The Spiritual Price of Political Silence

0:00 The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are solely those of the hosts and their guests and not those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services, or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability explicitor implied shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W FOURCY Radio. Well, hello and welcome. This is Bill Martinez and we are live.

0:42 We're going to be talking about the Spiritual Price of Political Silence. In her new book, The Spiritual Price of Political Science, Christy Stetsman, author speaker, a former Republican State Indiana representative, offers practical steps at every concerned American, regardless of their political experience, can take to become politically active and engage in the political process, and to do so effectively. You will also gain clarity on American history, as the book serves as a refresher course not only the role that Judaeo Christian faith played in the nation's founding and development, but on citizens' Rights and responsibility. Christy, that's been welcome to the show.

1:23 Good to have you with us. It's so great to be with you. Bill, thank you for having me. Well, Christy, you're also a small business owner. What business are you in? Yes? Actually, I am a former teacher and then we started a production company. I'm a music teacher and I'm a music composer, and so I write musical stage musicals and we own the Barns at Napanee in Napanie, Indiana, and it's been around for a long long time. We bought it right before COVID, so we were kind of dealing with all of the repercussions of that, but we've made it through. And I write and produce a stage musicals. So God told you to buy this facility right before COVID, and so after that you go, Okay, God, you're such a joker. What are you doing to me? Right right? Yes, for sure, it was one of those questioning moments where you're looking at God saying okay, why Yeah, But really, you know, I've always been part of the conversation and part of the world of performing arts. I truly believe that Christians should be involved in that people a face should be involved in that as well, and it's something it's a gift that God's given us. So we decided to start writing original musicals. I'm actually working on my fourth right now, and we're starting to license them across the country and give people good content that's wholesome, uplifting, but also really entertaining and fun and the topic manner that you're focusing on in

2:53 these musicals. Yeah. So the first one was a musical Christmas Carol, so it's based on Charles Dickens class sick Tail. Everybody loves that. The next one was When Calls the Heart. It's a best selling book by Jeanette Oak. It's been on Hallmark for ten years as a TV series, has been uplivy, and now it's a musical and we really were given great response to that. And now I'm working on her next well, actually it's another book series that she wrote, Jenna Oak, and it's entitled Love Comes Softly. It's been made into a series of movies. So that's what I'm working on right now. Well, how much fun is that? That's awesome? I love this and of course you know, we can use more, you know, wholesome family product like this. You know, our unfortunately, our traditional entertainment outlets have gone woke on us, and you know, and we have to be careful what we expose our kids to these days. The book Spirtual Price of Political Silence. What motivated you to write this book? Well, having been involved in government and politics in different ways over the years.

4:00 So my husband is a small business owner and own several small businesses. And after nine to eleven, we had just had our first child three weeks before nine to eleven happened, and as young, you know, a young family and just starting off in business, we really were concerned about the future of our community. And so we just started showing up to meetings to try to be involved and know who was in charge and make sure we were in good hands. And one thing led to another, and he ran for state representative, and so I tried to jump in with both feed and learn as much as I could about the whole process, because I did not study political silence at science in college, and so you know, I was trying to learn as much as I could from that. But the motivation for the book came from a lot of people coming to us and saying, you know, it's so intimidating. I don't even know where to start. I don't know what to do. You know, how do you even get involved? And it's actually easier than you think. So I wanted to give a practical handbook to folks of faith and just encourage them to say, hey, it's easier than you think, and you're needed. You're needed. Your involvement is essential.

5:05 Actually in America. Well that's where we the people come from, right, I mean those three important words from the Declaration of Independence and our constitution. It really those three words command us to get involved. You say, you may not have studied political science, but you lived it right, Yes, exactly, and we all do. And I you know, as I did my research on this book, I realized that, you know, this is a unique opportunity in the history of the world to be born into a country where your birthright is to not only enjoy freedom, but to also protect it for the next generation. And if we're not part of the conversation, and we're not involved on any level, whether it's just helping a campaign or whether it's actually running for office or attending you know, local school board meetings, whatever we're doing is actually making a difference, and so it's our birthright and it's the only way we can survive as a country. I love it.

6:00 I love that you said it's our birthright. Ron Reagan said, we're just one generation away from losing it all. And we see what's happening today in America on the streets of America, and wow, I mean, for it seems like the last decade or so, Christy, we've been told that we're at that tipping point. But I think we're beyond that tipping point. We're on the down side of it. And that's why things seem to be moving with such rapidity. And my humble opinion, yes, yes, for sure. And that's why I titled the book The Spiritual Price of Political Silence, because I truly believe that we are paying a spiritual price right now when we look at all around us in our culture, in our schools, you know, in our communities, the mindset of people, the vitriol that's out there, the divisiveness. This is all a result of the church saying, well, you know, it's not our place to be involved, or people of faith being intimidated of speaking out and actually exercising their freedom of speech. That's all part of the price that we're paying right now. And I truly believe it's all it's all hands on deck right now. We truly need a renewal, an American renewal, and a spiritual renewal in our country. Yeah, but for the spiritual you know, the spiritual response. In the beginning stages of this country, you would never have had the great American idea that we have. Yes, well, yes, yes, the revivals, there's a there's a direct correlation between the great revivals that happened and then political action throughout

7:32 history in America. It's it's amazing to see, whether it's you know, back way back in the Revolution, or whether it's just in recent years it's sixties and seventies, there are definitely movements of God that made a difference. Well, you know, I love the book because it reinforces the need to go back to what I call first principles. As you know, being a small business owner, you and your husband, is that oftentimes, you know, is we run our small our businesses, we may lose the way, we may make a wrong turn. Maybe it's an employee who comes in says, hey, I got a great idea sounds like a good idea, you take the idea doesn't work, and it takes good leadership and management to say, wait a minute. You know, down the road, it could be a year or two, sometimes longer, but you realize, you go, wait a minute, we lost momentum. Where where did we make a wrong turn? And good leadership will get you to go back and look at that crossroads where you missed the turn and you ended up in the wrong place.

8:33 Right, yes, yes, exactly. It's a reassessment of our direction and figuring out where did we go wrong? That's exactly right, yeah, and this is the opportunity that we have today right now. Less Jesus should terry. You know, we're here. We're not claiming any dates here, but you look at what's happening, not only in America but around the world. And you know, even doctor Belly when he was asked about the last days by one reporter he said, are these the last days? He said, the last of the last days? He was very quick to respond to that. So the signs are there, right exactly, and we're yeah, yeah, go ahead, no, I totally agree. And the more we see happening around the world, the more evidence we have that we are in the last days, and a lot of people say, you know, well, then I guess we just kind of wait until you know, he returns, or a lot of people I've heard, especially regarding politics, say well, does my vote even count? Doesn't even matter? And it actually does, especially on the local level. And yes, we need to be, you know, making sure that our elections are secure, that those in leadership are making sure that they are protected, and that every vote is sacred. But boy, when when my husband first ran for a state representative position he won by two hundred and forty nine votes, every vote counted, and board elections

10:07 and local elections, it really does matter. Now, Christie, let me clear this up because the information that was given to me was that you were the former Republican State Indiana representative. But it's your husband who is the former Republican state Indiana representative. Is that correct? Actually? Both? Actually both. So my husband served in the state rep and a state senator and also in Congress for six years, and then I served as a state representative while he was out of politics and working on business, and so I served for two years there just to have some fun. Huh, right, Well, I like to call it causers. When you meet people that believe in a cause and they're willing to do something that just doesn't seem fun, it's usually because they truly believe in it, and so we're kind of one of those causers. We also believe in the cause of preserving historic you know, historic preservation of great places around our state, and so we've been involved in that as well. But yeah, so it's a little crazy. But at the same time, when God calls you to do something is step forward by faith and do it. Yeah, exactly. Well, the spiritual price of political silence the topic of your book. I mean, you know, we look at you know, some you know, voting records, Christy, and let's just talk about the church. Only fifty percent of church members will even bother to register to vote, and the empirical evidence demonstrates that of that fifty percent,

11:39 only fifty percent of that number will actually go out and vote. Right. You know, it was people of faith that started this country, and it's people of faith because of the values. I mean, even our former president said that our constitution was designed for a moral and religious people. Over the years, in the decades, the recent decades, and it's had greater impact since the mid sixties gone forward, we've moved into this post modern Christian environment and look at our country now, look at where we are, and we have become, you know, so immoral on so many levels that some have come in that says that if God doesn't judge America, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. Yeah, I mean, it has been a long time coming. And the more I did in researching for this book, the more I realized it has been around longer than I ever imagined. There has been a concerted effort by cultural Marxists and by academic philosophers who truly believe in humanism and want to see that implemented into our country. They failed in other places, and you know, those who believe that there's a utopia coming because of their own evolution. When they experiment on as civilization and it fails, it's never their fault. They feel like they just didn't do it right and

13:13 targeted America early on, and they have infiltrated our schools, our universities, our media. They have erased our history, they have twisted facts, they have intimidated people of faith from being involved all with the goal of making sure that cultural Marxism and humanism is the religion that permeates America. And I think the Church was caught unawares. I believe that, you know, there was a division in the church from what I have studied way back, and half of them decided that government was the answer, and they handed over, you know, some of the things that the church usually does to the government, and the other half decided that politics was too ugly. And when you look at the founding and you look at the structure of our government, there was never any intention of people of faith removing themselves from the public arena. There was always reliance on that. And that's why I say it is a birthright.

14:13 It is something that comes as a blessing but also a responsibility. And we have been led to believe that not only are we not welcome, but that we don't know very much. And you know, there's a story in my book that was just a poignant moment for me, in one of those aha moments where I just kind of connected the dots and God said, this is why you need to be involved. And we were talking to a man who was I believe he was from Lithuania and it was one of the Eastern Bloc countries that had been part of the USSR under communism, and so he had grown up under communism, and I was very curious. I had heard from missionaries and from people that had gone on missions trips there what it was like, and so I asked him, I said, well, could you go to church? Did you have freedom of choice to choose what church you went to? And he looked at me and just kind of laughed and he said, well, yeah, of course we did. And I said you did. Well, well that's good to know. I mean, how did that work under communism? And he said, well, we could go to any church we wanted to, as long as we didn't want to go to college. And I said, why couldn't you go to college? He said, well, if you were a person of faith, you weren't scientific.

15:24 So the government was deciding that if you were a person of faith, you could not be a doctor, you cannot be a scientist. And we're seeing that in America today, where I don't think I remember ever in an interview with a person who was a person of faith, who was a scientist who believes in creation being interviewed by a national geographic or as an authority on something. So we're seeing that being implemented, and they're starting to put us in boxes and relegate us to only certain places in society. And if we stopped being involved, it's going to get worse. Well. Unfortunately, uh, you know, our First Amendment has been compromised. Uh. These institutions that that were instituted to protect uh, you know, our intellect and to advance our creativity and uh and and development has been squashed. It has been just like in communist countries, you are told and you were made one way or another, compelled to fall lockstep with the with the party at the time, and you know the political perspective. If not, you know, they've got ways to to change you. I mean, we we have a you know, a noted national political figure that has suggested that the basket of deplorables, you know, those of us of faith and conservative thought, that we should be institutionalized and reprogrammed. And this was made, the statement was made in

16:56 public without any pushback. What's soever, And this is what happens with totalitarianism and Marxist is they first throw it out there and if the response isn't outrage, then they just keep on pushing further and further until their ambitions are realized and we're moving in the wrong direction. And it is really a requirement of people of faith of the church to come together for the Church to be revived and to again re embrace its reason to exist. You know why Jesus went to the cross and why he left us with the church because he knew that we were going to have these kind of battles, didn't he right? Exactly, he knew it. And you know, we are armed and as long as we arm ourselves with the truth, we can be bold and we can be confident that we go into the public arena with the truth. And that's exactly what people are looking for. People are looking and they're they're hungry for the truth. I've never seen seen such a hunger in a generation as I have seen with this new generation, possibly because they have been you know, taught and almost indoctrinated with false teachings, and that can only satisfy to a certain point if you give them truth. They're hungry for it. And I have seen signs of renewal and a revival across the country. That's exactly what we need. We have to start changing the culture in our own homes.

18:27 It starts there. You know, a lot of people think that Hollywood determines culture, you know, and even politics can affect our culture. And you know what is this ugliness and victoria. Well, it's because the Church hasn't shown up, hasn't been a part of those conversations. And we actually, as Americans, we the people, determine our culture. We determine the culture in our homes and in our churches, and in our communities and in our schools. So it has to start with us. But I truly believe there is a renewal happening that we've been praying for for a long time. I just pray it's not too late, and I pray that there is enough of a remnant to be strong and bold and to understand what we have to offer and why we have to be there at the table as part of the conversation, in a kind way, in a Christian way, with Christ's love and with understanding. But we really need to unify people. It's not about being a social media warrior and having debates with total strangers. It's about talking to our family with kindness and love, asking poignant questions at Thanksgiving. I mean, for a long time, the monster was don't talk about you know, religion and politics, right right, it's you know. But I really think we need to change that, and there's a way to talk about it in love and kindness. And one of the ways that I've found is very effective is just listening first and then asking questions. But you have to go into it knowing, so you that's why I put in my book a refresher course on our Judeo Christian founding, and then I'll also information on how did the

20:02 humanist Marxist how did this culture happen? There is a history to it, and so I put that in a book so that people could be aware of it. And really their target is taking down the authoritarian is that these are their words, the authoritarian structure of the family unit. That is enemy number one, and we see that being attacked and the foundations crumbling every single day. So if we start in our homes creating a culture of truth. My great great grandfather, great grandmother actually a times great grandmother. Her last words on her dying bed was be valiant for truth. And if we do that in our homes, it will change the culture Wow, what a great warning that many years ago. And this is why the truth is so important.

20:53 And what the Left and the Marxists were able to do was to get us to move off of absolute truth to think that the truth was relative. Well, look where it's gotten us, right exactly. Yeah, there's no such thing as my truth and your truth. There is only God's truth. Amen. And we can't, you know, we can't succumb to this idea that well, I just I don't want to rock the boat. I don't want to you know, cause any controversy, well, christ was controversial, and yet he showed so much love and compassion. So I think you know, you're going to have to expect if you're going to stand for what's right, that you're going to stand for truth. There are there is going to be pushback, and people aren't going to like it. So you're not going to be the most favorite people you know, person on the block sometimes. But if you speak it in love, you're planting seeds for the future. Well, Christy, I got to tell you, in terms of speaking and love, the launch point. It starts with your assessment of how much God has forgiven you. Yes, and when you come into you know, these conversations are these circles. With that in mind, it is quite humbling and it's engaging for others because you know sometimes to say, well, you know, you've got to approach this in love, Well what does that mean? How is that communicated? And I have found through experience that when I remember how much God has forgiven me, boy, you approach these topics and people in

22:26 a different sort of way. There's no room for legalism, there's no room for condemnation. You're not looking for a rock to pick up, right, you know, you're thankful that God has forgiven you. And if He's forgiven you this other person that you know, whose sin is probably quite minor by comparison. You know, as Jesus said, hey, before you take the splinter out of your buddy's eyes, maybe you got to take a look at that two by four that's sticking out of your eyes. Right. So true, it's so true. Yeah. So that's why I think, you know, being a social media warrior and getting in these you know, arguments with total strangers is just pointless. Uh. It really needs to start in our own hearts, you know, realizing what we've been given and how blessed and forgiven we we are, and then out of that should come you know, the truth and the kindness that we can share with others, and you know, the uh, the the actual you know, playing out of that is really reliant on us knowing. We have to know it first, we have to experience it first. And that's where I think we've we've kind of lost our way. Our true history has been hidden or or twisted changed. And I also believe that we don't want to present such a pretty picture of American history that we deny reality. Uh, there wasn't a lot of ugliness that happened in the growth of our young nation. There were wrongs that were done

24:00 to people. There were in my own family. As I did my own research on my own family, it was shocking what my family had to go through and what they had to overcome. Why my grandmother wouldn't talk about certain things because she was afraid and socially of the repercussions of people knew this or that. So we have to realize that let's talk about it all, and let's realize that we actually have the answer, and the answer is found in God and his word exactly well, and you know, as as you say, is that when we bring it out into the light, then it's out there. And what's happened is that, unfortunately, as you mentioned earlier, you've got these Marxists and communists who have come in. They've stolen our history, They've rewritten things, they've made up stories and narratives with anonymous reporting.

24:51 It is not a fair assessment of right we are because look at the country you know, came together with these new documents, was white revolutionary, a declaration of independence, a constitution that we would strive for a more perfect union. We knew that we were coming in and we had to deal with slavery. Our founding fathers, you know, left that in there so that it would be an encouragement, It would be kind of a bit of a landmark, a lighthouse, so to speak, to move them in a courageous direction to do something about slavery. Yes, and you know, and thank god, look look what we did. We paid, We paid the price of it. How many other nations on the planet in the history did as much as America did just on that one topic alone, Christy, Yes, exactly.

25:42 And you know it does us, it really does us good. If we were to look back at history with open eyes and say, okay, what did we overcome? Why were we fighting this? You know, and different issues, whether it's slavery or whether it's you know, the trail of tears, or or whether it's the fight over abortion or just all of those issues that we have had to deal with as a country. There were so many people involved in that discussion and then eventually sometimes you know, and all out war about things like that, and let's let's talk about it. Let's not hide it. Let's not say it's all hunky door. It wasn't.

26:22 It wasn't a beautiful thing, and human nature is going to falter and fail. So we really need to be honest about that and and talk about it in a fair way. Uh. You know, even my own family, I mean, we had people fighting on both sides of the Civil War in the same family, you know, from Kentucky. I have pictures of my ancestors, you know, one in gray and one in blue, and that we're living out the actual reality of that. So you know, when you look at that and you say, wow, look how far you know we've actually come. Look at the sacrifices that were made and the battles that were fought. So where do we go from here? How do we come together as a nation. And one thing that's been encouraging to me is that when I've gone overseas and I've been on congressional delegation trips, uh where we're representing America to other countries, we have had several people say, you know, this happened on the Mount of Beatitudes. We had our tour guide who said he was not I yes, yeah, go ahead. He wanted us to know America has done this thing that Jesus said, you have done this.

27:33 You've been a light to the world, and we're asking you not to stop. I had another gentleman say, we want to do trade with America. We appreciate everything you've stood for. Thank you for what you did in World War Two. Just don't don't export your morals. Wow. What a hard thing to hear. And yet at the same time I realized, I understand what he's saying. I understand we have to get our own house in order before we can help others. Yeah, with without a doubt. And that and that story about the tour guide who you know, it was interesting because when I went to Israel too, that was a you know, a little bit of a shock for me because you're going to the Holy Land and you think, gosh, here you are. You're going where Jesus walked. You know, everybody here must be religious and spiritual, and you and you saw so much you go gosh. In so many ways, this is America.

28:21 It is so secularized and and and it really my heart ached for the Holy Land in thinking that you know, here we are are you know, the children of Israel repeating past mistakes and as you say, you know, even in America, in disrespecting their birthright. And we know from the Bible, you know what happened when another player disregarded his birthright. God said that it was Esau he hated, Jacob he loved, and it was Esau who rejected his birthright. So there's something rather hollow and sanctified about your birth right. And I think that what you've touched on here, Christian people of faith are going to get this. They understand the significance of this is that we should not take the birthright that we have here as American citizens, as a country that has been blessed by God Almighty himself. Because you know, I don't care what anybody says, without God, America doesn't happen. Yes, so true. I mean, so if we take our birthright for granted, similar to what Esau did, and we enjoy the abundance without understanding the root of the abundance, it will not be there for our children. So if we expect them to enjoy the blessings of freedom like we have, at a certain point, when we become an adult and we become a contributing member of society,

29:53 at a certain point we have to realize that we have enjoyed the blessings of abundance because of the root of faith, and now it is our turn to take up the role of responsibility and be engaged and involved and ensure that it continues. And part of that is understanding our history, understanding where we came from, what we've come through, and why God has blessed us, and staying true to that. Well, we're talking with Christy Stutsman, her book The Spiritual Price of Political Silence, Christie's small business owner, a music composer, a former teacher and state legislator. Christy, you mentioned abortion and I want to I want to address this. I mean, after forty nine years the Supreme Court decided to put the issue of abortion back to the fifty States, where even many commentators forty nine to fifty years ago agreed that's where it should be. But still it continues to be a lightning rod. And I think that again relevant to you know, political silence, is that the church should be able to lead the way here in a very positive manner, with compassion and understanding that you know, probably when you look out over the pews every Sunday morning, pastors are probably seeing about a third, it's been estimated, according to Barnard research, a third of those sitting in the pew

31:27 have been involved with an abortion. The church doesn't want to talk about it. It has remained silent. I think it's unfortunate because there is healing that needs to take place there for people that have been involved with abortion, and that we need to realign, you know, our own constitution, our own understanding, and certainly the political perspective of how God sees life. And it's black and white. It's not gray. It's either life or it's death, isn't it, Yes, it is. And you know, I really like the fact that you point it to the need for the church to have compassion.

32:09 When you talk to friends and neighbors, you'll never know how close abortion is in their lives or to you. If you've never experienced it, you probably know someone who has been touched by it in some way. And so I think it's very, very important as people of faith and believers to be careful in the words we pick and not being so condemnatory of people who might have been misled or might misunderstand what actually happens when God gives life. And so there's been a lot of misinformation spread for many, many years. In fact, I'm going to give you a little insight into my age, which is not I'm not supposed to do that as a woman, but I am as old as the Roe v. Way decision, and when it was past I could have been aborted. I mean at that point, you know.

33:02 And so my generation grew up never knowing any other situation other than it being legal. The fact that it is now been overturned and has been sent back to the States is a huge win. But at the same time, we also have to be aware that the fight will never be over until all hearts are reached with the truth about abortion, about scripture, about their freedom in Christ and so and a lot of church members were misled as well, and so we really have some education to do, some love and reaching out to people on an issue that is very, very hard for a lot of people to talk about. And so there's been a divide in the pro life movement and it's broken my heart to see that some people have come in and said, you know, end it now, and there's repercussions for everybody involved and send them all to jail. And I don't adhere to that mentality at all.

34:00 I truly believe that there's been misunderstanding and misleading of people, miseducation about the whole issue, and we really have to start there. And the science is with us. That's what's so wonderful is that the science backs up life. And that's just a wonderful thing to be able to realize into study. Yeah, I agree, put the stones down. You know, we need to put the stones down. Nobody needs to get clobbered here. We were lied to the Supreme Court, the movement planned parenthood, the genesis Margaret Sanger, although this was the system was rigged, and it was rigged against the truth. And so you know, a culture bought into this we killed over a million babies, over one hundred million babies. I'm sorry, in the forty nine year history, we still canine you to murder babies to this day, and we pray that you know that everyone would come to the knowledge, the knowledge and wisdom of God and Jesus Christ and understand how precious life is and that there are there, there are remedies that if you have a mindset of life, because that's that's the intersection that we're at in this culture.

35:27 It's either life or it's death. There's nothing in between. And so if you're thinking of life, then you come up with solutions that promote life, like abortion. Like these pregnancy care centers that are opening up. Christy, I don't know if you know this, but we've got pregnancy care centers that are working with women and fathers, you know, future fathers that suddenly you know, I'm a dad and you know, and all the complications of that, and they're coming alongside and helping them, you know. And and you have more of those opening up than planned parenthood centers. So that hope, right, you see a generation that has lived the consequences of abortion. Yes, so when you actually live it it's hard to lie to you about what the consequences are because you've lived it. And so when you've lived it and you've experienced the pain and the repercussions of that decision, not having realized what you were going to face if you did this, and then you live a life that is affected by it. And that's happened to a whole generation or two. Now you can't you can't snow them anymore. They know it, they know what actually happened to them, and so then they start looking for answers and for healing. And so that's why you see so many of them popping up, because there is a generation who knows the truth now personally, and they are going to not only look for the truth, but they're going

37:00 once they find it, they're going to share it with others. And that's why there's so many ministries that are post abortion, you know, for fathers and mothers. There's healing out there. Why because there's people that have lived it and they found the truth and now they want to share it with others well. And this is what caused the Dobs decision. It was organic forty nine years of experience of death buying into the lie and a mother's who bought into this idea that was going to be safe and rare found out otherwise. They found out that it wasn't just a tumor, that it is a baby, and you know, call it a fetus and call it whatever you want, some nondescript name that justifies your decision to you know, to kill your child, to murder your child. And the realization, as you said, for women, and what they started doing was telling their story and saying I regret it, the grandparents regret it, my husband, we all were broken hearted over it. And I keep telling people anecdotally oftentimes when we get into this conversation and I'm talking with women, even men who have experienced abortion, Christy, they will tell me, oh, my child has been seven today, or my child would have been fourteen. I mean, do you do you keep count of a nondescript tumor in terms of age? You say,

38:31 oh, well have been seven years old today. No, And you wouldn't cry over some tumor that's been exercised out of your body, you know. But women are heartbroken, and my heart aches, and and even for men, and I think it's it's to God's grace and mercy that even men are waking up and realizing, my God, you know, I you know, I killed my child. And I tell this story that I was interviewing a director. He was a film director, and he was doing a movie on Roe V. Wade, and I was relating to him, just as I'm relating to you and talking about you know, how women will say to me that their child would have been a certain age. And I was looking, I was looking at my notes, and he was sitting right across from me.

39:16 We were at a convention, and when I looked up, I saw tears coming down his face and he said, Bill, my child, my son. He says, my son would have been eighteen. And it crushed me, you know, it crushed me to experience the pain that he was going through. Like you said, it's in the church just as much as it is anywhere else, right, people of faith, really, And there were different reasons for it. Whether it was fear, you know that the young lady decided to have an abortion because you know, she didn't want to tell her family, or whether it was just believing the lies. Whatever it was, there was a great cloud of darkness that was placed on our country with that decision, and I truly believe that, you know, at that time of the decision, I don't think the church was prepared with scientific answers, much less answers of faith. And we are so blessed to have so much scientific advancement in prenatal care and you know, preborn care. I mean they're doing surgeries on children still in the womb. So I mean, we know so much more now. And you know, my dad used to say, you're only responsible for what you know. But you are responsible for what you know, so you better do something good with it. And once we know something, then we have the responsibility and the duty as people of faith

40:46 and Christians and believers in America to actually be armed with the truth and speak out about even issues like this. It's extremely important in order to save lives. Well, when I look back at church history, Christie, back in the thirties, there were voices warning I mean, first it was about birth control, and they took exception to us, says, look, we're going to go down to slippery slide here, this is going to lead to in fantaside. Oh no, no. They were canceled, and all the pressure against them and everything, and the very thing they warned us about is what's been realized. And so you're exactly right with today we have little excuse with all the medical advancement and what we know now. You know, with sonograms, you see the child, you know, growing in a mother's womb, and you see the heartbeat and and you know, and it's just, you know, for those of us with faith, we look at that and we just magnify God because it is such a miracle. Isn't it beautiful? It's absolutely beautiful. I'm so thankful for the organizations that are out there trying to provide you know, ultrasound machines and sonograms and just information to people because as once a mother sees that on the screen, it is almost impossible for her to just walk away and not be changed in some way. So it definitely is I think, you know, we have become bolder on this issue.

42:14 We have had to do a long, hard look in the mirror when it comes to do we understand this and why don't why weren't we prepared and what can we arm ourselves with now? And I you know, I've been part of several pro life groups trying to just raise awareness of the facts. You know, regarding life and the effects that an abortion has on someone and and the lives that are being taken. I mean all of that. It's taken a long time, has taken fifty years to actually kind of get our bearings and be able to have a you know, a change in the culture, to actually affect the culture with what we have found and what we have discovered.

42:57 And boy, what a blessing to have scientific advancement on our side as well well. Christy, we have to be able to verbalize a consistent, compassionate message about abortion because the left is hijacked it. They're using it as an emotional political wedge issue to get their way in much the same way as we talked early on right. I mean, you may not be able to, you know, convince people, but you can force people into thinking a certain way. And this is where the truth of God needs to be magnified and brought out in such a way that, you know, in love with compassion, we address this issue that you know is now back with the states, and it's up to the states individually to make a decision because you know, yes, an election. I'm still scratching my head in Ohio. I don't understand how a you know, a predominantly mostly red state could come up with the decision that they came with. Well, we, yeah, we definitely have work to do. A lot of people think that once Rob Wade was overturned, we're done right, we won. No. No, the fight still continues and the other side will never give up. It is one of their tenants of their faith, is how I like to describe it.

44:19 They will not let go of that doctrine of humanism because without that, all of a sudden, you humanize an unborn child, and they cannot allow that. And so we have to be careful too that on our side, we don't think, first of all, that it's over. And second of all, we cannot come in guns blazing and look at the people that have actually been in the pro life movement and the fight, and I know some who've been there since nineteen seventy three who were part of that initial pushback and had been fighting ever since. We can't come in and say, you know, you didn't do enough. We're going to end it now, and this is how we're going to do it, because guess what, I don't think the fight will ever be over. We have to continue be vigilant. And that's what the founder said. You know, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

45:04 The price of life is eternal vigilance. We can't stop youah, three hundred and fifty million people here in America, three hundred and fifty million choices to be made, three hundred and fifty million hearts to be changed and brought into alignment with our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. And what will truly because all this whole situation in terms of you know, the political sphere that we're talking about, and what God gave us got you know, the ultimate gift that God gave us was liberty, was freedom, and here America has been the manifestation of said liberties and freedom, and we're losing those, you know, step by step? Is you unpacked? And you said, here it is. You've had this socialistic movement that is coming. It has invaded every aspect, every institution, are families, and we've got to see it for what it is and cast it out, don't we. I mean, it's our choice. We're still in that position, aren't we. It's a lot of work. It is a lot of work. Vigilance isn't fun. I mean vigilance means every day listening to what your children are learning, every day, researching you know, whether it's the curriculums. In fact, I had an experience with my son in high school, actually in college as well, but bringing home reading material that was not okay, and this was an assignment and having a back and forth with the teacher that took extra time out of my schedule as a small business owner. And I've had deadlines to meet and things to do. Why was I taking that time? Because it matters to

46:37 me what my child is taught and the principles he's being indoctrinated with in school. And I have to be the buffer zone. I have to be the person because God gave him to me as my child. It's my responsibility to make sure that he is given the truth and he's given a free and open debate and so that the truth can win out. Because when you have a fair playing field and you're not like as a teacher, coming in and intimidating children into believing what you believe. Personally, you have to create an open dialogue and especially with your children and your home and say, okay, tell me why you think that, and then you have to be prepared with the answers, and you have to know where to point them to in order to combat anything that they are you know, hearing and believing that might be false.

47:23 You know, Christy, you touched on something that's so significant, and that is that you know our responsibility as parents, you know, from the moment of conception all the way through. You know, our generation has been quite spoiled and entitled. We've taken so much for granted, and we've thought that we could put our heels up on the desk and you know, be very casual about this. But again, part of our birthright is the vigilance that you talk about, the way we honor this birthright that God has given us the responsibility of raising our children in a godly manner. I mean, God was so serious about this that even in the Old Testament when you read, I mean he admonished those he said, look at you know, you need to talk to your children, you know, when you sleep, when you wake up, when you're walking, you know, together, this is how important this is, that they're most important. And you know we've all made that mistake to think that well, our business and the urgency of business issues took president over over our families. And you know we've fallen, we've fallen into that, But that doesn't mean just because we've fallen into it that we need to stay there right right, exactly now. And we do have the capability to wake up and decide we're not going to be lazy today.

48:50 We're going to be proactive with our children, with our community, with our neighbors, with our church. We have that individual decision to make. And I believe you know, when Abraham prayed for a remnant, you know, uh, if there's a remnant, Lord, then will you will you spare the city? I think we need to be on our knees asking God to allow us to enlarge our remnant and to allow the remnant to be actively involved and to be aware and to be speaking out boldly, uh, with with kindness and with love, but with confidence that we have the answers well. And it starts with how we think. And I've been saying here recently, Christy, I just believe that the Spirit has brought this into my orbit and says, you know, we must think better, we must do better, we must be better. And and and that doesn't say, look at I want you to be one hundred percent more, just be a little bit better, you know, Yeah, that might be some personal sacrifice, you know, I mean it is a personal sacrifice to take time out of your busy schedule too, or to you know, donate to a cause, or to roll up your sleeves and be a part of a board. You know, that's making a difference. It all, it all is a sacrifice. But when you think about the sacrifices that have been made, you know, by others, for us, it's it's really nothing compared to what other other generations have had to live through, compared to a Christ did on the cross,

50:21 And so we've we've been asked to do so little. I think that you know, it's time for us to realize that it might make some bigger it might take some bigger sacrifices on our part to actually turn this thing around. And it's not going to turn around overnight. One thing that I learned serving in office and also watching my husband serve, is that government works slowly. It was never meant to be a pretty uh process. Uh, the process is kind of ugly because human nature is it at play, and everybody has a different perspective and we're supposed to have an open dialogue about different issues. It's going to get ugly. At the same time, we cannot be so used to while in our business, we're going to make this decision and so we're going to fix this problem. It's totally different. In government. You have to work with others and you have to win them to your side.

51:13 And so it's gonna take patience on our part, I think, is what I'm trying to say. We need patience, you know, to and you know it was patients on the part of the cultural Marxist, the targeted America. This has taken close yeah, exactly right. Yes, well, yes, and so it's going to take a long time for us. And uh. And and I'm going to leave our audience, uh with what you said earlier, and that is we must be valiant for the truth and this must be this must be absolutely foundational. We can stand on the truth and there is absolute truth. Uh. Not buy into that narrative that it is relative.

51:57 That's a lie. Instantly, Uh. Christie's Stutsman, thank you so much for the time. Congratulations on the book, which is available at all the usual places. The Spiritual Price of political Silence. Again, we appreciate the time you take care. Thank you so much, I appreciate it. Our gratitude and thanks to Christie Stutsman for being on the show today, and thank you for sharing a part of your day with us. May God bless you and keep you, May make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you his piece. Thanks again for being with us. God bless and Happy Thanksgiving.