As our culture continues to become more confused and overcome with evil, Christians must stand for truth and overcome evil with goodness, Tony Perkins said on the Todd Starnes Show
TODD STARNES: [01:00:27] I want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line always honored to have one of the fiercest culture warriors in America, our friend Tony Perkins from Family Research Council. Tony, good to have you with us today. [01:00:37][10.9]
TONY PERKINS: [01:00:39] Todd, good to be with you. How are you? [01:00:40][1.5]
STARNES: [01:00:40] You know, I’m well. It’s weird, we’re spending an entire month and it seems like this year in particular, there is a massive push to indoctrinate people and especially young kids into this agenda. [01:00:55][15.0]
PERKINS: [01:00:57] It is, but the encouraging thing about it, Todd, is that we see people pushing back. In the last four years, we had the Trump administration kind of putting a halt to this to some degree. I mean, we had the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, saying these flags are not to be flown on U.S. installments overseas. Of course, this year they’re flapping in the wind, as this administration is, quite frankly. But the people are pushing back, and I’m sure you’re getting them, and I’m getting calls on my radio program, people saying, hey, I saw this here and I said something about it. And, you know, people are responding. So that’s the good news is people are saying, you know what, I’m tired of this indoctrination. But corporate America, quite frankly, Todd, has not yet gotten the message. [01:01:40][43.4]
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STARNES: [01:01:42] No, they haven’t. I mean, you’ve got Oreo, you’ve got Burger King making their big pronouncements. I think the Milwaukee Brewers held a big drag queen show. And of course, the big story over the weekend is in Dallas, Texas, of all places, Tony, you had a gay bar that actually hosted a drag queen show for little kids. My question is, What’s up? What’s wrong with those parents? [01:02:04][21.7]
PERKINS: [01:02:06] That’s a part of the problem Todd. It goes back to the fact that parents are not engaged completely in the lives of their children. They’re not guarding them. And what they’re being exposed to and they’re being led to believe that this stuff is harmless when in fact it’s not. In fact, I’ll go ahead and say it. You’ll probably be criticized, but this is grooming. We are allowing these predators to groom children in many ways and also to prepare them for sexual confusion. Now, we just did a poll on this, a poll across the country, a sample of voters, a good sample size. And, you know, 57% of Americans think that corporations should stay out of the cultural and the social issues, just if they make widgets, make widgets, stay out of the issues, almost six in ten. And for about four out of ten, it’s going to affect the way they purchase. So, corporations, I think increasingly after Disney, and I want to say this for Governor DeSantis. You mentioned the team there in Florida and how some of those players stood up to this gay pride stuff. I think in part this is because of DeSantis. I think Governor DeSantis’s bold stand has given other people the courage to stand. That’s what leadership is. And so, when we stand, and when I say we, that’s universal. When any of us take a stand against this nonsense, against this cultural confusion, we embolden other people to stand. So, it’s very important that we not give in to those on the left who want to silence us. [01:03:41][94.9]
STARNES: [01:03:42] Tony Perkins on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. Tony, you mentioned this whole idea of grooming. You know what? They readily admit that. A couple of years ago in Lafayette, Louisiana, a big controversy over a drag queen story time at the local school. And this is one of those drag queens addressing the city council just a few years ago. [01:04:03][21.2]
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DRAG QUEEN IN AUDIO CLIP: [01:04:04] This is going to be the grooming of the next generation. We are trying to groom the next generation to not see the way that they just did. [01:04:11][7.4]
STARNES: [01:04:12] In their own words, Tony. I’d say we take them at face value. [01:04:16][3.6]
PERKINS: [01:04:17] I think you’re absolutely right. And I mean, it’s just for some reason and this is a part of human nature, we see things and see other people the way we see the world, we’re trusting. And we don’t think people would do that. But here’s the problem, I’ve been around long enough. You’ve been around a lot. We’ve seen this. We know what the agenda is. And they’re actually saying it. So, yes, we should believe them. We have an obligation and parents in particular have an obligation to protect their children, also to teach their children right and wrong and not allow them to be indoctrinated by the schools or by these others who really want to sow seeds of confusion in these young minds. [01:04:57][39.9]
STARNES: [01:04:58] Tony, I was reading a fascinating essay in the New York Times. The artwork depicted a tombstone engraved with the words “In GOP We Trust.” This is written by Nate Hochman, who is a fellow at National Review. And the point of this essay, he’s saying that there’s been a shift in in the culture war. And I want to get your take on this, but I want to read something that that he wrote. He says, “It’s hard to imagine today’s culture warriors taking any interest in the 1950s push for a Christian amendment to the Constitution instead of an explicitly biblical focus on issues like school prayer, no fault, divorce and homosexuality. The new coalition is focused on questions of national identity, social integrity and political alienation, although it enjoys support of most Republican Christians who formed the electoral backbone of the old Moral Majority. It is a social conservatism rather than a religious one revolving around race relations, identity politics, immigration, and the teachings of American history.” What they’re trying to say is that that even people like Ron DeSantis, who is a Catholic but is not overtly religious in his public persona. They’re saying that evangelicals have been moved to the background. Do you agree with that assessment? [01:06:17][78.8]
PERKINS: [01:06:18] I don’t. I don’t, I do believe that coalitions have been made with those who do not necessarily share the, what we would call “SAGEcon” viewpoint. That’s a term that George Barna coined. It is the spiritually active governance engaged conservative. That’s the vast majority of evangelicals and conservative, Bible believing Catholics. They’re engaged culturally, because of their faith. And so, no, I would totally disagree with that premise. Now, I do believe that there are coalitions being made with those who just want, you know, kind of that cultural transformation. So, yeah, you know, that’s why evangelicals worked with the Tea Party on some things. They worked with other groups that have, you know, shared viewpoints. You know, Reagan said, if we can get together 80% of the time, then let’s work together, essentially paraphrasing him. But no, I don’t agree with that. I don’t believe that Christians are involved just for the purposes of politics. [01:07:15][56.3]
STARNES: [01:07:16] You know, I shared this thought at the beginning of the program, Tony. Here in Memphis, Tennessee, where we broadcast our program, one of the buckles of the Bible Belt. You know, it’s hard, the churches are having a difficult time getting people back into the pews. Meanwhile, over the weekend, over 50,000 people turned out for the gay pride parade here in the Mid-South. Should we read anything into that? [01:07:38][22.8]
PERKINS: [01:07:41] Look, I think the best way to look at this is to go to the Bible, use one of the parables Jesus told about the wheat and the tares. I do believe that as we move toward the end of time, contrary to the popular thought, that through evolution we’re evolving to a higher state, we’re devolving and sin is becoming more prevalent. But so is good as the wheat in the tares did, I think we need to be aware of what’s happening in the culture, need to be addressing it, but not overcome with the evil, but rather overcome evil with good, by living out truth in a society that increasingly is going to be looking for answers as a result of the confusion that has been sown by the ideology and the indoctrination of the left. [01:08:28][46.5]
STARNES: [01:08:28] See, I like that. So, so well said, Tony. We appreciate you guys there at Family Research Council. And I do want you to plug, if you don’t mind, this great news and commentary outlet that you guys just recently launch called The Washington Stand. Tell us about that. [01:08:43][15.2]
PERKINS: [01:08:44] We did. You know, just as you have, Todd, you’ve been leading on this for years now. There is, you know, a growing discontent with legacy media. Every time I go speak somewhere, travel, people say, where do you get news or where can we get good news? Of course, your site is one of them. There’s about a handful of sites. CNS News is a good site, but people in the church want perspectives from a biblical orientation, so they know they’re getting the truth through the lenses of scripture. And that’s what this is, The Washington stand. You can find it at washingtonstand.com. It’s news and commentary from a biblical worldview. We are unapologetically Christian pursuing the shaping of policy, and I know the left, their heads are going to spin at this, but we want to advocate for those principles based in Scripture, just as the founders thought it was good enough to build a country on, we believe it’s good enough to guide a country with. [01:09:42][57.4]
STARNES: [01:09:42] I love it. And we have a direct link to The Washington Stand over on our live show blog. Tony, congratulations and welcome aboard. [01:09:49][7.1]
PERKINS: [01:09:51] Well, thank you, Todd. Just following your lead. [01:09:53][2.0]