Repairing the Foundations | When Tech Goes Too Far

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Walker Wildmon: American Family Radio exploring the Word this week

Welcome to the The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to be with you. I'm Walker Wildmon on this edition of the program. AFR.net is our website and you can download the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Well, let's turn our attention to the scripture and then we do have a guest, a well known guest here on studio with us. Acts chapter 13 is where we have been this week, reading towards the end of the chapter verses 49 through 52, and the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from the region, verse 51 and 52. But they shook off the dust from the feet against them and came to Iconium. And, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. So there's many things we could talk about and draw from this, but what I want to point out is how Paul and Barnabas responded to being rejected, to being expelled from the region and from the city. they shook off the dust and they moved on with joy and with the Holy Spirit. So may we take that from Acts chapter 13. brother Bert Harper, Exploring the Word, Exploring missions and many other things is with us. Brother Bert, welcome back.

>> Bert Harper: Thank you. It's good to be with you, brother.

>> Walker Wildmon: Well, Exploring the Word is our daily program that has many, many listeners from 3 to 4 Central. And you and Alex have been hosting it for over a decade.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, 15 years.

>> Walker Wildmon: 15. Wow.

>> Bert Harper: Alex started with Marvin Sanders for about a year. I came on board at the end there in 2011 and, Marvin started having his issues with cancer and he had let me. Hey, would you fill in and I filled in, and it became a part of what I did. I didn't come here to do Exploring the Word.

>> Walker Wildmon: I didn't know that. I thought. I thought you and the show went together at the same time.

>> Bert Harper: Well, it just. God did it.

>> Walker Wildmon: It worked out.

>> Bert Harper: I mean, it's, one of those things you say, okay, God, you know, he. Timing. Have you noticed timing is a large part of what we do, Walker.

>> Walker Wildmon: I, know. And the Lord always works it out. He does according to his purpose.

>> Bert Harper: We can trust him.

>> Walker Wildmon: That's right.

You and your wife Jan have been doing fishbowl retreats for pastors

Well, hey, you and your wife Jan, have been, doing the, fishbowl retreat. We call it repairing the foundation's fishbowl retreat. But you and Jan, if I'm not wrong, I think I have my history correct. Y' all were doing some of this before you even came on staff here, and so you continued it, and my dad wanted to make sure you could continue it. So this is somewhat. Been going on with you and Jan before afa, but nonetheless, give us a little history, a little backgrounder on these fishbowl retreats for pastors, and then, of course, we can get into this year's,

>> Bert Harper: It did start about 10 years before I came on board. Matter of fact, the very first one, Jan. It was Jan that thought about.

>> Walker Wildmon: It was.

>> Bert Harper: It was her idea. Credit to Jan. She gets the credit. And, so we found a place that would house 10 couples. Well, Jan and I would need to stay there. So we decided nine couples. And at that time, we wanted them young, you know, just started entering into the ministry.

>> Walker Wildmon: Sure.

>> Bert Harper: And we started saying, we're going to raise the money so we can invite them to come and be a part of it. So me being connected with a man called Don Wildmon, I came and told him my vision and what I thought about, he said, how much do you need? And so the very first fishbowl that Jenny and I did, afa was funded.

>> Walker Wildmon: This is news to me. I'm learning this right now. This is amazing.

>> Bert Harper: Not knowing that 10 years later, you would be on site, I'd be on board, and Tim would say, hey, bring fishbowl with you. And, God, that's amazing. It is.

>> Walker Wildmon: There's so many stories like that.

>> Bert Harper: There is. And so. But Jan and I both saw the need for pastoring is different. I don't know how else to say that. I've done it most of my life, just about all my life. But, those guys, especially, that were doing other things, and then they became pastors, they said, okay, this is quite different.

>> Walker Wildmon: Oh, yeah.

>> Bert Harper: And, we didn't want a conference because conferences, you're busy here, you busy there. We wanted it to be a retirement where the couple themselves might talk, because we give them discussion questions and things like that, but we also, want them to meet others. And because of social media, we've had people that's from, up in Kentucky, and their friends are there in Texas, and they, I mean, they become close friends. and it happened at the fishbowl.

>> Walker Wildmon: Amazing. So this fistbowl, retreat, folks, the reason we're talking about it is because it's coming up in October 20th through the 22nd of October. It's going to be at Pickwick Landing, state park there in Counts, Tennessee. It's been there for a couple at least once.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, we found it centrally located.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, it's moved around a couple times.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, we've been in Texas and other places, but this is a great place right there on the Tennessee River.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, it's beautiful.

>> Bert Harper: Fall of the year.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Bert Harper: And, catfish.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, we've been up there. AFA's had a retreat up there, a leadership retreat at the state, park there. And they. They've done some work on the hotel there at the inn at the state park. So it's a nice place to be. So this is coming October 20th through 22nd. explain to someone listening, whether it be a, church member that's like, hey, I want to send my pastor to this. Which I hope is the case. We need more of that, or we need deacons sending their pastors to this. Or if there's a pastor listening, saying, hey, I'd like to attend, Tell them some of the things that will be covered. And of course, jj, Jasper will be there as well.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, JJ will be there this year. In place of having a main speaker, we got. We have different ones that are coming and sharing. it's about God in him being sustained. The verse that we do in sustaining us is Psalm 55, 22. Cast your burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain you. I mean, that's powerful when you think about that. Sustain you. It has the idea of lifting you up, holding you up, shielding you. He shall. He shall. So we're going to have different ones sharing how God did that all during their process. Jan will be speaking. I'll be speaking as well. But we're going to have some special, testimonies about what God has done. People should go away feeling God has done it. He can still do it. That's the Whole idea. And so that's the idea. It's Pastor Appreciation Month is October. And that's why we've. It's. Well, it's a good time of the year. We have it in the middle of the week so the pastor won't miss a Sunday. You know, may miss a Wednesday night, but always when I was pastoring all the time and have a Wednesday night somewhere like that, it was always a great time to find a deacon or elder.

>> Walker Wildmon: Allow somebody else to preach.

>> Bert Harper: Somebody. Yeah. And let them participate.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, absolutely.

Repairing the foundations is coming up October 20th thru 22nd

folks, the website here, and then we'll keep giving you a little more information, but repairing the foundations, that's plural.net repairing the foundations.net. if you go into one of your search engines and just type in repairing the foundations and Bert Harper or any of those keywords, it'll queue up in your search engine. But the URL is repairing the foundations.net right there. You can click learn more. You can scroll down to the dates, the location, obviously the list of hosts, including, Brother Bert and his wife jan. Alex McFarland will be there.

>> Bert Harper: He was there.

>> Walker Wildmon: He was there last year.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, he was. Jj.

>> Walker Wildmon: Jj, Jasper will be speaking and then others you mentioned sharing their testimonies. so that's coming up in October, 20th through the 22nd. Tell them what, give them a little bit of a taste of what, the itinerary looks like. As far as you've got meals and you've got maybe some free time built in. Obviously you've got multiple sessions. What does it look like as far as an average day there at the retreat?

>> Bert Harper: Well, we start Tuesday with a lunch and, you know, eating together is one of the things that brings fellowship.

>> Walker Wildmon: Jesus did it.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, exactly. We sit around tables, get to know. And before they break off, I get my micro phone and I go around acting like, you know, I want to interview where you from, where you from, who came to who, who traveled, who's got the most kids and get to know folks like that. We're going to have some fun with that.

>> Walker Wildmon: Oh, yeah.

>> Bert Harper: And then we, we start a first session and I introduce Jan and Jan and I, we share a little bit about what it's like, this year, again with the idea of being sustainer, we'll, we'll be talking about what God has done. I mean, Jen, I've been married over 50 years now. Amazing. it is amazing.

>> Walker Wildmon: Congratulations.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, it is. Been great. so we share what it was like and what it is like in ministry. we take a break JJ usually comes in that day and he uses his humor, but also what else happened to him, his ministry. Guess what? God sustained he and Mel through all the stuff they go through. And we have a break, we have the meal m. And then we come back that night for a worship service and like to say, Randy Wood, who is a music minister here, Tupelo. But he's agreed. He's part of a. We have a group that just ministers to them.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Bert Harper: You know, they, they have the vision of. And the burden of helping pastors.

>> Walker Wildmon: Sure.

>> Bert Harper: And so we have the worship service. Have someone share. And so it's, it's a good day. Wednesday afternoons, the break time. Everybody on Wednesday afternoon, sit out and watch the river flow or travel over to one of the stores there locally. So it's a good day.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, that's great, folks.

American Family Radio is hosting an annual fishbowl retreat for pastors and their wives

This is the, annual fishbowl retreat in, Counts Tennessee at the Pickwick Landing State Paak. Brother Bert Harper and his wife Jan are going to be your host. As he mentioned, JJ Jasper, one of our longtime AFR personalities, will be there. JJ's written multiple books as well and got a very powerful testimony about how God has continued to sustain he and his wife during their marriage and their life. And so a lot of wisdom, a lot of excitement and energy and fun that's going to be had. And so this is primarily targeted at pastors and their wives. And so the goal here is for churches, the ideal situation is for a church, to get together and sponsor their, pastor and send them to this, retreat, this fishbowl retreat. It's targeted towards pastors and their wives so that they can have a time of fellowship, of ministering to and really be, re energized to go back to their local church and minister. So the website is repairingthefoundations.net repairingthefoundations.net brother Bert, thank you so much for coming in. And we'll keep pushing this the rest of the week and as long as we need to, to get these folks signed up and the seats full.

>> Bert Harper: Thank you, Walker. And it is, we, we encourage them to be good parents as well because that's, it's a. It. That's a part of, that's part of it.

>> Walker Wildmon: And so that's the whole family.

>> Bert Harper: That's it.

>> Walker Wildmon: Thank you, pastor and his wife. Thank you, brother Burke. That's brother, Bert Harper from Exploring the Word heard each weekday on American Family Radio 3 to 4 Central. Of course, you can get the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts just type in Exploring the Word. He and Alex McFarland host that program. And so brother Bert and his wife are hosting this annual fishbowl retreat. They've been doing this for years. and it's an amazing time of fellowship and ministering to pastors and their wives. And we need more godly, righteous, courageous, men in our pulpits, leading our churches, leading our congregations around the country. that's one of the many areas in which will help transform American culture and to help restore a sense of righteousness to the land, is ministering to and uplifting our local pastors around the country. They are somewhat, the backbone of the spiritual, dynamic in the country. And we talk often on the program and on the network about the different ills of society, the different things that we're dealing with as a country, as a culture. But ultimately all of our societal issues at some point are rooted in a spiritual dynamic, a spiritual illness, because of our fallenness. And so we've got to continually recognize that and understand that restoring a sense of righteousness and obedience to God and his Word in our culture and at an individual level is the, main driver towards restoring and transforming American culture for God's glory. And that's what, as we celebrate our 250th this month as a country, and as I've read multiple quotes from founding fathers over the last several weeks, what I'm talking about here is very much in sync and in alignment with what many of our founding fathers envisioned for this thing called America. They envisioned our states, our cities, our communities to be beacons of hope and righteousness and godly living so that we could propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ domestically and abroad. And so what we're doing here at AFA and the mission and the vision and things like this fishbowl retreat are fully in sync with, some of the early goals and objects, objectives of America's founding fathers. And so 250 plus years later, we're continuing on some of the noble, and virtuous objectives of the men and women that came before us to propagate the gospel. Repairingthefoundations.net is that URL repairingthefoundations.net go there, send your pastor and their wife to this retreat, and we'll, we'll be back in a couple minutes. We have a few more guests for the remainder of this program, so stick around. We'll be back. America's 250th birthday. It's a great excuse to have some extra cake and ice cream, but we can help your celebration go well beyond that. Show your patriotism with America 250 apparel that will become a memento of this special year. We also have special episodes on AFA Stream to help underscore that America is a Christian nation and help you find God in the Constitution. Find all of this and more in one place. Afa.net topics250@the corps podcasts are available@afr.net now back to at the The Core on American Family Radio.

Former Mississippi state representative Dana Criswell discusses mass surveillance cameras on American Family Radio

Welcome back to the The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us on this edition of the show. Well, there's a variety of ways to keep up with the program. I mentioned in the last segment how you can subscribe to the podcast. You can also watch the video live on Facebook and on stream.aca.net so feel free to check those places out if you want to watch the video. If you just want the audio, of course, you can go to the afr.net website or the AFR app and get the live audio, there at the afr app and afr.net well, I want to welcome to the program former, Mississippi State representative Dana Criswell, who is with us now, who made it clear during the break that he is no longer state rep, no longer a quote unquote politician. And he's with us now to talk about some of these AI concerns, especially with these camera networks around the country. Dana welcome to the program.

>> Dana Criswell: Hey, thanks for having me. I appreciate, welcome the opportunity to talk about this a little bit.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, to put things together for folks, who are trying to get up to speed on what we're talking about. So there's the most notable, network, if you will, or brand is these, what's called these flock cameras. And they're these wireless cameras that are on. They're very, very rudimentary, simple setup and they're now growing into a multi billion doll. but they are on these simple poles, near roads, near intersections. They run off solar. They're run wirelessly off of 4G or 5G networks. And so there's no big sophisticated setup. So they're relatively low profile. But once you start spotting these cameras, you can spot them everywhere. they stand out like a sore thumb if you're looking out for them. But they're these flock cameras. And then there's other brands. I know one you're very familiar with is called Accusense. but nonetheless, this General topic of what has become this mass surveillance deployment of cameras all around the country, on these public thoroughfares, is raising some serious concerns about how these would be used by law enforcement and government, should they want to abuse, their powers, if you will. So tell us more about this and, and, how this has become kind of an outbreak in recent years.

>> Dana Criswell: Well, I really had not paid any attention to this. It's just one of those things I kind of heard you hear in the background, you hear flock. And I didn't know. I mean, I have, chickens. I thought it was to monitor my chickens, honestly. But you start hearing about that a little bit. And then I read the article in Magnolia Tribune about, you know, the Department of Public Safety, you know, going to spend $2 million on these cameras. And that's kind of what piqued my interest and where I started down this road. And, you know, I mean, everybody I talked to, they were like, okay, you know, the laws. You were a state representative. We outlawed these, didn't we? and in 2009, we all thought we'd outlawed all of this. Turns out we only outlawed red light cameras for cities and counties, but not for the state. So now then we've got the state doing something. We tell the cities and counties they can't. And it's a kind of a twist on it. It's not a red light camera, but we're monitoring for everything else. So that kind of where I started. And, like I said, I didn't even know it was around here until just a month ago.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, yeah. And to your point, Mississippi already has various statutes on the books regarding this relative topic. From a high level. But to your point, the way these have been deployed is somewhat of a loophole when you look at kind of the spirit of the law, and what was aimed at preventing these. What was happening, what you're talking about on the statute level, what was happening was you were getting these citations issued, for example, on an accused running of a red light, but there was no actual officer present to witness the crime. And this is what everybody knows who's reported a crime is if law enforcement isn't there to witness it, such as, a traffic violation. You can't just retroactively start writing citations. but that's what was happening by certain municipalities. So the state stepped in via legislature and, corrected that loophole, if you will, and outlawed the traffic cam tickets, if you will. but these flak cameras are being used for different things and are being deployed through, other areas and aren't specifically addressed by the law. So tell us how these cameras are being used. I mean, there's a variety of uses for them by local, state and federal law enforcement. But just give us a couple examples.

>> Dana Criswell: Well, there's, there's the acusensis cameras that we were talking about here, and there's the flock cameras. They kind of layer on top of each other. I mean the, the department of public safety said they were going to use them to monitor people wearing a seatbelt. They're going to use them to monitor whether you are talking on a cell phone, which actually is not illegal in Mississippi, but they were going to then send a message to a police officer down the road, is going to pull you over and give you a ticket. Flock cameras around say, oh, we're not red light cameras. We're not monitoring running a red light. We're monitoring for speed. We're monitoring for accidents. We're monitoring for any number of things that they want because they register your car, they read your tag. I've, I've even read where they, they catalog dents and scratches on your car just in case you were involved in an accident. They want to come back and find out. So really everything they, they take your picture, they facial recognize who is driving the car. So now then they have a record in a database that is actually open nationwide of, all of your movements. And that's where the issue becomes, I understand people want it to find bad guys, that's one thing. But when 99.9% of all of the data that they are collecting is about completely innocent people, then there becomes a real issue and a real problem there in that we don't live in a society where our government collects data about us. We shouldn't, we don't want to, but that's what is happening.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And to your point, how law enforcement has traditionally worked from a historical vantage point in America is once a crime has been committed, at that point, all of these mechanisms, all of these mechanisms to prove the crime, to, you know, bolster the state's, case, find evidence, find the alleged perpetrator, all of these things kick into place, you start getting subpoenas, you start gathering evidence, et cetera, et cetera, but it's all based on an alleged crime that was committed. But to your point, the way this apparatus is functioning now is Big Brother ish in the sense that they're bulk collecting anything and everything so that if there may be a crime in the future, they can retroactively Go back and access this data. That's what makes this distinct and really distinctly a problem is this somewhat dragnet approach, to surveillance. Correct me if I'm wrong.

>> Dana Criswell: Oh yeah. And you know, it all ties into the big AI discussion that we're having because they want to now use all of this data, use AI to predict crimes. And you know, and you know, the, the city leaders and the police chiefs and all that will tell us, look how safe you'll be. If we can predict where the next crime is going to be. And what are they going to do? Go and arrest somebody because they say you might commit a crime? That's just not how our society is built. We are not built on the government being in control. And then we answer to them. The truth is we're built on, we're in control and they answer to us. We have a method for all of this that works and it's called a warrant. Which means that the police go to a judge. This judge makes a decision. Can they invade your privacy? Well, if they have enough evidence, the judge will look at it and he weighs laws, constitution, safety, and then he issues that warrant and they actually then can invade your privacy. But until then they cannot. And when I'm driving down the road and they're taking pictures of me and they're cataloging everything about me, they didn't have a warrant for that.

What do you think states need to do on bulk surveillance techniques

So they really have no right to that information.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. This is going states or I don't think the feds need to do a thing on this because they mess up everything and they're the worst abusers of this technology. The FBI has been doing, Dragnet data collection for a long, long time. That's how they, got arrested. All the grandmothers on January 6th, that were on the capitol grounds is through Dragnet. And you've got these, private entities, including cellular companies that cooperate via, ah, non subpoena, non court order, compliance. So they basically just hand over willingly, data to law enforcement without a proper warrant, which is what you're talking about. what do you think states need to do on this? I mean, I think this is a state's issue. I think states are going to have to step in here. But right now, and I understand, you know, if we were to bring in law enforcement reps, and I know some of them, they would make a plausible case as to why they need the technology. The problem here is we're becoming a surveillance state. whether we like it or not, we're coming a mass Surveillance state and simply driving down the road has become this massive data collection scheme, which is very problematic and there's no regulations around it right now. So what do you recommend the states do to start stepping in and regulating, the use of these bulk surveillance techniques?

>> Dana Criswell: Well, my absolute mystery preference would be we treat it like red light cameras and we just say we don't do them. I mean, you know, I mean when we did that in 2009, I remember the arguments. I wasn't in the legislature, but I remember it. The arguments from police was, oh my gosh, you don't care about solving crime. Oh my gosh, you don't care about accidents and wrecks. And that's just not true. and we banned it and we've been fine. They find other ways that would be. My first choice is to ban it. If we fall short of that, the next level is to require absolute warrants for all use of all, everything that they gather. All data they gather. You must have a warrant. I also think we should add in the legislation that it has to be deleted after 72 hours or, or something that's reasonable so they're not storing your data forever. and also there is the loophole that you talked about that the federal government uses. They say, well, the CIA can't spy on Americans, we just buy the data from somebody else. So the legislation has to be written to say they cannot use any data that hasn't been gathered with a warrant. So another company can't have these cameras and then just give them to it or sell it to them, unless they have a warrant for that information and any information that's not covered by the warrant has to be deleted.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, that seems, that seems like the best approach there. I mean obviously the outright banning is one of the more absolute, ways to prevent abuse here. But the warrant, the need of a

>> Dana Criswell: warrant, they find that use the data. Yeah, so I think a couple of those things like that in the legislature are in the legislation they pass would go a long ways towards protecting our rights and us not becoming this surveillance police state.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, I think so. And I think the public polling and sentiment on this would be fully in line with what you're talking about in the sense that states are going to have to do something. people are not, they're not appetite, they don't have an appetite for this mass surveillance. I mean we see what goes on in China. you need a warrant if a crime has been committed and you're trying to find someone or prove your case, then we need to do what we've been doing for 200 plus years and that is you get a warrant, and then you go through the proper process. And by the way, this argument that there's imminence, there is an imminent threat and we've got to do it now. And we can't wait on the court, we can't wait on the judge. Look, these law enforcement agencies have such a relationship with the judges and with the courts and with the warrant process. They get these warrants signed in a matter of an hour or less. So this notion that waiting for a warrant is going to put people's lives in danger, as just a false argument, it's a straw man argument that doesn't really translate into everyday life.

Former Mississippi state representative Dana Criswell talks about AI-driven surveillance

last word. once again, we're talking about these AI driven flock cameras, the acusense cameras. There's a bunch of different brands on the market, but we're talking to Dana Criswell. Criswell was a former Mississippi state representative and we're talking about the implications of these technologies on bulk surveillance and, and mass data collection. what do you think the appetite is within the legislature, whether it be in Mississippi or other states. We've got about a minute left, to act on this, I guess. Do you think we can get a state to move on this legislation in short order?

>> Dana Criswell: Well, we tried last year. In 2025. There was a bill that failed, but it is encouraging. I know Dan Eubanks had, made a public statement about it. I think Trey, Lamar out of Senatobia did. so there, there is some appetite in the legislature that to address this. So I think with enough public pressure, the, the fact that the legislatures or legislators are already talking about it, a little bit of public pressure will push them to address it and do something. And I think that's what it's going to take. It's going to take the people of the state saying it's time, do something, make a decision.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. There you have it. That's former representative Criswell. Thanks so much for coming on the program. We appreciate having you on.

>> Dana Criswell: Oh yeah, thank you. Anytime.

>> Walker Wildmon: I enjoy it. Absolutely.

Dana Criswell: Mass collected data being shared with law enforcement without warrant

There you have it folks. That's Dana Criswell, former Mississippi state representative on the use of these flock cameras, these accusense cameras, and all these AI driven cameras that are bulk collecting our data, our license plate plates, numbers are trapped behaviors, the frequency that we visit locations, all of that's being m. Mass collected and shared with law enforcement without a warrant and is being searched and queried and utilized for law enforcement purposes and bypassing the warrant process. so I think this is a major problem and I understand there are viable law enforcement uses for certain technologies, but folks, we cannot just report revert to. Well, it makes law enforcement's job easier, so we're gonna do it. That can't be all to the argument because the Chinese police state says the exact same thing. We'll be back in a few. The God who Speaks is a powerful message on the authority of scripture and the voices of some of the most respected theologians of our day. Most historic formula for the Christian church has been this. When the Scripture speaks, God speaks.

>> Walker Wildmon: The God who speaks is a 90 minute documentary which can empower Christians to share our faith and defend the authenticity of the Bible. Available at thegodwhospeaks.org or visit stream.afa.net Right now, the voices in our culture are loud, but truth is often silent. And today preborns need you to help speak that truth. Women facing unplanned pregnancies are often pressured to act quickly before they have time to pause, breathe or hear the truth about life, dignity and hope. But I refuse to be silent and I'm asking you to join me. At preborn network clinics, a woman is welcomed with compassion and given a free ultrasound. She sees the life growing inside her, often for the very first time. And in that sacred moment, fear gives way to clarity. And she's offered something abortion industry will never provide. The hope of Jesus Christ. This April, our goal is to have 11,000 gospel conversations in preborn network clinics, trusting God to bring the increase as we remain faithful to speak. You can help make that possible by sponsoring ultrasounds. Just $28 provides one ultrasound and $140 provides five free ultrasounds for mothers in crisis. Every dollar helps save babies and share the hope of the gospel. To donate, dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250 and say the keyword baby. Or visit preborn.com afr that's preborn.com afr this is at the The Core on American Family Radio with your host, Walker Wildmon.

Welcome back to the Core on American Family Radio

Foreign

>> Walker Wildmon: welcome back to the The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us on today's program. Well, a lot in the last segment we talked to Dana Criswell, he's former state representative in Mississippi, about the use of these, cameras, these wireless cameras being set up anywhere and everywhere around our communities that is, mass collecting, all things about us driving around town and then sharing it with law enforcement at scale. And, no warrant, absolutely no warrant being used to access this data. And many of these cameras, not all, many of them are set up on government property, on public roads, on public sideways sidewalks. And so there's implications there as well. but I told Bobby during the break, look, this urge to bypass the warrant process needs to be checked. I mean, the FBI has found all these loopholes to bypass the warrant process, and now nobody trusts them because they're skipping the warrants, and then they're going straight to the mass surveillance, and they're saying, well, technically we're in compliance. Yeah, technically you are, but nobody trusts you, because of all these mass surveillance tools that you've developed. And, so I think this urge and this tendency by law enforcement, in the name of efficiency, to want to create ways to bypass the warrant process, I think that's very, very concerning. And so I think there needs to be a persistent check in place, because we can't just use this argument of, well, it makes our jobs easier, and more efficient. because you can pretty much say that about anything, about any technology and any advancement that should not immediately equate to, let's do this, because it may still be a bad idea. and you can ask the folks in China who, are having all of their daily life logged into this social credit score through mass surveillance.

Dr. James Taylor is running for Oklahoma Superintendent of Education

Well, moving to Our next guest, Dr. James Taylor is with us from the state of Oklahoma. He's running for the Superintendent of Education position there in the state, and he's with us now. Dr. Taylor, welcome to the program.

>> Dr. James Taylor: Thank you for the invitation. And just call me jt. That's fine.

>> Walker Wildmon: easy enough. JT hey, tell us about your run for Superintendent of Education, and in order to do that, give us a little bit of background about yourself.

>> Dr. James Taylor: Well, I am. I'm bivocational. I'm a pastor, of a local church in Norman, Oklahoma. I'm also a teacher. I've been in the pulpit since 1977, and I've been in classroom for 18 years. And so, to me, teaching is teaching. Whether I'm teaching the Constitution or whether I'm teaching the Bible, teaching is teaching. And that's what my strength is. And so that's, that's a little bit about me. And so I, I wasn't really interested in doing this position. But, through some events that led to it by the hand of God, I ended up, agreeing to it. And God is working some things out to, to make it happen. And so I have, I have a heart for education. I have a heart for the kids, for the teachers and for the schools. And so we're trying to bring back teaching and learning as a priority, in our schools in Oklahoma.

Dr. James Taylor is running for Oklahoma superintendent of education

>> Walker Wildmon: Once again, we're talking to, formerly our former, the formal Dr. James Taylor, otherwise wants to be known as JT. He's running for the superintendent of education position in the state of Oklahoma to replace Rhyen Walters, which stepped down and is not running again. Rhyen Walters is a good friend of the ministry here, done some great work in Oklahoma. jt, how many, how many folks are in this race? This is a big position to feel Oklahoma is very conservative. But how many people are you running with?

>> Dr. James Taylor: Well, this is, we're in the run off now. We already had the primary. There were seven in the primary. And this is the runoff. So there's another Republican and myself, and then there's the Democrat candidate who won their, their primary.

>> Walker Wildmon: Excellent. Okay, so this is a runoff. You versus one other person in the primary. And tell our folks, about the election date. We've got a lot of listeners in Oklahoma. Give them some, some info on when this runoff is.

>> Dr. James Taylor: the election runoff, is in August 25th. and we need everybody to go out. We need, you know, traditionally, runoffs have a low turnout. And even in the primary we only had 25% of registered voters vote. And so we're hoping that we'll get more out. Normally we'll get like between 10 and 15. And so we're hoping we get more people out this, this, this time.

>> Walker Wildmon: What would you say are some of the top, maybe two or three issues, when you travel around, around the state that voters are focused on, they care about, they want you to address should you become superintendent of education.

>> Dr. James Taylor: one of them is the classroom, the classroom discipline, classroom, teachers, preparation, whatnot. And so we're going to be doing things right with that to make sure that we get our teachers better equipped and prepared. One of the problems is at the university level, they're not preparing the teachers. They know their subject matter, but they're not preparing them for a classroom discipline, classroom management that just simply isn't happening. And so what we need to do is make sure that gets taken place. Another thing is a concern about the fiscal being fiscally responsible, making sure that the money that goes to the classroom ends up in the classroom and trying to make sure that that takes place because oftentimes money gets sent into, taxpayers are giving money to education. But it only goes to showing that there's no real results that we're seeing where there's improvements in reading, writing, arithmetic. And so one of the things that I, I'm going to do in our new administration is to literally ask the question, does this program, does this subject matter or not subject matter, but this program, does it help our kids learn to read, write and do math? And if it doesn't then we need to change it or redirect that money back into the classroom. So those would be two of the things then. One of the big things that I, I'm very much concerned about is parental empowerment. Parents should be able to, they're not, they're not obstacles, they're not, they're not special interest groups. Parents are the first and most important teacher that their kids will ever have. And no government office can ever know a parent or never know a child better than their mom and their dad. And so one thing I propose is I'm in favor of all forms of parental choice, including homeschooling. And no parent should be ignored or treated as a problem by asking one simple question. What are you teaching my child?

>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely. Dr. James Taylor has been with us and the I voter Guide by the way is going to be published on the, on August 12th in the state of Oklahoma. You'll be able to see Dr. James Taylor's his assessment if you will or his rating there on ivoterguide which is our go to source for these elections and you can see all the information about the election there on ivoterguide.com for those who live in Oklahoma. Dr. James Taylor, thanks so much for joining us. Tell our folks where they can read more about your campaign and the work that you're doing.

>> Dr. James Taylor: They can go to Taylor number four okay.org Taylor for ok.org and Taylor for okay.org and they were able to, they can donate, they can volunteer, they can get yard signs, whatever they need. And we, we need them. But the best thing that they can do for us is to pray for God's continued favor on our campaign.

>> Walker Wildmon: Amen. Dr. Taylor or JT, thanks so much for coming on the program. We appreciate you.

>> Bert Harper: Thank you.

>> Dr. James Taylor: You have a blessed day. Bye bye.

>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely.

Dr. James Taylor is running for Oklahoma superintendent of education

That's ah, James Taylor out of the state of Oklahoma running for Superintendent of Education position. And as, as a reminder folks, all of these elections that we're covering here on the program are on ivoterguide.com so I just looked and I voter Guide is going to have this full Oklahoma ballot published on August 12th, which is about two weeks out from the election on August 25th thereabouts. And you're going to be able to look at their evaluation. So we have thousands of we have hundreds of independent evaluators around the country. We have hundreds of researchers that are putting countless hours into looking into the backgrounds of these candidates. We publish all of their endorsements. All of this information, is available in ivoterguide.com so make sure you go check that out. once again, Dr. James Taylor. His information is all there@ivoterguide.com you can look at his evaluation on August 12th once that's published. And all the way from Governor down, to all these statewide races. So make sure you use our I Voter Guide. It's a very, very important tool that is helping to shape the way people vote all around the country and is really making a positive impact. So we appreciate Dr. James Taylor coming on to highlight his race for the Superintendent of Education position there in the Sooner State. Well, a couple topics I want to get to before we wrap up today's program.

An incendiary device exploded outside a federal building in Manhattan early yesterday morning

There was an attack on the ICE and FBI offices and the Department of Homeland Security field office there in NewSong York City just yesterday morning. Let's listen to a Fox report on this clip. Clip 1 More information now on the breaking news. An incendiary device outside a federal building earlier this morning. This is downtown Manhattan. The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force at the scene investigating as an anti government attack, that's what they're calling it. Smoke billowing outside that federal building. And when ICE officers, and immigration court members are there in the building, that's who's located there as well as the NewSong York City FBI field office. Well, they have it. This was at the FBI dhs, ICE Joint field office in NewSong York City where you had a terror attack there on the facility. Folks, this has become commonplace. I know we've become somewhat desensitized to it. Thankfully there were no fatalities, there were a couple injuries. but nonetheless folks, when you look at this, when you map out and look at the frequency of these left wing terror attacks, this is becoming commonplace. Unfortunately this is becoming the quote, norm. And you have left wing agitators and terrorists that are trying to commit violence, that are committing violence and in some instances are committing murder and assault against federal agencies, etc. And when you pair this with this Rise in the Democrat Socialists of America. This is all starting to make sense. You have a element of the Democrat Party that has become very popular, if you will, amongst Democrats that they believe armed rebellion, they believe a bringing down of the American empire. These are their quotes. They believe that armed revolution has a place in their political movement today. This is the left. And so while the Democrats spent years talking about January 6th and grandmothers going to the, to the U.S. capitol and making sure that they busted down the doors of as many pro lifers as they could, through the Biden administration, and the FBI and the doj. Despite all of that, you have this open revolution taking place within the Democrat Socialists of America and their likes that is out, it's public, we can all see it, we've got the documents. This is what they want to do. They want to bring down the America as we know it. And attacks like this on our federal law enforcement, is one of the ways that they seek to intimidate, President Trump and his administration from doing what they have to do. And this is, this is thwarting unfortunately, ah, law enforcement activity. I mean you have ice that has been, somewhat hindered from carrying out their job because of fear of political fallout or fear of retribution by the left. And this is very, very concerning. We are being somewhat, extorted and intimidated as a country, by the violent left. It's a very, very dangerous trend that we're seeing. And to sync up with all of this, you have, ah, Democrats that are now refusing to fund the military. They're all of a sudden becoming fiscal hawks and not wanting to fund, the military. This is Secretary of War Pete Hexseth telling Senator Peters that he's the problem, he's the coward when it comes to not funding the military. Clip for Secretary Hegseth. If you listen to my comments, you would have heard me say how amazing our warfighters are.

>> Secy Hegseth: I heard failure and the word heard fail.

>> Sen PEters: I will tell you how I use the word failure because I use the word failure to their leaders. You, sir, are the failure. Not the men and women who are on that front line. Not the men and women who hold up, their honor with, distinction. But if there's a lack of a winning strategy, they're in harm's way. Their leaders have failed them and that's what's happening. We have political leadership. You, you don't have a strategy, you don't have a long term plan to actually win this war. Win the war. The men and Women are going to be able to do it, but they need to have leadership. When will you show leadership? When will you show leadership?

>> Secy Hegseth: Why don't you show some leadership and stand up for your fellow Democrats who won't fund the troops, who stand and play partisan politics while you don't give us the money. You want to stand up here and talk about the troops? You won't show any political courage to actually fund our department because you have, Trump derangement syndrome and can't actually commit to anything meaningful. I put this on you, Senator.

>> Sen PEters: Secretary Hegseth you have trillions. You have over a trillion dollars. You're asking for one and a half trillion dollars. It's not a question of money. It's a question of leadership and understanding what it takes to actually win.

>> Secy Hegseth: Political cowardice of Democrats who won't fund the troops. One thing I love about these Cabinet secretaries is they can spar. I mean, they can hang with the best of them. And that's what I love about it. Look, I'm tired of Republicans just taking it on the cheek, taking it on the chin, letting the left beat up on us. No, let's push back. Let's argue with them. Let's debate the narratives. Let's debunk their falsehoods. And Secretary Hegseth took, Senator Peters to town, and, it's a beautiful thing. And the Democrats, Look, Democrats and Republicans, they've been sending billions to Ukraine for the last four to five years. And all of a sudden our military needs more money to fight these radical Islamists in the Middle east and Iran. And all of a sudden we've got. We got a problem with spending money with the military. Are you kidding me? You guys been funding all these foreign militaries for decades, and all of a sudden our men and women need a little extra money to make. Make ends meet for the rest of the year. And you got a problem with it? I mean, this is an absolute joke. DC has no problem spending money. They come comes to funding our patriotic troops and our men and women in uniform, and all of a sudden Democrats got a problem with it. I mean, this is absolutely unacceptable. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

Repairing the Foundations | When Tech Goes Too Far | Education in Oklahoma

Repairing the Foundations | When Tech Goes Too Far | Education in Oklahoma

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