Transcripts For CSPAN2 In Depth Ralph Reed 20240712

How we order our societies, but for me obviously the bible is primarily the revelation of god planning principles for humanity and the best way to know the keys to living a godly life with intimacy with him and if you believe in the new testament as i do is son jesus christ. I also think as a trained historian its one of the most important history books that you will ever readve. Theres no better Single Source than the bible. Its all there, the rise and fall of empires from, you know, the babylon to the persians, to the greeks, to the roman empire. And then finally, even if you dont shower and then finally even if you dont share my faith, or the jewish or Christian Faith, i think it is one of the most important books of philosophy ever written. I mean, if you read the songs the proverbs, even if you dont have a view of the world, the principal, the philosophical beliefs that are found inca scripture are, you know some of the most timeless and eternal and important ever written. Host how did you come to your Christian Faith . While i was raised in the church my parents grew up in the methodistur church. I grew up in the methodist church. My best friend growing up was the son of my pastor. My father was chairman of the board of deacons or elders. My mother was the headd of the methodist youth fellowship. I grew up going to methodist youth camp. In grow up going to sunday school. I did not know any other life other than that. It was just the way i was raised. But i never really had a personal relationship with jesus christ. When i got excited with politics as a teenager, i went off on that track and worked on campaigns and ended up going to washington d. C. And working at the Republican National committee and, really a long story short, i did not find that to be satisfying. To fill the void that was inside of me. I came in contact some Young Christians who were involved in the College Republicans who shared their faith with me. But more importantly, just share their lives with me. They loved me. We became good friends. I saw the happiness and joy in them that i had never known. I was curious to where it came from. And that ultimate intent evultimately led to me driving to a Small Evangelical Church outside washington d. C. On september 18, 1983. And at that Church Service i gave my life to jesus christ. Host ralph reed why are you a conservative . Iv guest i am a conservative because i believe in free markets for it i believe in capitalism, not on buttered, un hinged capitalism, but a capitalism that is ungoverned by the principles that i referred to earlier from scripture about caring for the poor. Caring for the downtrodden. The left behind, the marginalized. I believe in free markets. And free minds. Our together, freedom in a civic sense the greatest generator of wealth and happiness in all of Human History and i believe conservativism t has found its home in the Republican Party in the postworld war ii period, is the best way to preserve, guard and protect those free minds and free markets. And i think unfortunately, liberalism, which is found its home in the modern Democratic Party and the post depression, post new deal context, spends most of its time trying to restrict and even crush those freedoms and those markets. And believes in the redistribution of wealth and trying to create a quality of outcomes rather than maximizing the wealth and progress that comes from free markets and free minds. Gripping a military family served in the u. S. C navy during the conflicts. Then was a reserve officer. And i grew up in a household of faith. And so, that was the way i grewec up. Over time and in my own independent decisions based on my own study in my ownwn involvement. Stewing from a 1996 book, active faith, you write what does it mean to be a person of faith in the political world . It is no different than being a christian and any other vocation. Politics is a contact sport. I have a job to do that it involves trying to advance my agenda. In that combat i play hard and i try to win. But i never hit below the belt. Guest yowrites. A lot of times i get asked a question, what is the proper relationship between christianity or our faith in politics . It seems to be such a dirty business. It is so cutthroat. This really two answers. The first is we are called as men and women of faith to be engaged in the policy wherever god has placed us. In the time of the ancient jews, that sometimes meant being under subjugation and occupying power where there is the babylonian or the persians or later the roman romans. In the current context, it means for me being a citizen of the unitedit states. And i think we have earthly civic responsibilities and we have heavenly responsibilities. And we essentially carry two passports. We are citizens effective in two realms and two kingdoms. One is of the United States. We are american citizens. And the other is of the kingdom of god, which is both here today and yet to come. And each carries responsibilities as a citizen of the heavenly kingdom, i am called to obedience to gods commandments, to care for the poor, to share the gospel with others. To pray, to read the bible. And to worship, to not neglect the coming together of believers. There are certain responsibilities. The earthly civic contacts there are certainin responsibilities which i believe are to register to vote, be informed, to vote, to make ones views known to elected officials. To petition our government to redress grievances, and injustices. And if we fully understand our faith, we are to be muscular citizens above. And the reason why we are called to be muscular and robust citizens in the earthly realm is not because we believe we can usher in the kingdom of god by electing the right person or passing the right law, we cant do that. Gods kingdom will only come when christ returns. But until then, we are to occupy until he is comes. And if we understand our citizenship in the biblical understanding, its effective in two ways. Number one, it can protectct the innocent. And it can establish justice and redress injustice and resist evil. Certainly the Civil Rights Movement did that in the 1960s. The Antislavery Movement did that in the antebellum period and onto the civil war. The Temperance Movement did that and the Suffragist Movement in the late 19th century. They werent just on their knees praying for jesus to come back. They were doing everything they could to resist and combat evil in their time. The second thing that it does, as it allows the gospel to spread into rise to the highest and most influential levels of our society. Because of our civic engagement. In other words, other people become aware of our faith and our principles and are exposed to them and an altogether positive way because we are engaged in the civic process. For example, when you read the new testament you find because hethe apostle paul was a citizen of rome and appealed his case, all the way to the amber. Which was the right of a roman citizen. The bible says that many members of caesars household, came to know jesus christ. Because bald did that. In some epistles that paul wrote later, he sends greetings from members of caesars household. And there were governors, and roman officials who were exposed to the gospel only because paul chose to be an effective citize citizen. So that is the way i approachpr i it. For. Now mr. Reed, from your 2014 book, awakening, how america could turn from economic and moral destruction back to greatness, you talk about a topic we are talking about toda today. You write because we have never fully repented for the injustices and wrongs done during slavery and segregation , we have never experienced the healing that comes to thede redemptive process of redemption and forgiveness. Until we do, we will not fully experience the spiritual awakening our nation so desperately needs. Guest yeah. That is certainly not a thought that is original to me. Iy think in that chapter i quote a beautiful speech that my good friend Mike Huckabee gave when he was governor of arkansas. To honor the children who were the first to integrate a high school in little rock, arkansas. And ultimately led to dwight d eisenhower, as i recall federal lysing the National Guard to protect those young people from the violence they were threatened with. And Mike Huckabee said in effect, the same words and said that some of the poverty and the backwardness that arkansas had experience, in the 20th century was attributable to the sin of racism and the sin of segregation. And specifically to the failure to fully repent of that sin. And i still believe that is truew true. And, we both individually and collectively as a nation, we need to acknowledge that this sin occurred. That it was a collective sin of both commission by those who erected jim crow. And subjected africanamerican citizens to be secondclass citizens. And deny them rights as americans. And by omission. By those who allowed it to go on and failed to oppose it. So there is no question that is true. While i know there is a lot of controversy about the 1619 project at the new york times. And i think there has been a distortion of some truths about American History in that project, i do think it iss undeniable as the historian, Edmund Morgan wrote in amamerican slavery American Freedom, that American Freedom was getting struck up a intertwined with slavery. And that it has been very difficult for us as a society to disentangle the two. Even almost 400 years after the first europeans landed on this continent. Host do some of that repentance include reparation . Guest i have not felt that was the way to go. I think it is very hard, you know, 150 years after the end of slavery to figure out who gets compensated and how. It was done for the victims of the japanese internment during world war ii. Congress actually passed a law and made a monetary payment to the families of those who were denied their freedom. Who were citizens. Who were put in internment camps during world war ii under the administration of franklin or chad roosevelt. I think it would be difficult to do it 150 years later. I think if it was n going to be done it needed to be done after the civil war or during reconstruction. I think there are other ways you can express a repentant spirit. Somel, of that is personal some is spiritual and some of it does take place in Public Policy. And without getting into a fullblown Public Policy discussion today, i think in areas like healthcare, criminal Justice Reform, Economic Empowerment, and education reform an opportunity, you can build a society that is just and we can build a society that is based on equal opportunity for everyone. And we can make sure no one is left behind. Particularly those minority americans. De particularly africanamericans who had been denied that opportunity. In many cases today. They live in neighborhoods that are not safe. Their children go to school where they are not safe and cannot learn. They do not have the same opportunities as other americans. We should do everything we can to redress that. Obviously i am a supporter of president trump. Whether you look at education reform and School Choice agenda, you look at his Economic Empowerment agenda, lowering africanamerican employment to the lowest level and recorded economic history, you look at his opportunities own agenda where they have unleashed approximately 5 billion in capital that is flowing into hundreds of opportunity zones. Mostly in disenfranchised minority areas of urban and rural centers. And you look at what he has that criminal Justice Reform. Historic to redress what i think was a twotiered Justice System for too many minority americans. I think it is possible. I think donald trump wants to do it. And i think once we get past the selection and this partisan season that we are in, i am optimistic that we will be able to. So would so ralph reed, your most recent book, is for god and country. The most recent place for trump. You just lay out yours for trump . Guest somewhat. That is certainly what i talk about. I have a proposed, and both awakening, the 2014 book, and for god and country, i lay out what i say is not a republican or a democrat. Not necessarily a liberal or conservative. But a biblical agenda for the country. And in some cases, what criminal Justice Reform and immigration reform, we end up in a little bit of a different way than the Republican Party has traditionallyn. Been. People tend to look at conservativey and think they are reflexively republican. But many have changed the Republican Party far more than the Republican Party is change them. Theyve made the Republican Party a prolife party. And i believe that black lives matter. I believe all black l lives matter. Bo including unborn lives. An abortion is one ofse those cases where disproportionately, minority lives are being lost and are being taken systematically by what i consider to be a great social injustice. We also changed on criminal Justice Reform. Historically the Republican Party has been a tough on crime party, lock them up and throw away the key party. And through our efforts, not just our efforts but largely our efforts, this has come through the Faith Community. We have called for a more biblical criminal Justice System aced on redemption and not simply punishment. Giving people a Second Chance at life. And focusing particularly on non violent first offenders, compassionate humane and tough love alternative to longterm incarceration like job training, like mentor ship programs, like spiritual programs including those led by fellowshipthr and others that minister inmates and lead them toio a better life spiritually. And then the last one i will mention is immigration reform. You know, most people focus on Donald Trumps desire for Border Security and building a wall to secure the border. But be on that, we have also called for welcoming the stranger and welcoming the immigrant. And making sure that while they abide by our laws, we also treat them with compassion. And give them a chance, if they obey our laws. And if they pay taxes. And if they either get a job or they go to school of being able to have a path to citizenship. We have called for either permanent residency, and we dont oppose citizenship with the entire dreamer population. Because we dont think those young people should be punished for the crime that their parents committed. We believe the bible teaches that you dont punish the child for the sin of the father. And so, again, if they are violating laws. Ifre they are trying to get on public assistance, that is a different deal. But if they serve in the military, they have a job, or they are getting an education, we think they can be part of the greatness of america. We have called for his part of a comprehensive solution to the immigration system allowing them to have residence. So, i think there is such an agenda. That is what we work on. Most the time of course we find ourselves in agreement with the Republican Party. But not always. See what mr. Reed is there some discomfort in evangelical circles with the president because of some of the personal issues that have been reported on . Guest sure. As i point out in for god and country, there has been a little bit of revisionist history by the media about how evangelicals came to support donald trump. And i wrote for god and country, not so much to defend trump although i do plenty of that in the book and happily so, i wrote the book primarily as a defense to the Faith Community. Because they have been called every name in the book. Hypocrites, spiritual fraud, phony, selling out the gospel for 30 pieces of silver, trampled mize in their spiritual beliefs to have access to power, and get a few items on their policy agenda. He had been smeared, they have been lied about. And i knew better. Because i was there. I was in the room with these leaders. But the exit polls show is two hairds of self identified evangelical but for someone other than donald trump in the primary m. Mostly ted cruz or marco rubio, huckabee or santorum or someone like that. For many of them donald trump was not only their first choice, he is not their second, third, or fourth choice. I met a lot of people in the Faith Community he was their 17h choice. But once they got to the general election and they faced a binary choice between donald trump and Hillary Clinton, and he was prolife and pro religious freedom and pro israel. And he released a list during the campaign of respected conservative and prolife. We should point out at the moment there was a vacancy on the supreme court, that either he or Hillary Clinton would fill. And he said if you elect me president , i will choose from this list. You know, sometimes we are not always aware of the history thats being made in front of our very eyes. But donald trump was the First Major Party president ial candidates in u. S. History to ever tell us who his court pics would be. No one had ever done that befor before. They voted on a faith based on the binary choice. Because on these issues of life, religious freedom, support for the state off israel, and the judicial in court pics that would decide those and other issues for their community, these are deeply held moral beliefs. They believe derive from their faith. And so they voted for trump on faith in spite of these reservations. Built on the character or his background. And keep in mind they also looked at Hillary Clinton and they had reservations about her character. She was after all, under fbi investigation for much of the campaign. In that investigation was reopened just ten days before the election. So as in 2020, they looked at the two candidates. They said neither one of them is perfect. But one of them is making commitments to us based on deeply held a moral beliefs. And we are going to vote for those beliefs. Not because hes perfect. Not because everything he says or does, now or in his life, we necessarily agreed with. But because we have two choices. In the case of joe biden in 2020, when you have a candidate in biden who is advocating abortionnrt on demand up to the moment of birth, paid for with tax dollars and as an entitlement under a a government run Healthcare System modeled on medicare for all, these evangelicals and faithful catholics believe that is a grave moral issue. They cannot and will not vote fort a candidate who is embracing that agenda. Now, at the Democratic Convention they set up a lot of time on what a good guy joe was. And how much empathy he had for people. Well, we have empathy too. We have empathy for unborn, innocent human beings who are losing their lives under an unjust regime of abortion on demand. And he not only favors that, he wants to subsidize it with tax dollars. He is endorsed by planned parenthood, the number one lobbying organization of that agenda. He even was to make it an entitlement on for agenda runr government healthcare. And then he wants to sue ministries like the Little Sisters of the poor or privately held christian businesses who declined to participate in the evil. That is why they voted for trump before. And thats why theyre going to vote for him and even bigger numbers in two months. Sue advocate afternoon thanks for joining us on book tv on cspan2. This is our monthly indepth program we invite one author on to talk about his or her body of work. This month it is author ralph reed. He is the author of eight books beginning in 1995 after the revolutionn came out how the Christian Coalition is impacting america. 1996, politically incorrect, the emerging faith factor in american politics. In 1996 as well, active faith, how christians are changing the soul of american politics. And then 2014, awakening came out how america can turn from a moral and economic destruction back to greatness. His most recent book came out this year, for god and country, the christian case for trump. Mr. Reed is alsork the author of three novels, dark horse, the confirmation, ballots and blood. We will ask him about those novels as well during this two hour conversation. We went to get you involved as well 202 is the area code 7488200 for those of you who t live in the east and central time zone prefer those in the mountain and pacific time zones, dial in at 202 7488201. Fnow if you like to send a text if thats easier for you, please include your first name and your city. Send it to this number 202 7488903. We also have some social media sites that you can make a comment or ask a question on. And we will cycle through those as we go. We will put these numbers up c will be able to see the text number again as well. Adjuster member, for social media site, booktv is our handle. Not mr. Reed, people probably know you through your involvement with Christian Coalition, faith of Freedom Coalition, republican politics. Perhaps they didnt know you were also an author. And on top of that a phd in history. Guest yeah, that was probably right. My plan was to be a College Professor and historian. But it didnt quite work out thatge way. I was privileged to be in the phd program at Emory University in the 1980s. I got a great education. Dan carter who was the bancroft prizewinning historian in the scottsboro, really to seminole work on that tragic case. And then was biographer of george c wallace. He was my dissertation director. And i still love history to this day. I cant say i have any regrets. I have had an unbelievably great ride. Doing what i have been doing professionally the last 30 years or so. But i would have liked to have been in the classroom and been able to write more history. My life, my career took a very different direction. Stuart was a topic of your phd thesis . Guest my dissertation was, the titles fortresses of faith. As a history, evangelical founded colleges in the south and between 1820 world war i pretty was the founding ultimate rise to prestige and power of institutions of emory, duke, vanderbilt stetson in florida, and later baylor. Many evangelical colleges, two thirds of the institutions of Higher Learning i thought it was a fascinating kindd of window later the cultural influence. Spirit could you consider duke or vanderbilt and evangelical the day . Im not familiar with every one of these institutions today. But actually the thing that sparked my desire to write about was i was going to emory. They said it was a fellow phd candidates. And mentioning that emory was founded by methodists and was a methodist university. And they went t really . They were going there and they did not even know. So i pulled down off the shelves one day, in the library, kind of the official history of Emory University. I went to the first chapter they preachers nil in the woods in rural georgia in the 1830s. Founded the site of what would be emory college. Dedicate that institution to the glory of god in this institution of the church. And i asked myself what happened between then and now . How could you go from a founding based on that purpose to today, probably many of the students dont even know institution was designed to answer that question. In wasnt trying to render any kind of moral judgment. I was fascinated with the great historian Richard Hofstadter called the trend from sectarianism to secularism that has dominated Higher Education in the United States. Lets hear from callers as well. Michael and alabama, you are first up with author ralph reed. Caller yes, he talks out ofof both side of his mouth he talks about not being judge mental. Everything he said was false. I mean this is another case of Jerry Falwell junior acting like christianity this and that. If anyone damaged christianity is people like him and Jerry Falwell junior. Thats all got saved at that. Thanks. Stuart mr. Reed . Guest everything is said about joe biden was true. I know the caller didnt like what i had to say. Certainly joe biden didnt like people like me telling the truth about his record. But i know joe biden. I worked with him and is chairman of the judiciary committee. Actually testified before his committee of the committee for a law that we were then supporting at the Christian Coalition to make the vandalism, more the burning of a church a federal crime. And i know that the joe biden i knew then, this is back in the 1990s, supported the amendment that bans the taxpayer under the Medicaid Program for the people of faith the required to subsidize what they believe is a taking of an innocent life. Through 36 years. Then supported it for eight years as vice president. He supported it twice as a president ial candidate in 1,987,882,008. We got into this race he flipflopped within 24 hours. They now supports not only the Hyde Amendment and requiring prolife Roman Catholics and evangelicals to payan for abortions with their tax dollar dollars, he reports expanding it to include a guaranteed right under government run healthcare based on the medicare for all plan of bernie sanders. So i know some people dont like to hear those facts. But that is the fact about joe bidens a record. And if you want to know, and i argue this in for god and country pretty few want to know why 81 evangelical bornagain christians and white roughly 70 of frequently mass attending catholics, catholics that go toee once a week or more often, those two together comprise about 37 or 48 of your entire electric. They are larger than the hispanic wrote, the union vote and that combined. If you want to know why they are given 70 to 80 he of their votes to donald trump and two other republican president ial candidates, thats why. You can shoot the messenger. You can attack me and anybody else you want. Its not going to changeo the facts that if your party and your candidate abortion on demand up to the moment of birth paid for their tax dollars dont blame us because youre losing to 70 to 80 or 85 of the votes common maybe ask yourself, should we maybe as a party allowed for some common sense exceptions to abortion . Whether it is late term abortion or at least notea support taxpayer funding, but there has been no such introspection on the part of the democrat. They get more and more extreme with every election. This is the most extremist agenda for the American People since roe v wade became law. For god and country ralph reed writes the clarity of the women of faith in making this choice to support trump keundertaken with much prayer and soulsearching has been dismissed and condemned by the chattering class and joined in by more than a few evangelicals. Guest right. When theyve been lied about and smeared. And they have been accused of essentially compromising their deeply held moral beliefs. Their faith is a fraud. Because they voted for donald trump. Thats the allegation being made against them. I said the exact opposite is the case for that they wrestled with this decision. It is not an easy decision. For many of them is one of the most difficult decisions they ever made. But in the end, they looked at donald trump, who for all of his imperfections, committed including the supreme court, that he be the best friend israel ever had. That he would move the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. That he would recognize jerusalem legitimate capital of the nation of israel heard by the way, a fact that has been true for 3000 years and reported history. No other president would move the embassy. I have not been critical of those other president s prayed they had their reasons for delaying this decision. From a prison. Turkey his only crime was to share the gospel. He has been a friend of the Faith Community. A friend of israel, and a friend of the unborn. Kept p their promises not just to these voters, kept his promises to the American People. That is one of the reasons why i added a roughly 30 page appendix in the book that detailed all of the achievements, accomplishments, and promises that were made and kept by donald trump. You know, you can like him or dislike him. You can enjoy or can be turned off by his twitter feed. Those are facts. Those are deeds, actions, and policies that he undertook that we believe are advancing moral goods. Thats where they are supported mystery dive two questions for you. One is, what you see is the ramifications if there is a democratic sweep in 2020 including taking the house, senate and the presidency. But would happen if thoughts of that coalition of members of the Faith Community . The second question i have a few dont mind, and a strong supporter of trump in the state of israel, what is it and what could be done in terms of the vast majority of jewish americans, particularly younger people who are adamantly democratic. Think im going to hang up in the sincere recording for your answer. Thank you, god bless. Sue and thank you phil. Democratic sweep in jewish america. Guest thank you for the question. I frankly think a democratic sweep is unlikely. Im not in the prediction business. I think all three outcomes, senate, House Speaker, presidency are all within the margin of error. Theyre all on the knifes as we talk this afternoon. I would be surprised if there is a democratic sweep. But we have certainly been surprised before. I will address it, therefore as a hypothetical. I think what you would get would be the green new deal. You get 4 trillion in higher taxes. Get an advancement of extremist abortion agenda that i talked about. You would get some kind of expanded obamacare or government run healthcare. Whether its medicare for all, whatever that looks like. Bernie sanders and the squad want to make it available to every american abolish private Health Insurance. 180million americans who right now get their own Health Insurance either through their employer on the individual market, all of those policies will be abolished and they would all be heard in the government healthcare. In the Faith Community, that government healthcare would include a mandate for abortion coverage. And i think that is wrong. I would hope we could stop it. That would be their agenda. Biden by the way is saying he will only do that down to the age of 55. Where it would end up if you had a democratic senate, the tother thing that would happen as i am confident of Chuck Schumer was the majority leader than on the very first day that theda democrats took the majority in the senate, they wouldve abolish the filibuster. And that would allow them to ram through this entire agenda without any rights for the minority to stopo it. Including on all judgeships. Since pretty much already the case anyway for judgeships. The last thing i will mention that comes to mind, as part of the green new deal, is the banning of fracking. Joe biden says he doesnt support the banning of fracking. But he has as he doesnt favor allowing any additional permits. Will have the stock of the buy thats engaged in it. Because of the cant do any additional drilling beyond with a party done, you have essentially killed the industry. That would cost approximate 3 million jobs. That would destroy the energy industry. There are 9 million jobs connected to the fossil fuel industry. We are the Number One Energy producer in the world. For the First Time Since the oil embargo we are energy independent, we dont require access to middle east or venezuela or other oil in order to provide needs. That would destroy all of that. In addition to that going to end all fossil fuel by 2025 prayed that would raise the average cost by 75000 but would devastate our economy. It would be a tax on the middle class. Unlike anything weve ever seen. So that is what i think is around turn number two. Especially if theres no filibuster in the senate. In terms of the jewish community, historically republicans about 25 to 30 . I think Ronald Reagan and george w. Bush got into about 35 . In their respective reelections in 1984 and 2004. I think it is possible, certainly its pop plausible that donald trump could get to that level in 2020. When about 2 and its an individual state. So in places like michigan, pennsylvania, florida, even georgia where there is a sizable Jewish Population in atlanta if he were to get up above 30 , 35 , it could make a big difference in places like dade, broward, palm beach and places like the counties around philadelphia and pennsylvania. If you are talking about narrow margins, in some of these state states. Because of the proisrael stance, because of his stand against terrorism, because he dismantled and defeated isis, the number one state sponsor ofne terror in the world and the number one adversary ofr israel, i think that is a real live possibility, certainly plausibl plausible. Sue and a text from josh in ann arbor, michigan. Ralph reed spoke about his faith imploring us to lift up the poor downtrodden and marginalized. He also says well redistribution, modern is not the method to achieve this. How is it possible to lift these people out of situations that they cannot get out of due to insufficient means toen engage effectively with the free markets, i. E. Bad credit, health issues, lack of. [inaudible] guest its a great question we could do two hours on that. We could do two days on that. But i think, let me confine my answer, in order to be somewhat brief to some of the things i havegs worked on at the Christian Coalition. I know from looking institute and other studies that if you are born out of wedlock and you live in a home in which a father is not present in that home, that you are twice as likely, not to graduate from high school. He or three times as likely to be chemically dependent on alcohol and drugs. And he or three times more than likely to be involved in the criminal Justice System. Just means that 80 , roughly ofou the people who are born out of wedlock and live in a home without both parents present in the home, have an 80 chance of living in poverty. If they are born in a home in wedlock im both of the parents are present in the home, they have less then a 20 chance of living in poverty. The chance of living in poverty is equity to strengthen the family we need to encourage fathers and mothers to get married and to stay married. In some of that can be done by government. A lot of itov cant be done by government the second thing i support is a tax system that rewards work and family formation and bearing children. Ive always supported the creation and growth of the child child tax credit. It came into law in the 1990s because of lobbying by the Christian Coalition. It was included in the contract with america. It was created 500, it was doubled under george w. Bush to 1000. And then it was doubled under donald trump to 2000. That 2000 has provided 88 million americans with a 2200dollar, roughly give or take tax credit against their tax burdens. And because of our lobbying and the work of champions like ivanka trump and marco rubio in the senate, that tax credit is refundable. Meaning it is not entirely refundable. It is about 70 refundable. Meaning that you dont just get it if you pay 2000 in taxes. But if you are at the bottom of the income level in your pay no income taxes, you still get 70 oft it. That tax credit is the most successful Antipoverty Program in the last 50 years. It has lifted 9 million americans out of poverty. Two thirds of those are children. And under donald trump, that number has grown by about 700,000 just in the last two years. So that is the second thing. A tax system of tax credits for work and for bearing children that encourages family formation and work. And the last that i would say is education. Making sure that every child in america, regardless ofar their ethnic background, the racial background or how rich or poor they are, goes to a school where they are safe and where they can learn. Here again there is a stark contrast. Joe biden, not only opposes School Choice and scholarships that will allowth children to attend schools that are higherquality outside their own neighborhood including a religious or christian school, if that is where they want tol, go. But its an source by the National Education association and by the american federationn of teachers that want to get rid of those programs in the states where they currently exist. So those are the three. Family formation, Economic Opportunity and tax code for family formation. Andti work and bearing children. And thirdly educational opportunity. I think ifth you do those three, you would see many more people wrise up the wrong. We saw that precovid. We saw the lowest unemployment rates for blacks and hispanics and Asian Americans and recorded economic histories. We celebrate wages growing at a rate of 3 . Year. Thats higher than it has grown in a decade. And i think of donald trump is reelected, and i believe and hopepe you will, we will see this opportunity expand even more. Statement calling in from maine. You are on with author ralph areed. I dont know. Thank you for taking my culprit ive been trying to listen very carefully. I wonder if it has occurred to mr. Reed, or if he has considered the possibility that having trump as a political figure simply courting evangelicals and their belief in their system. For his own political aims. And if so, if he has considered that, how would that influence hisis confidence and genuine commitment to evangelicalen beliefs . And this of course relates to what the recent discussion, just now was regarding abortion. The description of Strong Family life, the issue of out of wedlock births of children. Having a child that a woman cannot afford without support nor stability could be far more disastrous to living people in the long run, and society in general. And i wonder if he could respond to that . Host thank you janice. Will those are great questions. Let me start with the second one. I think the problem is when you start trying to make value judgments as a society, as to which lives are sacred and which lives are worthy of protection and which are not, i think you really, you know, crossea a line where it becomes very dangerous in terms of making those kinds of decisions. Know, too many people who were bored into very adverse economic and family situations. I know women who have borne children and kept children that they were absolutely sure were going to be a disaster. And they ended up being the greatest gifts that they ever had. Ea and they ended up being amazing. And not just productive members of society. But, you know, were incredibly gifted and talented. And enriched the lives of millions, you know, through their gifts. And so i believe every life is precious. I believe every life is made in the image of god. And i think they all deserve protection. In terms of your first question, it is such a great question. And it is one that people of faith wrestle with all of the time. Not just them of course but allrs constituents. Does this person really believe in their hearts the policies they are advocating or displaying us to get our vote. And the answer that i make and for god and country is, essentially as a person of faith, i really dont care what your reason is. In other words i am not god. I cannot judge your heart. You know, the bible says that some mens sins will go before them. And others will come after themth. There are people that we think are the most pristine and righteous people on earth. It will be get to heaven were going to be surprised and there are other people who are less than perfect. Their lives appear to be a mess. But that is just because we see their imperfections now rather than later. You cannot ever know what the motives of someones heart is. The other thing that i argue in the book is, if a politician supports my issues and my agenda because he wants to win an election, i dont have any problem with that. And i dont know very many people who do. Whether it is the labor unions or the nra. I mean did harry reid when he was Senate Majority leader had a one 100 rating with the National Rifle association for hed always been progun. Was he progun because he needed to be to win elections in nevad nevada . Or was he pro Second Amendment because that was a true core belief of his heart . I mean in the end, either one was true. And it did not make any difference in terms of what he did as majority leader. But i have the added, may be accidental maybe providential privilege of having gotten to know donald trump on a personal level. For years before he ran for president and became president. I got to know his daughter ivanka and son alone jared and 2010 prayed around that same time i got to know then private citizens donald trump. And even though he was thinking about running for president at the time, in 2012, we all know he chose not to. But during this period when he was thinking about running, he reached out to me one day out of the blue. Literallyra cold called me. And saidim the next time youre in new york, i would love to visit come by and see me. I took him up on that offer. My book, for god and country actually opens, the first chapter opens with that story. And how he and i became friends. How i was not at the time a particular fan of his. I did not necessarily have a high opinion of him. I share that with him. But we became friends. And i was pleasantly surprised. I s liked him, really from hello. He was a very likable, approachable, guy. He was the kind of guy, even though he doesnt drink, that you would say in the political that you want to have a beer with. He was wicked smart. Very intelligent, seemed to knowme everybody. And you know, without necessarily walking in with kind of a list of questions, that is not really my style, over the course of that friendship, we would have conversations in which i asked her he volunteered organically and where he stood on the issues im talking about. That is one of the reasons why, when he decided to run in i waseven though neutral on the contest and i did not endorse anybody in the primary, why i had zero reservations about him. I felt that his heart was with us on these issues. I felt it wasnt active genuine conviction. I still believe that. I could be wrong. But i dont think so. And he talked to me about how he became prolife. And how he became persuaded on these issues. And we got a chance to talk about them. I think his commitment is genuine. And whatever i it is irrefutabl. Hes kept his promises, kept his commitment, and has been the most prolife, pro religious freedom pro israel president in our lifetime. C1 and from for god and country, ralph reed writes i heard former prolife candidates explain how they came to the prolife use in their career. But he had more genuine stories than trump. What was his story . Guest he told me and he showed this publicly, put it in my book. So im not speaking out of school. He shared it himself. That he had a good friend of his, it was a married couple. They were both friends. She had a pregnancy that was not planned. And her husband was of the set that he should have an abortion. She did not necessarily want to have an abortion. And she called donald trump and said what do you think i should do . And he did not know what to tellt her. It was a very difficult dilemma that she faced. And they were both good friends, the husband and the wife. She ultimately chose to have the child. And donald trump, because he remains friends with this family watch this child grow up. The child obviously did not know that her mother had monearly aborted her. She certainly did not know that donald trump knew that she had almost aborted her. And he said that as he watch this child grow up to become, in his description, a beautiful, intelligent, incredibly talented young woman, a star in his telling, it struck him how close she came to never being there. And he said, that really had an impact on me. I asked myself, how many future concert pianist, painters, authors, leaders, athletes are not here because we did not let them be here . And he said it changed his mind. And that story made sense to me. Mary is in colfax, california. Mary thanks for holding yoram book tv with author ralph tg. Reed. Caller thank you. [inaudible] Stuart Murray i apologize to hold,ing to push on its really breaking up your phone and you are hard to understand for we dont hang up on you want to give you another chance, for going to put youou on hold were going to come back to you. Someone is going to come on the line to talk to the soup we can get that phoneline straightened out. And make sure im putting her on hold correctly so i dont hang up on her. And lets talk darren in stanford kentucky. You are on book tv. B3 yes. Mr. Reed i appreciate your activism i think the countries that are off. I share a lot of what you believe i am conflicted. I am considered in evangelicals well i am a Public Servant with the local city council. As i read the gospel jesus christ clearly steering away from involvements and policies not his thing. [inaudible] wonder high resolve that conflict . I do believe as evangelicals get caught up in social issues we forget the hard issues are the most important. And upon society transfers to politics would think about that . Guest well, i obviously address that pretty directly in forgot and country. Andy i have addressed it for most of my career. I think if jesus did not intend for us to be effective citizens and be involved in a robust way, the civic life of our nation, then he would not have encouraged peter when they were asked to pay the poll tax to go down and catch a fish and pull out two coins and pay their taxes. He also when he was confronted by the pharisees with the question, this is one of the last questions they asked before his crucifixion, they were trying to set him up to argue that he was calling for revolution against caesar. And was calling for the overthrow of caesar. Remember, one of his disciples was simon the zealot. And simon the zealot have been a member of a terrorist Political Party that was dedicated to the violence overthrow of the roman government. So they were spreading rumors that jesus was saying he was the king, not caesar. So they came to him and said is it lawful to pay taxes . Should we pay taxes to a foreign occupying power . And he said, bring me the coin , whose inscription is on it . And they said caesars. And he said, jesus replied then render to caesar what is caesars. And render to god, what is gods. The question is, what do bocs are . Now the apostle paul goes on in the book of romans to answer that question. He says honor our participation. We w are to pay taxes. He walks through what our responsibilities to government sue. As a citizen of rome, which rewas unusual for a follower of christ. Remember, most of the original christians were jews who were actually being occupied and subjugated in a brutal way by the roman government. They were very few christians in the First Century who were right after the crucifixion of christ and resurrection who were roman. And he, as i discussed earlier, was a citizen and he exercised the most cherished rights in a roman citizen has, which was the right to a peel their case to caesar. This was at a time when his opponent wanted to put him on trial in jerusalem, and a trumped up Kangaroo Court where he was going to be convicted and executed. Now if pauls only focus was on heavenly things, why didnt he just go to his death . Why didnt he just allow them to deny him justice and kill him . Because after all, he was ultimately executed. He was more than willing to suffer and die for the gospel. The reason why is because he took his citizenship seriously. And he also understood that if the exercise that citizenship, that the gospel will go to the highest levels of the roman government, which ultimately di did. Thand within 300 years, it had spread throughout the world. And rome became somewhat artificially, somewhat superficially a christian government. So, that is the reason. You dont really need to choose. You can both l be a christian who gives her ultimate loyalty and obedience to god, and you are called as a christian to make aer difference as a citizen. So i lay all of this out in a couple of chapters in for god and country. If you want to study it more, it is in that book. Steven lets go back to marion colfax, california. Mary please go ahead. Caller thank you syrup or it is an honor to speak with you mr. Reed. I am a christian, i was also a single mother. And i have several questions. One is you believe the women who have had abortions should be punished . In my second question is where is the Christian Church on helping take care of the single mothers . Ill take my question off the air and thank you very much. Host hey mary could you very quickly give us your views on those two questions . Caller i was married and a single mother side bothtu situations. I could not feed the children i had. And i got pregnant very easy, even on birth control. So i dont know, that is why im asking the pastor. And then i asked the church several times for help. And they denied me, every time because i smoke cigarettes. Sue and arik thats marion colfax, california. Mr. Reed. Guest we do not favor the woman being punished. We do d certainly favor, you know some sort of punishment for a doctor, particularly if you look at a a case like the doctor in philadelphia who was essentially operating a very unsafe, unsanitary clinic where women were being butchered. And where their lives were endangered because of the un sanitary conditions of that clinic. That is one of the reasons why we are trying to pass clinic regulations throughout the country to make sure, we oppose abortion. But unless and until it is limited, we want to make sure those clinics are not unsafe. Ry, or not as in that case showed, too many cases they are not sasafe. There certainly never say for the unborn child. But they put the mother in great danger infection, of being able to never bear children again, and even of death. And that is documented in courtn cases. So it would not be the mother, it will be those putting them in danger. In terms of caring for the mother, we certainly favor making sure that single mothers are provided for. Splint popes it looks like we lost mr. Reed there for a minute. Im sure he will get his connection back very quickly. In the meantime, lets take a couple of calls i get some questions down that we can ask him when he comes back. Jim in california, hi jim please go ahead. Caller hi there thanks for taking my call. My question wasnt thinking back six years when i was just getting interestedg in politics, i was in high school and we had kennedy versus nixon. Kennedy was a catholic. And there is a lot, many people and some fairly prominent who questioned whether he should be president because he was ac Roman Catholicak and would take order from the pope or whatever they said. I would like to think that is sa much gone. People oppose biden it should be on the basis of his policies not on the basis of his face. And also, another thing i remember from that time, and later on, there is not much support i dont remember much support for the state of israel coming from the Republican Party or the evangelical movement at that time. And so what has changed . Or was it always there and maybe hidden . Or not publicly known very well, the support for the state of israel . Are there any people around that would oppose biden on catholicism . Host great, soon as he comes back via zoom will ask them those questions. Jim, tell us a little bit about yourself. Caller will id am 75 heard i was 15 when the 60 election took place. I was fascinated by it. Ive been learning that in high school of course part even before, my father was very interested in politics. Think its the first time i watched both conventions cover to cover. I think i knew everything there was to know at that time. It was very calm and of course nixon and kennedy, were really as exciting as i think they have come to be seen many years later. It was an exciting time in american politics. Host did you watch this yearsca convention . Caller a little. They have become so now with covid everything was i stage. Back in 1960, the Democratic Convention ran until Something Like two in the morning. I lived in chicago that all these people getting nominated with no chance of getting elected. A member the last him as ross barnett who was governor of mississippi and all they talked about was preserving segregation. It was a different time. Single what kind of work to do or did you do . I am retired now. I was an attorney. Host thank you for spinning a few minutes with us. Lets hear from robert in chattanooga tennessee, robert what is going to be your question for ralph reed . Caller im a birth right republican. [inaudible] politics here in chattanooga. I dont understand, i can see why these evangelicals have taken over thear Republican Party. They are a very, very extremist. And they are a danger to the party. Iran burst speech that the senator made he said he never wanted the religious right to tell them how to live. Sometimes its true one 100 . One thing reagan once said, we want democrats to support us all the time. But we never want to elect democrats or support democrats. But somehow, this beloved party of mine has made a three and a 60 degrees turnaround. And in the near future i hope to live to see it. The republicans take this party back again and get it out of their hands of the evangelicals because they believe inel punishing people for whatever abortion and any scenes they permit. Anyone he wants used the bible, may want to still use jesus. And so to me, they are very scary people. With the republic imparted we never had to identify as Christian Conservative republican. When you hear those codewords and people say that, yet to be very leery of them. They are very dangerous people. The robbery identified yourself. You said birth right republican . Im sorry broke up there. She went yes a birth right republican. That means i was born that way, is born into the Republican Party. We are true republicans. Assume what is a moderate republican believe . Speed entrance. Caller they believe their republican principles, and all the wonderful things the Party People Like garrity here in doctor prescott the university of chattanooga. We have been hijacked by some extremist. And everybody wants to carry a bible and tell people how to live their lives. Host what kind of work to do robert . Caller im retired im 72 years old. Sue and retired from . [inaudible] host think is her thanks for calling in. Ralph reed is back with us in the atlanta area. Mr. Reed i dont how much you heard from robert who self identified as a birth right republican africanamerican, heat considers himself to be a moderate republican fields of the evangelicals have taken over the gop. And that is not good in his vie view. Guest yeah, i certainly heard for most of my career. I would say, a couple of things. Number one, we are not in favor of judging anybody. What we are in favor of is redressing we believe ourry injustices. And we are trying to advance what we believe our moral good. And i think whether you look at civil rights relook at the right to life, or you look at criminal Justice Reform or immigration reform, or education reform, even if you dont share our faith, you cant deny that the Public Policy prescriptions that we advocate haver Better Outcomes for f the poor, poor minorities, for the marginalized, for the alien come for the stranger, for the immigrant. There is no question that the Public Policies that we advocate, lead to greater good for more people. And so i am not asking somebody part you dont have to subscribe to my faith to agree with my policy prescriptions. I mean on criminalll Justice Reform and on education reform, and on immigration. Ki frankly, we end up working with a lot of minority organizations and a lot of liberal organizations. And in terms of us allegedly doing such great damage to the Republican Party, you know, when self identified evangelical in 2016 and 2018, comprised roughly half to 60 of all the votes you got, i dont know how driving them out of the party is a prescription for doing a majority. I mean if they if they are drivenhe out issues that they care about including the right to live, and support for israel in religious freedom, or driven out of the Republican Party, the big ten shall be a pup tents. In this party would be the permanent minority status. Given the huge number of these voters that have come into the party in recent years. So i think, even if you dont agree with my faith, if you are just being a smart political strategist, it is not a good idea to insult or demean these people and try to drive them out of the party. Ifthat does make sense at all. Host gym in california asked about 60 years ago, the kennedy versus nixon race. And the fact that president kennedys catholicism was an issue they are when its not thats an issue today with joe biden . He also talked about israel. When did the gop start supporting vocally, you know with policy, israel . Guest the answer to the first question what joe bidens catholicism is not an issue for me because i am an evangelical protestant. But i think for a large number of faithful, frequently mass attending Roman Catholics it is going to be an issue. Because he is at odds with one of the central social teachings of the church. Namely the sanctity of innocent human life. And that is an issue that will be litigated within that Faith Community. It will be talked about. I just want to be clear that in terms of my organization, faith and Freedom Coalition we are a Public Policy organization. We dont really make it our business to say whether somebody is a good or bad christian or they are good or bad Roman Catholic or they are good or bad evangelical. That is not really our job. We are not the church. That is a decision for the church to make. We are a Public Policy organization. And we oppose the policy that joe biden is advocating on abortion, on the green new deal, and on many other issues. So, we dont anticipate to be a part of that discussion. But i think it is a discussion will come up amongol catholics. With respect to the Republican Party and its proisrael stance, the good news is, for most of the history of thest modern state of israel, there has been a bipartisan consensus across both parties that we should support israel. Not only as an active humane justice and compassion, after world war ii, for juice who have been persecuted and of course millions of them lost their lives in the concentration camps of nasi germany. Ii,even after world war many were persecuted and the former soviet union. And so harry s truman, a democrat, became the first world leader in the first head of state to recognize the creation of the modern statete of israel and to Exchange Ambassadors with that state. And both parties have been proisrael. Now sadly, that bipartisan consensus is today being tested. And is under strain. Primarily because some elements of theti democratic coalition, and you saw this with the resolution passed by nancy pelosi and the democrats and 2019, to initially condemn antisemitism in order to win the support of her caucus she had to expand it to include other isms including racism and other things because had she only condemned antisemitism, it would not of gotten the support of the caucus. So there are elements in the Democratic Party today, the socalled squad that do not have the traditional support of israel but harry truman had, the jet kennedy had, that even bill clinton had. That is concerning to me. As a republican, im not happy about that because i want to see support for israel and both parties. As an americann im not happy about it because i think we are better funded israel when both parties are fully on board. And as a christian who believes its my moral and spiritual obligation to defend the jews and to defend israel, bi want to see america be the best friend that she can possibly be to israel. Because i think the bible teaches those who bless will in them themselves be a blast. And i want to see america blast. I think one of the ways to do that is to be a friend of the jewish people and israel. Host marine tweets and shes watching on cspan. I did not know of you but i have to say you are addressing controversial issues with calmness in respect to all. We need more of that cadence in this turbulent time. Mr. Read what is the role of the faith and Freedom Coalition in this election . Guest first developer should that tweet from the viewer. We need a greater level of stability, think we have violators on all sides. So im not really in the business of attacking or criticizing other people as much as i tried to, with my own speech to show respect for others and to speak with love even when we dont agree. And ive always tried to be like that because its what my faith teaches. The faithbased organization is to equip, christians to be effective citizens that means making sure they are informed. That they vote. Educated and fully informed on who the candidates are and where they stand on the key issues. Not necessarily worth the issues we care about but the key issues that will decide the election. So rightig now we are in the process of knocking on millions of doors and 21 states. Wells end up knocking on somewhere between 3 million doors, reaching somewhere between six and 8 million voters directly at their home. We hand them a peace of literature that lets them know were trump and biden stand on the issues. Or the senate and House Speaker candidates and in some cases the state legislative candidates stand. Wesa are disturbed and 30 millionan nonpartisan voter guides. And about 117,000 churches in all 50 states we are sending out about 50 million winformational emails, will be pushing out about 38 million ads on facebook and google. Emily get down to the end which now isnt that far away, we start doing this in about 27 days when early voting begins and states were there is early voting like florida and my home state of georgia, these christian voters will get a text message from us that has a voter guide attached. And then a link that takes them directly to the early voting location or a link that allows them to vote absentee. And our goal is to have the largest turnout evangelical faithful voters of faith in any president ial election in the modern era. I think youre going to be successful in doing that. Oi was a Jerry Falwell junior issue affected you personally and professionally . It has affected me personally because they are dear friends. I love them and i care about them. And ive been in touch with them to let them know i am praying for them. I am also a good friend of the university and i have been for probably 35 or more years. I was good friends with jerrys father, jerry senior, the founder and the first chancellor and president. Im actually going to Liberty University this week to speak at the center. I am not going to talk publicly about my private interaction or conversations with jerry junior other than to say that i am praying for him. He is a a dear friend. Him. E i thought he did an extraordinary job as president of liberty. He took it from a college that was straddledhe with debt and had struggled financially for decades. To the leading Christian University in america, if not the world. With dont release the number, but i think it something along the lines of 80 to 100,000 students. rtual or are mine s lets hear from allen attach. I follow you and donald trump and over the tomorrow you have gotten really get at speaking. I have also enjoyed the program today and listen to the way you respond to people. Youre very thorough. I have a question, always seem to ever do is pick the lesser of two evils with the president. What is your solution for that and the second question is, as far as the antichrist, do you think the antichrist will come from what country and do you think it could happen in our lifetime based on things going on with worldwide pandemic, worldwide chaos in the streets with the protests and the economic global collapse of everything because of that . Thank you. Host hear from ralph reed. Guest i argue strongly stroi hope per sways sufficiently in for god and country that by decides to support donald trump that people of faith were not supporting the lesser of two evils. I believe that if you are protecting unborn life, thats not a lesser evil. Thats a greater good. If youre defending the state of israel, and defending the jewish people, that is not a lesser evil. Thats a greater good. If youre defending the right of people of faith, of all faiths, to practice their faith and to worship god that aunderstand god to be, here in the United States, and indeed around the world, thats not a lesser evil. Thats a greater good. And when these voters of faith, these citizens of faith, back donald trump in four years ago, continued to do so in record numbers, and support his policy agenda, its not because its a lesser evil than what Hillary Clinton or joe biden was offering. Its because its advancing moral goods and its because they believe that the other agenda is advancing grave moral evil. Now, we live in a fallen world. Theres only been one perfect person who ever walked the planet and we believe thats jesus christ, everybody else, the bible tetches and our faith teaches, is fallen and has to do deal with sin in their live and is not perfect. So, obviously as a citizen, when youre making practical judgments and calls about beth candidates at election time and about whether or not to vote for a bill or support a piece of legislation or a policy, that may not be 100 of what you want, im a big believer you live by Ronald Reagans rule which is an 80 friend is nat 20 enemy, and getting 80 of what you want is not a defeat, its a victory. It may not be a full victory but certainly a partial if not an 80 or 90 victory and i think in the case of donald trump, we have got well north of 90 in terms of the policies that he is advocating. One other thing i would refer you to that i point other christians to when they ask this question of, how are we supposed to make these kinds of decisions is i opinion them to one of the most important speeches about faith, civic virtue, and civic engagement, that hat ever been given by a president in American History, and that is Ronald Reagans address to the National Association of evangelicals in 1983. And he is speaking but the cold war, and the choice between two less than perfect countries. The soviet union, then the soviet union, and the United States. And the conflict was the cold war and the arms race. And he counseled these evangelicals, dont im paraphrasing basically said dont consider yourself to be so above it all and so above the fray that you refuse to choose the greater good among two less than perfect choices. He said, were called upon to resist evil and to advance the good, and if we consider ourselves to be so holy and so righteous that we cant get down with the sometimes less than perfect decisions that we have to make, whether its between the soviet union and the United States or between two candidates, then were of little earthly good in terms of your question but the antichrist, my reading of the book of revelation, of pauls writings, and also jesus teachings, which are recorded in the gospel, are that we do not know either the time of those events, nor do i think we can know who it is, whether its the different characters that we find the pock of revelation, whether its the antichrist or other evil characters. Just dont think theres any way to know. The most important thing is to be prepared for the end times, whenever and however they occur, what we do know is that jesus said that no one knew when he would return, including him. He said, only the father knows when that is going to happen. And the most important thing is to know that it is unlikely to be when we expected, likely to be sooner than we think, and we need to be concerned pout about being ready, not when it happens. Host well scroll through the numbers, we have 20 minutes left with our guest author ralph reed. Well scroll through the numbers and if you cant get there on the phones and still want to make a comment you can do so via text or social media. Well put the addresses up if you send a text including your first name and your city. Alexander is in las vegas. Hi, alexander. Caller hi. Cspan i just wanted to let you know its an honor to talk to ralph reed. We probably have followed hmm for years and youre getting younger, ralph. Put i dont think so, but thank you for the compliment. Ill take it. Caller so i was going to ask you a question. Do you believe theres systemic racism in the church today, the church that preaches the bible and the whole council of gods word. Thats number one. Number two, its a pastor a couple of the same sex, would that be considered systemic racism . And number three, Grace Community church in california, do you believe pastor John Mccarthy and his congregates are coming under persecution by the state for opening up his church and if so is this something that the church can look forward in 2021 next year if they host tell you what, i think we got the point and thats a lot of questions. Go ahead, ralph reed. Guest i obviously in the aftermath of the death of george floyd, i think we could say that the killing or murder of george floyd in Police Custody in minneapolis, were confronting anew as a nation this issue of race and of the sin of racism and later of creation segregation at the end of slave rhythm im we work every day whether its on criminal Justice Reform, Economic Empowerment, education and many other issues, were committed to racial equality and reconciliation. In terms of whether or not theres certainly individual racism. But in additional to that i do believe that there are institutions and systems that the way they have developed and the way they operate, by their wouldnt operation, scrimmage segregate against and do not provide opportunity for particularly africanamericans. Ive talked about the criminal Justice System. I worked with my friend, chuck colson, the head of prison fellowship to eliminate the sentencing disparity between powder cocaine and crack cocaine, where powder cocaine was primarily the drug of the well to do, and crack cocaine tended to be those of more socioeconomically downscale, and the pent penalties for the same amount of essentially the same underlying drug were three times greater for crack cocaine. We thought that you could say it was systemic youve want to use that term but theres no question that in its operation, it discriminated against minorities. I think thats true of far too men k through 12 educationogy systems, particularly in the inner cities of our nation. Think if you look at these schools where that are predominantly minority, schools 80 to 90 Minority School children, where more than half if not more are not graduating from high school, where 70 or more cannot perform basic math and reading skills on eighth and 12th grade levels, were consigning those children by forcing them to go to those failing schools, to a lifetime of Economic Opportunity being closed to them and of them not being able to compete in the hightech economy of the 21st secretary. My friend, bill bennett, secretary of education under Ronald Reagan was fond of saying many schools could have been designed by the klu klux klan. Are. Are they discriminatory in their effect as institutions and as systems . Yes, they are. And as i said earlier in the program, i think we are called as people of faith and as citizens to redress those injustices and to redress those systemic forms of discrimination. So, that is what we work on at faith and free tom. Its part of our faith. And we are very serious about it. It doesnt really have anything to do with politics for us. We dont necessarily get rewarded politically for doing those things. We dont necessarily get the votes of those that were seeking to assist, but thats not really what its about for us. Host ralph reed you tried it before, is there Elective Office attempts in your future . Guest not that i know of. But i certainly dont have any plans to. You probably never say never, but i think that im having a greater impact by doing what im doing, by helping others get elected and by the work im doing at faith and freedom, and i have to say that ive got a tremendous team at faith and Freedom Coalition, tim head are our executive director, we have an unbelievable Public Policy team, a great field team, we have tremendous leadership at the church level, and at the state and county level all over the country, and im really count ited a great blessing to he be part of this team. Ive been hart of some really great Political Teams the Christian Coalition and i was part of george w. Bushs Political Team from the beginning, in 1999 and 2000, and all the way through his the end of his second term i work on both the 2000 and the 2004 campaigns, and ive just had a tremendous opportunity, put what were doing at faith and freedom is i think were making history and im proud to be part of it. Host youre eight books in. Whats your process . Guest thats such a great question. I talk to people a lot who ask me, how do you go about writing a book . And i always tell them, one page at a time and im not being facetious. I learn this when i was in graduate school and i was writing my doctoral dissertation and academic writing i president s dense compared to writing popular fiction or nonfiction. Its sometimes the footnote is longer than the sentence or paragraph that it is providing the documentation for. So its to pretty intense form of writing, and the way i did it nobody taught me this, i stump belled into it. Had a certain amount of time to write before my graduate fellowship ran out and i was basically broke, and so i sat down with a calendar and worked backwards from the goal of what i needed to finish it and i discovered that if i wrote one page every day, taking sundays off. Dont write on sundays. So six days a week, if i wrote just one page every day, that i could write a book in a year and i could finish my dissertation in a year, and you set goal of one page a day and you end up sometimes getting inspired and i would write two or three pages that day. But i never wrote less than one, and thats how what i do is i sit down with a calendar. I know we dont use the death calendar dares anymore. The phones are on our phones and laptop. I sit down and write page one, page two page three, and i estimate each chapter at 15 pages, sometimes they might be more, sometimes might be a little less. And then i move on to the next chapter. Then sit down and block out my chapters and decide what the subject matter of each one and is then once ive done my research and at this opinion i use Research Assistants to assist me in gathering all the research, obviously when i was doing my doctoral dessirte addition dissertation its just me, and then i sit down and write at least one page a day host three novels. What inspired that. Guest what happened was my agent, rick christian, my literary agent, whose worked with some of the most famous authors in the world, he worked with jim la hay and his co author on he heft behind series so hes been involved in millions of books. He suggested sometime in 2006 or 7, have you ever thought but fiction . I told him i had. I actually had outlined a book when i was 15 years old about the election on the First Independent president ial candidate to ever be elected. Think of ross perot in 1992 or 1996, and imagine perot winning, or imagine donald trump having chosen, rather than to run as a republican, what if he had run as an independent . And what if he had just broken up the two party system as we know it and won . And the reason why i thought of it, probably nobody remembers this today or very few do that in 1976 Gene Mccarthy who ran against Lyndon Johnson as a democrat in 1968 and drove Lyndon Johnson out of the race, forced johnson to the sideline. He decided to run as an independent. And i was just a Young Political activist, interested in politics, and i started to research how many ballots he would get on. What kind of impact he would have and then i thought, gosh, what if this guy really took off . What if he won . So i outlined a novel but thought and i title it, dark horse, and i actually outlined the chapters and i sat down and wrote the first chapter, and then every wrote the first chapter, i thought to myself, wait a minute. Im 15 years old. I have no idea what im talking about. Ive never worked on a president ial campaign. I mean, theres no way to write about this and have it been realistic because i dont know what really goes on. So i set it aside and when rick came to me, i said ive got this novel. I never wrote it. And that became dark horse. And it really i have to say, somewhat to my pleasant surprise, it was pretty wellreviewed and did pretty well, and its a little dated now because things move nonpolitics. We have gotten even more advanced in our data science and our Data Analytics but for its time it was very realistic portrayal of what a president ial campaigns about and even though it was highly fictionalized, what i found by writing fiction is that in many ways fiction is truer and more honest than nonfiction because what i did was i took everything that i experienced at the Christian Coalition, on the bush campaigns other, campaign is worked on throughout my career and i just highly fictionalized them but it was all true. The dialogue, meetings, strategy. If you want to know what a president ial campaign is really like, dark horse had a hot of truth in it. Host his other two novels include the confirmation which came out 2010 and ballots and blood in 2011. Host youre on with awe ralph weed. Caller thank you so much. Mr. Reed, i was a republican. I came from romania, from a communist regime, when you guys evangelicals talks about the dangerous communists i will tell you what this family right now. White house where donald trump with his family in power and you, mr. Reed, you pronounce you said few times ivanka. You name ivanka several times. That concerns me. She is not an elected official. She is his son didnt stay in the same room when he had foreign leaders meeting. North korea that the same and mr. Trump does with his family. His connection with saudi arabiay. You talking but the antichrist and you guys said do you know about separation of church and state . You should know better. You are an historian. If you were watching History Channel about hitler speeches theres so similar with this guy. The crowds. With this guy is so obsessed with crowds. I remember one of your rallies evangelicals when he says, oh, those rapists. The says hear them. Host all right this, we can got the point. Mr. Reed. Not a fan. Guest yeah. I am not sure what rally the caller is referring to but it certainly wasnt one im familiar with, and i was at the launch of the evangelicals for Trump Coalition in i guess it was january or february of this year at el ray jesus which is in miami, the largest Evangelical Church in the United States. Its an hispanic church, and i can assure you i was there for the launch of this coalition. Wearing my hat as private systems was there in my personal capacity. And i didnt not only did it not hear or see anything of the kind of nature the caller is referring, to but i saw the exact opposite. I saw an awful lot of hispanic americans and latinos and latinas who love this president , love this country, and because they came from places like cuba or venezuela or other communist and socialist regimes, frankly they love this country and appreciate it a lot more than many anglos do. In terms of the attack on ivanka that the caller made, all i can tell you is ive known her for over a decade. I found her to be beautiful inside and out, intelligent, incredibly sharp, she loves her father, she loves this country, and she and other members of the president s family, by agreeing to serve this country, have made an incredible personal sacrifice, walk away from companies, being unable to do any deals overseas while their dad is president , which is a pretty big deal if youre a real estate company. And youre used to doing deals overseas. And in the case of the covid19 emergency response, including the paycheck protection program, there was one company that was singled out that was not going to be allowed to receive any funding at all under the Paycheck Program and that was the Trump Organization and its related companies. So even though they have resorts and hotels and golf courses and developments all over the United States, where theyve had to either furlough employees or suffer great Economic Loss during the pandemic, they never received a dime to continue to pay their employees. So, you have your view of the trumps i understand that. I will tell you this. Unlike you and many other americans, i actually know them. Ive had the privilege and the honor and the opportunity to not only know and work with the president but with his amazing children, and i assure you they love this country, theyre men and women of integrity, theyre sharp, they have incredible character, they love their dad, and they work harder than almost anybody ive nope and the Public Perception of this family is 18e people that ive had the privilege of knowing. Host as ask authors for their Favorite Books and current reading list. We mention ted beginning that ralph reeds Favorite Book is the bible. Here are other books he send it, the ideology origins of the american revolution, by bernard, alexander hamilton, advise and consent, the strength career of jim crow, witness, born again, the secret kingdom by pat robertson, mr. Reed is currently reading paul mccartney, many years from now, by barry miles, and the splendid and the vial but Winston Churchill and the london blitz by eric larson. Ralph reed, most recent book is for god and country, the christian case for trump, it just came out this year. Ralph reed, thank you for spending two hours with our viewers on booktvs in depth. Guest happy to do it. Ive been a friend to of chops as long as you have been around and the best television out out there. Thank you for all you do and thank you for having me. Here are current breast selling nobody fiction books. To be the list, Pulitzer Prize winning awe to the sis a bell will sirson slowerring the hidden caste system. And too much and never enough are mary trump takes a critical look at the president and his family, followed by the memoir, untamed. Then in how to dean antiray assist, an argue. That americaus must choo to be antiracist. And wrapping up our look at best selling Nonfiction Book is the prepare did and the vial, erik larsons study of Prime Minister Winston Churchills leadership during the london blitz. You can watch the authors online at booktv. Org