Tim Wildman: Tropical storm Bertha made landfall in Louisiana yesterday

>> Tim Wildmon: The mission of AFA is to inform, equip and activate individuals and families to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and to give aid to the church here and abroad and its task in fulfilling the Great Commission. The vision of American Family association is to be a leading organization in a biblical worldview training in the interest of cultural transformation. Thank you for standing with the American Family association as we seek to stop the erosion of godly values. 

Welcome to Today's Issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association. 

>> Tim Wildmon: Good morning everybody and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR. today's Thursday, July 23rd, 2026. In studio with me is Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.

>> Fred Jackson: Good morning to you, Tim.

>> Tim Wildmon: Krish Woodward.

>> Chris Woodward: Hello.

>> Tim Wildmon: And in Florida's Ray Pritchard. Good morning, Ray.

>> Ray Pritchard: Good morning, Tim. How you doing today? Doing well.

>> Tim Wildmon: How's everything down in.

>> Ray Pritchard: Oh, it's peachy keen here in Florida. Sunny, blue skies, 88. It only feels like 102. We're doing great.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's great. Well, I know that the, we've had some weather, Fred, hit the Gulf, coast, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. Tropical storm Bertha, made landfall in Louisiana yesterday and now it's moving along the Texas coast. fortunately, we're thankful for this, thank the Lord for this, that the rainfall levels did not meet expectation. So that's a good thing. But that doesn't mean because of the surge there hasn't been some serious flooding along those low lying areas, especially in Louisiana, NewSong Orleans area, that sort of thing. so there's been some flooding there. But Chris, correct me if I'm wrong, no loss of life.

>> Chris Woodward: Not so far.

>> Fred Jackson: Not so far. So we're thankful for that, isn't it?

>> Tim Wildmon: Decimated? I say. Decimated. That's not the right word. What happened? hasn't it, the storm gone away by now? Is it still tracking?

>> Chris Woodward: It's still tracking. it will probably be a depression at some point, as it continues to move, know, across the land. but, the storm made landfall in the St. Bernard parish about 40 miles east of NewSong Orleans. and as Fred mentioned, it's in, Texas now. It is expected to dissipate as it moves further inland by tomorrow.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, after you go through hurricanes, I guess something like this, huh? yep, for sure. You don't even, you know, close the windows probably, anyway. Well, that's good, that's good news. That it wasn't as bad as it could have been. All right, you're listening to today's issues on afr, by the way. Next hour, we're hoping, and the plan is to have Ambassador Mike Huckabee on our show, the U.S. ambassador to the nation of Israel. He's scheduled for one hour from now, 1105 Central Time. Right? He's in Israel, I guess. Yes. So anyway, he's said, he'll be on with us. His people did. And our people said, good, you need your people to call our people. All right, so that's coming up.

Ray: Romans 14 says each Christian will stand before the Lord individually

Ray, give us a good word from the, Bible this morning, if you would.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, today in our Bible reading together, Marlene and I were in Romans 14, one of the more interesting chapters of the NewSong Testament, where Paul starts out by saying that different people inside the church, we have different opinions and different views. And Paul says, for one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables. And it sounds like, with an introduction like that, that Paul intends to give some dietary instructions to the church at Rome. But that's really not what he's gonna talk about later. He talks. Some people drink wine, some people don't drink, some people eat meat offered idols, some people don't. And he's just talking about the range of opinions inside any Christian church. And the point he wants to make is a good one, which is that each one of us will stand before the Lord individually. Fred, I'm not going to answer for you. You can be happy. You're not going to answer for me. We're not going to answer for Tim, nor Tim answer for us, you know, or Krish. You're not going to have to. Have to answer for any of the rest of us.

>> Chris Woodward: Thank goodness.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's the good news. The bad news is, if you want to say it that way, each one of us will stand before the Lord. And I say that's bad news. only in this sense that, I ought to take a look at the man in the mirror, and I ought to be concerned that I am ready when someday I do stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Not because I'm afraid the Lord is going to send me to hell, not because of that, but he's going to look at me and. And some of the stuff that I thought was gold and silver and precious stones, it's just going to evaporate in front of me. Stuff I thought was so important. It's just wood, hay and stubble. I ought to be so concerned about. That, that I ought to look at Fred. I look at Tim, I look at Krish, I look at all my brothers and sisters and say, I love you, but I got my hands full taking care of the man in the mirror. And Paul goes so far as to say, when you get later, down in the chapter, he talks about pursuing peace with one another and live at peace with one another. But verse 22 of Romans 14, Keep your belief about such matters between yourself and God. A, long, long time ago, I had a friend who did led a Christian ministry of people with a lot of different personalities. And I said, how do you keep everything straight with all these, let's say, big personalities in your ministry? And he said, well, we got a rule. And a rule is we just say, feel free to have no opinion about that. If it doesn't. If it doesn't involve you, feel free to have no opinion about that. That really, Marlene said, you know, you could write that over all of Romans 14. Feel free to have no opinion about secondary issues, involving other Christians. Because one day, guys, we're going to stand before the Lord. If, if I focus on taking care of myself, I'm not going to have too much time to criticize other brothers and sisters who themselves will one day answer to the Lord. So let's get ready to stand before the Lord and let's feel free to have no opinion about what other people say and do. At least I think that's a good principle for living the Christian Life today.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. Dr. David Jeremiah, on this program here on American Family Radio was dealing with this. The bema seat judgment, it's called for Christians. And he said, the purpose of the bema seat judgment is not to judge us for our sins, because when we accepted Christ, we accepted Christ's righteousness over us. But we are going to give an account for our time that we spent. The talents that God gave us, how did we use those? So, like you say, Ray, it's going to be very individual. God knows every individual. He knows what talents, what abilities, what opportunities that we have been given in his life, and that's what we'll give an account for.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, why are we giving an account when he knows it all anyway, though?

>> Fred Jackson: Well, we're going to have to answer. Why didn't you? Why didn't you?

>> Tim Wildmon: But what if we don't have an answer?

>> Fred Jackson: Well, if we don't. Well, God knows the answer. That's the thing. But the other thing that's going to happen, and correct me if I'M wrong, Ray, is that we're going to be given awards with regards to how faithful we were. So, what golden street that you're going to live on, I don't know whether it's that, but, you know, that's what the purpose of that is. And as you say, some wood, hay and stubble. Some of the things that we spend a lot of time on. not really. That wasn't God's intent.

Tim: I wish President Trump would just stop talking about Iran

>> Tim Wildmon: All right. You're listening to today's issues on American Family Radio. Tim, Fred and Krish and Ray. Krish, what is your first news story? And we want to. We're going to hold you accountable.

>> Chris Woodward: Okay. All right. We are. Yeah. We're coming off, the twelfth night in a row of really hard attacks on Iran. President Trump has said, we are going to go after roads and bridges and power plants in Iran if they continue to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. we have some audio of him talking about this. Yesterday, when the president went to Georgia, he spoke in the Atlanta area.

>> Chris Woodward: CLIP three.

>> Tim Wildmon: They're getting hit so hard, and they

>> Fred Jackson: want to make a deal.

>> Tim Wildmon: But I say they're not ready to make a deal

>> Tim Wildmon: because every time they

>> Fred Jackson: make a deal, they want to change it and everything.

>> Tim Wildmon: They're not ready.

>> Tim Wildmon: They'll be ready very soon.

>> Fred Jackson: And this is.

>> Speaker E: Despite this, it's going on.

>> Fred Jackson: I think we played that clip last week, April 10th.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, we played it in June.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: nobody. That's no credibility on those words anymore.

>> Chris Woodward: No.

>> Tim Wildmon: Am I right?

>> Chris Woodward: No.

>> Tim Wildmon: So, like I said, I wish President Trump would just stop talking about it. Probably be better just to stop talking

>> Chris Woodward: about it, because he is losing people, including his, If you believe polls and what news outlets claim polls say he is losing, even people in the Republican movement over the war.

>> Tim Wildmon: I know people who are strong supporters of President Trump, but they've lost. He's lost them on this one because the credibility m. yeah, we talked.

>> Fred Jackson: We talked yesterday about House Speaker Mike Johnson.

>> Speaker E: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: I mean, he's maga. Maga, Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: He said, wrap it up. Time to wrap it up.

>> Fred Jackson: Time to wrap it up.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. But it seems like we're ramping it up.

Ray McGovern: Most people supported initial attacks on Iran

All right, all right. Not that we know the answer to this, Ray, but let's talk about it for just a moment because this is a. I mean, I know we're all tired of hearing about it, talking about. But this is a big deal, folks. Oil, just went to 90 or 100, 100 bucks a barrel. So gasoline about to go up now, listen, let me go on record of saying this. I was in. And I think most people, not most people who generally support President Trump were in support of the initial attacks to go after their, their, nuclear weapon capabilities.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, last year.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, last year. Well, also earlier this year, we were told. Right. But when you go, if that shouldn't take long, okay. After that, if you just want to get into a tit for tat war, which that's what seemed. That seems like, well, we're into. I think your support drops way down for that because there's no. You can't see where the, where the off ramp is, so to speak. You know, what does victory look like? We're not being told. So I think this has gotten into. Well, it seems personal, right? It seems like, you know, they hit us and then, well, Trump says, well, by gosh, I'll hit them. And then we get into that, and it's like, okay, back off and say, what do we. What's the point of this? What are we here? What are we here for? Can we even accomplish objectives? What are the objectives? Because I haven't heard those, stated recently.

>> Fred Jackson: yeah, there's not going to be regime change.

>> Tim Wildmon: Forget that.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, forget that. Just wipe that board clean. there seems to be a focus now on, access through the Strait of Hormuz to get oil out of the Persian Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, those countries on that western border of the Persian Gulf.

Two Saudi tankers came under attack last night by the Houthis

But there's a new front to talk about this morning, because what happened last night is that two Saudi tankers tried to make it through the Red Sea.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oil tankers?

>> Fred Jackson: Oil tankers. And they were hit by the Houthis.

>> Tim Wildmon: Who are they?

>> Fred Jackson: The Houthis? I got a map up in front of us, and, you know, this is great, folks.

>> Tim Wildmon: We got a new, a new player on the field here. Go ahead. they are.

>> Fred Jackson: They control a chunk of land, the Houthi rebels, which are backed by Iran, just like Hezbollah and Hamas, they basically have a big chunk of land in the western part of Yemen.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, Yemen borders, Saudi Arabia.

>> Fred Jackson: That is right. So they have a big chunk of land, and they have about 100 miles. They control 100 miles of the coast on the Red Sea. So, and. And they have the same weapons that Iran has. They have missiles. And so these two Saudi tankers came under attack last night. There's actually some video that I was looking at this morning. So you have that because. And why is that important? Because some of these nations, like the Saudis have talked about, well, if we can't use the Strait of Hormuz, we'll open up and start delivering our oil by way of the Red sea, Suez Canal, etc. Etc. Well, the Houthis are saying, no, we're not going to make that easy for you at all. So you have that, and that has risen. That's given rise to talk about. Okay, Iraq, we're going to build pipelines through Syria and Turkey and get our oil out through the Mediterranean. The Saudis have talked about building a pipeline all the way to the Red Sea, I assume to their port city of Jeddah. That's on the Red Sea. So you've got all of this going on. Isn't it amazing how much this is really about oil? When it comes down to it, we've kind of bypassed the. For now. The nuclear weapons of Iran. It comes down to oil because oil drives the economy. The price of oil.

There are calls for Saudi Arabia to step up efforts in Yemen war

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, so question to you, and then Ray can comment. Do you think gas at the pump in the US Is going on average? Do you think it's going to go to $4?

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, no question.

>> Chris Woodward: It already has.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, it's already there.

>> Tim Wildmon: Are you serious?

>> Chris Woodward: It's $4.09 today?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Are you seeing it in the Tampa area?

>> Tim Wildmon: Absolutely. Well, between Tuesday and Thursday, it's already gone up about five or six or seven cents a, gallon just in our area since we were on the air on Tuesday. Because this deal with the Red Sea, Fred, this a bad thing. We've opened up a second front. Look, I'm all for building these pipelines, but you can't build a pipe, a major pipeline, hundreds of, You can't do that in a week or a month. That takes many months to do that. And the. Who, by the way, is it. Do you pronounce them the Hooties? Is that Houthi?

>> Fred Jackson: Houthi, I think.

>> Chris Woodward: Just not the Blowfish. It's just the Houthis. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Just to clarify, that was my joke, Krish.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: give credit where credit's due. So the, okay, so just real quick, those people know the Houthis, Is that how you pronounce it? They are like Hamas and Hezbollah. Okay, Just so people know who they are and they're not new on the scene. They've been around for a while. They're just a different geographic, place, which is Yemen, but they. Now they are. They're, they're stationed along the. Is it the Red Sea?

>> Fred Jackson: The Red Sea, Correct.

>> Tim Wildmon: So you're saying that and they're aligned with Iran.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: So they fired at oil tankers.

>> Fred Jackson: Two Saudi oil tankers.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, well, would that not mean potentially that Saudi Arabia gets into. Starts, getting into a military fight with them, or have they already been in a fight with them?

>> Fred Jackson: Do you know? Well, that has been another aspect of this war. Iran has been shooting at military, U.S. military bases that we have in places like Kuwait and places like Saudi Arabia Arabia.

>> Chris Woodward: There are calls, amongst the talking heads on television for Saudi Arabia to step up its efforts and get more involved in this particular, escalation. I have some audio, if you want

>> Speaker E: it, of who, this is

>> Chris Woodward: foreign, ah, policy expert Rebecca Heinrichs of the Hudson Institute. she was on Fox today saying the Saudis need to step it up and get behind, us and others.

>> Tim Wildmon: How long is that?

>> Chris Woodward: 40 seconds.

>> Tim Wildmon: 40 seconds. all right, go ahead.

>> Speaker E: Clip five.

>> Pam Bondi: The Saudis have still tried to stay out of this war. For the most part, they've allowed the United States to operate out of some of their basing. And so that has been good. But remember, there was even that, that hiccup where the Saudis got very nervous when the United States was conducting more muscular operations in Project Freedom. And when the Iranians began to fire against Gulf states, again, the Saudis got cold feet and said, listen, the United States, if you're not going to go more aggressively against Iran, we don't think you, we don't want you to take more muscular actions because the Iranians are going to retaliate against us. We're back at it. But again, the Saudis have not been entirely good allies and partners with the United States on this. And so, the Saudis really need to get some courage here.

Tim Ferriss: President Trump needs to find a way to deal with Iran

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, well, you're listening to today's Issues on American Family Radio. And, again, as we've said before, this is going to go ahead.

>> Chris Woodward: Krish, I make you a promise. You can promise me, write this down.

>> Speaker E: All right?

>> Chris Woodward: I will not mention Iran tomorrow on this show.

>> Tim Wildmon: You heard it, folks. Wow. Because you're not going to be on. Oh, I see what you did there, Krish. Tomorrow's Trivia Friday. So Krish won't be on the show, so he won't be mentioning Iran.

>> Chris Woodward: Could just ride with it.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, yeah, I got it. I got you, Krish.

>> Chris Woodward: Either way, I'm right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Listen, this is an extremely serious situation for the world and for our country. the economic impact, you know, as we mentioned before, it basically is the price of gas at the pump is going to go up significantly and Then that means the price of products will go up. And so President Trump needs to find a way to get out of this situation.

>> Fred Jackson: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: And, I wouldn't be a. I wouldn't be a man. Now, a lot of people on the other, a lot of people who are considered hawks, and we would be aligned with them, philosophically on most issues, certainly supporting our military. But there's no end in sight to this. and I don't know what the objective is. And if you don't, if people aren't clearly stated an objective, I'm talking about the American people, especially people who support President Trump, they're going to lose faith in this. And, I had hoped that this would be wrapped up by Memorial Day. And here we are in the middle of July, and it doesn't seem to be. President Trump doesn't come out and say, okay, we're going to do this, this, and this, and then we're gone, then we're out. And if we can't do this and this, we're leaving. So there's nothing like that. He just says, they're ready to make a deal. And then he says, not so quick. And then he's just all over the map and there's no leadership. There's.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: that people can trust.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, Tim, it may be another way of looking at this is to say that you simply cannot. And underlying this, cannot trust the Iranians. You cannot trust them. They lie, they deceive, they.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: they say one thing, they do another. They are driven. I mean, the mullahs over there, they are driven by an apocalyptic ideology that I think prevents them from making any kind of, quote, peace deal with, quote, the Great Satan. They still remember. These are the people who still want to drive Israel off the face of the earth.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. They're not. These are. These people are all in. They are fully committed. And as Ray said, they have an apocalyptic, not. Not a biblical apocalyptic, but a

>> Tim Wildmon: end of the world.

>> Tim Wildmon: An end of the world Muslim, Shia, ideology or theology that they are following. And so that's why it's not a traditional situation where you say, you know, you're fighting somebody who cares about their people and their land and the money and, their economy and whatever this you're not dealing with. well, Marco Rubio said it the other day, we're dealing with crazy people.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: from. From a Western point of view, we're dealing with crazy people. so we'll see.

>> Tim Wildmon: How do you make peace with crazy people? I know how do you? Look, we remember a few weeks ago, we. All that back and forth about the mou, the Memorandum of Understanding, which turned out to be not worth the paper. It was printed.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: I do not blame Marco Rubio and I do not blame the president or his advisors. But this is all on the other side. They didn't mean it. They didn't mean it when they said it. They didn't mean it when they signed it. And I see. I know what you're saying about the president and his leadership, but now what is Mr. Trump supposed to do? Because we're going to keep bombing. We're going to maybe get another peace deal which will last, what, 24 hours, and we're back where we are.

There is a report that we are moving more military personnel into Persian Gulf bases

>> Fred Jackson: There is one more troubling development we haven't talked about.

>> Tim Wildmon: We needed more.

>> Fred Jackson: There is a report that we are moving more military personnel into those bases, along the Persian Gulf. US Bases. We're moving soldiers forward. Remember, we've talked about this. Boots on the ground. I heard one Republican senator this morning, it was Rick Scott, I think it was, who said, we're not going to be able to finish this without some boots on the ground. I assume he didn't expand on that. I'm assuming he is talking about those facilities that we've talked about that Iran uses to disperse its oil and load its oil on tankers. the Carc island we're talking about. So at a time when we hoped we were going to extract ourselves, you know, let's get out of this. Let's wrap it up. As Mike Johnson said the other day, if we're going to put boots on the ground at Cark island to basically control their oil dispersion, the rants, oil disbursement, we're going to be there for a while.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes. And keep in mind that the service members that just recently were killed by Iran.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: Those were boots on the ground, if you will, at US Bases in the Middle East.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: what would be wrong with just packing up and coming home?

>> Fred Jackson: I think a lot of Americans would say, that's what I want.

>> Tim Wildmon: What would be wrong with that? That would be viewed as a. That would be viewed as a win for Iran by the world.

>> Speaker E: Right? Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: And the mainstream media would spin it that way, no question.

>> Chris Woodward: But Trump gives up.

>> Tim Wildmon: But in the end, what's the best thing to do at this point? Not really what. How it's viewed at the world. This is what concerns me about President Trump. Again, I've appreciated a lot of things that he's done and said as part of. But it worries me that if his ego gets in the way of rational thinking. Do you understand what I'm saying? Absolutely. You could say, well, no, he's going to keep firing at them. And again, to what end? Maybe there will be. And hopefully and prayerfully there will be soon because longer this thing goes on. Alright, we'll be back momentarily.

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>> Speaker E: Every day.

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>> Tim Wildmon: Hello everyone, I'm Tim M. Wildmon M President of American Family association and American Family Radio. Hey, we've got some great tours lined, up for March of 2027. We've got one tour we call the Footsteps of Paul tour that's mainly in Greece or only in Greece, including Athens and Corinth and Thessalonica. And then we've got a separate tour to Italy where we're going to Venice and Florence and Pisa and Rome and all the sites of Italy. So you can do both of these tours if you want to. We've arranged that as well. Also, this tour of Italy, it's not like the Olive Garden tour of Italy. You know, this is, we're really going there to Italy to see Italy and to eat Italian food too as well. So for information on any of the tours I've mentioned here, go to tours.afa.net tours.afa.net tours.aca.net give thanks to the Lord,

>> Speaker H: for he is good.

>> Tim Wildmon: His love endures forever.

>> Speaker H: Psalm 107:1.

>> Tim Wildmon: This is today's issues. Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's Issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back to more of Today's Issues.

We're going to have a guest in just a few moments

Welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. We're going to have a guest in just a few moments. so Dr. David Rankin will be on with us. He's an economist, a listener to American Family Radio. He is a professor, or has been a professor at Southern Arkansas University. So we'll talk to him. And Mike Huckabee, the ambassador to Israel, is going to be on with us at the top five after, I think, the top of the hour. That's the plan. You know, when you're the ambassador of Israel, sometimes plans change in just a few minutes.

>> Chris Woodward: It's suppertime in Jerusalem right now.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Yeah, it is. So Ray Pritchard is with us. Raise in Florida. Krish, Fred, and yours truly. We're in Mississippi, and we thank you for listening, wherever you may be.

Ray: Ambassador Huckabee is exactly the type of ambassador the United States needs

All right, so, let's see, what do we got? we got our guest in studio. We're getting them situated, seated. All right, so what, Ambassador Huckabee, he's been on the job, what, a year now?

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, it's been about a year. And, what I was going to say, an exciting time. What an interesting time for him. he was.

>> Tim Wildmon: He's been doing all this ambassadorship from

>> Fred Jackson: a bunker pretty well. But you know what? He is exactly the type of ambassador the United States needs at such time as this. Yeah, he's been fantastic. He's been just fantastic. He loves the Jewish people, loves Israel.

>> Tim Wildmon: Ah.

>> Fred Jackson: And, a fierce defender. And, maybe we'll get a chance to talk a little bit about that.

>> Speaker E: Ray.

>> Tim Wildmon: Do you know, Mike?

>> Tim Wildmon: only from a distance and just only by.

>> Tim Wildmon: I thought your paths may have crossed since you're both Southern Baptists and so forth.

>> Tim Wildmon: I know, but I love him. He is friend. I would say he's probably the best ambassador we've ever had to the nation of Israel.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. And to President Trump's credit, remember presidents through the years, Republicans and Democrats said, we're going to move our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Praise the Lord. President Trump did that.

>> Chris Woodward: I got to see that when I went to Israel last year. And let me tell you, Huckabee has really good security. We were standing across the street from the embassy, and somebody in our group took a picture, and a guy comes across the street and says, hey, you got to delete that photo. And we said, we're Americans. And he said, I don't care.

>> Tim Wildmon: Alright, so we'll talk to Mike Huckabee in about 30 minutes or so.

American Family Radio welcomes Dr. Beth Ann Rankin from Vanderbilt University

Well, in studio with us right now is our guest, father, daughter, first of all, ladies first. Dr. Beth Anne Rankin. Baker is, in studio with us. Welcome.

>> Speaker H: Good morning. Thank you for having me here.

>> Tim Wildmon: Do you want me to call you Beth Anne Rankin or Baker?

>> Speaker H: You know what, I have that Southern double name going on. I always say I answer to any Southern double.

>> Tim Wildmon: Beth Anne.

>> Speaker E: Beth Anne.

>> Tim Wildmon: But you are a doctor, of what?

>> Speaker H: Ah, at Vanderbilt University. I studied organizational leadership at the Peabody College of Education. And so I've been fascinated with just organizational design and organizational landscapes for a long time.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Speaker H: And so that was what I pursued my doctorate in.

>> Tim Wildmon: if you get a doctorate from Vanderbilt, you've done something there.

>> Chris Woodward: So way to anchor down.

>> Tim Wildmon: I congratulate. Anchor down. So anyway, so, where do you live now?

>> Speaker H: I live in Magnolia, which is where my father lives. My husband, Dr. Cary Baker, works at Southern Arkansas University. He's the dean of students there. And my father was the. Is, is President emeritus, at Southern Arkansas University.

>> Tim Wildmon: Dr. David Rankin is, Bethann's dad. And he's in studio with us, as well. Good morning, brother.

>> Speaker E: Good morning. Hey, it's great to be here.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now, you live in Magnolia?

>> Speaker E: We live in Magnolia, yes, sir.

>> Tim Wildmon: Which is what, an hour south of Little Rock? Where is that?

>> Speaker E: We're about, we're just about 20 miles north of Louisiana, not far from Texarkana.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, okay, okay.

>> Speaker E: Give you an idea.

>> Tim Wildmon: I got you. well, listen, welcome. Now, how long have you been a professor? Or were you a professor of, economics there?

>> Speaker E: Actually, I've been associated with the university.

>> Chris Woodward: Right.

>> Speaker E: At 56 years. I was president 14 before that, dean and economics professor.

>> Tim Wildmon: They got to name something after you then. You've been there that long, huh? Huh? They did building or give you a statue or something.

>> Speaker E: They named the, College of Business Business after me, did they? They did.

>> Tim Wildmon: I was kidding. Congratulations.

>> Speaker E: All right, sir.

>> Tim Wildmon: But you're a listener to American Family Radio?

>> Speaker E: Yes, sir. That's where I've made my first contact.

>> Tim Wildmon: You, at least. Who do you listen to over there?

>> Speaker E: Well, I, I'm a pilot, so we

>> Tim Wildmon: have a show here.

>> Speaker E: I was driving out to the airport on occasion, and I was surfing around the FM stations, ran across Abraham Hamilton III and, a very interesting program. So I got to listening to him. Yeah, and that was, that was really great. So I thought, well, maybe I ought to think about getting involved with American Family Radio. So I did and then ended up having dinner with you guys up in Little Rock. And that was just a, ah, breakthrough for us.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, Abe's a little subdued for me, for my taste, but you know, a lot of people like that kind of.

>> Speaker E: Oh, they do.

>> Speaker H: Razzle dazzle.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he just, you know.

We're going to record a video on the economy this afternoon

All right, so, monotone, you know what I'm saying? Okay, so you've got a book. You're over here in Tupelo. You guys flew over, right?

>> Speaker E: We did.

>> Tim Wildmon: Your private pilot.

>> Speaker E: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: You flew over, to be with us. Because you and I are going to record this afternoon a video.

>> Speaker E: That's correct.

>> Tim Wildmon: on a serious topic, which is the economy. the. It's based on your book, the Economics of Freedom. Yes, sir, the Economics of Freedom. Because what's going on in our country is a very, in terms of the socialist left and their promotion of communistic ideas, which a lot of Americans, you know, they knew. A lot of Americans knew what this was about in the 50s and 60s and the cold War and everything. But today the average American, I don't know how much they know about communistic ideas, about the advantages, for the world for freedom and free enterprise and capitalism. So we're going to be talking about that.

Capitalism is related to freedom, Tim Rankine says

Let me ask you this. let's start with, the book the Economics of Freedom in Defense of Capitalism. What is capitalism, if you would. Is that kind of where you start with your book and where is the basis for that in our country, the

>> Speaker E: U.S. well, it really is. Capitalism, is so related to freedom that I think people miss this. They think, okay, capitalism is, profits, it's big companies, all of that sort of thing. Capitalism is related to freedom. If, if we all got stuck on a desert island, capitalism would be the first thing we turn to. Some would say, well, Tim, you might say, well, I'm a good fisherman. I'm going to go catch some fish and then also swap some fish with you guys. And you might say, hey, I brought some seeds. I have some seeds with me. I'm a good gardener. I'm going to plant some, some vegetables and things. And I'll swap with another gentleman, might say, hey, I'll start building houses for you guys and we'll, we'll just swap it around. Capitalism is just the natural order of things. And I always say that socialism cannot exist without a large and coercive government. Capitalism can.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, so, so trade swapping, bartering, those that's been around, that's what you're talking about.

>> Speaker E: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's what people do. Now what is the, I know that, Fred, you got something coming. So that's, is that the essence of capitalism? In other words, you're rewarded for your work financially?

>> Speaker E: Yes. Well, work and incentive. Incentive is so important in capitalism and work is so important.

>> Tim Wildmon: But how is that, is that based in the Bible though?

>> Speaker E: Well, it really is. I mean you have, you have questions of the owners of the vineyard. You know, you have in the Old Testament people owned property. Ah. The Ten Commandments says don't steal. Well, if you're stealing, it would be private property. And there is nothing in the Old or NewSong Testament that talks about regulating people's lives in terms of the economy. It's just an assumption that it's going to be freedom and it's going to be capitalism.

>> Fred Jackson: All of what you have just talked about, Dr. Rankine, is the basis when we talk about what has made America great. Why so many people want to come over our borders legally and illegally is because of the opportunities that capitalism provides.

At least half of our students favor socialism over capitalism, Pew Research says

So it's very troubling knowing we were going to have you folks on today. Here's a Fox headline this morning. Don't know if you've seen this. The numbers don't lie. Young Americans are falling in love with socialism. How in the world did we get there?

>> Speaker E: Oh, that's a great question and it's absolutely true. all the statistics from Pew Research and others say that at least half of our students believes it's favor socialism over capitalism. And it comes about because of all the promises, promises, promises and people looking at utopia. Well, don't compare the United States with Utopia. Compare us with South Korea or North Korea or Cuba or France or Spain to get a proper comparison. We had a discussion about the fact that capitalism has flaws only because people have flaws. That's why capitalism has flaws. But if you take those same people with flaws and put them in charge of a multi trillion dollar government, just think of the kind of flaws you're going to have. And so that's the key. People are falling in love with the promises, promises, promises. It's a feel good thing. You know, the socialist gets up there and says, hey, we're going to redistribute the income, everybody's going to be happy, it's all going to be great. And. But you destroy the economy. And that's been the power of the United States of America. It's been our incentive and our free enterprise system.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, the basis for the free enterprise is that you're rewarded for your work.

>> Speaker E: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: And your ingenuity.

>> Speaker E: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: And your, your skills, to. And that leads to private property rights, right?

>> Speaker E: Yes, absolutely.

>> Tim Wildmon: So our founders in the US and you write on this in the book, understood what William Bradford understood at Plymouth Rock. Remember that store out. Is that in your book? I don't know if that's.

>> Speaker E: No, it's not in my book.

>> Tim Wildmon: But that story, William Bradford, who was. Came over in the Mayflower. Y' all correct me if I'm wrong about my history here, because it's a. Okay. So, they set up a commune here and they said, okay, everybody contribute to the. To the food, you know. And then William Bradford learned, hey, half the people aren't contributing, but they're taken. And so they finally decided, hey, this isn't going to work. So we'll do it on an incentive basis. You work, you eat, you work, you have property, you work. You know what I'm saying? So they figured out that socialism, in the end, doesn't work because people become slothful and lazy and they don't carry their weight. I'm taking broadly and generally here. Obviously, the Bible tells us we need to care for people who can't care for themselves. Right? So take care of folks. Charity and that kind of thing. But the free enterprise system, my dad used to say has done the most, is the best economic. The free enterprise system, undergirded by Christian principles is the greatest economic, system the world has ever known. Thus.

>> Speaker H: Well, and Jon Adams talked about that this constitutional republic is designed for a moral and virtuous people. And so he. He grounded that on Christian principles.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Speaker H: And so I see that today.

>> Pam Bondi: And it is.

>> Speaker H: It is a, question of productivity. And in that incentive for productivity, if our especially young people could understand this today, is that you are elevating those goods and services that then contribute to people's quality of life, and not only their quality of life, but generosity throughout the world. And I think that's one reason that people in the United States of America are so generous, because we have an economic system that has empowered that capacity. But again, on the principles, when you go back and you look in history, these principles, with those Christian principles that I believe our country was founded upon, that just makes a difference. It's that guiding light, that North Star, that keeps things very centered going forward.

David Rankin and Beth Ann Rankin Baker discuss American history

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, we're talking to, Dr. David Rankin and Dr. Beth Anne Rankin Baker. They're here in Tupelo with us visiting Today. And, so, David has written a book called the Economics of Freedom in Defense of Capitalism. And Ray, did you have a question?

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, I was thinking about as, Dr. Reinken, as you were talking about how the appeal, to the young people, the promises that are. That are being made. I can see that part of it. Is there another problem here that. Okay, listening, Bethann, to what you were saying. Just thinking about all this. I can remember, well, this dates me 50 plus years ago, when I was coming through junior high school and high school. We had classes not just on American history, but on civics. We had classes on, well, the principles of free enterprise, the principles of the US Constitution. It seems to me that part of the problem, guys, is that we've got not just a generation, but a couple of generations that have lost, completely disconnected from, from the principles upon which this nation was based. And that has put us today in 2026, disconnected from our own history. We've got young people who literally. Do you say Jon Adams? Unless they saw that miniseries on tv, they probably don't even know who you're talking about. How do we get out of the mess that we're in that way in our country?

>> Speaker E: Absolutely. That's one of the things, that I wrote about, Bethann, and I wrote about is the Bill of Rights really spells out how important it is to have individual freedom and how freedom is better than any other approach to life, particularly economic life. And I agree with you. It's like World War II. I can remember studying about Magellan and DeSoto and all of that, but when we got to World War II, the year was up, and we never got into it, never studied it. Well, what's more important to us, World War II helped reshape the whole geography of the world. And we have got to start teaching these principles, our children. The American system, it's a republic, it's a democracy, it's a free enterprise capital. We have got to start teaching this in our school systems. And we've got to quit just rolling over and playing dead when we find out that something else is happening in our school systems. And I think that this is part of. One of our keys is, can we maintain we're 250 years. This is our big anniversary. 250 years. Can we maintain this for another 250 years? Can we maintain it for another hundred years? We have got to be sure our young people understand the Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights. They need to look at the Declaration of Independence and understand that. And if we don't do that, this next generation is going to vote us into socialism and maybe worse.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because yesterday, speaking in Georgia, President Trump said the US Will never be a communist country. Now the President often refers to Democrats, socialists and communists as the same thing. So let's say he's just talking about the whole bunch of and you know, that's great. people cheered. I agree with him. but he's 80 years old and he's only in office for 900 some more, some odd more days. So is it upon us to keep that going? And how do we do? Should parents, do this themselves and not rely on schools? Or is that in addition to like ask your kid what are you being told about the economy and stuff at the dinner table?

>> Speaker E: I think really for the first generation, parents have got to become much more involved in being sure that the patriotic princip that help make this country great are really ensconced in these young people's minds.

>> Speaker E: Because it's the truth. The American model is fabulous. It is fabulous. The social model is pretty bad. Communist is awful, brutal and coercive. And so we have got to do this. I think we also have to exert more power on our school systems. Getting elected to the school board, that's important. Once you get elected to the school board, you can have some impact on this. And I think we've got to be sure our school systems are doing what they needed. Reading, writing, arithmetic, and some good old fashioned American patriotism.

>> Tim Wildmon: You're listening to Today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. We're talking to Dr. David Rankin and Dr. Bethann Rankin Baker. And they're visiting with us today. The book that doctor that they've written is called the Economics of Freedom in Defense of Capitalism. And we're talking about this because there is a war going on in America that is going to decide whether we're going to go, socialistic, communistic, or stay with capitalism and free enterprise. And let me ask you this, let me ask you this, Bethann. The appeal from the socialists. I think the reason they're getting some traction is because they say, well, yes, we're the richest country in the world, then why can't we provide for people like universal health care? Like why do we guaranteed income for people? If we're the richest m most powerful country in the world, we should be able to provide these things for people. And so that is. And for example, you, the thou Shalt not, help, me out with number 10. I was missing the word. I knew that I knew what I was. But thou shalt not covet. I think the socialist left, they inject covetousness, they do into this because. And they say, and they justify it. They say, well, the wealthy have this. You should have this too.

There is a revolution going on in America which threatens capitalism and free enterprise

So all those things combined, lead us to, you know, somewhat, ah, this is a revolution going on with a small R in America which threatens, capitalism and free enterprise, private, ownership of land and property. We see in NewSong York, they're talking about, basically setting the rates for landlords, what they can charge tenants. I know there are landlord stories that we've all heard. There are people that, you know, don't do the right thing or explode, but that's their property. And here is the government saying, no, we'll tell you how much you can charge for private property rental, those kinds of things. That appeals to a lot of people who don't have things.

>> Speaker H: Well, and that's one reason I think dad particularly, he has been carrying, this torch for decades. And so to see that we have reached a moment in the United States of America, in our landscape today, where this message has never been more important than it is right now. And that's why we appreciate this opportunity to, be able to talk about this topic and empower people. We always say, you cannot defend capitalism if you do not understand capitalism. And too many times, individuals who support socialism, they win the war of words because it sounds so good and it has glitter dripping from everything. But if government were the solution, then why have it already been the solution? Why hasn't it already solved all the woes? I always tell people, somehow I made it to the third grade, and I learned how to read, write, multiply, add, subtract, and divide. And there was no United States Department of Education. It did not exist until I was in the fourth grade. Yeah, but somehow in the third grade, I still met because I had teachers who loved me and I had, administrators who loved our school. And that was a local control. And so I always say when you, when you have those teachers and they feel empowered to teach, and this is an important message. And so I know when I, go into the state legislature in January, I hope to carry that torch and continue to build on. What Governor Sarah Sanders is doing in Arkansas right now is bringing that sense of patriotism back. It was her dad, Governor Mike Huckabee, who was my boss back in the 90s, officiated at my Wedding, several years ago.

>> Tim Wildmon: We're about to have him on.

>> Speaker H: Well, I heard you mention his name a little bit earlier, and dad was, That was when dad became the governor. Governor's advisor.

>> Speaker E: That's right.

>> Speaker H: He appointed economic advisor to the governor.

>> Speaker E: Yes, he did.

>> Tim Wildmon: We'll get a job performance review in just a few minutes, okay? You don't matter.

>> Speaker E: No. No, I don't.

David and Bethann Rankin write excellent book on free enterprise

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, well, listen, we will, We're going to be offering the book, you know, in a more official capacity, but I'm holding up the book, which is excellent, by David and Bethann Rankin. They call the Economics of Freedom, In Defense of Capitalism. So this, is a good primer on why capitalism and the free enterprise system is the. We need to maintain that in America if we want to maintain a strong economic backbone and be the envy of the world. There's a reason, you know, there's a reason why we're the wealthiest country in the world, despite the fact that we're the third largest.

>> Speaker E: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Population wise, is because of the free enterprise system.

>> Speaker E: Yes. Yes. The total economy of the United States of America now surpassed 30 trillion. China is right at 20 trillion. And so even though they have about four times the population of the United States of America, they have much, less smaller economy. And their per capita income in the United states is like 53,000. In China, it's 11,000. That's the difference.

>> Tim Wildmon: Most of these people who complain about America, and they say, you know, I want to go. Well, you tell me, where's a better economic system? And most of them have never traveled abroad or seen the reality that probably half the world's in abject poverty. All right. By our standards, huh?

>> Speaker E: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: I would guess there's a reason we continually use the expression Third World countries, because they stay there. And, So. All right. Thank you. Thank you. All right. I want to thank you, David and Bethann for stopping in. And Fred, you'll be back. Ray will be back. Krish, thank you for your contributions. We shall return momentarily with more of today's issues.

>> Pam Bondi: The views and opinions expressed in this

>> Speaker H: broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

Tim, Fred and Ray talk with Chris on top news headlines of the day including how we have done twelve nights of bombing in Iran. Also, Dr. David Rankin joins the program to discuss his book "The Economics of Freedom: In Defense of Capitalism". 

Chapters:

(00:00) Tim Wildman: Tropical storm Bertha made landfall in Louisiana yesterday

(03:37) Ray: Romans 14 says each Christian will stand before the Lord individually

(08:48) Tim: I wish President Trump would just stop talking about Iran

(10:45) Ray McGovern: Most people supported initial attacks on Iran

(12:50) Two Saudi tankers came under attack last night by the Houthis

(14:54) There are calls for Saudi Arabia to step up efforts in Yemen war

(18:12) Tim Ferriss: President Trump needs to find a way to deal with Iran

(22:26) There is a report that we are moving more military personnel into Persian Gulf bases

(24:59) Preborn Network helps mothers facing unexpected pregnancies discover hope through a free ultrasound

(27:42) We're going to have a guest in just a few moments

(28:38) Ray: Ambassador Huckabee is exactly the type of ambassador the United States needs

(30:24) American Family Radio welcomes Dr. Beth Ann Rankin from Vanderbilt University

(33:20) We're going to record a video on the economy this afternoon

(34:23) Capitalism is related to freedom, Tim Rankine says

(36:46) At least half of our students favor socialism over capitalism, Pew Research says

(40:42) David Rankin and Beth Ann Rankin Baker discuss American history

(46:59) There is a revolution going on in America which threatens capitalism and free enterprise

(49:45) David and Bethann Rankin write excellent book on free enterprise