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: in the morning on American Family Radio. I love talking about the things of God. Because of truth and the biblical worldview. The U.S. constitution obligates our government to preserve and protect the rights that our founders recognize come from God our creator, not our government. I believe that scripture in the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you and God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time.
: This is Jenna Ellis in the morning.
There is a rise of socialism and communism within the Democrat party ahead of midterms
Jenna Ellis: Good morning.
Jenna Ellis: It is Tuesday, July, 21st, and as we are rapidly heading toward the midterms, it's very concerning to a lot of us and anyone rational I think that is paying attention that there is such a rise of socialism and communism within the Democrat party, but overall within the younger generation as a whole because they are looking at, capitalism, they're looking at the American dream, they're looking at, some of these things of their parents and grandparents and wondering, why they can't afford certain things. And you know, that's all, that's all been blamed on kind of this push for socialism. Like, well, the younger generation saw that capitalism didn't work, so they're thinking, well, let's try something else like socialism. I don't particularly believe, I mean that may be true for a couple of isolated cases or if young people haven't been paying attention at all. but I don't think that that's really, when you get down to it, the root cause. A lot of this comes, from training and how parents instill values or if they abdicate the installation of values to the state funded education system or the culture, values will be instilled in children and young adults as they progress into adulthood. From somewhere in everyone has a worldview, everyone has a perspective, everyone has opinions. Even if some young people aren't even aware of their own worldview or why exactly they have it or where they got it from. there's a lot of, of things that are going around in the culture and viewpoints that you can kind of go back and attribute maybe to certain different movements that that people just kind of tacitly, take on without critical thinking. And I think that the rise of communism and its popularity, at least in young people today, really marks a failure of the current, and perhaps, you know, the, the one or two preceding generations of parents writ large. Obviously not, the, the homeschool parents, the Christian parents who are dedicated to instilling values in their children. Who.
Jenna Ellis: But the culture writ large of instilling the wrong values and intentionally from a lot of the Democrats.
Nick Fritas says be careful how you teach your kids about sharing
And I was, I was scrolling on social media, as I often do, doom scrolling, as it were. And, I came across this post which my good friend Rhyen Helfenbein shared, as well. And this is from, Nick Fritas. He said, be careful how you teach your kids about sharing. Sharing by definition is a voluntary act motivated by charity or desire for mutually beneficial transaction. Most kids are taught that sharing is when you demand the property of others and an authority figure makes them give it to you. Those kids grow up to be socialists. Interesting perspective. Right? And I think he has a point overall that again, kids get their values and they get their understanding of the world by how they are taught. And whether that's parents, the culture, teachers, Sunday school, you know, everyone that kids interact with in terms of an authority figure teaches them something about how the world works. And parents should be the first line, hopefully, if they are Christians and they're instilling the right values to teach kids about justice, about fairness, that authority is to promote good and restrain evil in your life, not just in civil society. and all of these values that when we are adults, we want civil society and government to do for us. Yet, yet so many parents fail to see the correlation between what they want as adults in society, from their authority figures to how they are imposing those very same values at home. And I think this is an important perspective to talk about because as we're dealing with kind of this rise of socialism, we have to go back to some of these fundamentals. Because. So, for example, when I was growing up and how my parents were, taught me and my brothers was that every person lives their own life. We each have different blessings and opportunities and, perhaps property that is given to us. And while sharing is a overall good thing, it has to be in context and it also has to be voluntary. We didn't have socialism in my home. It wasn't just everybody's property is communal. We all had our own individual property. And if, you know, one of us comes back from a birthday party with a treat bag for Example, we don't have to necessarily share it with everyone just because everybody else doesn't have the candy bag. And we want equal distribution of property. I mean, do you see how that works?
Ryan Helfenbein: Parents can sometimes instill wrong lesson about parenting
So let's welcome in Rhyen Helfenbein, who, of course, is the vice president of communications and public engagement at Liberty University and the founding executive director of the Standing for Freedom Center. And, Rhyen, I agree with Nick here that parents, even good and Christian parents, can sometimes instill the wrong lesson by what the culture is even teaching them about parenting. And overall, this has, I think, had a massive effect on the current generation that doesn't see the danger, the dangers of communism because in a way, that was actually part of their perspective and what authority has taught them, again, not. Not in every instance, but even to this one example about sharing, that, you know, property should be communal and everybody should have equal access. And when we're taught these things when we're young, we can grow up and translate that into a bigger and worse narrative if. If we're not careful to instill the proper values in young people.
Ryan Helfenbein: You know, Jenna, first of all, thank you for having me on the program, and thank you for, this being the topic, because let me tell you, this is a fun topic. It's not fun in terms of the outcomes we're seeing today, but it is certainly interesting and worthwhile. And it's one of those things that I think many Christian parents, haven't thought about, when they think about, you know, what's going on with this rise of socialism. Mamdani, why is that. And, you know, why is it that the youngest generation is so interested in socialism? Well, we have over 50 million children being raised in socialist schools. Socialist schools? What are socialist schools? well, it's public education. Public education has trained them. They go to communal property. they're not taught capitalism. In most schools, you don't have a basic micro or macroeconomics course. You don't know how the economy works. You don't understand the rights of private property, of free trade. You don't understand the value exchange. You don't understand law of diminishing utility. Ah. You know, there are all kinds of universal principles and constants that younger people aren't taught. But what they are taught is that you don't own anything when you're on public property. you know, we're all in this classroom together. you're taught a system of cooperation. you're taught to be quiet and to raise your hand when you have a Question. But you're also taught conformity to that kind of standard. and in that kind of socialization, what ends up happening is that most of them are not taught how to read at grade level or to write at grade level or to do math at grade level. Instead, it's all about, the kind of morality that is being foisted on them. Diversity, equity, inclusion, social, emotional learning, all of those things, in that classroom setting. And, as early as a little child. I mean, you could be 3, 4, 5 years old if you grew up in a nursery. these toys don't belong to you. if somebody else wants something, they could be coveting it. They could be wanting it for the wrong reasons. You have a moral obligation to share that thing with them because it doesn't belong to you just as much as it doesn't belong to them either. And so, today, most people are not taught about industry or enterprise or owning a business or having the responsibility of personal ownership. yeah, you carry a backpack to school, but you put it up in a locker. Whose locker does that? Who does it belong to? It belongs to the school. And a lot of times, when it comes to punishing people for doing the wrong things, children, they're not taught that there's any consequences for what they do. teachers, yes, they can socialize your child. Yes, they can be told by the NAE that they have to groom them when it comes to sexualization, but they dare not punish you for bullying or doing other kinds of things. because ultimately who rules the roost when it comes to the classroom is really the kids. and so there's all kinds of upheaval, is what I'm saying, that goes on in classrooms today. And I want to be clear as Christians, we absolutely, whether, whether it comes to homeschooling or private education or even public school, that's the decision you've made. We all bear a responsibility for our children, to raise them up in the fear and the nurture of the Lord. And we do have a responsibility to instill these principles, for the next generation. And not just love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, but to understand what it is that God has given us, these many good things and that they are our responsibility. We do take ownership of, whether it be personal property or take ownership of our own actions, we are held accountable to a higher authority. And so parents must understand that socialism is absolutely anti God. It is anti faith, and it is anti individual. And we must be so careful, not to dismiss this. It is not just a passing fad. It has been inculcated in society for decades. Now. The way out of this is not going to be simply voting a mayor down in NewSong York City. we are going to have to educate it and train it out of this next generation. and so this is an important topic and I'm so glad you're covering it.
: Yeah.
Jenna Ellis: And I so appreciate, Rhyen, that you use the example of public school and all of the things that, that the environment teaches kids, like standing in line, no one owns any of the toys or books and that, and that includes a lot of these, you know, nurseries or daycares, you know, if you drop your children off and how, usually it's, it's the kids that run everything because the biggest bully is the one, that never gets punished and just gets to do what they want. I mean, all of those things are principles that are being taught to those kids. And when you see the culture, that currently is pushing back against homeschooling, for example, or even Christian schools or Christian content at all, like actual principles of, of scripture and the morals, and the mores and the values that come from scripture into a state funded school, they often, at least for homeschooling, blame parents, and say, well, you're not socializing your children properly and they're, they're not going to be able to adapt into the culture. What does that actually mean though, when they're talking about socialization? Often they mean exactly what you just said, that the homeschool kids aren't the ones that are used to just sitting down, shutting up, being quiet, raising their hand, standing in line, mindlessly waiting for hours, not having any one on one attention, having just this kind of group play with no rules, instilled no private property ownership. I mean, that's the kind of socialization that the culture wants from homeschool students who are learning things a very different way. And actually having one on one instruction, having private property ownership in the context of their home and their environment that they know they live in. And it's such a completely different world to grow up in. And we're not even touching the subjects of like math and and reading and writing and some of those things that the culture, I think falsely points to, that's not what they're concerned about, clearly. I mean, you look at the education scores from most state funded schools in this country, it's really bad. They're clearly not actually concerned about academics. What they are concerned about is instilling these values of, of no private property ownership, of sitting down, and shutting up and conformity. That's the socialization that they want from public education to get these kids to simply fall in line. Then when they are adults and not question the system, not have a. An instilled value of. Wait a minute. This isn't just about having, you know, generosity. What it really is, freely giving what is yours out of your own free will because you love your neighbor. I mean, having authority figures that aren't just in this kind of Marxist worldview of the oppressor and the oppressed of, you know, the bullies that. That will go around, and take from you and you have no other option because no authority figure is coming. I mean, these are the actual values that when the left is saying, you know, we. We need kids to be quote, unquote, socialized. This is actually what they mean.
Ryan Helfenbein: Yeah. Yes, that's 100% right. And, you know, I hate to say, you know, most Americans today, we were born on third base. we were born, you know, we didn't hit the triple. The previous generations hit that triple. you know, we defeated, fascism, in World War II. My grandparents generation, my grandfather flew in those B17 bombers. And, then right after that, they had to face the evil empire of the Soviet Union. and that took a little bit longer, just because one enemy was knocked off.
As the west defeated fascism and communism, it became cozy with socialism
And then communism, the Soviet Union fell in 1991. And, something that Milton Friedman said is that the west, became very, very relaxed and comfortable, with this new arrangement of big government and that included education. and as the west, had defeated both fascism and communism, it became very cozy with this idea of socialism. And the old Soviet bloc that was under the tyranny, the oppression. You think about Alexander Solzhenitsyn and others, who were under the oppression of communism. Those, they woke up and, they knew that this idea of democratic socialism, of communism is evil, and they were trying to drive it out of society. You think about the old Eastern bloc of Poland and Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Those nations now claim to be Christian nations. we can argue the merits of that claim, but they claim to be Christian nations. Whereas you look at the west, and the west wants to become more like a communist or socialistic country. and so in the United States, people are embracing it. and a lot of it can be blamed on education, early childhood formation. there's a terminology that has been used you've heard of pedagogy, that's the art of teaching, training a child. critical pedagogy is critical theory applied to education. Don Pablo Ferreira for example, being one of those who was the great theorist that wanted to use education to basically put Marxism in the minds of young people. And many educational philosophers have been intentional about this. They've written about it, they haven't hidden what their aim and ambition is. and ah, social studies is not just ah, a way in which 100 years ago they wanted to come up with a fancy academic, ah, vernacular for history. They really wanted to teach socialization. Jon Dewey, who came from Columbia University, not many good things should have come from Columbia University. but critical theory came from there. you think about Herbert Marcuse and others and critical legal theory. But Jon Dewey wanted to secularize education by removing God from education. you know in early America it was all about catechesis, teaching and training up children in a constant, constant universal understanding of morality. but Jon Dewey wanted to modernize and secularize education, hollowing it out, so that it would be value neutral. But it gave way to Marxism. and so this, but this has been going on for well over 100 years. The Department of Education was basically started, it began under the Carter administration in the late 1970s, but it was kind of a checkmate at that point. it wasn't the beginning. it was, it was actually the terminus. It was, we were coming to late stage, indoctrination by taking the federal government in, giving it all of this power, by which then it could, you know, from, from a top down kind of apparatus, force feed the rest of the nation in socialism. Very dangerous stuff. Yeah.
Jenna Ellis: And Rhyen, we've got to take a break here, but he's sticking with me through the break because we're going to continue to talk about this. And you know, the lesson isn't that sharing is bad, it's that true generosity exists when it's voluntary. And so we need to understand the mindset that doesn't just shape playgrounds, it'll eventually shape nations. And we need to teach kids the right biblical one. We'll be right back.
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Ryan Helfenbein: Rejecting socialism doesn't mean embracing Christian nationalism
Welcome back.
Jenna Ellis: I'm still here with my special guest, Rhyen Helfenbein, who's the Vice President of Communications and Public Engagement at Liberty University. And we're talking about the values that parents, and also the culture and the, the environment to which you put your child in will teach them the values that then they carry through into adulthood. And so rejecting socialism doesn't automatically, though, mean embracing every idea that then comes from the political right or the NewSong right or people who just call themselves Republicans or conservatives. So Christians have to be governed by scripture first, not by affiliation or, this affinity for political tribes. And if socialism gives the government too much authority over our private property, a temptation is to give then government too much authority over our faith. And both misunderstand what government is actually designed to do. The biblical and constitutional view of government is far more limited and than either socialism or theocracy, which is kind of this rise of, what the New Right is pushing, especially under the banner of Christian nationalism would suggest. And so here's where I think, Rhyen, a lot of conservatives get tripped up. We rightly criticize socialism for expanding the government beyond its proper role. But then some turn around and want government then to become the enforcer of Christianity, not just the principles that, that govern a free society. And those are very different ideologies, but they share a common mistake because both ask the government to do things that God never actually assigned or in his, his delegation of limited authority, gave to a legitimate government to do M 100% right there.
Ryan Helfenbein: And something to be reminded of is that, you know, our founding fathers, going all the way back to the 1700s, they absolutely, were concerned about, totalitarian governments. They were concerned about monarchs and kings, rejecting, repudiating this doctrine of the divine right of kings. The kings ultimately had their authority from God and that we were all subjected to that king, but also papists, right? the concern was, that when the church and the state get together, that being traditionally the Roman Catholic Church or even the Anglican, church in England, where the king sits at the head of that church, the concern is that all of a sudden, okay, our rights are being trampled on, by a clerical order, by a magisterium, by a hierarchy, and then they determine not only what we're to do politically, but they also determine what we're to do theologically, doctrinally. And so there is no real freedom. Obviously, our founding fathers rejected both. And the establishment clause was not about eliminating the influence of the Christian faith from politics. Quite the opposite. You know, many of the, the, founding documents, if you look at the writings of Madison and Jon Jay, you look at Jon Adams, you even look at Thomas Jefferson. The Bible was to be instructed in every classroom in early America. Noah Webster was an educational philosopher. Benjamin Rush has written on this as well, extensively. To have a moral and religious people, they wanted to, instruct and catechize the youngest generation in the Christian faith. But when it comes to religious sentiments, when it comes to conviction, the government doesn't dictate, what church, what denomination of Christianity you're to be a part of. And so this is actually interesting. If you look at the constitutions of Delaware and NewSong Jersey and many others, there was a clear declaration of faith, given and articulated. I think Delaware is the one that says Father, Son and Holy Spirit, clearly Christian. But then it goes on to say religious liberty and expresses religious liberty, that the state is not establishing a denomination. And so today, I think people are falling, trapped or falling into this idea that what we need is a strong man Christian to come. And that strong man Christian should wield the sword and then should set all of society to rights. You know, a kind of Julius Caesar appointed to defend the city, if you will, within the walls. that doesn't work. What we need really is a movement, reconstruction, if you will, a revival and a reformation in this country. And that is going to be a decentralized movement. It doesn't come from government power. it comes from the people. And I'm reminded of the Sermon on the Mount. I think one of the greatest examples in the Gospels where Jesus is not going to the Pharisees, he's not going to the port of the Sanhedrin and instructing the scribes, and the clerical class. Instead, he's going to the masses, to the people, even the illiterate. And he's saying things like, with the authority of the Lord, you've heard it said, but I say unto you, right? Jesus is giving that to the people. And I think one of the highest ideals of freedom that we have as an American society is that we believe that Sermon on the Mount, that this should not come ultimately from some kind of elite class, but God has delegated his authority to the people. God is our ultimate sovereign. He's delegated his authority to the people and then the people consent to a government. And many Christians today, will either fall prey to socialism or that kind of libertinism, which is that radical individualism, which I think, in many ways, is encapsulated in libertarianism, that radical individualism that has no loyalty, no structure, no hierarchy. We believe in government. We do believe in order. not all taxation is theft. I reject the thesis of Liviv Gognesis, even though I agree with many of the things that the government does are abused. The power is being abused. But we do believe that there is a structure of government that is legitimate. We do believe that the family is the atom of society, not just the individual. We believe that the church does bear authority in society, but that authority is limited. And so we have these, what we call spheres of sovereignty. and the thing that is, I think the most, concerning today is not just that the socialists have it wrong, but many Christians don't know which way to go. And when it comes to our founding, they don't understand it. It might as well be a foreign language to Christians today, not just to the AOCs and the Mamdanis, who clearly were not educated in a classical understanding of freedom, and what that is. But we believe in an ordered liberty, an ordered society. and so I think that the attraction to this idea that you just spoke of where people say, oh, we need a Christian king, a Christian sort of Julius Caesar to set society back on the correct footing. No, the moment we create a context for that to happen is the moment that it's all over.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. So well said. And you know, when we talk about the three different spheres of government, the church, the family and the civil government, we have to remember that God created different institutions with different purposes and who is governed by the family unit. Well, you know, my parents growing up, they could only impose the rules for our family for their own household. Right. They didn't govern everything for the entire neighborhood or the entire community. Right. And similarly church is for those who are under the, the headship of that particular church. And civil society by definition has to govern both Christians and non Christians. Right. And so when, when the, the Christian view or when, when some Christians are buying into this notion of a theocracy, they have to remember that the government's role is justice and to instill a well ordered society, but not conversion. Because the civil government by definition has to govern even some who are not part of the church by definition, who actively reject God, yet they are still under the authority of a civil government. And so when you try to take church leadership and impose the principles of what the church is designed to do, like church discipline for example, and, and even membership, you know, some of those things that are part of what the church functionally looks like, it doesn't translate to civil government because those two institutions are separate. Now having Christians in the roles of civil government is good of course, because Christians should understand justice from a biblical truthful worldview where non Christians may not. They may have more of this socialist view. They may have, more of a secular view. They may have, you know, all kinds of different, views that are not actually in line with biblical truth. But the point, Rhyen, I think that some Christians forget that civil government has to also govern even the non Christian. And so while we can have a Christian society in the sense that justice biblical, a, ah, well ordered society is biblical, the government's role is not conversion or necessarily to compel faith and private individual belief. And that's what our founders meant ultimately by religious freedom and not saying that the civil government was over the church and forcing denominations or forcing sermons or what pastors should do and in any way regulating that. And so we have to separate, which is what Thomas Jefferson actually meant in his letter to the Danbury Church. Separate the, the different sovereigns of the church government and the civil government and not confuse them. So the answer ultimately to socialism, to all of the bad ideas of illegitimate government is not to say, okay, well then the church should just impose the church's authority on civil government. that would also be unbiblical. But to say then the civil government has to operate with biblical principles and has to govern both the Christian and non Christian simultaneously in a matter in, and in a manner that genuinely reflects truth. And.
Ryan Helfenbein: Civil government has a God given role
We're almost out of time, but closing thoughts.
Ryan Helfenbein: Yeah, I totally agree. We got to get back to an understanding of our founding. I think a greater appreciation of the body of politic that came together to found this nation. truly it is remarkable. One thing just to note that many civil authorities back then, they had blasphemy laws. they didn't govern religious sentiment. You didn't have to go to church, but you could not swear publicly and blaspheme the name of the God by which the Constitution invokes its authority. and so all these enumerated powers from government, and ultimately they come from the people that ultimately comes from God. and so there were, there were blasphemy laws, once upon a time in America. And that was a good thing. It was to preserve the moral order, but it was not to, dictate how people worship. same thing with, commerce. six days you shall work, and on the seventh day you shall rest. And so there were Sabbath laws, blue laws, certain things couldn't be bought or sold on the Lord's day. That, again, was not to govern, worship. A lot of Christians should look into that and think about that. It's, fascinating. But I think today we have a very pluralist and secular society, which was not in the original design of the founders. So there is a difference, right? There's a difference between a kind of society that is multicultural, pluralistic. Oh, we have more than one language, we have more than one heritage. That was certainly not in the mindset of the founders when they first, were crafting, our constitutional republic. so it's important, I think, that part of the reason these debates are happening now is because we're seeing, the chaotic nature mass migration has created along with, the rise of socialism, along with, I think, the delusion that social media has brought about. You have many Americans, today who do not know who they are, what country they are in, or how any of this all started. And, we've got to get back to that understanding of who we are if we're going to preserve this nation.
Jenna Ellis: So. Well said, Rhyen Helfenbein. Follow him on X. And you know, the bottom line is that Christians absolutely should shape the culture. We should influence politics, advocate for laws that reflect justice. But the solution to a society drifting away from God isn't asking the government to become the church. God already established the church for its own purpose. Civil government has a God given role. The church has a God God given role. And when each fulfills its own m mission faithfully, society ultimately is better served. We'll be right back with more.
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: welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Matthew Williams: Darlene Graham is an establishment choice for South Carolina Senate
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, as we're talking about the principles of government and how a government should wield its power, we need to talk about some of the things that our own government is currently doing. And if you thought that the RINO establishment on the Republican side, was somehow sidelined during the Trump MAGA era, I, think that that would be false. And one of the best examples right now is coming out of South Carolina with Darlene Graham, who is, of course the sister of Lindsey Graham, who was appointed to fulfill his term. It was supposed to be, at least according to, you know, everyone on social media. Well, this is all fine. You know, she may or may not be qualified, but we don't really care. This is, just a wonderful way to, to, honor the legacy of Lindsey Graham by having her just finish out his term for a couple of months. Well, she has announced now that she is running for a full term and was in primetime on Fox News, which is the PR wing of the Republican Party, essentially. So she was appointed by a Republican governor endorsed by the Republican president. And now on primetime with the Republican PR campaign, this is an establishment selection and an attempt to simply install a, their preferred candidate on the people of South Carolina, because Lindsey Graham, obviously, unfortunately, passed away very suddenly. And instead of allowing for an open seat in an open primary for the people of South Carolina to actually determine this, she is essentially being forced on them now. Yes, a primary actually will happen, but look at all of the power behind pushing Darlene Graham. And listen, listen to what she said to Hannity about why she feels qualified to run. This is cut to.
Matthew Williams : I'll continue to say I've been praying a lot, talking to my family, but with the love of my family, with the support of his staff, I know
Jenna Ellis: I'm a hard worker.
Matthew Williams : I learned that from Lindsey. He cared about the people of this state. I've worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state.
Ryan Helfenbein: I'm going to talk about that in a minute.
Matthew Williams : I feel like I can do it. I feel an Inner peace about it. Will it be difficult? Yes, absolutely. So you're inclined to get in or have you even made a final decision?
Matthew Williams : I've made a decision. You're in. I'm in.
Jenna Ellis: All right, so. So her, her justification for this is I feel an inner peace about it. If this were a Democrat, we would be rightly mocking this. I mean, what difference is it between her qualifications of saying, you know, I've thought about it, I feel an inner peace about it versus, you know, Ashley Webb, who we talked about yesterday, the Senate candidate running for Maine going, you know, I'm an author and a songwriter.
Jenna Ellis: Okay.
Jenna Ellis: Is this really who we want in the United States Senate? Well, let's welcome in Matthew Williams, who is a writer and commentator. He goes by, the moniker the Prudentialist on X. And you should follow him. And, and Matthew, I mean, it's just mind boggling to me that so many people are defending this kind of establishment selection simply because Darlene Graham meets the bare minimum qualifications. Yeah. Under the U.S. constitution. Okay, so she's 30 years old and a citizen, but literally we have no other, understanding of her issues, her stance, how she would vote. She's even said, you're not going to get Senator Lindsey Graham, you're going to get a Senator Darlene Graham. We don't know what that actually means. And yet the establishment has clearly put a lot of money and attention and PR behind this already. That should concern us, I think.
Matthew Williams : No, I agree. Absolutely, Jenna. It should concern all of us. I mean, on paper, per our Constitution, you know, we have a really big difference between our, you know, inherited peerage in the House of Lords from our friends across the pond of the United Kingdomnomics and compared to our upper legislative body, the United States Senate. But when we've seen the establishment pour in, and I understand that Darlene Graham has been on Lindsey's side, I know Politico has said that, you know, she's been his closest advisor for decades. That doesn't mean she's remotely qualified in any way, shape or form whatsoever. But when we see the establishment and Shawn Hannity and individuals like him giving her such praise, setting up all this money for her to run, what we're witnessing is a blank slate candidate who knows what her job is, which is to say yes to the, to the establishment, it is to say yes to the donor class. And it is to be someone who understands where the political headwinds are going. And in Darlene's case, that's going to be, the money from establishment conservatives, establishment Republicans, and most likely doing what she can to cash in on the death of her late brother in order to advance an agenda that does not serve, the, you know, the state, the Carolinians there, nor for the rest of the country.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, I mean, this is the definition of the swamp. Right. Because, as former Representative Bob Good posted on X, Trump continues to fill the swamp with the worst congressional creatures, including his predictable endorsement of Darlene Graham. Are there worse criteria than one family name and two pledged unconditional and unconstitutional allegiance and obedience to the President? I mean, this is somebody who's going in who has no idea how the Senate function. You know, yeah, she's the sister of this, of a senator, but, I mean, my brother is literally a rocket scientist. That doesn't mean that I can. Then, you know, if something happens to him, I can walk into NASA and say, hey, you know, put me as, as the Director of NASA just because of what my brother's former occupation was. I mean, it, it literally makes no sense. But it makes sense to the establishment when you realize it will be the donor class, the heads of, of the party that will dictate to her what to do, and primarily the staff of Lindsey Graham. I mean, if she keeps the same staff, which, it looks like she will be, that's really. Then who will be making the decisions behind the scenes?
Matthew Williams : Yeah, I agree. Absolutely. And I mean, when we consider, you know, throughout, my entire lifetime, Jenna, everyone has talked about the need for term limits in Congress, but it's the conversation about staffing that I think makes the conversation about term limits so moot in the House as well as the Senate. Because you're right, you can get rid of the representative, you can get rid of the senator, you can term them out, but you have a bureaucratic class that goes from, you know, the halls of the Capitol down to K Street, in and out like it's a turnstile on a Metro station. And we know that these individuals are going to be pining and praying over her opinions and taking advantage of the pressure. And I'm sure Darlene is aware of that to her extent. I'm not going to belittle her intelligence or anything like that, but I think it really just goes to show that they are going to take the good graces and sort of the sympathy vote as. So it often happens when a politician reposes that they're now going to run her in and ramrod her in and deprive the people of Carolina. I think the great deal of, you know, choice that they should have. And I understand that Lindsey Graham won his primary very handedly. It, was like 70% of the vote, and plus, you know, when he had ran earlier this year. But I think that people are really looking for a choice that is not going to be someone who plays the establishment, who only plays with the President for political headwinds, and isn't going to share the same baggage and history of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. I mean, this guy was on the Gang of Eight, for goodness sakes, and he knows how to play the game very well. He was a very effective politician. But that doesn't mean that we should have more of the same, especially with someone of the same last name. There's baggage that comes with that, there's staffers that are ready to take advantage of that. And I think that the people who are from his state should take advantage of the fact that there's going to be a primary season. But it's going to be an uphill battle because, as you mentioned in the introduction, there's so many people that are ready to get behind her. I mean, the President's already given the endorsement for her to be the appointed person to replace Lindsey. I'm sure that he's going to endorse her as well. And, you know, as the former congressman had tweeted out, like, these are some really bad choices when it comes to actually representing the interests of the American people.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And it's going to be fascinating to me to see, how much press and attention and propping up by the, the RNC and the national gop. And in South Carolina, she's going to have to try to. And even, you know, some of these push polls and other things to basically make her appear like she is the only candidate. And that's starting to happen around the country, not just even in South Carolina, but around the country, that they're taking a page from Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and suggesting to the voters, the Republican voters, that primaries really don't matter. And as long as someone is so far ahead in the polls, basically this is over, and you need to coalesce behind that person. Even, you know, weeks or months out from the primary. I mean, that's what's happening in my home state of Florida right now with Byron Donalds, where the primary isn't till August 18, but people are already saying, well, you know, since he's over 40% in the polls, it's time for everyone to coalesce him. No, the time would be after he actually wins.
Jenn Williams: Republican Party trying to force coronations in multiple races
The nomination if he does. And I'm, I'm very concerned about a party who pretends to be, and suggests that they are the party, you know, of conservatism and of the people. And yet they are trying to force these coronations in multiple races all around the country. I mean, and they've done this for a really long time, but they're now starting to do this, I think, even more and more openly. And telling voters, your opinion really doesn't matter here.
Matthew Williams : Yeah, and I think we've seen that all around the country, especially in the age of Trump. I mean, Trump is probably the most effective right wing president of my lifetime, more than any other Republican, more than any other conservative movement or push. But of course that comes with its own drawbacks, which of course means you have to rally behind him at all times. And it's created a feedback loop where even if you're remotely critical or if you stand different to the president on one particular issue, that can certainly cook, you either in the primaries or within your good standing of getting your agenda push. And I understand we have to play ball game with the, you know, elected head of the party in the sense of being the representative and being the President of the United States. But at the same time, you know, the American people should have their voice heard. And primaries absolutely do matter. It's what separates us from the same old business as usual. Elected officials versus individuals who actually know what the problem is. As a resident of the state of Texas, I cannot begin to express how important primary elections are, especially when it comes to say, for instance, the Texas Railroad commissioner between Jim Wright and Beau French. And I mean, runoffs are incredibly important on this. If we had all said, you know, at the beginning of the year that it looks like Jim Wright's going to win, there's no point in looking into all these other candidates, then Beau French would not be, you know, the incoming Republican representative to be the Texas Railroad Commissioner. And I know that he's most likely going to win. He's got a great shot. And, I think that it behooves every American to not just say, oh, we need to get around one person. we know what happens when we get around one person. I mean, you're from Florida, you know this as well, that Democrats rallied and coronated Andrew Gilliam, and it was only because they found him with an overdose that he was almost the, elected governor of Florida.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, yeah. And this is, this is what, really needs to concern everyone about. Not just saying, oh, well, you know, she looks good on Fox News. She has you know, Trump behind her and you know, she was obviously appointed by the governor. So okay, I don't need to, you know, South Carolina, I don't need to then do any more research or investigation or do my own due diligence. I can just kind of mindlessly go along with the party selection. That's how we get to some of these people in office that don't actually have the correct conservative priorities. They only have the priorities of the national rnc, which often are at cross purposes with what they actually should have as representatives of of the people that put them into office. And this is why, you know, I, speaking of the Senate, I mean they shouldn't even just be representing the people of the state. They should be representing the state legislature. That's how the US Constitution originally created it. I am totally for overTurning the 17th amendment that allowed for popular election of U.S. senators. This should be something where the state legislatures send their two US Senators so that they actually represent the priorities of the state government and that state governments and those elections actually are more of a big deal to national politics. But all of this is why it's so important to understand our system of government, pay attention and to do what we can to influence the government that God gave us. So, Matthew Williams, really appreciate it. Again, you can follow him at the Prudentialist and you can reach me and my team.
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: in the morning on American Family Radio. I love talking about the things of God. Because of truth and the biblical worldview. The U.S. constitution obligates our government to preserve and protect the rights that our founders recognize come from God our creator, not our government. I believe that scripture in the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you and God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time.
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There is a rise of socialism and communism within the Democrat party ahead of midterms
Jenna Ellis: Good morning.
Jenna Ellis: It is Tuesday, July, 21st, and as we are rapidly heading toward the midterms, it's very concerning to a lot of us and anyone rational I think that is paying attention that there is such a rise of socialism and communism within the Democrat party, but overall within the younger generation as a whole because they are looking at, capitalism, they're looking at the American dream, they're looking at, some of these things of their parents and grandparents and wondering, why they can't afford certain things. And you know, that's all, that's all been blamed on kind of this push for socialism. Like, well, the younger generation saw that capitalism didn't work, so they're thinking, well, let's try something else like socialism. I don't particularly believe, I mean that may be true for a couple of isolated cases or if young people haven't been paying attention at all. but I don't think that that's really, when you get down to it, the root cause. A lot of this comes, from training and how parents instill values or if they abdicate the installation of values to the state funded education system or the culture, values will be instilled in children and young adults as they progress into adulthood. From somewhere in everyone has a worldview, everyone has a perspective, everyone has opinions. Even if some young people aren't even aware of their own worldview or why exactly they have it or where they got it from. there's a lot of, of things that are going around in the culture and viewpoints that you can kind of go back and attribute maybe to certain different movements that that people just kind of tacitly, take on without critical thinking. And I think that the rise of communism and its popularity, at least in young people today, really marks a failure of the current, and perhaps, you know, the, the one or two preceding generations of parents writ large. Obviously not, the, the homeschool parents, the Christian parents who are dedicated to instilling values in their children. Who.
Jenna Ellis: But the culture writ large of instilling the wrong values and intentionally from a lot of the Democrats.
Nick Fritas says be careful how you teach your kids about sharing
And I was, I was scrolling on social media, as I often do, doom scrolling, as it were. And, I came across this post which my good friend Rhyen Helfenbein shared, as well. And this is from, Nick Fritas. He said, be careful how you teach your kids about sharing. Sharing by definition is a voluntary act motivated by charity or desire for mutually beneficial transaction. Most kids are taught that sharing is when you demand the property of others and an authority figure makes them give it to you. Those kids grow up to be socialists. Interesting perspective. Right? And I think he has a point overall that again, kids get their values and they get their understanding of the world by how they are taught. And whether that's parents, the culture, teachers, Sunday school, you know, everyone that kids interact with in terms of an authority figure teaches them something about how the world works. And parents should be the first line, hopefully, if they are Christians and they're instilling the right values to teach kids about justice, about fairness, that authority is to promote good and restrain evil in your life, not just in civil society. and all of these values that when we are adults, we want civil society and government to do for us. Yet, yet so many parents fail to see the correlation between what they want as adults in society, from their authority figures to how they are imposing those very same values at home. And I think this is an important perspective to talk about because as we're dealing with kind of this rise of socialism, we have to go back to some of these fundamentals. Because. So, for example, when I was growing up and how my parents were, taught me and my brothers was that every person lives their own life. We each have different blessings and opportunities and, perhaps property that is given to us. And while sharing is a overall good thing, it has to be in context and it also has to be voluntary. We didn't have socialism in my home. It wasn't just everybody's property is communal. We all had our own individual property. And if, you know, one of us comes back from a birthday party with a treat bag for Example, we don't have to necessarily share it with everyone just because everybody else doesn't have the candy bag. And we want equal distribution of property. I mean, do you see how that works?
Ryan Helfenbein: Parents can sometimes instill wrong lesson about parenting
So let's welcome in Rhyen Helfenbein, who, of course, is the vice president of communications and public engagement at Liberty University and the founding executive director of the Standing for Freedom Center. And, Rhyen, I agree with Nick here that parents, even good and Christian parents, can sometimes instill the wrong lesson by what the culture is even teaching them about parenting. And overall, this has, I think, had a massive effect on the current generation that doesn't see the danger, the dangers of communism because in a way, that was actually part of their perspective and what authority has taught them, again, not. Not in every instance, but even to this one example about sharing, that, you know, property should be communal and everybody should have equal access. And when we're taught these things when we're young, we can grow up and translate that into a bigger and worse narrative if. If we're not careful to instill the proper values in young people.
Ryan Helfenbein: You know, Jenna, first of all, thank you for having me on the program, and thank you for, this being the topic, because let me tell you, this is a fun topic. It's not fun in terms of the outcomes we're seeing today, but it is certainly interesting and worthwhile. And it's one of those things that I think many Christian parents, haven't thought about, when they think about, you know, what's going on with this rise of socialism. Mamdani, why is that. And, you know, why is it that the youngest generation is so interested in socialism? Well, we have over 50 million children being raised in socialist schools. Socialist schools? What are socialist schools? well, it's public education. Public education has trained them. They go to communal property. they're not taught capitalism. In most schools, you don't have a basic micro or macroeconomics course. You don't know how the economy works. You don't understand the rights of private property, of free trade. You don't understand the value exchange. You don't understand law of diminishing utility. Ah. You know, there are all kinds of universal principles and constants that younger people aren't taught. But what they are taught is that you don't own anything when you're on public property. you know, we're all in this classroom together. you're taught a system of cooperation. you're taught to be quiet and to raise your hand when you have a Question. But you're also taught conformity to that kind of standard. and in that kind of socialization, what ends up happening is that most of them are not taught how to read at grade level or to write at grade level or to do math at grade level. Instead, it's all about, the kind of morality that is being foisted on them. Diversity, equity, inclusion, social, emotional learning, all of those things, in that classroom setting. And, as early as a little child. I mean, you could be 3, 4, 5 years old if you grew up in a nursery. these toys don't belong to you. if somebody else wants something, they could be coveting it. They could be wanting it for the wrong reasons. You have a moral obligation to share that thing with them because it doesn't belong to you just as much as it doesn't belong to them either. And so, today, most people are not taught about industry or enterprise or owning a business or having the responsibility of personal ownership. yeah, you carry a backpack to school, but you put it up in a locker. Whose locker does that? Who does it belong to? It belongs to the school. And a lot of times, when it comes to punishing people for doing the wrong things, children, they're not taught that there's any consequences for what they do. teachers, yes, they can socialize your child. Yes, they can be told by the NAE that they have to groom them when it comes to sexualization, but they dare not punish you for bullying or doing other kinds of things. because ultimately who rules the roost when it comes to the classroom is really the kids. and so there's all kinds of upheaval, is what I'm saying, that goes on in classrooms today. And I want to be clear as Christians, we absolutely, whether, whether it comes to homeschooling or private education or even public school, that's the decision you've made. We all bear a responsibility for our children, to raise them up in the fear and the nurture of the Lord. And we do have a responsibility to instill these principles, for the next generation. And not just love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, but to understand what it is that God has given us, these many good things and that they are our responsibility. We do take ownership of, whether it be personal property or take ownership of our own actions, we are held accountable to a higher authority. And so parents must understand that socialism is absolutely anti God. It is anti faith, and it is anti individual. And we must be so careful, not to dismiss this. It is not just a passing fad. It has been inculcated in society for decades. Now. The way out of this is not going to be simply voting a mayor down in NewSong York City. we are going to have to educate it and train it out of this next generation. and so this is an important topic and I'm so glad you're covering it.
: Yeah.
Jenna Ellis: And I so appreciate, Rhyen, that you use the example of public school and all of the things that, that the environment teaches kids, like standing in line, no one owns any of the toys or books and that, and that includes a lot of these, you know, nurseries or daycares, you know, if you drop your children off and how, usually it's, it's the kids that run everything because the biggest bully is the one, that never gets punished and just gets to do what they want. I mean, all of those things are principles that are being taught to those kids. And when you see the culture, that currently is pushing back against homeschooling, for example, or even Christian schools or Christian content at all, like actual principles of, of scripture and the morals, and the mores and the values that come from scripture into a state funded school, they often, at least for homeschooling, blame parents, and say, well, you're not socializing your children properly and they're, they're not going to be able to adapt into the culture. What does that actually mean though, when they're talking about socialization? Often they mean exactly what you just said, that the homeschool kids aren't the ones that are used to just sitting down, shutting up, being quiet, raising their hand, standing in line, mindlessly waiting for hours, not having any one on one attention, having just this kind of group play with no rules, instilled no private property ownership. I mean, that's the kind of socialization that the culture wants from homeschool students who are learning things a very different way. And actually having one on one instruction, having private property ownership in the context of their home and their environment that they know they live in. And it's such a completely different world to grow up in. And we're not even touching the subjects of like math and and reading and writing and some of those things that the culture, I think falsely points to, that's not what they're concerned about, clearly. I mean, you look at the education scores from most state funded schools in this country, it's really bad. They're clearly not actually concerned about academics. What they are concerned about is instilling these values of, of no private property ownership, of sitting down, and shutting up and conformity. That's the socialization that they want from public education to get these kids to simply fall in line. Then when they are adults and not question the system, not have a. An instilled value of. Wait a minute. This isn't just about having, you know, generosity. What it really is, freely giving what is yours out of your own free will because you love your neighbor. I mean, having authority figures that aren't just in this kind of Marxist worldview of the oppressor and the oppressed of, you know, the bullies that. That will go around, and take from you and you have no other option because no authority figure is coming. I mean, these are the actual values that when the left is saying, you know, we. We need kids to be quote, unquote, socialized. This is actually what they mean.
Ryan Helfenbein: Yeah. Yes, that's 100% right. And, you know, I hate to say, you know, most Americans today, we were born on third base. we were born, you know, we didn't hit the triple. The previous generations hit that triple. you know, we defeated, fascism, in World War II. My grandparents generation, my grandfather flew in those B17 bombers. And, then right after that, they had to face the evil empire of the Soviet Union. and that took a little bit longer, just because one enemy was knocked off.
As the west defeated fascism and communism, it became cozy with socialism
And then communism, the Soviet Union fell in 1991. And, something that Milton Friedman said is that the west, became very, very relaxed and comfortable, with this new arrangement of big government and that included education. and as the west, had defeated both fascism and communism, it became very cozy with this idea of socialism. And the old Soviet bloc that was under the tyranny, the oppression. You think about Alexander Solzhenitsyn and others, who were under the oppression of communism. Those, they woke up and, they knew that this idea of democratic socialism, of communism is evil, and they were trying to drive it out of society. You think about the old Eastern bloc of Poland and Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Those nations now claim to be Christian nations. we can argue the merits of that claim, but they claim to be Christian nations. Whereas you look at the west, and the west wants to become more like a communist or socialistic country. and so in the United States, people are embracing it. and a lot of it can be blamed on education, early childhood formation. there's a terminology that has been used you've heard of pedagogy, that's the art of teaching, training a child. critical pedagogy is critical theory applied to education. Don Pablo Ferreira for example, being one of those who was the great theorist that wanted to use education to basically put Marxism in the minds of young people. And many educational philosophers have been intentional about this. They've written about it, they haven't hidden what their aim and ambition is. and ah, social studies is not just ah, a way in which 100 years ago they wanted to come up with a fancy academic, ah, vernacular for history. They really wanted to teach socialization. Jon Dewey, who came from Columbia University, not many good things should have come from Columbia University. but critical theory came from there. you think about Herbert Marcuse and others and critical legal theory. But Jon Dewey wanted to secularize education by removing God from education. you know in early America it was all about catechesis, teaching and training up children in a constant, constant universal understanding of morality. but Jon Dewey wanted to modernize and secularize education, hollowing it out, so that it would be value neutral. But it gave way to Marxism. and so this, but this has been going on for well over 100 years. The Department of Education was basically started, it began under the Carter administration in the late 1970s, but it was kind of a checkmate at that point. it wasn't the beginning. it was, it was actually the terminus. It was, we were coming to late stage, indoctrination by taking the federal government in, giving it all of this power, by which then it could, you know, from, from a top down kind of apparatus, force feed the rest of the nation in socialism. Very dangerous stuff. Yeah.
Jenna Ellis: And Rhyen, we've got to take a break here, but he's sticking with me through the break because we're going to continue to talk about this. And you know, the lesson isn't that sharing is bad, it's that true generosity exists when it's voluntary. And so we need to understand the mindset that doesn't just shape playgrounds, it'll eventually shape nations. And we need to teach kids the right biblical one. We'll be right back.
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Ryan Helfenbein: Rejecting socialism doesn't mean embracing Christian nationalism
Welcome back.
Jenna Ellis: I'm still here with my special guest, Rhyen Helfenbein, who's the Vice President of Communications and Public Engagement at Liberty University. And we're talking about the values that parents, and also the culture and the, the environment to which you put your child in will teach them the values that then they carry through into adulthood. And so rejecting socialism doesn't automatically, though, mean embracing every idea that then comes from the political right or the NewSong right or people who just call themselves Republicans or conservatives. So Christians have to be governed by scripture first, not by affiliation or, this affinity for political tribes. And if socialism gives the government too much authority over our private property, a temptation is to give then government too much authority over our faith. And both misunderstand what government is actually designed to do. The biblical and constitutional view of government is far more limited and than either socialism or theocracy, which is kind of this rise of, what the New Right is pushing, especially under the banner of Christian nationalism would suggest. And so here's where I think, Rhyen, a lot of conservatives get tripped up. We rightly criticize socialism for expanding the government beyond its proper role. But then some turn around and want government then to become the enforcer of Christianity, not just the principles that, that govern a free society. And those are very different ideologies, but they share a common mistake because both ask the government to do things that God never actually assigned or in his, his delegation of limited authority, gave to a legitimate government to do M 100% right there.
Ryan Helfenbein: And something to be reminded of is that, you know, our founding fathers, going all the way back to the 1700s, they absolutely, were concerned about, totalitarian governments. They were concerned about monarchs and kings, rejecting, repudiating this doctrine of the divine right of kings. The kings ultimately had their authority from God and that we were all subjected to that king, but also papists, right? the concern was, that when the church and the state get together, that being traditionally the Roman Catholic Church or even the Anglican, church in England, where the king sits at the head of that church, the concern is that all of a sudden, okay, our rights are being trampled on, by a clerical order, by a magisterium, by a hierarchy, and then they determine not only what we're to do politically, but they also determine what we're to do theologically, doctrinally. And so there is no real freedom. Obviously, our founding fathers rejected both. And the establishment clause was not about eliminating the influence of the Christian faith from politics. Quite the opposite. You know, many of the, the, founding documents, if you look at the writings of Madison and Jon Jay, you look at Jon Adams, you even look at Thomas Jefferson. The Bible was to be instructed in every classroom in early America. Noah Webster was an educational philosopher. Benjamin Rush has written on this as well, extensively. To have a moral and religious people, they wanted to, instruct and catechize the youngest generation in the Christian faith. But when it comes to religious sentiments, when it comes to conviction, the government doesn't dictate, what church, what denomination of Christianity you're to be a part of. And so this is actually interesting. If you look at the constitutions of Delaware and NewSong Jersey and many others, there was a clear declaration of faith, given and articulated. I think Delaware is the one that says Father, Son and Holy Spirit, clearly Christian. But then it goes on to say religious liberty and expresses religious liberty, that the state is not establishing a denomination. And so today, I think people are falling, trapped or falling into this idea that what we need is a strong man Christian to come. And that strong man Christian should wield the sword and then should set all of society to rights. You know, a kind of Julius Caesar appointed to defend the city, if you will, within the walls. that doesn't work. What we need really is a movement, reconstruction, if you will, a revival and a reformation in this country. And that is going to be a decentralized movement. It doesn't come from government power. it comes from the people. And I'm reminded of the Sermon on the Mount. I think one of the greatest examples in the Gospels where Jesus is not going to the Pharisees, he's not going to the port of the Sanhedrin and instructing the scribes, and the clerical class. Instead, he's going to the masses, to the people, even the illiterate. And he's saying things like, with the authority of the Lord, you've heard it said, but I say unto you, right? Jesus is giving that to the people. And I think one of the highest ideals of freedom that we have as an American society is that we believe that Sermon on the Mount, that this should not come ultimately from some kind of elite class, but God has delegated his authority to the people. God is our ultimate sovereign. He's delegated his authority to the people and then the people consent to a government. And many Christians today, will either fall prey to socialism or that kind of libertinism, which is that radical individualism, which I think, in many ways, is encapsulated in libertarianism, that radical individualism that has no loyalty, no structure, no hierarchy. We believe in government. We do believe in order. not all taxation is theft. I reject the thesis of Liviv Gognesis, even though I agree with many of the things that the government does are abused. The power is being abused. But we do believe that there is a structure of government that is legitimate. We do believe that the family is the atom of society, not just the individual. We believe that the church does bear authority in society, but that authority is limited. And so we have these, what we call spheres of sovereignty. and the thing that is, I think the most, concerning today is not just that the socialists have it wrong, but many Christians don't know which way to go. And when it comes to our founding, they don't understand it. It might as well be a foreign language to Christians today, not just to the AOCs and the Mamdanis, who clearly were not educated in a classical understanding of freedom, and what that is. But we believe in an ordered liberty, an ordered society. and so I think that the attraction to this idea that you just spoke of where people say, oh, we need a Christian king, a Christian sort of Julius Caesar to set society back on the correct footing. No, the moment we create a context for that to happen is the moment that it's all over.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. So well said. And you know, when we talk about the three different spheres of government, the church, the family and the civil government, we have to remember that God created different institutions with different purposes and who is governed by the family unit. Well, you know, my parents growing up, they could only impose the rules for our family for their own household. Right. They didn't govern everything for the entire neighborhood or the entire community. Right. And similarly church is for those who are under the, the headship of that particular church. And civil society by definition has to govern both Christians and non Christians. Right. And so when, when the, the Christian view or when, when some Christians are buying into this notion of a theocracy, they have to remember that the government's role is justice and to instill a well ordered society, but not conversion. Because the civil government by definition has to govern even some who are not part of the church by definition, who actively reject God, yet they are still under the authority of a civil government. And so when you try to take church leadership and impose the principles of what the church is designed to do, like church discipline for example, and, and even membership, you know, some of those things that are part of what the church functionally looks like, it doesn't translate to civil government because those two institutions are separate. Now having Christians in the roles of civil government is good of course, because Christians should understand justice from a biblical truthful worldview where non Christians may not. They may have more of this socialist view. They may have, more of a secular view. They may have, you know, all kinds of different, views that are not actually in line with biblical truth. But the point, Rhyen, I think that some Christians forget that civil government has to also govern even the non Christian. And so while we can have a Christian society in the sense that justice biblical, a, ah, well ordered society is biblical, the government's role is not conversion or necessarily to compel faith and private individual belief. And that's what our founders meant ultimately by religious freedom and not saying that the civil government was over the church and forcing denominations or forcing sermons or what pastors should do and in any way regulating that. And so we have to separate, which is what Thomas Jefferson actually meant in his letter to the Danbury Church. Separate the, the different sovereigns of the church government and the civil government and not confuse them. So the answer ultimately to socialism, to all of the bad ideas of illegitimate government is not to say, okay, well then the church should just impose the church's authority on civil government. that would also be unbiblical. But to say then the civil government has to operate with biblical principles and has to govern both the Christian and non Christian simultaneously in a matter in, and in a manner that genuinely reflects truth. And.
Ryan Helfenbein: Civil government has a God given role
We're almost out of time, but closing thoughts.
Ryan Helfenbein: Yeah, I totally agree. We got to get back to an understanding of our founding. I think a greater appreciation of the body of politic that came together to found this nation. truly it is remarkable. One thing just to note that many civil authorities back then, they had blasphemy laws. they didn't govern religious sentiment. You didn't have to go to church, but you could not swear publicly and blaspheme the name of the God by which the Constitution invokes its authority. and so all these enumerated powers from government, and ultimately they come from the people that ultimately comes from God. and so there were, there were blasphemy laws, once upon a time in America. And that was a good thing. It was to preserve the moral order, but it was not to, dictate how people worship. same thing with, commerce. six days you shall work, and on the seventh day you shall rest. And so there were Sabbath laws, blue laws, certain things couldn't be bought or sold on the Lord's day. That, again, was not to govern, worship. A lot of Christians should look into that and think about that. It's, fascinating. But I think today we have a very pluralist and secular society, which was not in the original design of the founders. So there is a difference, right? There's a difference between a kind of society that is multicultural, pluralistic. Oh, we have more than one language, we have more than one heritage. That was certainly not in the mindset of the founders when they first, were crafting, our constitutional republic. so it's important, I think, that part of the reason these debates are happening now is because we're seeing, the chaotic nature mass migration has created along with, the rise of socialism, along with, I think, the delusion that social media has brought about. You have many Americans, today who do not know who they are, what country they are in, or how any of this all started. And, we've got to get back to that understanding of who we are if we're going to preserve this nation.
Jenna Ellis: So. Well said, Rhyen Helfenbein. Follow him on X. And you know, the bottom line is that Christians absolutely should shape the culture. We should influence politics, advocate for laws that reflect justice. But the solution to a society drifting away from God isn't asking the government to become the church. God already established the church for its own purpose. Civil government has a God given role. The church has a God God given role. And when each fulfills its own m mission faithfully, society ultimately is better served. We'll be right back with more.
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: welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Matthew Williams: Darlene Graham is an establishment choice for South Carolina Senate
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, as we're talking about the principles of government and how a government should wield its power, we need to talk about some of the things that our own government is currently doing. And if you thought that the RINO establishment on the Republican side, was somehow sidelined during the Trump MAGA era, I, think that that would be false. And one of the best examples right now is coming out of South Carolina with Darlene Graham, who is, of course the sister of Lindsey Graham, who was appointed to fulfill his term. It was supposed to be, at least according to, you know, everyone on social media. Well, this is all fine. You know, she may or may not be qualified, but we don't really care. This is, just a wonderful way to, to, honor the legacy of Lindsey Graham by having her just finish out his term for a couple of months. Well, she has announced now that she is running for a full term and was in primetime on Fox News, which is the PR wing of the Republican Party, essentially. So she was appointed by a Republican governor endorsed by the Republican president. And now on primetime with the Republican PR campaign, this is an establishment selection and an attempt to simply install a, their preferred candidate on the people of South Carolina, because Lindsey Graham, obviously, unfortunately, passed away very suddenly. And instead of allowing for an open seat in an open primary for the people of South Carolina to actually determine this, she is essentially being forced on them now. Yes, a primary actually will happen, but look at all of the power behind pushing Darlene Graham. And listen, listen to what she said to Hannity about why she feels qualified to run. This is cut to.
Matthew Williams : I'll continue to say I've been praying a lot, talking to my family, but with the love of my family, with the support of his staff, I know
Jenna Ellis: I'm a hard worker.
Matthew Williams : I learned that from Lindsey. He cared about the people of this state. I've worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state.
Ryan Helfenbein: I'm going to talk about that in a minute.
Matthew Williams : I feel like I can do it. I feel an Inner peace about it. Will it be difficult? Yes, absolutely. So you're inclined to get in or have you even made a final decision?
Matthew Williams : I've made a decision. You're in. I'm in.
Jenna Ellis: All right, so. So her, her justification for this is I feel an inner peace about it. If this were a Democrat, we would be rightly mocking this. I mean, what difference is it between her qualifications of saying, you know, I've thought about it, I feel an inner peace about it versus, you know, Ashley Webb, who we talked about yesterday, the Senate candidate running for Maine going, you know, I'm an author and a songwriter.
Jenna Ellis: Okay.
Jenna Ellis: Is this really who we want in the United States Senate? Well, let's welcome in Matthew Williams, who is a writer and commentator. He goes by, the moniker the Prudentialist on X. And you should follow him. And, and Matthew, I mean, it's just mind boggling to me that so many people are defending this kind of establishment selection simply because Darlene Graham meets the bare minimum qualifications. Yeah. Under the U.S. constitution. Okay, so she's 30 years old and a citizen, but literally we have no other, understanding of her issues, her stance, how she would vote. She's even said, you're not going to get Senator Lindsey Graham, you're going to get a Senator Darlene Graham. We don't know what that actually means. And yet the establishment has clearly put a lot of money and attention and PR behind this already. That should concern us, I think.
Matthew Williams : No, I agree. Absolutely, Jenna. It should concern all of us. I mean, on paper, per our Constitution, you know, we have a really big difference between our, you know, inherited peerage in the House of Lords from our friends across the pond of the United Kingdomnomics and compared to our upper legislative body, the United States Senate. But when we've seen the establishment pour in, and I understand that Darlene Graham has been on Lindsey's side, I know Politico has said that, you know, she's been his closest advisor for decades. That doesn't mean she's remotely qualified in any way, shape or form whatsoever. But when we see the establishment and Shawn Hannity and individuals like him giving her such praise, setting up all this money for her to run, what we're witnessing is a blank slate candidate who knows what her job is, which is to say yes to the, to the establishment, it is to say yes to the donor class. And it is to be someone who understands where the political headwinds are going. And in Darlene's case, that's going to be, the money from establishment conservatives, establishment Republicans, and most likely doing what she can to cash in on the death of her late brother in order to advance an agenda that does not serve, the, you know, the state, the Carolinians there, nor for the rest of the country.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, I mean, this is the definition of the swamp. Right. Because, as former Representative Bob Good posted on X, Trump continues to fill the swamp with the worst congressional creatures, including his predictable endorsement of Darlene Graham. Are there worse criteria than one family name and two pledged unconditional and unconstitutional allegiance and obedience to the President? I mean, this is somebody who's going in who has no idea how the Senate function. You know, yeah, she's the sister of this, of a senator, but, I mean, my brother is literally a rocket scientist. That doesn't mean that I can. Then, you know, if something happens to him, I can walk into NASA and say, hey, you know, put me as, as the Director of NASA just because of what my brother's former occupation was. I mean, it, it literally makes no sense. But it makes sense to the establishment when you realize it will be the donor class, the heads of, of the party that will dictate to her what to do, and primarily the staff of Lindsey Graham. I mean, if she keeps the same staff, which, it looks like she will be, that's really. Then who will be making the decisions behind the scenes?
Matthew Williams : Yeah, I agree. Absolutely. And I mean, when we consider, you know, throughout, my entire lifetime, Jenna, everyone has talked about the need for term limits in Congress, but it's the conversation about staffing that I think makes the conversation about term limits so moot in the House as well as the Senate. Because you're right, you can get rid of the representative, you can get rid of the senator, you can term them out, but you have a bureaucratic class that goes from, you know, the halls of the Capitol down to K Street, in and out like it's a turnstile on a Metro station. And we know that these individuals are going to be pining and praying over her opinions and taking advantage of the pressure. And I'm sure Darlene is aware of that to her extent. I'm not going to belittle her intelligence or anything like that, but I think it really just goes to show that they are going to take the good graces and sort of the sympathy vote as. So it often happens when a politician reposes that they're now going to run her in and ramrod her in and deprive the people of Carolina. I think the great deal of, you know, choice that they should have. And I understand that Lindsey Graham won his primary very handedly. It, was like 70% of the vote, and plus, you know, when he had ran earlier this year. But I think that people are really looking for a choice that is not going to be someone who plays the establishment, who only plays with the President for political headwinds, and isn't going to share the same baggage and history of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. I mean, this guy was on the Gang of Eight, for goodness sakes, and he knows how to play the game very well. He was a very effective politician. But that doesn't mean that we should have more of the same, especially with someone of the same last name. There's baggage that comes with that, there's staffers that are ready to take advantage of that. And I think that the people who are from his state should take advantage of the fact that there's going to be a primary season. But it's going to be an uphill battle because, as you mentioned in the introduction, there's so many people that are ready to get behind her. I mean, the President's already given the endorsement for her to be the appointed person to replace Lindsey. I'm sure that he's going to endorse her as well. And, you know, as the former congressman had tweeted out, like, these are some really bad choices when it comes to actually representing the interests of the American people.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And it's going to be fascinating to me to see, how much press and attention and propping up by the, the RNC and the national gop. And in South Carolina, she's going to have to try to. And even, you know, some of these push polls and other things to basically make her appear like she is the only candidate. And that's starting to happen around the country, not just even in South Carolina, but around the country, that they're taking a page from Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and suggesting to the voters, the Republican voters, that primaries really don't matter. And as long as someone is so far ahead in the polls, basically this is over, and you need to coalesce behind that person. Even, you know, weeks or months out from the primary. I mean, that's what's happening in my home state of Florida right now with Byron Donalds, where the primary isn't till August 18, but people are already saying, well, you know, since he's over 40% in the polls, it's time for everyone to coalesce him. No, the time would be after he actually wins.
Jenn Williams: Republican Party trying to force coronations in multiple races
The nomination if he does. And I'm, I'm very concerned about a party who pretends to be, and suggests that they are the party, you know, of conservatism and of the people. And yet they are trying to force these coronations in multiple races all around the country. I mean, and they've done this for a really long time, but they're now starting to do this, I think, even more and more openly. And telling voters, your opinion really doesn't matter here.
Matthew Williams : Yeah, and I think we've seen that all around the country, especially in the age of Trump. I mean, Trump is probably the most effective right wing president of my lifetime, more than any other Republican, more than any other conservative movement or push. But of course that comes with its own drawbacks, which of course means you have to rally behind him at all times. And it's created a feedback loop where even if you're remotely critical or if you stand different to the president on one particular issue, that can certainly cook, you either in the primaries or within your good standing of getting your agenda push. And I understand we have to play ball game with the, you know, elected head of the party in the sense of being the representative and being the President of the United States. But at the same time, you know, the American people should have their voice heard. And primaries absolutely do matter. It's what separates us from the same old business as usual. Elected officials versus individuals who actually know what the problem is. As a resident of the state of Texas, I cannot begin to express how important primary elections are, especially when it comes to say, for instance, the Texas Railroad commissioner between Jim Wright and Beau French. And I mean, runoffs are incredibly important on this. If we had all said, you know, at the beginning of the year that it looks like Jim Wright's going to win, there's no point in looking into all these other candidates, then Beau French would not be, you know, the incoming Republican representative to be the Texas Railroad Commissioner. And I know that he's most likely going to win. He's got a great shot. And, I think that it behooves every American to not just say, oh, we need to get around one person. we know what happens when we get around one person. I mean, you're from Florida, you know this as well, that Democrats rallied and coronated Andrew Gilliam, and it was only because they found him with an overdose that he was almost the, elected governor of Florida.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, yeah. And this is, this is what, really needs to concern everyone about. Not just saying, oh, well, you know, she looks good on Fox News. She has you know, Trump behind her and you know, she was obviously appointed by the governor. So okay, I don't need to, you know, South Carolina, I don't need to then do any more research or investigation or do my own due diligence. I can just kind of mindlessly go along with the party selection. That's how we get to some of these people in office that don't actually have the correct conservative priorities. They only have the priorities of the national rnc, which often are at cross purposes with what they actually should have as representatives of of the people that put them into office. And this is why, you know, I, speaking of the Senate, I mean they shouldn't even just be representing the people of the state. They should be representing the state legislature. That's how the US Constitution originally created it. I am totally for overTurning the 17th amendment that allowed for popular election of U.S. senators. This should be something where the state legislatures send their two US Senators so that they actually represent the priorities of the state government and that state governments and those elections actually are more of a big deal to national politics. But all of this is why it's so important to understand our system of government, pay attention and to do what we can to influence the government that God gave us. So, Matthew Williams, really appreciate it. Again, you can follow him at the Prudentialist and you can reach me and my team.
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Jenna Ellis discusses the alarming rise of socialism among the younger generation, exploring how upbringing and education shape their worldviews. Joined by Ryan Helfenbein, they delve into the cultural implications of how values are instilled in children, particularly through public education. The conversation emphasizes the importance of parental responsibility in teaching biblical values and the dangers of a socialist agenda.
(00:00) American Family Radio thanks sponsor, Preborn for supporting pro life advocacy
(01:02) There is a rise of socialism and communism within the Democrat party ahead of midterms
(03:28) Nick Fritas says be careful how you teach your kids about sharing
(06:17) Ryan Helfenbein: Parents can sometimes instill wrong lesson about parenting
(16:10) As the west defeated fascism and communism, it became cozy with socialism
(21:06) Ryan Helfenbein: Rejecting socialism doesn't mean embracing Christian nationalism
(32:50) Ryan Helfenbein: Civil government has a God given role
(35:58) The work of preborn network clinics is more urgent than ever
(37:10) Matthew Williams: Darlene Graham is an establishment choice for South Carolina Senate
(46:28) Jenn Williams: Republican Party trying to force coronations in multiple races
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