American Family Radio supports preborn to provide ultrasounds for pregnant women

>> Walker Wildmon: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, preborn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without your help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial pound250 and say the key word baby or visit preborn.com afr. We inform religious freedom is about people of faith being able to live out their faith, live out their convictions, no matter where they are.

>> Rick Green: We equip sacred honor is the courage to speak truth, to live out your free speech.

>> Brother Don Wildmon: We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character. This is at The Core on American Family Radio.

The Continental Congress approved the Declaration of independence on July 4, 1776

>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome to The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us on today's edition of the program. It is, the week that we will celebrate July 4th. This Saturday, July 4th, 2026, will celebrate America's 250th birthday. Birthday 250th anniversary as a nation. The Continental Congress approved the Declaration of independence on, July 4th, 1776. And the signers over the next several weeks, signed their original signature onto the Declaration of Independence. And the days leading up to July 4th, it was drafted and circulated and approved, edits were made. And then on the fourth was when the Continental Congress approved of the Declaration of Independence. So that's just a little nugget as to the timeline and actually how long it took to get the original signatures on the Declaration because obviously we didn't have the postal service, although the postal service is one of the longest standing agencies, if you will, because it's actually in the Constitution. But, nonetheless, we didn't have all the technology and vehicles and digital signatures. So, the declaration, the original copies, which they had several, had to be circulated via horseback, most likely, or individuals had to ride in, if you will, to, sign it. So it was a process that took some time. And then, I believe somewhere in August, all of the original signers had successfully signed the Declaration.

On Monday, we quoted the first charter of Virginia

Well, let's jump into a couple, quotes I want to provide on the program today. Monday, we. I gave you some quotes from, let's see who I quoted. On Monday, we quoted the first charter of Virginia. And I'm doing this in honor of July 4th. I quoted, some of the Mayflower Compact, I believe. Jon Jay, the first Supreme Court Chief Justice, I quoted him and then another Chief Justice, Jon Marshall, who served, I think it was 1801 to 1835. And one of the longest serving, I have my dates rung there. One of the longest serving Chief. The longest serving Chief justice, not one of the, the longest serving Chief justice was I believe Jon Marshall, early 1800s.

Stephen McDowell: The Founding Fathers believed in a Creator God

nonetheless I've got a few more clips, a few more Excerpts from Steven McDowell's book America A Christian Nation that I want to read as we commemorate July 4th this Saturday. And we point back to God's sovereignty and his providence in the existence of America. Samuel Adams, who's a well known signer or a well known founding era father, Sam Adams, was a signer of the Declaration and he quoted, he said in the supposed state of nature, all men are equally bound by the laws of nature. Or to speak more properly, he said the laws of the Creator. Jon J. the first Chief justice of the U.S. supreme Court, he also said the natural law was given by the sovereign of the universe to all mankind. Jon Quincy Adams, who was also the sixth President, he said the laws of nature and of nature's God of course presupposes the existence of God, the moral ruler of the universe and a rule of right and wrong of just and unjust, binding upon man, preceding all institutions of human society, government. And so when you read these writings of the founders and the signers and the early presidents and Supreme Court Justices, it's abundantly clear that when you look around at our created order, when you look around at natural order and natural law, the default position for everyone who's honest with themselves is that we have a Creator God. Any position or thought or ideology, or belief system contrary to that is fallible and laughable on its face because there's so much abundant evidence of Creator God and intelligent design that to start from any other framework is, is to really be laughable from the onset. but now we have these default positions of atheism, agnosticism, evolution, these absolutely crazy theories about how we ended up here, and all of those when you look at the evidence before our very eyes, are somewhat ludicrous compared to the natural order and a Creator God. That's what the Founding Fathers wrote about and that's what transformed and defined their worldview during the founding era. And that's why we have the protections, the natural rights and the government structure that we have that has brought abundant prosperity throughout this country and the world. And arguably that's why we're able to celebrate 250 years with a nation still intact is because our founders structured it in a way that was biblically honorable and that was consistent with God's design and God's created order for mankind and his precepts for how man should live. So that's just a few quotes from, Steven, McDowell's book, America A Christian Examining the Evidence of a Christian foundation of America. A couple clips here I want to play, and then we'll have a guest in the second and the third.

Many schools are bringing back pen and paper and getting rid of phones in schools

there's a positive trend going on in schools where, technology is getting somewhat critiqued and the physical books and notepads are making quite a comeback. Listen to this clip.

>> Fox Laura Ingraham: I, know you've noticed this in teaching, and we all want our kids to have an attention span, be able to read a whole book, not just a chapter of a book at a time, but read a whole book over the course of several days. Many schools are now bringing back pen and paper and getting rid of phones in the schools. Even in our area of dc, Northern Virginia, Maryland, they're out of the classroom now for the whole day. Can't touch your phones. Good stuff. Students are thriving. They're thriving. You've seen this. Minneapolis teachers ban the phones, laptops. Only 46% of students report feeling confident in their reading skills. But then by February, that figure had climbed. Katy. To 95%. This is amazing progress here.

Laura Ingram: Too much technology can actually impede educational outcomes

>> Walker Wildmon: Well, there you have it. That's, a Fox report from Laura Ingram on this comeback of pen and paper. I think this is phenomenal. I mean, we live in this overly technological society where everything's digital, everything's online, you go to the doctor, fill out the iPad, etc. Etc. And I get it, that technology has brought about so much convenience, has streamlined so many processes. It's not, it's equally not fair to just bash technology as this overarching negative for society. Look, technology's brought about, just like any other innovation, technology has brought about some good, it's brought about some bad. one of the bads that it has brought about is this increased antisocial behavior and this decline in educational achievements and outcomes. That is because, of people's learning styles and what's most effective and what's not effective. And what schools are beginning to learn, some of them have learned this in years past, is that too much technology can actually impede educational outcomes. And so some schools, and I believe this trend will grow, are actually moving back towards pen and paper, moving back towards physical books, because the human brain in many scenarios, has a better memory record, if you will, or does better memorizing, when it's physical, when it's in front of you. And the act of writing itself serves a very valuable purpose in memorization and in learning. And so, and what's so comical though is these aren't novel concepts. It's not like we all of a sudden in 2026 conducted studies about the best means of education and the best means of learning. These are concepts that have been known for a very long time. I mean, the studies on the effects of writing and the effects of memorization, these are not novel studies that scientists and sociologists are just now figuring out. This is stuff that's been around for a long, long time and is why we've studied the way we have for so long. And then comes technology. I'm actually aware of a school district here locally, that is they're either ditching or extremely cutting back on the computer time. All of these school districts spent combined billions of dollars buying these chromebooks and these MacBooks for every student. And they're beginning to take them back and they're spending a whole lot less investing in computers for the classroom. And so overall this is a very, very positive trend. And I believe it will lead to better educational outcomes and better social outcomes for our young people. We have to. There are certain things about being human and the human experience that are very valuable and very important and not just preferences. And those things that are very valuable, very important and that are not just preferences, and are more so lifelong human principles. Those are the things that we do have to hang on to. And I'm completely, not naive to the fact of, you know, technological advancements and innovation and the fact that things won't always be how they once were. Right. but at the same time, teaching young people to, and even this can be addressed to adults too, because we have problems ourselves. This isn't just a, you know, we need to fix the young people, rant, but as a society we have to learn how to sit down and engage in face to face conversations with other humans. We can't just resort to these chatbots and text messages and emails and voice messages and never, actually talk to other people. And I would argue, and the data does prove this, that one of the reasons that we have the level of depression and anxiety rates that we do now, not just among young people, but among adults as well, look at the antidepressant dispensary, rates among adults. It's very problematic Amongst adults too. It's because people are losing a sense of value, purpose and connection. One of the ways that you achieve value, purpose and connection is you interact with other humans and you find things and activities and purposes that give you value, that give you drive, that give you meaning in society and in your culture. And when you take those things away and you reduce everyone to, work on a computer or relationships through online chat rooms, you are distinctly removing a very core element of the human experience. And that is eye contact, that is speech, that is touch. All of your major sensories, are utilized when you engage in human to human contact. And when you take half of those things away, you lose the human factor. And God created us not to be robots, not to hunker down on a tablet all day. He created us to have a human experience, a distinctly human experience that only his created beings can have. And when you divert from that and you try to replace that, then there's going to be major problems. And that's what we're seeing today, not just on the education front, but on the more, psychological, emotional front as well. With a lot of these studies looking at anxiety, depression, the breakdown of the family, all of this is interconnected. So kudos to these educational institutions that are going back to what we know works. And that is a pen and a paper. We'll be back in a few.

Ed Vitagliano invites you to join him on a Boston tour this September

>> Ed Vitagliano: Hello, this is Ed Vitagliano, co host of Today's Issues on afr. That's right, it's a Boston accent. And that's because I wanted to invite you to join Wesley and Walker Wildmon as well as yours truly on a tour of my hometown of Boston this September. A few highlights from our week long itinerary include the Plymouth Plantation on Tuesday, where the Pilgrims settled. On Wednesday we'll visit Paul Revere's house and learn from more about his midnight ride to warn of the approaching British troops. Thursday we'll go aboard the USS Constitution, which is docked in Boston Harbor. Historian Steven McDowell of the Providence foundation will be with us to point out spiritual significance. And this is just a brief sampling of the stops on our list. For all the information about our September Boston tour, visit tours.afa.net that that's tours.afa.net and I hope to see you there. And maybe, just maybe, we'll park a few cars by Harvard Yacht at the The Core Podcasts are [email protected] now back to at the The Core on American Family Radio.

>> Walker Wildmon: Well, there you have it. there you have it. Ed Vitagliano Will be with us in Boston in late September. September touring the Freedom Trail, Plymouth Rock, Lexington, Concord, Jon Adams home. all of these great places we are going to be visiting coming up in late September. If you want to join us, just go over to tours.afa.net tours.afa.net Alright, I had two Founding Fathers mixed up. Imagine that. we had, Okay, so Jon Jay. I've quoted both of these, by the way, this week in Stephen McDowell's book as I've been reading them in the first segment, commemorating America's 250th. But one, of the quotes I read was from Jon Jay. He was a founding father, and he was a Chief justice from 89. From 1789 to 95. 1795. another founding father I quoted was Chief Justice Jon Marshall. So Chief Justice Jon Marshall was the one that is the longest serving Chief justice on the Supreme Court. And his tenure ran from 1801 to 1835. So pretty impressive. 34 year tenure on the Supreme Court. Longest serving. Still, longest serving chief justice in U.S. history. So two Johns there, one J and one Marshall. Both founding Fathers and both being on the Supreme Court. Pretty fascinating stuff there. All right, let's jump to our next guest. Jerry Angelo is with us. Jerry is founder of Marriage Awakening Ministry and he's, been on the show before, friend of the ministry, been doing a lot of phenomenal work on the marriage side of things. And he's with us now. Jerry, welcome back.

>> Jerry Angelo: Hey Walker, thanks for having me today and thanks for the great intro.

Jerry and his wife focus on family issues in Missouri through ministry

>> Walker Wildmon: Well, Jerry, tell us, what you've been doing in recent years, you and your wife, when it comes to your ministry and working with states and legislators on shoring up marriages and ensuring that people have access to counseling, all of those things. Give us an update.

>> Jerry Angelo: Sure, yeah. of course, you know, we've worked together on a few projects in D.C. so been, you know, working with you guys a little bit there. But locally, right here in the state of Missouri, we've just been focusing on family just as much as possible. You know, everybody knows. Well, maybe not everybody, but a lot of people know, about the disintegration of the family and they may not know that the effects of that are really cover, all of us and you know, just like the opposite of you know, a rising tide floats all boats. Well, when, when it, when it recedes, they all go back down again. And I think that's what's happening, at The Core of our families. With the divorce epidemics that are happening and you know it's basically taking a family that maybe just barely making it. And now we've split them into two cost centers with the same income and people tend to plunge into poverty. And then we have fatherlessness, that we have to deal with and all those other issues. And so we have been trying to create processes and work local leaders to stem that tide to, to shore that up for the families and and teach trainers and, and leaders the. The relationship skills that they can pass on to their local folks. And here recently, we've just got funded for the next five years to do just that for our local first responders, our veterans and our military and a five county area in southwest Missouri. And so we've been doing some of these programs just kind of sprinkling them around wherever we had the resource. And now we are really stepping up our game. and we've got a whole bunch of teams that we've been training and facilitators, and coaches, and having some amazing partnerships like focus, on the family and some of the local domestic violence intervention services. And so we are ready to unleash that in our area. And we've talked with our local law enforcement agencies. They are excited about having this service provided to them for their marriages and their families. And so yeah we're kicking, we're refreshing this and kicking it off next month and so ah, we are amped up and ready to go.

Jerry, your organization focuses on helping married couples deal with marital issues

>> Walker Wildmon: Jerry, what do you see as one of the biggest, difficulties or challenges as an organization that focuses on ministering to married couples and couples that are going through issues, what do you see as the biggest challenge here? Is it like bandwidth? Obviously the sin factor is the overarching common factor amongst all of us. but what are you, what are some of the challenges to doing what you're doing?

>> Jerry Angelo: Yeah, obviously you know, when we're, when we're sinning, we don't want to see what the truth is in a situation. So we have to overcome that, you know, spiritually and for ourselves. Right. That's for, for whatever is happening in our lives. But specifically in in our in our ministry focus. You know, you always have the resources with you know, people and finance and whatnot. But when it comes to actually deploying a solution, I say it's relationship and trust because you can't substitute time for some gimmick or a flyer. word of mouth is Good. a recommendation or an endorsement, but that just gets the door open. But you still need to create trust over time and there's just no substitute for that. and so our programs take multiple days and we can do a lot of work in the first day. But again, that's a pretty big challenge. we can overcome that with genuine character, and relatability. But it's definitely a factor.

Jerry Angelo is running for Missouri House of representatives on family issues

>> Walker Wildmon: Jerry, tell our listeners, you got your ministry hat that you've been doing for several years, helping marriages, helping couples, working with state legislatures on this marriage policy. but more recently, you've somewhat transitioned into campaign mode. You're running for state representative there in Missouri. So tell our folks, the seats you're running for and how they can find out more about your work.

>> Jerry Angelo: Sure. so I'm running for the Missouri House of representatives, district 133. it's previously been a red seat and we want to keep it red. And, and you can find out more about, that campaign at angelo for missouri.com and so basically, you know, Walker, it's really strange. Even in a red state like Missouri, there, you know, D.C. is a controversial topic to discuss. And you know, some people, you know, love them or hate them, you know, our president and you, never really know what you're walking into there. And I've really tried to focus on what's real and tangible for our, local Spring Springfield community. And I just tell them, I'm like, look, there's stuff going on up there that you know, we are remote, remotely disconnected from. But I'm right here right now. I'm in your neighborhood. I live here. I've raised my family here. I'm fighting for you. I'm fighting for your family. I've been doing it ever since my wife and I've been married 20 years today actually. And you know, we, we made it official back in 2018 with our non profit and we've already been working with local leaders and on, on tackling this problem because it's multifaceted, right, that you know, there's so many, so many things involved here, you know, with education and finance and and so. But really if we can focus on mitigating the destruction of that, of that local family unit, I believe we're all going to, we're all going to benefit from that. take for instance the work that we're doing with our first responders. You know, we are going to teach them relationship education Skills that are going to help their marriage and their family. And not only that, but it's going to flow over into their course of work, at their job and, and even out in the, in the field in the community when they're doing their job. And, and so you. So it's going to be helpful to communicate with others, to communicate with their family. And when they do their job well, our safety is going to be impacted. It's. We're going to be a more safe community because they can communicate and have more emotional intelligence. And and that's, and we're all going to benefit from that. And you know, and their kids are going to see how their parents are doing better and they're going veteran schools. So, it's a domino effect. And that's just one example of why I really believe that this work is so important. And and that's, that's what I'm running on. I know there are all kinds of things I gotta push a button or pull a lever to make a vote, but I'm working with local families right here in our area, to help them be successful.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And obviously the family, we, this always, we should always be pointing back to this. But the family unit is one of the three institutions that God himself ordained and instituted. And if we get that wrong, it's going to be a trickle down effect, a domino effect across the board. And we're seeing that now. And so what you're focused on there by focusing on the family is a critical, the critical component to all of the other, novel, or rather all of the other virtuous ideas a campaign consultant might come up with, like lower crime or better educational outcomes. Well, yeah, let's rebuild the family. And all of those things will come from that. So very, very good focus there. Hey Jerry, thanks so much for coming on. tell our folks your website where they can check out your work and your ministry.

>> Jerry Angelo: Sure. So we are doing our ministry work. the easiest way to find us is marriageminute.org and you can find our knowledge nonprofit and some other resources to help your marriage and your family. And that's marriageminute.org and I just want to say thank you, Walker, for the great work that you're doing and your family legacy and all of those great folks down there in Mississippi. oh my gosh. Thank you guys for doing all that and thanks for having me on today.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, absolutely. Jerry, thanks so much for coming on the program and, we'll catch up. Best of, luck. And your run for the state seat there. That's Jerry. Yeah, absolutely. That's Jerry Angelo, founder of Marriage Awakening Ministry. And you can check out more about his [email protected] well one clip I want to make sure we get to this segment.

DE Senator Lisa Blunt tells CNBC that socialism...

This is last week, this debate and this talk over these outright socialists. They call themselves Democratic socialists. These outright socialists that are running for public office, whether it be in NewSong York or now over in Colorado. this is folks, this is taking the Democrat party by storm. They're actually unseating decades long incumbents. The Democrat incumbents are being unseated by these up and coming Democratic socialists that are outright saying all the things we've told you the Democrats believe about open borders and unlimited abortion, etc. These folks are actually saying it out loud. This was a U.S. senator, Democrat on MSM. No, NBC. I'm sorry, CNBC. There's too many NBC's out there. There's Ms. And there's CN, but CNBC, this was us, ah, Senator telling CNBC that basically by not answering socialism hasn't worked anywhere. Let's listen. Where has socialism ever worked? Senator, is that another question or is that for the next interview? That's it, that's.

>> Joe Kernen, CNBC: Oh, that's definitely for you. You said fish doesn't work everywhere. I just want to know one place where socialism has, has been, been beneficial.

>> LIsa Blunt: Well when you have me, when you have me come back on, we can

>> Walker Wildmon: talk about all the races that come to get your answer ready. So CNBC says, and by the way, that was Delaware Senator Lisa Blunt, Rochester, she CNBC as she was promoting socialism says hey, you know, while you're on, just tell us where this works. Like give us a couple examples of where socialism works. And she says wait, is this for now or is this for later? You mean like do some research and then we can talk about this another time. I mean you talk about an awkward exchange there. but the question is right, the question is true. Hey, if you want to push this ideology, you want to push this way of operating on this great land of capitalism, freedom and liberty that has produced historical levels of human flourishing. That is the American experiment. If you want to uproot this and try some other theory of economics, then tell me where you've tried it elsewhere. Because we're not just going to take this nation of 340, 350 million people and just run this socialism experiment because you say it feels good. I mean that is a Bad idea. Businesses don't run into novel theories, novel operating schemes, novel business models. When they're running successful multi billion dollar companies. Somebody doesn't just get to come in and say, hey guys, unless I guess you're the CEO, hey guys, I know what you're doing works, but we're going to try something brand new and we're going to scrap everything that you're currently doing. But that's what they're wanting to do with socialism is they're wanting to, actually they're wanting to piggyback on capitalism and the successes of it and then hijack it for their government top down scheme. But every time you ask them, hey, where has this worked before? There is no viable response. There is no viable example of where socialism has effectively worked for the betterment of the people of the country anywhere else. There are effectively zero answers that are sufficient to justify shifting our form of capitalism to a form of socialism. And if you want, a couple more talking points on this, not only is socialism unbiblical, it's antithetical to scripture, and we could go through that pretty extensively if we wanted. But also the the founding era, the Pilgrims actually tried this. They tried it in some of the early colonies. They, and I'll have to go back and see which colony this was and the exact time frame. But nonetheless, some of the early settlers, they needed more help producing produce, producing food. So they told me, told the whole village, the whole colony, hey, if everybody will come together, everybody just pitch in, you'll all get the same harvest, right? Everybody will get fed here. Right? but they didn't set any level of requirement for input. So some people worked a lot, some people worked a little. And at the end of the planting and the eventual harvest, there wasn't enough food for everyone and some starved. Why? Because everybody was promised on the front end that no matter how hard you work, everybody's gonna get the same. That is a anecdotal, proven life example of how socialism has been tried here and it's failed here. We'll be back.

>> Kayleigh ​Bush: My name is Kayleigh Bush and I am just your regular small town daddy's girl. Four weeks after I had won the title of Miss North Florida, I was asked to sign a contract. Quote, female means a born female or an individual who has fully completed sex reassignment surgery. I declined to sign, resulting in the loss of my title, any scholarship opportunities. So we demanded that they rescind it, but unfortunately they would not. Today I'm standing to preserve Sisterhood the foundation of Miss America. But how can it be a sisterhood if the door is open to brothers? I believe that biology is real and that no boy is born in the wrong body. You know, what makes people a leader is them following their convictions boldly and courageously. She wanted her integrity more than the crown, and she wanted to follow our Lord Jesus Christ more than Miss America.

>> Walker Wildmon: Watch Kayleigh story [email protected] impact right now, the voices in our culture are loud. But truth is often silent. And today, preborns need you to help speak that truth. Women facing unplanned pregnancies are often pressured to act quickly before they have time to pause, breathe, or, hear the truth about life, dignity and hope. But I refuse to be silent, and I'm asking you to join me. At preborn Network clinics, a woman is welcomed with compassion and given a free ultrasound. She sees the life growing inside her, often for the very first time. And in that sacred moment, fear gives way to clarity. And she's offered something abortion industry will never provide. The hope of Jesus Christ. This April, our goal is to have 11,000 gospel conversations in preborn Network clinics, trusting God to bring the increase as we remain faithful to speak. You can help make that possible by sponsoring ultrasounds. Just $28 provides one ultrasound, and $140 provides four, five free ultrasounds for mothers in crisis. Every dollar helps save babies and share the hope of the gospel. To donate, dial #250 and say the keyword baby. That's #250 and say the keyword baby. Or visit preborn.com afr that's preborn.com afr this is at the The Core on American Family Radio with your host, Walker Wildmon.

American Family Radio welcomes back Governor Bradford to the Core

>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to the The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us. Well, I actually wrote a column years ago, and I'm, relatively young, so when I say years ago, this goes back, I don't know, probably seven, eight years ago. Nonetheless, I wrote a column about, Thanksgiving and about the early settlers, trying, communism or socialism and what they called collective farming and how it was an unmitigated disaster. And after they tried it, I'll just provide this quote and then we'll move on to our guest, Governor, Bradford. said that the experience that was had in this common course and condition tried sundry years, and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato and other ancients applauded by Some of the later times that the taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing as if they were wiser than God. And so basically he says, hey, you know, all these theories about, socialism and communism and a commonwealth and everybody getting equal of everything, this has been tried and it's utterly failed. And to say otherwise is to act as if we are, quote, wiser than God. And I'll link to this in the show notes.

Ohio State Representative Beth Lear is on Talk Ohio this week

Ah, jumping to our guest that we have on this segment is Ohio State Representative Beth Lear. Representative Lear represents District 7, 61, rather, in the state of Ohio, and she is with us now. Representative Lear, glad to have you on the program.

>> OH Rep Beth Lear: Glad to be here. Thanks, Walker.

>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely. Well, we have a lot of stations there in Ohio. We have a pretty large one in north and South Columbus. So we do cover, I would say, at least half of your state there in Ohio and then other states as well. But nonetheless, we, like to bring on, lawmakers, both at the state and federal level, that are working on items that we care about, that we value. And obviously that's what you've been doing in your time as state legislator. tell us, ah, first about your time in the legislature and then we'll jump into some of these specific topics.

>> OH Rep Beth Lear: Well, I had my first term, started three and a half years ago. never thought I would run for this because I did work as an aide. I saw what happened to conservative Christians in the legislature and it's, it's hard for them. We're called to be there, but it's hard, many compromise and those who don't often are just pushed to the side and deemed irrelevant. But I did feel called by the Lord to try to run. I did. I won. And since I've been there, we've been able to pass some really important legislation against all odds and only with God's help. Things like the bathroom bill, which says in Ohio you cannot have boys and girls sharing bathrooms, locker rooms and overnights, kindergarten through college, private and public schools. So that was pretty important, the never alone act, things like that. So I've really been grateful that God has given me a platform to try to make a difference for him and protect the most vulnerable.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, that's very, very important. And unfortunately, you know, you look at some of these issues, such as the one you just mentioned, and you think, I mean, do we really have to do this? Is this really a deb. And unfortunately it is. And we just have to continue

>> OH Rep Beth Lear: examining,

>> Walker Wildmon: what the issues we're facing as a culture are and addressing them one by one and speaking truth into the situation. And in your instance, through the legislature and the passing of laws. another topic that you've worked on is something that my grandfather in the early days of the ministry worked on as well, and that is the topic of gambling. so tell us what you've worked on and what you've done in the state legislature when it comes to online gambling.

>> OH Rep Beth Lear: Well, they passed before I was elected and became part of it. there was language that passed that expanded online gaming. And, last year, there was an attempt to expand it even further in the budget, and there was significant pushback, thank God, from the Republicans. Strangely, the Democrats appear to also have a really huge issue with this. So, you know, happy to partner with anybody that's going to slow this down, but knowing that they tried to put it in the budget a little over a year ago, ccv, the center for Christian Virtue, gathered some data for members who care about these issues, including me, to give us, information like the number one addiction in the United States that results in suicide is gambling. in Ohio, we're losing nearly $10,000 per second to gambling addiction in familial and generational wealth. So this is a huge issue. And so when my colleagues in my own party start talking about, well, let's just expand online gambling so that we can have another source of revenue to expand government, I'm like, no. And we needed to push for this now before they try to do it again in the budget next year.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. This is, to your point, it wrecks so many lives, gambling, us and online gambling, to be included. I mean, one of The Core reasons, that make it so potent, so damaging is that it's instantaneous. This isn't a slow. Gambling is not this. It can compound, don't get me wrong. But it's not this thing that like investing that takes time and months and years. Gambling, you make one bad decision, one bad day, and before you know it, your life's turned upside down. and it's antithetical to scripture and the, the concept of work, working with your hands to earn a wage to earn a living. It runs completely antithetical to that. but it's very prevalent and it's just unfortunately growing so prevalent, especially in this online world. All these sports betting, what's the, conversations you have? Because, when you talk to the general public about this, some of them are just so uneducated on the harms of gambling. They just view it as another like consumer service or another you know, outlet to for quote, entertainment. But kind of talk us through how you explain this to people and why it's particularly harmful.

>> OH Rep Beth Lear: Well, I've just started myself because there were other members who were going to lead the charge on this. And in Ohio we had a very ugly primary season. I was one of the people who lost in my primary. So I will not be back next year. And it was because these people who want to expand gaming in Ohio threw millions of dollars against people they thought would be in their way. And so one of the things that I've been sharing with folks is this fight is a fight against the addiction for profit industry because that's exactly what they are. And so all we want to do, we can't get rid of it. We've got casinos in our constitution. So what we want to do is provide some consumer protections, provide some sports integrity. so what that would look like for sports integrity would be prohibit gambling on college games for instance. So we've got college athletes who are being threatened because people are betting on them and if they don't provide a certain score or have certain stats, those people are going to lose big money. So they're actually threatening our college athletes. You need to do this and this. That's unacceptable. But also it's so highly addictive, especially for our young men who are struggling so much in a culture that is very anti male these days and, and it gives them that quick endorsement endorphin rush like you were talking about. It's an instantaneous thing and they suck them in and you win maybe one out of 100 times. So it's very addictive, it's very damaging. And these are some of the things that I've begun sharing with folks as my colleague, Jonathan Newman, who's also a pastor by the way. he and I are the two lead sponsors on this still.

>> Walker Wildmon: M. Yeah, this is a, when you, when you have time to explain this to people, it, it you're probably going to win most of them over if you once again if you have time to explain it, but on the fly with very shallow thinking, and this instant gratification world that we live in, people feel like they ought to be able to do whatever they want to do even though it's extremely harmless, harmful behavior and just shouldn't be available on the market. nonetheless, and the carnage that it causes with marriages and families is very, very destructive to our culture.

Ohio state representative Beth Lear is pushing for Natural Family Month

nonetheless, I want to move on to one more topic before we let you go, and that is the support for Natural Family Month. This is something that different states and different legislators have been working on to kind of counter this pro LGBTQ movement, and that is to promote the natural God given family. So tell us what you've done on that front.

>> OH Rep Beth Lear: Well, we have tried to push the idea of having a Natural Family Month, and the legislation says that it would occur naturally between Mother's Day and Father's Day every year. And we don't define it because the word natural has its own definition. And when I explained it to my colleagues and to the committee, what I just shared with them was natural means scientifically natural. That's biology. religiously natural. It's always been a man and a woman in all the major religions, but also historically natural, because this has been the way society has grown through the family, man and a woman. But again, we don't define it in the bill, because we want it to be as broad as we can as far as the science, the history, and the religion. we were on the cusp of having it voted out of committee last fall, and then the legislation got yanked. So I don't know what's going to happen with it. I don't see it moving. It breaks my heart. It's not that anybody would be required to celebrate Natural Family Month, but our thought was it would give churches and others an opportunity to begin talking during this time of year that's so damaging to kids and others. They could talk about something positive and God's view.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> OH Rep Beth Lear: So we tried, and we're still trying.

>> Walker Wildmon: Well, I give you kudos for trying. Sometimes that's half the battle. but to your point about, how people view this, there's such a hypocrisy out there because, we celebrate all kinds of stuff in this country. And I bet if you look at the calendar of Ohio, you guys celebrate all kinds of stuff, too, some of which I probably don't agree with, and you don't either. but the fact that people balk at celebrating, the natural male, female, union that brings about reproduction and brings about humanity and, the birth of our own kind is quite bizarre. it's almost like anti human to not want to talk about and be proud of that because of how unique we are, how God created us, unique and special in his image. you would think that you could get 51% to want to talk about that. but it does show the level of work that's still needed on this front, to properly educate and convince people, that God's created order is the best created order. Representative Lear, thanks so much for coming on. we appreciate your work in the state legislature and we wish you the best.

>> OH Rep Beth Lear: Thank you very much. Glad to be here.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, absolutely. That's Ohio, state representative Beth Lear. She represented district 61 and her time in the legislature is unfortunately coming to an end. But I'm sure the Lord has plans for her and her path ahead and we appreciate the work that she's done. And there are hundreds, if not thousands of state legislators just like Representative Lear around the country that are doing very good things, very good work, introducing very good legislation and speaking truth into our state government. So we need, ah, her tribe to increase.

David Bahnsen: I think you will have a moment where things reprice

one other clip I want to play before we wrap up today's program is, David Bahnsen with the Bahnsen Group. You might hear him occasionally on maybe with Rob West. he was talking, just the last few weeks about these AI valuations with these major technology companies. And I wanted you to hear his thoughts on whether all of these AI companies with these multibillion dollar valuations will actually make it through, this somewhat bubble that we're experiencing.

>> David Bahnsen: Clip 3 I think you will have a moment in which things reprice. We saw it with.com and you had five companies survive and you had 99% go to the graveyard. I'm not, not talking about timing anything and I'm not talking about this whole thing being a disaster of a real story in terms of its transformative benefits in society. I'm just simply saying the Investor psychology always 100% of the time gets ahead of itself and gets overinvested and then capital has to reallocate. I'm not sure he has ever really talked about it that way. That's what I'm saying right here. But I think some of these companies are wonderful companies. I just don't think that they, the price is connected.

There is talk of an artificial intelligence bubble. And I've been skeptical of it

>> Walker Wildmon: So the topic here was these artificial intelligence related companies that are, putting forth these absurd valuations on their companies based on the projections of what AI will bring in revenue and the level of money that they're borrowing to build these data centers. And I've heard this theory, I've heard this speculation for the last few months, but I haven't quite latched onto it. I've been skeptical of it. that is the talk of somewhat of an AI bubble. But, I'm leaning towards hearing them out. because when you look at the valuations of these technology companies, they are just, ah, on their face, they are absurd valuations. And you run the math, on how much revenue they will need to bring in in the next year, three to five years to start paying the bills on these multi billion dollar unsecured, loans that they've got. M It's just not adding up. So I think AI is going to be around. AI is going to be transformative. There's going to be winners, but there's also going to be losers. From an economic and a market standpoint when it comes to AI, only time will tell.

>> Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

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