Point of View May 30, 2024 – Hour 2 : Fathers in the Field

[00:00:00] Point of View Radio Talk Show, Point of View Radio Talk Show, Point of View Radio Talk Show,

[00:00:47] He talks about that as well, in terms of it being a real issue and something we should

[00:00:52] address as Christians. So I wanted you to know about an organization which is called

[00:00:57] Fathers in the Field, and John Smithbaker is an author, speaker, and the founder of

[00:01:04] this organization, Fathers in the Field, in which he really wants men to recapture their

[00:01:09] roles as pastor, provider, and protector. Before he started that ministry, he spent

[00:01:15] 15 years as the president and CEO of Bruton Outdoor Group, which was an outdoor adventure

[00:01:22] products group.

[00:01:24] You can learn more about that by going to the website.

[00:01:26] He is the author of Man Enough to Forgive, Healing the Wounds of Fatherhood Abandonment,

[00:01:33] as well as the great American rescue mission, Reaching and Healing the Fatherless.

[00:01:40] First of all, John, thank you for joining us today here on Point of View.

[00:01:44] Thanks for having me.

[00:01:45] It's a pleasure.

[00:01:46] We are talking about an organization that I was only recently aware of, and yet in some

[00:01:52] respects even though it's been around for many years, we've really not talked about

[00:01:56] it.

[00:01:57] But let's see if we can first of all just remind people that if you want to solve a

[00:02:01] lot of the social problems we talk about here on Point of View, whether it's crime, drugs,

[00:02:09] homelessness, the prison system, criminal justice system, almost all of those go back

[00:02:15] to children growing up in fatherless homes.

[00:02:19] Isn't that true?

[00:02:21] That is correct.

[00:02:22] It's the data, even the government secular data is very clear on this issue, and they

[00:02:27] don't even count fatherless homes like God does in the Bible.

[00:02:31] So we're a mess.

[00:02:33] Sadly, we live in a fatherless nation now with more than 50% of kids being born out of

[00:02:40] wedlock as well as not being raised by their biological fathers in their home.

[00:02:44] So it is a mess, and that doesn't include bad fathers that may be still be in the home.

[00:02:49] So the tsunami is on its way, so sadly.

[00:02:52] Let's talk about that for just a minute because again if you go to fathers in the field, and

[00:02:56] we're going to give you that website in just a minute, 63% of youth suicide, 71% of pregnant

[00:03:01] teenagers, 90% of runaway or homeless kids come from fatherless homes.

[00:03:07] Of course, 71% of high school dropouts, 75% of teens in drug treatment again come from

[00:03:12] fatherless homes.

[00:03:13] So those are where the father is physically absent.

[00:03:17] You mentioned something else, and that is John, you have situations in which fathers

[00:03:22] are there, they're either bad fathers or they're so busy working day in and day out that it's

[00:03:29] almost like being in a fatherless home, isn't it?

[00:03:32] Absolutely.

[00:03:33] We have to understand that God gave men, fathers, three divine ordained roles, and that is pastor,

[00:03:41] provider, and protector.

[00:03:43] So first thing we have to understand, those have to be and can only be fulfilled if you're

[00:03:49] in the home.

[00:03:50] And secondly, even if you're in the home and you ignore one of those roles, your children

[00:03:56] child has a fatherhood role wound because that role is not being fulfilled.

[00:04:03] We have to understand God's plan is perfect, and we as fathers need to fulfill, albeit

[00:04:09] not perfect, but we have to understand those are the three roles we have to fill.

[00:04:14] First of all, if you go to our website, pointofview.net, you can find a link or you could go directly

[00:04:19] to fathersinthefield.com.

[00:04:22] That's a way in which you can talk about enrolling your church, enrolling your son, a number

[00:04:27] of other things.

[00:04:28] But one of the things that struck me is because, of course, you were in the area of outdoors,

[00:04:35] I've always felt that one of the best ways to reach young boys and young men is to go

[00:04:42] back into creation because there's something unique that takes place when you put God's

[00:04:48] word in God's world and you remove them from the distractions, cell phones especially,

[00:04:55] but a variety of other things as well.

[00:04:57] And so you see the value of that.

[00:04:59] It's one of the reasons why I'm always willing to speak at Christian camps, and I think camping

[00:05:03] and getting out in nature is so important.

[00:05:06] So speak to kind of what actually takes place there at Fathers in the Field.

[00:05:11] Amen.

[00:05:12] Well, we're not a parachurch ministry, so go to the local church.

[00:05:16] If God died for the local church, it's his bride.

[00:05:20] And so on a practical sense, the pastors and their church leadership, they approve these

[00:05:25] men to be mentor fathers, and then they go out there and search for these fathers of boys

[00:05:30] in their community.

[00:05:32] Sadly, the single moms, the widows of our time, are the largest unchurched people group

[00:05:37] in America now, which is staggering to think about.

[00:05:40] So they're not coming to church even if they wanted to come to church because they're typically

[00:05:45] going to work in the weekend service jobs.

[00:05:48] And then secondly, to answer your question on the outdoors, these men get to really do

[00:05:52] ministry in their comfort zone because they have hobbies.

[00:05:54] We all have hobbies.

[00:05:55] We all like to do something.

[00:05:57] But God, in God's Word, makes it clear that his creation helps minister to us.

[00:06:04] And so just being in creation is God ministering to us because it makes us realize there is

[00:06:11] a creator.

[00:06:12] And so it just really encourages these men, if you go outside and you go fishing, that

[00:06:16] in addition to catching a fish, God is helping minister to the soul of that fatherless boy.

[00:06:21] Now, as I understand it, these mentor fathers meet, what is it, four times a month?

[00:06:27] And there's various ministry tools and things of that nature.

[00:06:30] And again, it could involve camping or hunting or fishing or riding or a variety of other

[00:06:35] things, sports of some sort.

[00:06:37] But talk about what that entails because we might even be able to recruit some people

[00:06:41] listening today to be one of those mentor fathers.

[00:06:44] Amen.

[00:06:45] Man, if this captures your heart, please tell your church and your leadership with

[00:06:50] it to reach out to us.

[00:06:52] The first step is get the church and the pastor to commit to doing this.

[00:06:56] And what's so unique about our ministry of fathers in the field is we intentionally address

[00:07:02] the father wound inside these fatherless boys.

[00:07:06] So all the activities are great, but those are all just a vehicle to build a committed

[00:07:11] and caring relationship.

[00:07:13] So at one point in time, the mentor father can speak truth and life into these boys.

[00:07:19] And every fatherless boy, like myself, we tell ourselves every day we're never ever

[00:07:23] going to forgive our earthly father for abandoning his post.

[00:07:28] So this is a deep, festering soul wound and sin actually inside these fatherless boys.

[00:07:34] And we have to basically share the gospel in a fatherless boy language so they can understand

[00:07:39] it and then let them know that they need to forgive their earthly father for leaving them,

[00:07:46] which is a high ask.

[00:07:47] But part of the ministry then also shares what a sinner they are and that God has forgiven

[00:07:52] us so much as believers.

[00:07:55] And then therefore we're commanded to forgive those who have wronged us.

[00:07:59] So that's really intentional.

[00:08:02] Let's just take a break.

[00:08:03] When we come back, I do want to get into that because of course your book, Man Enough to

[00:08:06] Forgive Healing the Wounds of Fatherhood.

[00:08:08] Love to have you share your own experience of that journey of fatherhood abandonment

[00:08:15] and then to come back to this issue of forgiveness because that is so key to the future and moving

[00:08:21] forward.

[00:08:22] So we'll get into not only your own testimony, but what has actually been so successful in

[00:08:28] your ministry there in Fathers in the Field.

[00:08:31] And if you find yourself saying, well, I'd like to know a little bit more or maybe you'd

[00:08:35] like to pass this on to somebody in leadership in your church.

[00:08:39] Go right now to fathersinthefield.com and see if that's something you might want to do in

[00:08:44] your community and in your church.

[00:08:45] We'll take a break.

[00:08:46] Come back with more right after this.

[00:08:58] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:03] Maine recently voted to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

[00:09:07] This has been an attempt to get states to pledge that they will send electors to Washington

[00:09:11] to vote for the president based on the popular vote.

[00:09:15] Essentially it would require electors to ignore how their state voted and merely cast

[00:09:19] their vote for the winner of the popular vote.

[00:09:21] It has been an attempt to change the way we elect the president without a constitutional

[00:09:25] amendment.

[00:09:26] I first wrote about the National Popular Vote Initiative back in 2008 when there were two

[00:09:31] states who joined the compact.

[00:09:33] By the end of the year four states had joined, but I haven't written about it since 2019

[00:09:37] because there hasn't been any significant movement until last year when Minnesota joined

[00:09:42] and now Maine has joined.

[00:09:44] So far there are 17 states and Washington, DC that have joined the compact.

[00:09:48] It will only go into effect when enough states holding 270 electoral college votes approve

[00:09:53] the plan.

[00:09:54] The current total is 209 electoral votes.

[00:09:57] As I've discussed in previous commentaries, the attempt to dismantle the electoral college

[00:10:01] is a bad idea.

[00:10:02] Just look at the map that has been created to illustrate the impact big states and big

[00:10:07] cities would have on the outcome.

[00:10:09] The framers from small states feared that they would always be outvoted by the large

[00:10:13] states.

[00:10:14] Because of third parties, many of our presidential elections in the last few decades have not

[00:10:18] had any candidate with a popular vote majority.

[00:10:21] The electoral college gives them a majority.

[00:10:24] And it's worth remembering that Abraham Lincoln won less than 40% of the popular vote and

[00:10:29] relied on the electoral college for his authority.

[00:10:32] The national popular vote interstate compact won't have an impact on this election, but

[00:10:36] it might have a significant impact in future elections.

[00:10:40] I'm Kirby Anderson and that's my point of view.

[00:10:47] For a free copy of Kirby's booklet, A Biblical View on Antisemitism, go to viewpoints.info

[00:10:52] slash antisemitism.

[00:10:55] Viewpoints.info slash antisemitism.

[00:10:59] You're listening to Point of View, your listener supported source for truth.

[00:11:05] We're going to focus in a minute on the Fathers in the Field ministry.

[00:11:08] And if you'd like to know a little bit more, fathersinthefield.com is the place to go.

[00:11:12] John Smithbaker with us.

[00:11:13] And John, if you would, share your own experience because it was out of your own experience that

[00:11:19] really was the birth of this particular ministry, wasn't it?

[00:11:23] Yes.

[00:11:25] Looking back, you know how God works.

[00:11:26] But my ministry started when I was in my mother's womb because that's when my father abandoned

[00:11:32] his post as the pastor, provider and protector in our family and left us to fend for ourselves

[00:11:39] growing up.

[00:11:40] And 85% of those children in that episode, either they flee from the situation.

[00:11:47] So those are the ones that are creating all kinds of external problems, violence and all

[00:11:52] that, and rebelling.

[00:11:54] And the other 15% respond by trying to earn their father's affection in return like I

[00:11:59] did.

[00:12:00] And I was one of those affectionists or overachievers and workaholics and all those things, which

[00:12:04] I did.

[00:12:05] And I achieved great success in the secular world.

[00:12:09] But God saved me at 40 years old.

[00:12:13] And it was a road to mass experience.

[00:12:15] And when I was on my knees begging for his forgiveness and repenting of all my earthly

[00:12:19] fleshly sins, God illuminated to me that I needed to forgive my earthly father for leaving.

[00:12:28] And yeah, that's the deepest of my sins because I didn't want to let it go.

[00:12:32] I thought it was the unforgivable sin.

[00:12:34] But once I relented and repented, that's when I felt the rush in my body.

[00:12:40] That's when I knew it was adopted into his family and converted and I was born again.

[00:12:45] And shortly thereafter, after that, I just knew the Lord was calling me into full-time

[00:12:53] ministry and giving up the world, which I worked so hard to obtain.

[00:12:57] And I did.

[00:12:58] And all those years of understanding and dealing with the father abandonment wound that God

[00:13:05] was going to put it to use for his glory, for his kingdom.

[00:13:09] And I knew and now know how to interact, communicate and what these father's boys are looking for

[00:13:15] and what they need to be healed of that father wound.

[00:13:20] And so praise God to glory.

[00:13:21] And we've been doing it for a long time and seen just unbelievable impact.

[00:13:25] Well, and that's part of it because you really do believe that this idea of biblical forgiveness

[00:13:31] is really not only helpful in your journey, but the helpful and essential for these young

[00:13:37] boys or young men that are actually struggling with that issue.

[00:13:42] So that's a really key element of your ministry, isn't it?

[00:13:46] Yes.

[00:13:47] I mean, this is a central theme of the gospel, obviously.

[00:13:49] But I believe, you know, I mean, I don't know this for sure, but I certainly believe that

[00:13:54] unforgiveness in believers, because we're talking to believers now, but unforgiveness

[00:13:59] in believers, I believe is a very common sin.

[00:14:03] And we have to realize that unforgiveness is a sin and needs to be repented of.

[00:14:07] So what happens when an unbeliever doesn't forgive?

[00:14:12] Because we have a million new fatherless boys, children going into adulthood every

[00:14:19] year.

[00:14:20] And this father wound is not dealt with.

[00:14:23] So now their men still have this wound that they carry in adulthood.

[00:14:28] And it manifests itself in divorce, depression, alcoholicism, workaholicism, suicide, you

[00:14:36] know, pornography, all the addictive things we see out there because they're trying to

[00:14:42] numb the pain.

[00:14:43] So I work with churches and men's leaders now, in addition to the boys on the fathers

[00:14:48] and filth side, but man enough to forgive is really about dealing with believers, men

[00:14:52] who are basically on the sidelines in the kingdom battle because they have unrepented

[00:14:58] sin in them.

[00:14:59] Right.

[00:15:00] And so that's what happens, you know, don't lose your salvation because that's up to God.

[00:15:05] But so what happens?

[00:15:06] What's the consequence of unrepented sin in a believer's life?

[00:15:10] Basically a broken fellowship with the heavenly father.

[00:15:12] So you're on the sidelines.

[00:15:13] God's not going to use because the consequences, he may not be listening to your prayers, his

[00:15:18] face is turned against you.

[00:15:20] So you know, you have, you have grieved the Holy Spirit.

[00:15:24] There's a lot of consequences that you have to really self-examine, but you're on the

[00:15:27] sidelines and the greatest underutilized assets in the church today are these men again, because

[00:15:34] they've been given special roles in God's kingdom and the devil wants nothing more to

[00:15:37] destroy them.

[00:15:39] And if they can't, because God saved them, then they want to sideline them.

[00:15:45] And my message to men is to be encouraged.

[00:15:47] We, none of us escape without scars and wounds in this life, but we need to forgive.

[00:15:52] And those scars, those special wounds can then become scars.

[00:15:55] And then God can put us back into this kingdom battle and all the men at the gate holding

[00:16:00] back the barbarians because the barbarians are at the gate in this country.

[00:16:04] We need more godly men at that gate.

[00:16:06] Again, we've talked about mentor fathers being matched up with a field buddy as well.

[00:16:13] And we certainly talked about this idea of unforgiveness, but talk for just a minute

[00:16:18] because there are a lot of listeners out here that say, I really appreciate this, but I'm

[00:16:21] a single mom.

[00:16:22] How does this fit to what I am trying to do?

[00:16:26] Raising a boy, it is difficult for these single moms and their great heroes to try to do the

[00:16:31] best of raising a boy without a man involved.

[00:16:36] What is available for them and how can they get involved?

[00:16:39] Yeah, well, we are the answer to your desperate prayers for a godly man to step into the life

[00:16:46] of your son.

[00:16:47] And so Fathers in the Field allows that.

[00:16:49] So we understand, I'm not a strong mom, but she understood she could not raise a boy into

[00:16:55] a man because that would be calling God a liar.

[00:16:58] And so listen, it takes the combination of the nurturing from the mom and the masculinity

[00:17:03] from the father to grow a healthy, well-adjusted human.

[00:17:08] And when one of those are missing, there are always consequences.

[00:17:11] And part of the confusion out there with sexuality is because of this father issue, because that's

[00:17:19] where so many men become passive effeminates and even homosexual because their identity

[00:17:24] isn't someone else than the Lord and they haven't seen that witnessed by their father.

[00:17:30] So it's a big issue.

[00:17:32] But these single moms, listen, we love you.

[00:17:36] Just go to the website of fathersinthefield.com and we'll reach out to you and we can get

[00:17:40] a local church that's doing it or if not, we'll find one and get one started and we

[00:17:45] can come alongside your hurting son and introduce him to a heavenly father that will never leave

[00:17:50] or forsake them.

[00:17:51] Let's talk about what they will find when they go to the website.

[00:17:54] Again, it's fathersinthefield.com.

[00:17:56] That's on our website.

[00:17:58] Go to Church Family.

[00:17:59] There's a section there where you have intentional outreach, statement of faith.

[00:18:03] But there's a section there to enroll your church.

[00:18:05] Also a section for a men's Bible study based upon, of course, your book, Man Enough to Forgive.

[00:18:12] So those are some places I would send people to initially.

[00:18:17] But as people land on your website, tell them where to go.

[00:18:20] Yes.

[00:18:21] I mean, there's a couple buttons there.

[00:18:24] Enroll your church or send us information because we have a packet you can walk into

[00:18:29] the leadership of your church and hand them.

[00:18:32] And before I forget the thought with the single moms, because we go through the local church,

[00:18:37] Christ's Bride, then the women's groups then can come alongside you as the mom.

[00:18:43] And that's what's so beautiful about God's church, that other people's ministry then

[00:18:48] come alongside and help them as single moms.

[00:18:50] So it's a beautiful picture, and that's how church is supposed to work.

[00:18:54] And I want to just encourage you single moms.

[00:18:57] Listen, a good church has no judgment.

[00:19:00] We all make mistakes.

[00:19:01] We all have a tough road ahead of us, and they want to wrap their arms around you, love

[00:19:05] you, and then also help your son.

[00:19:08] So yes, please go to the website.

[00:19:10] We can help them.

[00:19:11] We get to bring the light of the gospel sometimes into a home that's never experienced it.

[00:19:15] It's just a beautiful picture of the church.

[00:19:17] Again, if you go to the website, you'll find a couple of things.

[00:19:19] The address there in Phoenix, you have the phone, which is 844-ISAIAH-1, but you don't

[00:19:24] have to remember all that.

[00:19:25] There's an email there for info at fathersinthefield.com, so you can find out all that information.

[00:19:33] If you want to try to explain that to your church, there's a section called Enroll the

[00:19:37] Church, so you can actually find some of that material so that a pastor or maybe a leader

[00:19:43] in your church might wonder, okay, what's this going to involve and a number of other

[00:19:48] things.

[00:19:49] So again, it is a great ministry, Fathers in the Field.

[00:19:52] And John, I appreciate you starting it, and I appreciate you giving us some time today

[00:19:55] to talk about it.

[00:19:57] Oh, Kirby, thank you for your time and what you do for the kingdom, and just thank you

[00:20:02] for having me on, and God bless you.

[00:20:04] We're going to take a break, and when we come back, first of all, during the break, I would

[00:20:07] encourage you to find out a little bit more.

[00:20:10] We have a link to, of course, William Federer, the book interview that we've done, and again,

[00:20:14] you can find out more about him and that.

[00:20:17] We also have a link to John Smithbaker and, of course, Fathers in the Field, all of that

[00:20:21] available at the website at pointofview.net.

[00:20:25] And as you go there, I hope that you might also recognize that we're encouraging you

[00:20:29] to take action, the World Health Organization Global Pandemic Treaty, but also, as I oftentimes

[00:20:35] say, about this time of year, we're getting close to the summer slump.

[00:20:41] When people begin to travel, they oftentimes aren't giving or forget about giving to a

[00:20:46] ministry.

[00:20:47] This time it's hit us in May rather than in June or July, so I just thought I would mention

[00:20:52] that if you appreciate some of the material we've covered over the last 90 minutes and

[00:20:57] you would want to support this ministry, I would highly encourage you to do so because

[00:21:01] we certainly do need your financial support.

[00:21:04] You can click on that button that says Donate Now, and that is another opportunity for you

[00:21:08] to participate.

[00:21:09] Of course, we have the Pray for America Weekly Updates, which we're just sending out right

[00:21:13] now.

[00:21:14] We have, of course, the Take Action item, my viewpoints commentary today on the popular

[00:21:18] vote.

[00:21:19] And when we come back, we have a lot in the news to talk about.

[00:21:22] We'll cover all that right after this.

[00:21:24] 19th century London, two towering historical figures did battle, not with guns and bombs,

[00:21:39] but words and ideas.

[00:21:42] London was home to Karl Marx, the father of communism, and legendary Baptist preacher

[00:21:47] Charles Spurgeon.

[00:21:49] London was in many ways the center of the world economically, militarily, and intellectually.

[00:21:56] Marx sought to destroy religion, the family, and everything the Bible supports.

[00:22:01] Spurgeon stood against him, warning of socialism's dangers.

[00:22:05] Spurgeon understood Christianity is not just religious truth.

[00:22:09] It is truth for all of life.

[00:22:12] Where do you find men with that kind of wisdom to stand against darkness today?

[00:22:17] Get the light you need on today's most pressing issues delivered to your inbox when you sign

[00:22:23] up for the viewpoints commentary at pointofview.net slash sign up.

[00:22:29] Every weekday in less than two minutes, you'll learn how to be a person of light to stand

[00:22:34] against darkness in our time.

[00:22:36] It's free, so visit pointofview.net slash sign up right now.

[00:22:42] Pointofview.net slash sign up.

[00:22:45] Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:59] You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:04] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management

[00:23:09] or staff of this station.

[00:23:11] And now, here again is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:14] Final half hour, let me just mention real quickly that tomorrow we'll have our weekend

[00:23:18] edition and we are going to have Kelly Shackelford with us and Holly Randall will be talking about

[00:23:24] the fact that first of all our friends at First Liberty Institute said this has been

[00:23:28] the busiest week in their history, so we'll place that little piece up there.

[00:23:33] Also some other religious liberty cases and then we'll move on to first of all something

[00:23:39] I mentioned just a few days ago and now the editors have said that this peer disaster

[00:23:46] for Gaza is one that maybe shows again government incompetence and some issues related to that.

[00:23:52] I have a piece by Cal Thomas about the fact that as we pointed out there's been a pressure

[00:23:57] being brought by this administration against Britain and France to not express their concerns

[00:24:04] about what is happening in Iran, and yet we should be very concerned about the fact that

[00:24:09] they're much closer to a nuclear weapon.

[00:24:11] Very good piece by Shelby Talcott on talking about the fact that young voters really agree

[00:24:18] with the statement it doesn't matter who wins elections, nothing changes and the whole issue

[00:24:24] of what is happening to the younger generation we'll come into and get into in a little bit

[00:24:29] more detail.

[00:24:30] In the future we even have I think an Outlook magazine coming out on just the fading of the

[00:24:35] American dream.

[00:24:36] So these are all issues that we will be covering tomorrow with them and many others along with

[00:24:41] Pentextor's commentary which gets into the whole issue of transgenderism so I think you'll

[00:24:45] appreciate that.

[00:24:46] But let me just mention real quickly that we're watching what is happening in the trial

[00:24:51] there in New York but even before that decision comes down and I'm sure there'll be a great

[00:24:56] opportunity to talk about that tomorrow, we have today the Supreme Court ruling unanimously.

[00:25:03] Now again let me say unanimously.

[00:25:05] It is hard to get nine Supreme Court justices to agree to anything and yet they've all agreed

[00:25:13] that unanimously the case that the National Rifle Association brought is an important case

[00:25:21] and what it is is really a free speech case.

[00:25:25] To understand it you have to understand that the National Rifle Association, I'll just

[00:25:29] now call it the NRA, has been debanked and there has been an attempt by the state regulator

[00:25:37] and it's in the case called NRA versus Voolo and Voolo with the state regulator was trying

[00:25:42] to pressure various banks and insurance companies to completely disassociate themselves from

[00:25:50] the NRA.

[00:25:52] Now this is not a new issue.

[00:25:53] As a matter of fact I was just watching an interview with an individual I might like

[00:25:57] to get on the program, a human rights activist who was saying this issue of debanking individuals

[00:26:04] is not only just occasionally happening in the United States and the UK but it's really

[00:26:09] become one of the greatest strategies now by authoritarian governments around the world.

[00:26:15] But let's come back to the state of New York to talk about the fact that as one attorney

[00:26:21] put it, the Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed today that the government cannot threaten third

[00:26:27] parties to get them to disassociate from disfavored speakers.

[00:26:32] New York's alleged jawboning, that was his word, of the National Rifle Association affiliated

[00:26:38] banks to get them to end their financial association with the NRA is the kind of action that undermines

[00:26:43] our free society and it is wonderful to see that the Supreme Court stand in the way of

[00:26:49] the abuse of government power.

[00:26:52] You've got to understand that at least three of the justices on the Supreme Court would

[00:26:57] be I think reasonably referred to as liberal.

[00:27:01] It is probably true that all three of those individuals probably do not like the NRA.

[00:27:07] I don't even know about the other six but I can certainly say with probably some certainty

[00:27:11] they don't.

[00:27:12] But they also understand that if you get to a point where all of a sudden you can now begin

[00:27:20] to use all sorts of pressure to debank individuals, to say I don't like your company, I don't

[00:27:26] like what you're doing.

[00:27:27] Of course this has been used quite a bit against diverse example groups that, well for example

[00:27:34] businesses that sell guns or ammunition but it's been used in a variety of other cases

[00:27:40] against those who maybe are taking unpopular stands.

[00:27:44] In the UK it was those individuals that actually were fighting against the European Union and

[00:27:52] all sorts of other things.

[00:27:53] So this is a concern and as a result it is again the idea that the government cannot

[00:28:00] use its hostility against a speaker's views and again it is a reminder that we do have

[00:28:08] a First Amendment and that First Amendment certainly does not allow a government regulator

[00:28:16] to threaten various entities with adverse regulatory actions if they don't like what

[00:28:23] that particular group is speaking to.

[00:28:27] Now the reality is that only is a stand on First Amendment.

[00:28:32] First Amendment doesn't affect businesses.

[00:28:34] Banks are very free if they want to, to go out there and decide we're not going to do

[00:28:39] business with you.

[00:28:40] So this doesn't really solve ultimately the problem of debanking that comes often times

[00:28:46] from the fact that your particular organization, your particular ministry, your particular

[00:28:52] church might just not be politically correct and the bank might decide that we're just

[00:28:57] not going to offer you with those services but at least let's give credit where credit

[00:29:02] is due.

[00:29:03] It says that the First Amendment still exists and that cannot allow a government entity

[00:29:09] to prevent you from using insurance companies or banks because it is maybe disliking your

[00:29:16] particular viewpoint.

[00:29:18] So I think it's good news.

[00:29:20] We'll talk about it a little bit tomorrow.

[00:29:21] I'm going to have two lawyers sitting across from me so we'll certainly get into that topic

[00:29:25] as well.

[00:29:26] While we're talking about courtrooms and waiting for the verdict to come down on Donald Trump,

[00:29:33] my next article is one which I entitled Trump and Lawfare.

[00:29:39] It's written by Byron York who of course writes for the organization which is known as the

[00:29:46] Washington Examiner.

[00:29:51] Just blanked on the name for a second.

[00:29:53] But nevertheless he says that the trial of former President Donald Trump is heading towards

[00:29:57] a conclusion for those who at the beginning thought the case was weak and politically

[00:30:01] motivated.

[00:30:02] The presentation of the prosecution's evidence has made it seem even weaker and more politically

[00:30:09] motivated.

[00:30:11] But a conviction will not change that.

[00:30:13] He's I think suspecting that indeed a conviction is going to come down.

[00:30:17] We'll know that soon enough.

[00:30:19] One of the people he quotes is George Conway who actually has been an individual who has

[00:30:26] been relatively conservative and of course you know his wife has actually been a Trump

[00:30:31] supporter but he's become kind of a Joe Biden mega donor.

[00:30:35] But George Conway said, not all that long ago I thought that the trial currently being

[00:30:40] held seemed to be the least serious of the cases against him.

[00:30:45] But he said in this article in the Atlantic, but I feel the need to admit my error.

[00:30:52] The truth is I've come to view that People vs. Trump is in at least some ways the perfect

[00:30:57] case to put Trump in the dock for the first time and I hope we'll see perhaps a prison.

[00:31:02] He goes on of course to say, I don't really care what they eventually convict him of.

[00:31:07] Whatever they can get him on is fine with me.

[00:31:10] Okay.

[00:31:11] I think we got that idea as well.

[00:31:13] But you recognize that the case unfolding here in the New York courtroom, which we've

[00:31:17] sort of ignored until we know more.

[00:31:20] But nevertheless it is just one of a number of cases against the of course Republican

[00:31:25] nominee for the presidency and that's Donald Trump.

[00:31:30] It is interesting that Byron York with Washington Enterprise goes on to say that the other cases

[00:31:36] against Trump seem lost in legal never never land he says.

[00:31:40] The resistance favorite case which was the one of the special counsel Jack Smith's indictment

[00:31:48] of Donald Trump over the 2020 election and the January 6th Capitol riot is awaiting two

[00:31:56] critical Supreme Court rulings.

[00:31:58] One of which I thought might actually be coming down today but we do mention the Supreme Court

[00:32:02] case on the NRA but those others maybe they'll be announced tomorrow maybe a little bit later

[00:32:08] having to do with that issue but it seems likely unlikely he says that either of those

[00:32:14] cases which will go to trial before the election.

[00:32:18] The second favorite case other than of course the one of the 2020 election and the January

[00:32:24] 6th riot was the one by Jack Smith in his indictment over classified documents and that

[00:32:31] one again according to Byron York is basically lost in a series of procedural complexities

[00:32:40] and then you have the final indictment and that's the one like the current case which

[00:32:45] was brought by a local prosecutor that would be of course Fannie Willis there in Georgia

[00:32:50] and it seems to have become kind of an incredible mess.

[00:32:55] But again the argument being made right now by George Conway is I really don't care what

[00:33:02] has happening all as long as they can get him for one of these crimes it doesn't really

[00:33:10] matter which one that's fine with me and whatever they get him for is fine with me is as Byron

[00:33:18] York said perhaps the most succinct and direct explanation for this lawfare that has been

[00:33:24] taking place in this run up to the 2024 election but we'll watch the case we'll see what the

[00:33:31] verdict is and I'm sure we'll be talking about it for quite some time.

[00:33:36] Let's take a break though we have some other issues to address and we'll do that right

[00:33:40] after these important messages.

[00:33:58] To point of view.

[00:33:59] Let's if we can talk about what's going on in Hamas of course we will talk more about

[00:34:07] that tomorrow with the pier breaking apart and the inability to get food to individuals

[00:34:12] and to protect those individuals in Hamas who are not actually involved in the fighting

[00:34:17] and of course there's been collateral damage and the next two articles I have here certainly

[00:34:22] relate to that and I will just talk about them briefly but one of those is by Haley

[00:34:28] Strack talking about Amal Clooney now if that name sounds familiar she is the human rights

[00:34:33] lawyer who is actually married to the actor George Clooney.

[00:34:38] I've had very high and most people have had very high respect for her speaking out about

[00:34:43] various anti-woman attitudes and speaking out for human rights for women for some time.

[00:34:50] Time magazine a couple of years ago listed her as woman of the year so she certainly

[00:34:55] is a human rights lawyer kind of a glamorous jet setter and the rest but the concern that

[00:35:02] Haley Strack points out is that she's been used recently and I think unfairly and maybe

[00:35:09] she's allowed herself to be used because the international criminal court has of course

[00:35:14] decided to issue arrest warrants to the prime minister of Israel that would be Benjamin

[00:35:20] Netanyahu well then they go on of course also saying well we'll arrest warrants for Hamas

[00:35:25] leaders but there is a problem that has existed for decades especially when we talk about

[00:35:33] human rights and foreign policy and it's called moral equivalence and that is there is a striking

[00:35:40] difference at least I hope you would see between the actions of Hamas and the actions of Israel

[00:35:48] but the issue is is that I think Amal Clooney who is a human rights lawyer and I would certainly

[00:35:55] give her high credit for knowing better simply has said that she felt compelled to assist the

[00:36:01] international criminal court because the argument is that the system of international law has been

[00:36:08] tested to its limits because of the actions of Israel now again do I have to remind you that

[00:36:14] what precipitated those actions is the whole scale slaughter of all sorts of Israeli citizens on

[00:36:22] October 7th but as Haley Strack points out in doing this this allowed for the individuals at

[00:36:31] the international criminal court with the approval of Amal Clooney to strike a moral equivalence

[00:36:39] between the leaders of a terrorist organization which would be Hamas and the leaders of the most

[00:36:45] democratic nation in the Middle East that would be Israel and by condemning the counterattacks by

[00:36:52] Israel against Hamas it just strengthened the argument that they were engaged in all sorts of

[00:36:59] war crimes and up until recently Amal Clooney has been under a criticism from many of these pro-Israel

[00:37:07] groups over her relative silence about the silence about the hundreds let's talk about it female

[00:37:16] victims on October 7th when she finally did speak up as Haley Strack points out she did not call for

[00:37:23] justice for these women but instead talked about how this was equated the terrorist regime that

[00:37:32] raped murdered and disfigured and abducted those women with a democratic society that was trying to

[00:37:39] remove this particular terrorist group that had raped murdered disfigured and abducted those women

[00:37:46] do you not see the problems here and I think that's pretty obvious indeed and of course then

[00:37:52] you've had all sorts of other people weighing in on this and of course the argument has been that

[00:37:58] in the process of Israel's bombardment of Gaza there indeed have been people that have lost

[00:38:05] their lives and as much as we would love that a war could actually avoid any collateral damage

[00:38:13] that is certainly not the case but Haley Strack who has actually been to Israel recalls one story

[00:38:20] which might just give you a little bit of an idea of what it's like if you're an Israeli Defense

[00:38:27] Force soldier because she talks about when this IDF soldier was in Gaza facing fire from two

[00:38:35] terrorists who hid in buildings opposite each other one of the terrorists ran out of ammo the

[00:38:42] other whom the IDF would have shot upon sight dispatched a little boy to run to the opposite

[00:38:51] building retreat ammo retrieve ammo and then bring it back to him the IDF soldier couldn't do

[00:38:59] anything but watch the child here's a good example of all of that another example she gives is a group

[00:39:06] of burka clad women exited a building and started to approach soldiers the IDF had about 1 million

[00:39:13] to a minute to evaluate the situation the soldiers said that he could not and start shooting at

[00:39:19] civilians but they were certain that terrorists were among the group the IDF soldiers had to

[00:39:25] analyze the crowd to see if any of the woman's arms were not moving which would suggest that

[00:39:31] that was a person holding a weapon one IDF soldier spotted a child's underwear and a teddy bear in a

[00:39:37] doorway when he went there to retrieve them and investigate the scene another soldier pulled him

[00:39:42] back suddenly the underwear was booby-trapped this is the world the IDF soldiers have to

[00:39:49] negotiate and when they make a mistake which is inevitable that's when civilians get killed one

[00:39:57] of the other articles I've posted for you to read also is I think a very powerful argument by Brendan

[00:40:03] O'Neill it says Rafa reminds us of the evils of Hamas Rafa of course is where the Israeli soldiers

[00:40:11] are right now and he says the anti-israel group are right about one thing and that is it's

[00:40:19] unconscionable that Rafa the city in Gaza has been turned into a war zone it is a front to humanity

[00:40:26] itself that a city once teeming with civilians fleeing the ravages of war elsewhere in Gaza would

[00:40:33] now be really essentially reduced to this terrible background he uses a different world but I'll

[00:40:40] leave there and how did this happen what caused them to actually have a launch pad there well it

[00:40:47] was because Hamas decided that that's where they would hide their ammunition where they would fire

[00:40:54] their missiles from Rafa at the IDF and as the Israeli troops and who was posting commanders

[00:41:02] there and hid all of that well again those were the Hamas leaders now hiding in Rafa among the

[00:41:10] civilian population and so knowing full well that this would lead to bullet bloodshed was that a

[00:41:17] decision made by Israel no it was a decision made by the Hamas leaders and again Israel has worked

[00:41:25] to facilitate the evacuation of over 900,000 civilians it wasn't Hamas that was doing that

[00:41:34] if anything Hamas was wanting to use those as various protective shields for their activity so

[00:41:41] again if you maybe just want to get a little bit of a handle on what it's like to go in after these

[00:41:47] terrorist groups into Gaza generally in and Rafa specifically I've posted these two articles because

[00:41:55] it I think illustrates again that even though Amal Clooney and many others have tried to paint a moral

[00:42:02] equivalence between Israel and Hamas I think common sense helps you to realize there's a real

[00:42:09] difference just before we wind down for today let me just mention we have posted those articles

[00:42:14] they're all available for you to reprint and to pass on to others if you'd like to know a little

[00:42:19] bit about William Federer's book which was the interview we did in the first hour that's available

[00:42:23] at point of view net we'd like to know a little bit more about fathers in the field John Smith

[00:42:29] we have that information there as well and as we wind down don't forget there's a place for you to

[00:42:34] actually express your opinion on our take action item the World Health Organization's global

[00:42:40] pandemic treaty and if you can help us financially click on that blue button that says donate we

[00:42:46] would greatly appreciate your involvement with us because indeed we don't want to bring these

[00:42:52] kinds of news and information commentary to you every single day one last time let me thank Megan

[00:42:58] kitchen for help behind the scenes making all of this happen engineering it Steve Miller thank you

[00:43:04] for your help and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow on a weekend edition right here on point

[00:43:09] of view it almost seems like we live in a different world from many people in positions of authority

[00:43:18] they say men can be women and women men people are prosecuted differently or not at all depending

[00:43:25] on their politics criminals are more valued and rewarded than law-abiding citizens it's so

[00:43:32] overwhelming so demoralizing you feel like giving up but we can't we shouldn't we must not as Winston

[00:43:40] Churchill said to Britain in the darkest days of World War two never give in never give in never

[00:43:47] never never never yield to force never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy

[00:43:54] and that's what we say to you today this is not a time to give in but to step up and join point

[00:44:01] of view in providing clarity in the chaos we can't do it alone but together with God's help

[00:44:08] we will overcome the darkness invest in biblical clarity today at point of view dotnet or call

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