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>> : This is at the The Core on American Family Radio.
Rick Green: We're talking about Flag Day and Father's Day
>> Rick Green: Welcome to at the The Core with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green. I'm Rick Green, America's Constitution coach. Thanks for joining me today. I've got some great interviews for you today. We've got a lot of Bill Federer today. We're going to be talking about Flag Day which just happened a few days ago. And then we're also going to be talking about Father's Day. And then I got Ben Carson for you as well. And of course Flag Day I don't know, you know if you were listening Tuesday or not, but on Tuesday's program here on at the The Core, I was talking about the amazing Sunday night White House event with the jets and the Marine Corps Band and the UFC and all of the amazing things that happened. ZACH Brown BAND I mean, it was amazing. but the, one of the cool things that UFC did was they, they used this civic ritual that Ronald Reagan talked about years ago to increase civic literacy. And throughout the evening they were playing these videos in the fights that were great educational pieces on the history of America. And they were done in such a phenomenal fashion in terms of instilling patriotism, being pro America. And one of the things they played was not a hype up video that they made. It was literally just a speech by Ronald Reagan on Flag Day June 14, years ago. And I was really surprised. It was really, really good. I was so glad they played it. It was just a great way to remind us about our patriotism and why we, we do what we do. So I thought it would be cool to play the interview with Bill Federer that I just did right before Flag Day So this was done a week ago and we aired it on Wallnua Builders. But I wanted to Share it with you here on at the The Core. So here's Bill Federer talking about Flag Day
>> Rick Green: Oh, our good friend Bill Federer back with us. So many great holidays this year to learn from. And of course on the 250th, getting to dive deep into some of these. And we got one today I know nothing about. I literally have no idea what the history is on Flag Day and how it got developed and how we should properly honor it. So who better to call Bill Federer? Bill. Hey brother, thanks for coming on spending some time with us.
>> Bill Federer: Hey, Rick, great to be with you.
>> Rick Green: Well, thanks for doing this, man. And, and and I know we're going to get you on in another week or two about Father's Day as well. So we'll, we'll air that one, closer to Father's Day.
June 14, 1777, is when the Second Continental Congress adopted the flag
But Flag Day is coming up in just a, a few days. what is the history of that and, and how should we properly celebrate it?
>> Bill Federer: Well, June 14, 1777, is when the Second Continental Congress selected the Thirteen Stars and Thirteen Stripes as our national flag. they're in the midst of this war against the most globalist, powerful king that the planet had ever seen, the king of England. And so this was the pledge. Allegiance to the flag has a little bit different history that started in 1885. Union, army captain George Thatcher Balch, B A L C H. He wrote the first version of the pledge of Allegiance. And he had also been the auditor of the NewSong York City board of Education. And he authored a book, methods of teaching patriotism in the public schools. Maybe we ought to republish that. but the year was 1890. So he's responsible for the movement to put flag poles in front of the public schools. And his pledge began with a salute to the flag. I give my heart and my hand to my country. One country, one language, one flag. And now that was 1890, is, when he published his book, but shortly after that is 1892. 36 year old Baptist minister Francis Bellamy, he does his version now he's ordained in the Baptist Church, Little Falls, NewSong York. he is a staff member abuse companion. And so in September 8, 1892 he publishes his draft comes out just in time for the 1892, Columbus Day. All right. 400th anniversary of 1492. And it was encouraged to be recited by the students with prayers, patriotic speeches, the singing of my country. Tisnathy. Samuel Francis Smith wrote that in, 1831. And I love the fourth stanza of that song, Our Father's God to the author of liberty to thee we sing Long may our land be bright with freedom's holy life Protect us by the might Great God our king. And then they were also encouraged to read Benjamin Harrison's Proclamation of 1892. Let the national flag float over every schoolhouse in the country. let there be expressions of gratitude to divine Providence. And so they recited it. And then in 1916, Woodrow Wilson declares National Flag Day And he says, I call your attention to the approach of the anniversary of the day upon which the flag of the United States was adopted by Congress. Therefore, recommend throughout the Nation the 14th day of June be observed as Flag Day with special patriotic exercises, our thoughtful love of America, comprehension of the great mission of liberty and justice, that, done in the city of our Lord. the city of Washington in the year of our Lord 1916. so now we have the flag, 1777, the first pledge in 1885, and then 1892. And then we have Woodrow Wilson making National Flag Day Then we go to 1954, Cold War. We have Communists, atheists and the Knights of Columbus lead an effort to get one nation under God into the Pledge of Allegiance. And It's Public Law 396. And Eisenhower signs it. And, the Section 7 says the following is designated as the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Such pledge should be rendered by standing with the right hand over the heart. However, civilians will always show full respect to the flag. When the Pledge is given by merely standing at attention, then removing their headdresses, persons and uniforms shall give the military salute. Eisenhower stood on the steps of the U.S. capitol, recited the Pledge, for the first time with the phrase under God, which, of course is taken from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom. And then in 1979, the, Capitol, under the authority of Congress, published a pictorial history of the Capitol. And in there it has a comment regarding the Pledge. This Pledge attests what has been true about America from the beginning. Faith in the transcendent sovereign God was in the public philosophy, the American consensus. America's story opens with the first words of the Bible. In the beginning God. We are truthfully one nation under God. Our institutions presuppose a divine being, wrote Justice William O. Douglas, 1966. Only a Nation founded on Theistic presuppositions would adopt a first Amendment to ensure the free exercise of all religions or none. The government would be neutral among the many denominations and no one church would become the state church. But America and its institutions of government could not be neutral about God. That was 1979, and that was the US Capitol Publishing that.
>> Rick Green: and Bill, let me, let me ask you real quick. So were we doing when they did that in 18, would you say 79 was when the.
>> Bill Federer: 85. 1885 is when the Union General Balch, is one who composed the one heart, one hand, one.
>> Rick Green: How did it catch on? Like, how did people. And were we doing recitations in schools and things like that, or did that come a lot later?
>> Bill Federer: it was definitely a patriotic period in America's history. you know, you had Woodrow Wilson giving out Bibles to all the soldiers in World War I. Woodrow Wilson having a day of fasting. Imagine that. and, and so the, the patriotic fervor, the population of Christians in America was in the 90 percentiles. I even was. You know, for 30 years I've been going to the CIA.gov website and they have a world fact book and it lists every nation in the world and every imaginable statistic, including America. And and 1 of the amount of variable land gross national product, HIV death rate. Among all this, you look up, you know, Japan, it's 80 Buddhists and India is 80 Hindu and Pakistan is 90%. Saudi Arabia is 100%. but you looked up 30 years ago, I looked up the United States and it says that we were 94% Christian. Now it's going down to 60 some odd percent with going in the wrong direction. but back in 1950, we were close to 98% Christian.
>> Rick Green: Wow, 98 and about 2% Jewish.
>> Bill Federer: And, and it was, what, 0.1% atheist and 0.01% Muslim. We're talking, it was a Judeo Christian country. So that's why during World War II you had Franklin Roosevelt giving out Gideon's NewSong Testaments to all the soldiers by the millions. And he writes the forward. As commander in Chief, I take pleasure in committing the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces. Thom Truman signs the, act of Congress for the military that they have to attend chapel. Protestant, Catholic or Jewish, that's your three choices. no Satanist, no transgenders, no Islamist, no, just it's Judeo Christian. and so we were a country that Realized that if rights come from God, the purpose of government is to guarantee to you your creator given rights. But if there is no God, your rights come from where? Well, the, the government, the state. Well, what the government giveth, the government can take it away.
>> Rick Green: Yeah, that's right. take it, the taketh away.
>> Bill Federer: So the flag is a symbol of unity, that we have to, if we're going to fight to defend our country. What are we, what are we doing? We have to have something in common. So that's where you had, ah, Calvin Coolidge, was the president in 1923. And he gave a, a great address, where he says at Arlington Cemetery.
On Flag Day, 1942, Franklin Roosevelt said belief in God is crucial
He says it is the maintenance of our American ideals beneath a common flag under the blessing of Almighty God. and we know that Providence would have it. So. Franklin, Roosevelt, 1935. Our flag for a century and a half has been the symbol of the principles of liberty and conscience of freedom of religion, equality before the law. And these concepts are deeply ingrained in our national character. And I did a whole book on fdr. People say, why'd you do that? It's like, well, I was running for Congress and if I quoted from a Republican, all the left wing media would say, oh, you're a RWING fanatic. And so I was like, I was. So I went through, I read through all of FDR's jurisdiction. He was in office 12 years, he got elected president four times. And so he's like the patron SA in the Democrat party. And lo and behold, he was Episcopalian sort of a, you know, not a really, definitely not an evangelical denomination, but he, he acknowledged Christianity. And so On Flag Day June 14, 1942, Franklin Roosevelt said, the belief in man created free in the image of God is the crucial difference between ourselves and the enemies we face. We asked the German people, still dominated by Nazi whipmasters, whether they would rather have the mechanized hell of Hitler's new order. Or in place of that freedom of speech and religion, we ask the Japanese people trampled by their savage lords of slaughter, whether they would rather continue slavery or blood. Or in the place of that freedom of speech and religion. We know that man born to freedom in the image of God will not forever suffer the oppressor's sword. And then he closes with a prayer. God of the free, we pledge our hearts and lives today to the cause to free all mankind. Grant us victory over tyrants who would enslave m all free men and nations. Grant us patience with the deluded and, and pity for the betrayed grant us valor, that we shall cleanse the world of oppression. And the old base doctrines, that the strong must eat the weak because they are strong. And so we are a country that has, the common belief in God. I love the quote from Eisenhower. He said, belief in the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic expression of Americanism. In other words, belief in the Supreme Being is the lowest common denominator. That's what we if to. To be a. An American, you at least need to do that now some, Some understanding. It's Supreme Being singular. So we have eliminated Buddhism and Hinduism, and it's a God who believes in freedom of conscience, which eliminates Islam. Yeah, Islam doesn't believe in freedom. That you worship God according to dictates your heart. No, you worship God according to the Sharia. And. And if you don't, you get killed. And but so it's the God of the Bible that they're referring to. And obviously that's what it is because here you have FDR passing out Gideon's NewSong Testaments and Book of Psalms. So it was the God of the Bible that, that, Eisenhower was referring to. Belief in the Supreme Being is the first and most basic expression of Americanism. And, Eisenhower also, approved a postage stamp with the flag with the In God we, Trust motto on it. And then this is a little personal trivia. Eisenhower approved putting in God we Trust on our paper currency. And the first paper dollar bill within God we Trust was printed on October 1, 1957, which was the day I was born. So.
>> Rick Green: No kidding.
>> Bill Federer: And, I love it, but.
>> Rick Green: But anyway, you probably have some, Some really cool currency with Within God we Trust on it in your collection from your birthday.
>> Bill Federer: I, I have some, but. And nothing that can hold a candle to what, you and David and Tim Barton and Glenn Beck have with the American journey experience. I mean, that's the ultimate, collection. but I did go on ebay and I did buy a bunch of, 1957, dollar bills with, In God we Trust.
>> Rick Green: Yeah, Love it. Love it.
American Family Radio celebrates America's 250th birthday with patriotic apparel
So I, Before I let you go, I want to. I just want to drill a little bit deeper into the. Just what you said about, you know, just that basic belief in, In God, being part of what really separates the American. You didn't say exactly like that, but it's really what makes the American system special. Got to take a quick break. We'll be right back. You're listening to At the Core with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green
>> : America's 250th birthday. It's a great excuse to have some extra cake and ice cream, but we can help your celebration go well beyond that. Show your patriotism with America 250 apparel that will become a memento of this special year. We also have special episodes on AFA Stream to help underscore that America is a Christian nation and help you find God in the Constitution. Find all of this and more in one place. Afa.net topics 250@the corps podcasts are [email protected] now back to the The Core on American Family Radio.
Rick Green: When we went from 98% Christian down to 60s
>> Rick Green: Welcome back at the The Core with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green. I'm Rick Green, America's Constitution coach. Thanks for staying with us. Going to jump right back in with Bill Federer talking about Flag Day It's really what makes the American system special. Eisenhower, of course, got that. I mean, like you said, he was in the throes of, of communist, you know, fighting communism and could already see that coming. And it really is what differentiated us, from the rest of the world. When you say we went from 98% Christian down to whatever we're at now in the 60s, I mean, that has to affect the American system, mindset, culture, everything. If you drop by a third, those who have that belief that made the country great in the first place, you can see why we're in the, conflicts that we are now. So the more that people come to the truths of Christ, when they come to this faith in God, the better chance we have of the country, of saving the country.
>> Bill Federer: Right, yeah, yeah.
>> Bill Federer: We have to know what it is we're fighting for. You know, Oregon Trail was dedicated by Warren g. Harding in 1923. And, he said, never in the history of the world has there been a finer example of civilization following Christianity. The missionaries which went to the Northwest, you know, with the Oregon Trail, the missionaries led under the banner of the cross, and the settlers moved close behind it under the star spangled symbol of the nation. So he says, look, Christianity goes first, and then we got the flag. And, But the effort to move away from that, you know, 98%, was, documented by Congressman Albert Herlong, read into the Congressional Record. But it was Cleon Skousen's book where he lists the 45 tactics of the Communists to destroy America. Number 12, do away with loyalty oaths like pledges of allegiance. Number 17, get, get control of schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current communist propaganda. Soften curriculum. Get control of teachers association, put party line in textbooks. That's why the NEA is like so leftist. Get control of student newspapers. Use student rights to foment public, protests. Break down cultural standards of morality. Promote pornography and obscenity. Infiltrate churches. Replace revealed religion with social justice religion. Discredit the Bible, Eliminate prayer and then discredit the American Constitution. Discredit the American founding fathers and belittle all forms of American culture. Discourage the teaching of American history. Basically it's a concept called deconstruction where you separated people from their past, get them into a neutral where they don't remember where they came from, and then you brainwash them into the future you have, planned for them. It's drive, neutral, reverse. It's a sales technique. If I was a toothpaste salesman, the first thing I would say to you is negative things about the toothpaste you are currently brushing with. You're still brushing with that stuff. Haven't you read it's going to eat the enamel off your teeth and dries your gums and it's like, oh really? So now you're repulsed by it and they have you in a neutral. You're open minded. What are all the toothpaste out there? And then I can give you my pitch from this brand new target control, breath fresher stuff. So they go into the classrooms and tear down.
>> Rick Green: Yeah, you got to deconstruct and tear down what's there first in order to sell their worldview.
>> Bill Federer: You say, okay, the founders were all bad. They took land from Indians, sold people into slavery and they were bad. Forget the fact they gave you a country where you're in charge. Republic is ruled by citizens. And the word citizen comes from the Latin, the Greek, which means co ruler. And so forget the fact that you're a co king of the country. Forget all that. The founders were bad. They reject the founders and everything they did. Now the kids are in neutral. It's like, oh, well, there's nothing special about our Christian past. Well, let's have a comparative religion class and we'll start off with Islam. And, and then we just, gee, the semester ran out, we didn't get to try and get around to Christianity.
>> Bill Federer: And then they give their pitch for transgenderism and socialism and Islamism. And it's like taking out the DNA and, and put it, you know, putting in the new DNA. It's like, you know, replacement therapy.
>> Rick Green: They had to tear it down first, then they just replace it. And that's, man, it's happened with millions. I mean the hope is Then though, that, that if we bring truth back and counteract, those replacements, you know, but it's going to take evangelism, it's going to take education, it's going to take all the things that we're doing and so thankful for what you put out in terms of just all of this information that, that we lost, that we stopped teaching. So restoring civics and that, that civic literacy and just knowing where we came from and seeing God's hand and all of it so critical, especially here in the 250. It's just a great time, to do this. Bill Federer, man, I can't wait to get you back for Father's Day. So we'll see you in about a week and we'll, talk about the history of Father's Day as well. We appreciate you, bro.
>> Bill Federer: Rick, it's an honor to be on with you and God bless all the listeners.
>> Rick Green: Well, because you're part of the AFA audience, you don't have to wait a week. We're gonna have Bill Federer back after the Ben Carson interview.
Ben Carson's new book focuses on faith and America's founding documents
I want to jump into the Ben Carson interview first. This is so cool. Love having Dr. Ben Carson. He's a national hero. And I love the fact that, that he's working on these kids books.
>> Ben Carson: Thanks for having me.
>> Rick Green: Well, another new kid's book. I love the fact that you went, ah, on the education side of things. We had such a vacuum of good kids books that are patriotic, and you filled so much of that void over the last couple of years. But this new one, specifically about faith. Tell us about it.
>> Ben Carson: Well, you know, our country is really quite unique in the way that it was formulated. Our founding document says that our rights come from our creator, and not from our government. And, with this book, we wanted our kids to recognize that faith has always been a big part of who we are. talking about, George Washington and the fact that he kept the Bible with him all the time. And, Jon Adams, the second president, said that our Constitution was designed by a moral and religious people and is wholly inadequate for the government of any other. Madison talked about faith and wrote it in. Thomas Jefferson said, because our rights come from government, they cannot be messed with. It goes on and on. It gets our young people to understand that there's nothing wrong with being a person of faith. And that's what distinguished us. That's how we went from a bunch of ragtag militiamen who didn't even have shoes to the pinnacle of the world in record time.
>> Rick Green: It was not incidents yeah, no doubt. And for kids to learn what that secret sauce is incredibly important. And you teamed up with our friends, Kirk Cameron and Wriley Gaines. They've got some books coming out as well, Built by the Brave and We are Free. So people can go to your website and actually get a link to. To get all three of those, of those books. What's the age range for your book? What would you say is the target?
>> Ben Carson: K through five.
>> Rick Green: K through five. Okay.
>> Ben Carson: age range, which is largely missing, with a lot of materials out there. Except the Marxists. The Marxists try to get to our kids very early.
>> Rick Green: Great point.
>> Ben Carson: You know, it was Lenin who said, give me your children the teeth for four years, and the seed that I sow will never be uprooted. and of course, Marxists, Leninists, Communists, socialists, they always denigrate the role of God. Why? Because they think they are God. That's why. They always want control of everything. And you can see them working in our society today. And, you never hear them talking about God or a Supreme Being, because they think they are the Supreme Being.
>> Rick Green: Amen. Yeah, there's no doubt. And like you said, they've been at this for a while. They knew that vacuum was there, and they filled the gap. So I'm so glad that y' all are stepping into that gap. Ben carson250.com, Ben carson250.com and when you go there, folks, it's super easy. When you get on there, you'll see Dr. Carson's book built on Faith. And then he and, Kirk and Wriley, the kind of a combo. You can get all three books in a bundle. So it's a Great deal. Dr. Carson you're talking about, I mean, there's so much evidence. So many of the founding Fathers talked about their faith. They lived it. It was what made it possible for them to have the courage to do the things that they did. That's a big part of what you tap into, is it was the faith element that gave them the ability, to even win the war in the first place, let alone then build what you just mentioned, the greatest country in the world.
>> Ben Carson: And people really don't stop and think about it. But, you know, for an upstart nation that didn't even have a real army, to be able to defeat the most powerful nation in the world. Yeah, I mean, it'd be sort of like Cuba defeating the United States in a war. And, you know, that doesn't happen, by itself. It was interesting, in 1789, at the, Constitutional Convention, when the whole thing was about to fall apart because everybody wanted to go their own way, Benjamin Franklin, the 81 year old senior, statesman, got up in m front of the assembly and said, gentlemen, during the Revolutionary War, every other sentence out of your mouth was God save us. Now you don't want to talk to God. We need to talk to God. And they started at that very day and it's been a tradition for the start of Congress ever since.
How do you communicate that to kids? So like, what was your tact
>> Rick Green: How do you communicate that to kids? So like, what was kind of, what was your tact, as you started thinking about. Because you, you, I've seen you speak many times in front of massive crowds. You're a fantastic communicator. but they're all adults, right? So they understand intellectually what you're communicating to me right now. How did you, how did you shift your thinking on that to start thinking about how do I get this in a way that kids will understand?
>> Ben Carson: Pictures and stories.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Ben Carson: you know, we had a series called Star Spangled Adventures, and it comes out every month with a new episode of highlighting some aspect of our history. It could be Fort McHenry, it could be the Night Before Christmas, it could be a whole host of things that happened significantly in our history. And we're, actually doing a feature length movie called Star Spangled Adventures.
>> Rick Green: Oh, wow.
>> Ben Carson: Which is going to premiere at the Trump Kennedy center on the 14th of June. And there's still a possibility of some tickets, although 2200 tickets have already been claimed and I think it only seats 2,500.
>> Rick Green: Oh, that's great.
>> Ben Carson: But you can go to the website and get those. And it's free of charge by the way, as all of our things are, because we want to make them available to everybody. And we know that those who are trying to fundamentally change our country, they're not sparing any, expense, spread their
>> Rick Green: indoctrination pictures and stories. And the American story is amazing and there's so many individual stories and that's what you give these kids a chance to latch onto. Heroes. You know, we've, we've had this deconstruction where the Marxists have tried to destroy all of our heroes and take away that, that story that you're talking about. So it's just bringing back some of those incredible stories is a great way to teach the kids.
>> Ben Carson: Well, you know, they say that our founders had slaves and therefore they're evil men and anything that they ever did was evil. But you know, isn't that sort of like you've been driving 20 miles an hour through the neighborhood to work, all your life, and then someone says, you know, that's too fast. Let's make it 10 miles an hour, but let's go back and charge all the people who were going 20 miles an hour by today's rules. Yeah. And of course, that's not fair. And, you know, our founders were good men. They were decent men. They were some of the first people to release their slaves. And, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington to make sure that many of their slaves, had property and had other things so that they could make a way in life. So they obviously felt something. But the other thing that people don't talk about when it comes to slavery is it wasn't the whole nation. In fact, there were so many people who were vehemently against it that we had a bloody civil war and lost a large portion of our population. There was the Underground Railroad, where people risked life and limb to get people out of slavery. I mean, we don't seem to talk about those people, but aren't they part of our history as well?
>> Rick Green: Yeah. Amen. In fact, I saw some basketball player the other day said women's, basketball player, said we shouldn't celebrate the 250th because of slavery, that we shouldn't be proud and we shouldn't be patriotic. so I'm glad you mentioned it. And that is. It's been a narrative that's been effective. They've got kids to actually hate their own nation.
>> Ben Carson: And, of course, they don't tell you that every society going back as far has had slavery. We were the only ones who fought a bloody sin of the water.
>> Rick Green: That's right. That's right. Well, there is so much to celebrate this year. The timing of your book is perfect. Being in the 250th, this opportunity to kind of restore that patriotism. In fact, Ronald Reagan said, if we forget what we did, we won't know who we are. We'll have an eradication of the American memory that leads to an erosion of the American spirit. So that's why when you said that about pictures and stories, that really struck me. It's like you tell the stories, you remind us who we are, what we did, and that'll bring back the patriotism because we'll bring back that memory. And that's what you're doing, and you're starting it with the kids, with these books.
>> Ben Carson: Well, praise the Lord. Amen. M. And, remember, we are one nation under God. Yeah, we have been. And I think that's one of the reasons that we did so well, that if we throw away the principles of our founding, we're going to go down just as quickly as we rose.
>> Rick Green: That's right. That's right. Well, if you have any chance of another 250 great years, we've got to get back to this formula. So thank you for giving us the tools to do that with our kids and grandkids. I can't wait to get these for my grandkids. too late for my kids. I'll have to get them to, maybe go back and read them anyway. But we'll see. My grandkids are perfect for this.
>> Ben Carson: Eight years old and adults will love this, too. Ah.
>> Rick Green: there we go. Good deal. Well, Dr. Ben Carson, appreciate you, man. Thank you so much for coming on today.
>> Ben Carson: You too. Thanks so much.
>> Rick Green: All right, I promise more Bill Federer. Let's jump in with Bill talking about Father's Day this time.
The first Father's Day was conceived by Grace Golden Clayton in 1908
>> Rick Green: Father's Day, let's talk about it. It's coming up in about a week from the time this interview is going to air. So, what's the history of that and, what's of a good way for families to be celebrating that?
>> Bill Federer: Well, the, U.S. department of Health and Human services says that fatherless homes, the children are five times more likely to live in poverty, nine times more likely to drop out of school, 20 times more likely to go to prison, higher risk of drug and alcohol abuse, increased incidence of internalized aggressive behavioral problems, runaways, homelessness and suicide. So fathers are important. the first Father's Day was conceived by Grace Golden Clayton.
>> Rick Green: Ah.
>> Bill Federer: She was inspired by the first Mother's day observance in 1908. she, reminisced, of her father, who was a Methodist minister and who raised her and her siblings after the mom died. So Grace, Clayton, was moved to West Virginia, and there was a coal mine explosion December 6, 1907. Worst coal mine disaster in the nation's history. in the town of a thousand people, three hundred and sixty men died, leaving the families fatherless. So she arranged a single special service at the Central United Methodist Church July 5, 1908. Saying it was partly the explosion that set me to think how important and loved most fathers are. All those lonely children, those brokenhearted, wise mothers, made orphans widows in a matter of few minutes. How sad and frightening to have no father, no husband to turn to such an Awful time. so that was Grace Clayton that organized that father's Day celebration. 19. oh, eight. but then we go to. The person most credited for Father's Day is Sonora Louise Smart Dodd. And Sonora, she heard a Mother's Day sermon at church, and her father was a Civil War veteran who raised civilization six kids after the mom had died in childbirth. So Sonora Louise Smart Dodd drew up a petition which was supported by the Young Men's Christian association in Spokane, Washington.
>> Rick Green: Very quick break right back on abdor.
Preborn network clinics offer free ultrasounds to women facing unplanned pregnancies
>> Bobby Roza: Right now, the voices in our culture are loud, but truth is often silent. And today, preborn needs 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 the 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. $140 sponsors five ultrasounds for mothers in crisis. Every dollar helps save babies and share the hope of the gospel. To donate, dial pound sign 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound sign 250-B A B Y or visit preborn.com afr that's preborn.com forward sl, afr, at the core podcast are
>> : available at afr.net now back to at the The Core on American Family Radio.
Bill Federer talks about the origins of Father's Day
>> Rick Green: We're back here on At the with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green. Let's jump right back in with Bill Federer talking about Father's Day.
>> Bill Federer: I wrote a book on the history of the YMCA with my son, called Courageous Christianity.
>> Rick Green: But I remember that's a good stuff in it, man. I love that one. Yes. That was just last year, right? Or year before.
>> Rick Green: Yeah, last year. Yeah.
>> Bill Federer: And the YMCA was like, where the revivals took place. They had continual prayer meetings. They had rooms for prayer and Bible study. And, you know, now it's. It focused mostly on exercise, but back then it was mostly on prayer. So the YMCA in Spokane had the, celebration of Father's Day on June 19, 1910. And with the help of the YMCA Sonora spread this across the nation. The third Sunday in June, Oregon, Chicago, around. And then finally in 1916, it gathered so much momentum that Woodrow Wilson, telegraphed the message to the Spokane Father's Day service. 1924. Calvin Coolidge signed a Father's Day resolution to establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children. To impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations. Coolidge said, my father had qualities that were greater than any I possess. He was a man of untiring industry, great tenacity of purpose. he always stuck to the truth, always seemed possible to form an unerring judgment of men and things. He would be classed as decidedly a man of character. I have no doubt he is representative of a great mass of Americans who are known only to their neighbors. Nevertheless, they're great. And then Coolidge goes on.
>> Rick Green: Coolidge?
>> Bill Federer: Yeah.
>> Rick Green: I, I've always ranked Coolidge high because he was such a constitutionalist. I had no idea he had something to do with Father's Day.
>> Bill Federer: Yeah. And, but, then you sort of fast forward and maybe not somebody. That's a really good example. Lyndon, Johnson issued the first presidential Father's Day Proclamation. I don't get a comment on him. I'll let him get.
>> Rick Green: You know, Bill, actually think about it. That I, I. The one thing I've bragged on Barack Obama about. Right. He was so bad and so wrong on so many things as president. But he did talk about fatherhood. I didn't realize I could, I can now say that about Lyndon Johnson because I couldn't think of anything else nice to say about him. So he did a Father's Day proclamation. So now I have one nice thing. Thank you. That I can say about Lyndon, Johnson.
>> Bill Federer: Yeah, that was 1966. And then 1972, Nixon established Father's Day as a permanent national observance. Proclamation 4127. So Richard Nixon, believe it or not, he was the most popular president in America, winning, re election by a huge landslide. He was anti communist. He was everything. but then there was the, the Watergate. And he ended up, defending some underlings who had broken into a building. And now they found out that the underlings who broke into the buildings were actually connected with the CIA. So it maybe looks like the whole thing was a setup. But nevertheless, he defended him. And, he never got impeached. He just resigned on the threat of impeachment. But prior to that, he was really popular. And so Nixon established Father's Day As a permanent national observance, he said, to have a father, to be a father, is to come very near to the heart of life itself. In fatherhood, we know the elemental magic and joy of humanity. In fatherhood, we even sense the divine, as the scripture writers did, who told of all the good gifts coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variables, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17. Symbolism so challenging to each man who would give his own son or daughter a life of light without shadow. Nixon goes on. Our identity and name and nature, our
>> Bill Federer: roots and in home, family, very standard of manhood.
>> Bill Federer: All this and more is the heritage our fathers share with us. It has long been our national custom to observe each year one special Sunday in honor of America's fathers. And from this year forward, by a joint resolution of Congress approved April 24, 1972, that custom carries the weight of law. Let each American make this Father's Day an occasion for renewal of love and gratitude we bear to our fathers, increasing and enduring throughout the years.
>> Bill Federer: And then he signs it, and that's Nixon.
>> Bill Federer: That was Nixon, 1972. Then we've got Reagan. I, you know, love. I got a whole collection of Reagan quotes. But, Reagan said, May 20, 1981, train up a child in the way he should go when he's old and not depart from it. Solomon tells us, clearly the future is in the care of our parents. Such responsibility, promise and hope of fatherhood, such as the gift that our fathers give us. So that's a great quote from, Ronald Reagan and then Dr. Ben Carson. And I've, known him and his wife Candy for years. we served on the board of Regent University together. but Dr. Ben Carson said, the more solid the family, the more likely you are to be able to resist peer pressure.
>> Bill Federer: Human beings are social creatures.
>> Bill Federer: We all want to belong. We all have that desire. We will belong one way or the other. If the family doesn't provide that, the peers will, or the gang will, or you will find something to belong to. So that's a really powerful quote because they're manipulating, they call it social, emotional learning, behavior modification, where in the classroom, they manipulate it. So if the child, holds old, traditional values, they're shamed and made fun of and subtly, you know, mocked. And no kid likes that. And then if they come out as trans, they celebrate them and have parties and.
Ben Carson says it's hard for kids to resist peer pressure in gangs
And, and every kid wants to be the center of the, you know, the party. And so they're manipulating the child's desire to be Accepted by a group. And, here is Ben Carson saying it's hard for kids to resist that. That peer pressure, but if they have a really solid family and the family gives them this repositive reinforcement, then they won't cave to this manipulated school. Ah, public school. behavioral modification.
>> Rick Green: M. You mentioned the, you know, even early in the program, you're talking about all the negatives when there is no, father in the home. I would think gang membership would be just off the charts. Kids that didn't have a. A strong, good father figure because they're looking for that. You just, you just kind of mentioned that. But, I mean, I don't know if you have a stat on that, but wouldn't you think just intuitively that that. Because that's part of what the gang provides.
>> Rick Green: Right.
>> Rick Green: They give you those. Those male role models.
>> Bill Federer: Yeah, yeah. And. And Islam, in a sense, is like a gang, that if you join, you do get emotional reinforcement. You have the uma, the community. but if you leave the gang, they kill you.
>> Ben Carson: Yeah.
>> Bill Federer: So it's.
>> Bill Federer: It's not. It's very cultish like that. Right. You join a certain cult and they'll all be around you. But if you leave that cult, well, well, they'll, be, you're dead
>> Bill Federer: to them, you know.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Bill Federer: but. But with Christianity, the test, is if somebody leaves, you still love them, and you care about them and you pray for them. And it's the love of God that
>> Bill Federer: brings men to repentance.
>> Bill Federer: It's not, you know, in is, Allah only loves those who have submitted. And you never know if you've submitted enough. It's 100% conditional. Where in Christianity, God loved us while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us in our complete sinful state. He loves us, and it's that undeserved love that causes us to respond to him. And then when, we were, well, we're sinners. Well, Jesus paid for the sin, so there's nothing standing in the way of us accepting God's love. And then we want to share that love with others. Theodore, Roosevelt in 1904 said, no Christian and civilized community can afford to show a happy go. Luckily, lack of concern for the youth of today. For if so, the community will have to pay a terrible penalty of financial burden and social degradation in the tomorrow. He goes on. The prime duty of the man is to work to be the breadwinner. The prime duty of the woman is to be the mother of the housewife. now there are Women that work. But as a kid growing up, nobody can take the place of a mom who loves you and cares for you and will hug you. I always had that fear of my. My dad. I grew up in the Jon Wayne era. When, you know, my dad would pull out the belt. we were. I was one of 11 kids, and, he was a captain in the army. And, when, things would go wr. he would pull, out the belt. He'd even, like, put it around his thumb, and he'd snap it, and just the sound of it would make him start.
>> Rick Green: I remember that sound myself. Yes.
>> Bill Federer: And, And I remember my. You know, I'd have a. If I ever talked disrespectfully to my mom, she would say, I'm gonna tell your dad when he gets home. I couldn't be happy the whole rest of the day. My friends would say, hey, come on, let's play. It's like. Like, yeah, but I'm gonna get killed.
>> Rick Green: I know what's coming.
>> Bill Federer: Anyway, so here's Theodore Roosevelt. He says, all questions of tariff and finance sink into utter insignificance when compared with the tremendous and vital importance of trying to shape conditions so that these two duties of the man and the woman can be fulfilled under reasonably favorable circumstances. So all the stuff the government does, we should be supporting families. We should be supporting men and women being able to raise. You know, the Heritage foundation did a study saying that if, the marriages fall apart, you have, the kids without a father in the home, and at a certain age, they end up getting rebellious against their moms, and even violent. And then they go out on the streets, and then the gang says, we'll be your identity. We'll give you the new DNA. And then they end up becoming gay. Well, then when there's gangs, there's crime. And when there's crime, property values go down. people don't want to live in those. Neighbors and businesses suffer, and that you're losing a tax base. So if the. If the price of the houses go down, the property taxes will go down, and if there's fewer businesses, there's less sales tax. And so, yeah, and then you have. Have more vandalism and more fires, and so you got to hire more police and hire more firemen. And, and so the cost, of. Of having broken homes, there's a. There's a financial fallout for everyone. It's not just, oh, that's a, you know, sort of a religious and social thing. No, it's a financial burden because then they get into drugs, and then they you know, get into ah, a lot of the immorality and the stuff that comes with that.
>> Rick Green: At some point you think there's a tipping point where it's not just a societal cost but societal failure like the collapse. I mean if you get to the point where that it becomes, you know, you become Venezuela or what, you know, whatever the country is that, that falls into chaos.
>> Bill Federer: I was reading one of the studies. It says how when the Christians, what prior to LBJ and the Great Society welfare state, ah, the black family was the strongest unit in society. they actually had a less lower divorce rate than, than all the other races. and their community was church centered.
People are attracted to any type of structure, even if it does not acknowledge forgiveness
The the Sunday service that dress up in their finest clothes. The pastor was like the pastor over the whole neighborhood and but when the LBJ's Welfare Society came in, it began to eat away on that. And then when there is the more crime, and that's when Islam comes in and says we'll give you a structure. And it's like people are attracted to any type of structure, even if it's one that does not acknowledge forgiveness in the God of the Bible. they say, well it's better than just the lawlessness of gangs, even though it's more just simply a structured gang. But but that's why it's important for us as Christians to keep our families strong and to vote for politicians that want to keep families strong.
>> Rick Green: Yeah, I think the whole structure thing, I mean you see it in gangs, you see it even biker clubs and that sort of thing like you know that structure is going to come from somewhere and we have the chance to, you know, if we have strong fathers in the home, you get a strong nucleus, then a strong communities or a strong neighborhood, then a strong community, then strong states, then we have a strong nation. But it starts with good strong fathers.
>> Bill Federer: You know, Peter Marshall was the U.S. senate chaplain and he wrote great sermons and there's one that I copied ah, and put into my books. But and he said this. The history of the world has been the biography of her great men. There was a time in the United States when youth were inspired by heroes. When a picture of Washington or Lincoln adorned every schoolroom wall along with the Ponderous family Bible on the Victorian table and the hymn books and the old fashioned square piano there looked down from the walls the likeness of our national heroes. Those were the days of great beliefs. The belief in the authority of scriptures and prayer, and marriage and family. these beliefs laid the groundwork for producing more great men. for many a boy figured, if that man could do it, get an education, make his life count for something, then I can do it. He goes on. Then there dawned the day when the pictures of Washington and Lincoln do not fit with our concept of modern decor. The old family Bible looked embarrassing. The pictures in the Bible were relegated to the attic of forgotten things. They there went with them, some of the most stabilizing influences of American life. We had to become more sophisticated, Somewhat cynical of the cherished beliefs of our ancestors, Rather blase, frankly skeptical of old fashioned sentimentalism. Along with our higher education came a debunking contest. This debunking became a sort of national sport. It was smarter to revile than to revere, more fashionable to deprecate, depreciate than appreciate. In our classrooms at all levels of education, no longer did we laud great men, those who had struggled and achieved. Instead, we merely took their dimensions and ferreted out their faults. We decided that it was silly to say that God sent them for a special task. They were merely products of their environment. The constitution that hitherto cherished charter of American liberties was drawn up by men who never spoke on the telephone or flew a plane. Therefore, we should change the constitution to suit modern ways. Now, he was commenting on this, this deconstruction tactic that the socialists put in place. But, Thomas Sowell, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, Stanford University, said, ours may be the first civilization destroyed, not by the power of our enemies, but by the ignorance of our teachers and the dangerous nonsense they are teaching our children. In an age of artificial intelligence, they are creating artificial stupidity.
>> Rick Green: Well, that's a great place to stop. Stop. We're running out of time, man. I wanted to give you the whole Bill Federer interview on Father's Day. Be sure to go to wallbuilders show. That's where you can hear the entire program with Bill Federer and all the other great programs with David and Tim Barton. Check that out today.
>> Rick Green: Thanks so much for listening. You've been listening to At The Core with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green.
>> : 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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