme Court again. We'll see what happens. But this is certainly going to continue to be challenged. And then you've got David French writing from the quote unquote conservative perspective for the New York Times saying, thou shalt not post the Ten Commandments in the classroom.

Starting point is 00:44:51 He argues altering constitutional law is not the only motivation here. A version of Christian mysticism is also in play. There is a real belief that the 10th commandments have a form of spiritual power over the hearts and minds of students and that the posting the displays can change their lives. Wow, it's Christian mysticism to believe that the Word of God does not return void, David French. Is that Christian mysticism or is that just believing in the Bible? Is it mystic to believe what the Bible says that someone who is sitting there who reads the Ten commandments, which is the inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God, that God could use that

Starting point is 00:45:32 truth to plant a seed in their heart, that he may not water or give growth to until years later, but maybe that's the only time they've ever read the Bible. You're saying that God can't use that, that he won't use that? That that's some kind of Gnostic mystic spiritualism? I don't think so. Now, I'm not even saying that is, that's what's going to happen or that's the primary purpose of the legislators who wrote this law. That's not what I'm saying. I haven't even argued that that's why they should be put up, but I'm not going to put it past God. Of course, that's what the Word of God does. Like, shouldn't we be excited about that prospect? That is what distinguishes the Word of God from all other religious texts. One, that it's true, two, that it's good. And three, because of those things, yes, it actually can change hearts and minds. That is like a central tenet of Christianity. I don't see how that is mysticism at all. But of course, this is what David French does.

Starting point is 00:46:33 He tickles left and punches right while still claiming to be in the middle. I don't even know if he claims to be conservative anymore. Because Drag Queen Story Hour, funded by the taxpayers in a library, that's a blessing of liberty. The Ten Commandments in a classroom that is funded by private voluntary donations, that's a violation of free speech and freedom of religion. One, he says, the drag queen, a blessing of liberty. The other is an infringement upon liberty based on what I think is a very faulty and wobbly, dare I say mystic argument. Governor Gavin Newsome, he doesn't have enough going on in California. California is just running so smoothly.

Starting point is 00:47:26 It's perfect. It's wonderful. It's flourishing. And so he has to spend some of his time paying attention to what other random states are doing. That has really no impact on him or his constituents whatsoever. But he has to pipe up and talk about it. He says, Louisiana has the worst crime rate in the nation. But this is their priority.

Starting point is 00:47:46 Again, you are not. one to talk, sir. Progressive commentators have said, if your version of Christianity wants to put the commandments in schools, but take free lunch out of them, you are worshipping something other than Jesus. Who is trying to take free lunches out of schools? Oh, right, that's the Biden administration.

Starting point is 00:48:07 The Biden administration tried to take away SNAP benefits from schools that did not follow along with their Title IX change. schools, public schools that said, sorry, we're not going to allow boys into girls' restrooms. The Biden administration said, oh, you will or else we will take away your free lunches. That was the Biden administration who did that, Zach Lambert. You probably don't know because none of these little talking head progressive commentators on Twitter have any clue what they're talking about.

Starting point is 00:48:38 If they sat right here on the couch and talked to me or any other conservative host about these things, they would be sweating bullets, they would be. just absolutely out of their minds nervous because they have no substance to their vapid tweets or behind their vapid commentary. Now let me just tell you, let me give you a summary of what I think about what I think about all of this. I know I have been accused many a time of being a so-called Christian nationalist and those who accuse me or other people of that never have like a secure definition, a stable definition of what that means. The examples that I've been given is, oh, I criticize the ethics of in vitro fertilization.

Starting point is 00:49:25 That apparently makes you a Christian nationalist because I say things like America was established upon Christian principles because I believe that Christians should bring our worldview to the voting booth. Yeah, these are very common, normal, sane, non-radical, positions to take. Like if you believe that Christian nationalism is, oh, America is God's chosen country and we play a central role in the apocalypse in eschatology and in times. And like Trump is our Messiah who is going to save America and Western civilization, then you've got, you've got the wrong girl. That's not my theology at all. That's not my, those aren't my politics.

Starting point is 00:50:09 I've never said anything like that. But of course, I'm not dealing with. with honest people who participate in that kind of crazy slander. But I do unapologetically say that, yeah, Christians should not be afraid to bring our worldview into the classroom, into the voting booth, into your job, into every sphere that you occupy, because every other person does the same thing. Progressives do. So here is my, here's my summary of my take on this. Putting the Ten Commandments in schools isn't the same as putting the Quran or a statue of Baphomet in schools for at least a few reasons because they were conservatives arguing that.

Starting point is 00:50:50 Well, if you're okay with the Ten Commandments, then you should be okay with the Quran. No, your moral relativism is stupid. Number one, the Ten Commandments are true. Number two, the Ten Commandments are good. Number three, America was founded upon uniquely Christian concepts, principles, premises, and assumptions. Our law giving is modeled after God's law giving to Israel. It is from the Bible, not another religious text, that America derived its ideas of human rights, private property, due process, etc.

Starting point is 00:51:19 Knowing the Ten Commandments should be required in every school for the sheer fact that it is impossible to understand American history or Western civilization without them that cannot be said of the tenets of Satanism, Islam, Buddhism, or any other of those religions, which are entirely irrelevant to the foundation of our country. They are irrelevant to the history of our country. You do not have to understand any of the doctrines of Islam or Buddhism or any kind of Eastern religion to understand America at all. They are entirely irrelevant to understanding the foundation of our country, where our laws come from, where our social contract comes from. Also, the display of the Ten commandments compels no one to believe or worship anything. It's amazing how many supposedly

Starting point is 00:52:13 Christian conservatives have been duped by the moral relativism inherent in secular liberalism. And then I got a lot of responses saying the problem is this is your opinion based on your faith. So people took issue when I said the Dic commandments are true. The Dent Commandments are good, which they are by the way. And people are saying, oh, well, that's your opinion. That's based on your faith. And my response to that is, what do you think laws are? Laws are an opinion based on beliefs. Laws are not scientific facts. Every law is a moral opinion based on a particular worldview. Murder is bad and should be illegal.

Starting point is 00:52:53 It is not a conclusion that we've come to based on the scientific method. It is an opinion based on the belief that human beings have inherent worth and therefore have the right to life. You know, not every worldview believes that. not every religion believes that not every belief system holds this idea of human beings having dignity and innate rights it is that radical concept that literally changed the world with Christians at the helm i hear this a lot laws shouldn't be based on your opinion you can't legislate morality don't bring your religion and your belief system into our lawmaking, into politics.

Starting point is 00:53:40 Again, I ask, what do you think laws are? What do you think laws are? Secular liberalism has deluded so many, even professing Christians, into thinking that rights and laws are just common sense, that they're just objective, that they've just always been here. and they require no belief system. I don't really understand how people can believe that kind of nonsense, except that it's just like the easy thing to believe. Like you do understand that when Christianity as an influential force makes its full and final exit from the United States, so will our concept of human rights. Like you understand that, right?

Starting point is 00:54:23 That it was Christianity who has paved the way for every single. single human rights accomplishment in Western civilization. You're not going to be able to preserve the things that you like about Christianity, the benefits of Christianity, while taking its foundation away. Like, you know what happens. If you were to try to remove the foundation of a building might stand for just a little bit eventually, it's going to crumble. That's exactly what happens when you try to remove Christianity, Christian assumptions, Christian presuppositions, Christian moral foundation, when you try to remove that from the country, it will eventually crumble and the chaos that will replace it is not something that any of us will really like.

Starting point is 00:55:14 I really liked this comic by Narrow Road Comics. You see this picture, and it is, if you're just listening to this, it's a picture of what's supposed to be most, and he's got his tablets with the Ten Commandments. And you've got this woman, this like, Bipak, LGBTQ person, I don't know, like sitting at this, sitting at this desk saying government can't impose morality, but around her you've got bring back row, the equal sign sticker, trans rights poster, like gender fluid pride flag, black lives matter, and all. of that because progressivism is a religion. It's got its doctrines. It's got its dogma. It's got its competing beliefs about human nature and sin and right and wrong and even eschatology,

Starting point is 00:56:06 what it looks like to bring the kingdom here on earth. It is its own religion that competes in every way with Christianity. And they are not afraid to bring their religion into every sphere that they occupy, imperialize and colonize every institution and go after dissidents, go after heretics like Jack Phillips and others who dare say, nope, I'm not going along with that. That is why they are opposing showing the Ten Commandments in the classroom. Andrew Walker, who is an expert on natural law. We've had him on a couple times. He says, even as a Baptist, I support the Louisiana law mandating the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.

Starting point is 00:57:04 Baptists affirm the separation of church and state as formal institutions, each with their own jurisdictions. Yes, we do. We do not advocate for the separation of government and morality. Exactly. This law does not legally codify either Judaism or Christianity as the state's established religion, which was the original meaning of the Establishment Clause that our jurisprudence has, sadly and wrongly mingled. Moreover, since two faiths affirm values of the Ten Commandments, how can two faiths? be established simultaneously. That is true. That's a good point. If they are used by both Judaism

Starting point is 00:57:35 and Christianity, they're both seen as authoritative. And both, in Judaism and Christianity are not the same. Like, we actually completely disagree on the core of our religions that we believe that the Messiah has already come. Like, how can you say that this is establishing a religion? What's the religion? Judeo-Christianity, two religions that are not the same. Posting it must come, he says, with a preamble that states of the Ten Commandments played a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries. In short summary, this law mandates the historical recognition of the religioethical foundations of American law, of which the Ten Commandments materially contributed. Laws and the ethics undergruding them do not arise in a vacuum. So it is good to pay homage to Western law civilization or foundation, which is indisputably Christian.

Starting point is 00:58:26 Governor Landry is correct when he states, if you want to respect the law, you've got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses. And then I think the most profound and just serious insight comes from Kyle Mann of the Babylon Bee. And he said, and I'll just finish with this because it's just so like, wow, wow. And I could put this on a T-shirt and probably sell a lot. he says, has anyone turned into a little turd muffin faster than David French? And I think that we'll probably, we'll probably end on that. So thank you so much to Kyle Mann and the Babylon B for closing out our episode in such just a brilliant way. All right, that's all we've got time for. We'll be back here tomorrow.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1024 | First Presidential Debate, 10 Commandments in Schools

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