Kevin Freeman: You know, I've met some amazing people traveling across the nation these past couple of years. Pastors, leaders, politicians among them. It's kind of special, though, when you find people of integrity in any one of those positions. We've been let down so often, and it hurts. It hinders our faith, it hinders our outlook. But when you find someone who shares your values, has common sense, and is willing to step up on your behalf, well, that's great. That's something special. Now, imagine finding a pastor that's a true leader and also willing to enter the challenging world of politics. That's pretty rare. And, you know, one is supposed to be a perfectly clean profession, the other one gets kind of dirty. but it does happen occasionally, and we've encountered that a lot with Liberty Pastors traveling around the country with Liberty Pastors, we've had some supportive pastors in our Pirate Money legislation, for Representative Doug Bankson in Florida, he goes to Liberty Pastors and he decides, you know, I'm going to run for state representative, gets elected, then carries our Pirate Money legislation. And Doug's an amazing guy, still a pastor.

Ralph Rebandt is a candidate for governor in Michigan

well, we have a special person today here with me. He's been a friend for several years, and he's a candidate for governor in Michigan, and his name is Ralph Reband. Now, I'm going to say that again. It's Ralph Reband. It's not Ralph Rebrand. Although I've been toying with his idea. Is he rebanting Michigan like rebranding Michigan? Michigan's got some, you know, it's got a long history of powerful nation, powerful state in the United Nations, United States. What did I say? In the United Nations, Powerful state in the United States. A lot of great people have come from Michigan. A lot of great things have emerged from Michigan. But there are some things that are not so good going on in that state today. And so we're going to talk with him about that and what he thinks is the goodness of Michigan and also the things that need to be changed. Welcome, Ralph, to Pirate Money Radio.

Ralph Rebandt: Kevan, it's my extreme pleasure. I mean, we've known each other, as you said, for years now, and this is my first opportunity to be on it. So I am happy to be on Pirate Money and, actually be able to be here on the property and see how amazing this whole, setup is.

Kevin Freeman: Liberty Hawk Ranch is a miracle given to us by God. And we're so grateful for it and we're glad to share it with good people like you.

Detroit once was the home of the American auto industry

Now I want to ask, let's start with your home state, Michigan. Because, I mean, growing up I thought of Michigan as the home of the American auto industry. And I thought of them as being a nemesis in football because the big, you know, that Big Ten, because I was a, I was a Big Eight, state in Oklahoma that became the Big 12 now is the SEC. But, and Michigan's a beautiful place to go in the summer, especially to go up in the north and all of that. Just fabulous. But it's an amazing state. tell us about Michigan and particularly the area because you invited us into Traverse City and then we went up to Bay harbor, which is fabulous. What do you love about Michigan?

Ralph Rebandt: I love the people, I love the topography. I love the, you know, the weather. it's funny people. The statement in Michigan is, if you don't like the weather, stick around for about an hour, it'll change. So we get all four seasons, oftentimes in one day. And it's just amazing.

Kevin Freeman: But you do get four actually very distinct seasons. You'll get snow, you will get a beautiful spring, you'll get a beautiful fall, you'll get a wonderful summer. You get four amazing seasons.

Ralph Rebandt: We get four amazing seasons, but they all vary each year. I mean, summer could be longer one year and winter shorter, but we've had a lot of snow this year already.

Kevin Freeman: Well, and the auto industry was birthed there. Both GM and, Ford and Chrysler all there. and that made Detroit and I looked it up to make sure this, this was true. Detroit was once the richest city in the world.

Ralph Rebandt: Isn't that amazing?

Kevin Freeman: It really is. right after World War II, right?

Ralph Rebandt: Yes, it was. Everybody wanted to move there. We had this influx from Kentucky. we've had people come in from all over the world actually to work for Ford Motor, gm, et cetera. And it's a shame to see where it is today. at one point, as you know, it was, not only the wealthiest, but it was one of the most beautiful in the world.

Kevin Freeman: Well, I've got it right here. I asked Grok, you know, you go to ask Chad or Grok, and I said, tell me what was Detroit like? And says Detroit was one of the wealthiest cities globally, peaking around 1950 due its dominance in the booming automobile industry, becoming the US's fourth largest city with the highest per capita income, boasting world class amenities, but then faced severe decline from deindustrialization, suburban flight, racial tensions, leading to massive population loss and eventual bankruptcy. Okay, were those really the problems in Detroit or was there a different problem?

Ralph Rebandt: well, those were the problems that they were actually driven by the Democratic Party. We had a Democratic mayor that took Detroit into the hole.

Kevin Freeman: Democratic Party. So let's say it's not that Democrats are bad, but the policies were bad.

Ralph Rebandt: Right.

Kevin Freeman: Democratic people are fine people. Some of my best friends are Democrats.

Ralph Rebandt: I know. And I just have, I just met a pastor who's a Democrat and we had lunch together and it went really well. And at the end of that whole time, that we had for lunch, he prayed at the end and he said, ralph, I'm going to connect you with a bunch of pastors that I know I was blown away. But yeah, you're right. It's not the people, it's the policies.

Kevin Freeman: The policies. And what kind of policies were they implementing in Detroit, that led to this severe decline?

Ralph Rebandt: Well, the policies were not people first, they were politicians first. bad politicians, greedy politicians have taken and really, embezzled the future for the young people, back then. And there is even worse now. you'd mentioned that, the average homeowner age is, you know, 40. First time homeowner, 40. And now they're being told you can have a 50 year mortgage.

Kevin Freeman: Yeah.

Ralph Rebandt: You're gonna, you really, you won't pay off your house. And then with property taxes, we could get into that as well.

Kevin Freeman: Age 90. I'm paying my last mortgage payment there. 50 years paid off. I mean, that's just stupid.

Ralph Rebandt: Right.

Kevin Freeman: And it's so unbiblical.

Ralph Rebant: Government has replaced God and the church

And I want to get to that because I think it's unbiblical what we're facing here. You mentioned, politicians taking care of themselves. Look, that's selfishness. That's a sin. It is, covetousness. They adopted socialist policies.

Ralph Rebandt: Right.

Kevin Freeman: You know, here we got, the birthplace of the Republican Party is Michigan. We've got Hillsdale College, which is a great educational institution right there that teaches truth, liberty, justice, the American way, all of that. and we've got, you know, amazing history of Michigan leading, the charge to eliminate slavery and do all of these things and then with prosperity. And this is, this is if you, if you follow the path, the cycle. Alexander Fraser Tytler, warned in 1776, essentially said that hard times produce strong men, strong men produce, prosperity. Prosperity produces weak men and weak men produce hard times. And it's a cycle that's gone through. And what we've seen there is the most prosperous city. You know what? We can be more generous. We should do this here. But they took away from God and the church into government. We're a God now and I think that's the sin of Detroit. I think that's what they did.

Ralph Rebandt: That is exactly right because, government has replaced God. And I've used the phrase, we've replaced God with gov. And that is exactly what's going on. I can't say it more because when you look at the budget in Michigan, it was $59 billion four years ago under Whitmer, it's now 83 billion.

Kevin Freeman: Wait, say that again.

Ralph Rebandt: 59 billion. When Whitmer became governor.

Kevin Freeman: And when did Whitmer become governor?

Ralph Rebandt: that was, I believe, 2018.

Kevin Freeman: And then a couple of years later, her husband's out fishing and doing all the things that you're not allowed to do. And, and everybody else is locked in their homes.

Ralph Rebandt: But okay, yeah, and she's partying with her friends in Bas and bars and Lansing while everybody else can't leave their home. Exactly. But the whole idea of where the government has gone, they have taken responsibility away from the church. And it's one of the reasons why I'm running because we keep electing the same people to fix the problem. And politicians have not fixed the problem. Businessmen and women, you know, their attorneys that you know, run for governor, they have not fixed the problem. The problem in Michigan. And so you're mentioning really a spiritual issue. And Kevan, I agree with that 100%.

Kevin Freeman: Okay, so we cannot go from God to gov, even to gop, even as much as I know you're a Republican and I've tended to vote Republican in my life, that is not the solution. What we actually need to do is go from all of those back to God. It's a spiritual issue, but we also have to go back to the principles of his word, which are common sense, love your neighbor, which is free market, economics. All of these things are enshrined in God's word. And that's why this is a Christian issue and a moral issue. It is not a political issue.

Ralph Rebandt: That is exactly right. I agree 100%. We have to really bring back God into government. And once we do, we'll see the big change.

Kevin Freeman: Alright, we're going to be back with more with Ralph Rebant and Pirate Money Radio as soon as we complete this video break. We'll be right back.

 Michigan is considered a purple state by many

welcome back to Pirate Money Radio with your Host Kevan Freeman. Yes. And we're talking Michigan. If you're wondering of our AFR listeners or podcast viewers in Michigan, you know, we're so glad to talk about your state. at one point, one of my daughter's closest friends was from Michigan. And she, of course, my daughter's from Texas. And so there was a big Texas Michigan rivalry going on there. I won't mention the fact that we have three times the population of Michigan, but that's okay. Michigan is still a powerful and important state in the United States. And actually here's some facts that they have the longest freshwater coastline of any state in the nation surrounded by water. freshwater. That's the key phrase there because Florida's got a pretty long coastline. Texas got a pretty good coastline. But freshwater coastline, which is amazing because the Great Lakes are, American treasure. We share some of it with Canada, but it's a treasure of North America. It's really cool. Great Lakes, like you're looking at an ocean. It's unbelievable. They have the second most agriculturally diverse state. I, looked that up. Cherries, asparagus, squash, apples, blueberries, corn, soybeans. A, phenomenal, agricultural state, powerful university, some of the best universities, best known universities in the world. Amazing seasons we already talked about. And great leaders have come from Michigan, including, Dear friend, Dr. Carson. Ben Carson is a Michigan, from Michigan, went to medical school at the University M. And 10 million people. It's not a small state. It's actually a, ah, very powerful, important state. Considered a purple state, though, by many. But you were telling me it's not so purple really.

Ralph Rebandt: Yeah, it's not purple at all. the problem is that the people who vote, our values don't vote. They just don't show up. There's 1.7 million conservatives in Michigan that do not vote. That pool comes from gun owners, hunters, Christians, people, that are just, you know, culturally conservative, but they don't go out and vote. So we, this last election when we were working hard to get President Trump, elected and flip some House seats to make Michigan, make Whitmer a lame duck governor, this past session showed that when the church shows up, things happen that are amazing. And so Whitmer is a lame duck for the next two years and President Trump is in office winning Michigan once again.

Kevin Freeman: Well, I don't want to see Michigan be solely a red state, meaning a Republican state. I want to see Michigan being a great American state that votes for the common sense of the truth. Happens to be that a lot of times the issues and the values that I see line up more with Republican politicians, but that's not always been the case. so, m. I'm excited that you're working there, but there's some problems in Michigan that I see one of them that I'm seeing happen emerging here in Texas. Ah, we have a big billboard, between Dallas and Houston that says, don't Sharia my Texas. But I've seen your Michigan has had some Sharia that appears in Michigan. Like, there is a massive issue in Dearborn. Am I wrong or am I seeing just media? What's going on?

Ralph Rebandt: Well, we do have the largest Muslim population outside of, the Middle east. In Dearborn. If you add Hamtramck to that, it's even larger. And, many of the folks that are there that I know, I know Muslims. They're, decent people. They want their children to grow up in America that's free.

Kevin Freeman: they're good family people.

Ralph Rebandt: Yeah, indeed, they certainly are. but they're, you know, there's always that segment of population. And, what do you do with them? How do you treat them? And you know what I've told people, in somewhat addressing this issue, My responsibility, as a governor would be to protect every citizen in Michigan to make sure that they are protected. And our Constitution was built on biblical principles. And, the bottom line is it wasn't built on Sharia. It wasn't built on the, Koran. It wasn't even built on the Hadith. It was built on biblical principles. And that's what's made our country great. And as a governor, that's my responsibility to make sure that those principles are still upheld. Now, if you want to get specific about things in Dearborn, I've heard things. I can't, verify them. I haven't seen them with my own eyes. But the people that have said things are people I trust. So I'm tempted to believe what they're saying, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes.

Kevin Freeman: Okay, so let's take this a little bit out of Michigan and Dearborn, and we're going to apply a wholly different perspective. And then we'll bring it back. Let's imagine you're in Miami or a suburb of Miami, Florida. And let's imagine that there are Venezuelan gangs that are demanding that the Hispanic population there conformed to things that are antithetical to the American way of life. But you wouldn't be against the Venezuelan people that live there. You Wouldn't have anything against the people. It's not the people. Well, they've got fine family values and so forth. But if there was a gang that came in and took control of those areas and started forcing, Venezuelan law, and communism on them, you would have objections. Not in my America. Are the people, good people? Yeah. Are they welcome here? Yeah. But is their communist way of life from Venezuela welcome in the United States? No. You can't force a 16 year old to be this way and vote this way and do this and dress this way and so forth. That's where I have a problem with Sharia. It's not a problem with a Muslim person. It's a problem. And frankly, I would have. If, all the. And I know there's a large Dutch population. If there was a demand that everybody wear wooden shoes, I would have an objection to that. you're in America now. This is the land of liberty. And we're built on Judeo Christian values and principles, and we don't. I think it was Dwight Eisenhower who said it this way. He said the, the, Bill of Rights was not written in such a way as it was affording rights to destroy. The Bill of Rights.

Ralph Rebandt: Correct.

Kevin Freeman: And that's where I have a problem with Sharia.

Ralph Rebandt: Yeah, exactly. as I look at what has happened and transpiring with, immigrants coming to America, of course we're talking about legal immigrants. Right. illegal immigrants are illegal. aliens is another whole discussion. We could get into that. But as I looked at historically, the past, when people came after World War II, we had Italians. We had people who were coming to America because they wanted the freedoms. They were pursuing that American dream for themselves. And when they did, you know, that first generation, that's all they spoke with. Let's just take Italy. when they came to America, that's all they knew. They had to learn the language. They learned the language and then they worked jobs. And the next generation, though mom and dad spoke primarily Italian with a little bit of English. The next generation knows a lot of English with a little bit of Italian. And then the third generation doesn't know, Italian at all. So they've assimilated into the culture, but.

Kevin Freeman: They still love, they still love the Italian food, they still love Christopher Columbus. They still may love Frank Sinatra in the music, but they're all American, Right? Could you imagine going to Frank Sinatra and saying, we hate America. We want Italy here as Italian as he was. Or Dean Martin, he would say, you're nuts. This is America. This is the land of opportunity. They would love America and want people to assimilate.

Ralph Rebandt: Right? That's exactly true. The problem is that's not happening 100% nowadays. it's totally. It's about the groups. You know, this is. I don't care what group you want to label it, but it's more of a group think rather than individuals. I'm here as an individual to raise my family and the freedoms that America provides. Rather, I'm here as a part of a group, and we wanted to fundamentally change America. People who have that value system fundamentally change America, whether they're Americans or not. We have to fight against them.

Kevin Freeman: No, that's a problem. I can tell you Californians are not coming to Texas for the weather. That's not the reason that they leave beautiful coastal California, because I lived in Carmel for a while. They don't leave Carmel, California, to come to Texas. They come here because they want to be a part of the Texas experience. And Texas, is a part of the American experience. But if you're wanting to come and have your little enclave and have your little separate. That's what concerns me. That's why we say, don't sharia my Texas. You have your respect for God the way you. But don't force it on other people. If people don't want to be a part of it, let them leave. Don't require it. Don't mandate that they go through certain procedures or anything else. That's where I have a problem.

There is such a drought of transparency in government

All right, so you've got a lot of experience. you've been a pastor at Oakland Hills Community Church, a chaplain for law enforcement. You've raised an incredible family. How many grandchildren did you tell me we have?

Ralph Rebandt: 20.

Kevin Freeman: 20 grandchildren. You're part of the solution for America because we have a demographic problem. The average woman is producing 1.6 kids. And I'm not saying there's such a thing as a 0.6 kid. I said average. so the average, unless you have 2.1, you don't replace yourself as a population. What you have to do is you have to import people who may not assimilate. And so you lose America. There's another way to lose America. But, all of that history, and you've been very successful. You're a beloved chaplain for law enforcement. Why would you run for governor?

Ralph Rebandt: There is such a drought of transparency in government, truth in government. you know, the Michigan people deserve all of the above, in terms of truth, transparency, honesty. right now, Kevan, there are departments within the Michigan government that you can't attend their meetings, you can't FOIA them, and they sign non disclosures. So basically, as citizens, there's a group of people in every department that's spending your money and you can't find out how they're doing.

Kevin Freeman: Oh, I can't believe that's true in Michigan. I mean, next thing you know, and you'll be telling me that when they're counting the votes that they put up these, like, coverings on the windows. Oh, wait, that was Detroit, wasn't it?

Ralph Rebandt: Yeah.

Kevin Freeman: No, that when you lack transparency, sunshine is the best disinfectant. When you lack transparency, what you literally have is you have corruption. And that's what's happening in Minneapolis. I believe that. You know, I'm not going to speak on any of the learning centers that they, I mean, learning centers that they have in Minneapolis. But there's a lot of, a lot of fraud, a lot of corruption. And that steals from the least of us. That's where it's really hurting. It's hurting the average citizen in Michigan. And the corruption is enabling those at the top that are on the, I call them the yellow horse of the apocalypse. They're the cowards and traitors who are selling us out. And Michigan, and man, it's happening in every state, but it's particularly happening, where you have corrupt people at the top. You have to have a good person at the top because that sets the tone, right?

Ralph Rebandt: And we certainly have corrupt people at the top. We have Jocelyn Benson, who is going to undoubtedly be the nominee for the Democratic Party. She has violated federal election law. She's now running on Mondami's principles. She wants to have a, train from Detroit, to Traverse City, high speed train. I mean, this is spending taxpayer money that we can't afford to spend. In fact, the most recent discussions, on the budget for 2027 demonstrate that we are going to be a billion dollars short. You can't come in spending more money. She wants to have free daycare for everybody, Kevan. That's going to do exactly what we have in the Somali issue.

Kevin Freeman: It'll be free daycare. Then it'll be mandatory daycare so that we can indoctrinate. I mean, this is the socialist playbook. It is, and it is antithetical to the Constitution of the United States. It's built on covetousness, which is a sin, as you know, as a pastor. In fact, socialism violates a lot of the Ten Commandments right there. Just that One thing, and Mamdani is doing it in NewSong York. We're watching that happen in NewSong York right now, where the first person he puts in charge of the housing is saying things like, you know what, What? We're going to charge you for housing based on your income, not based on what you're renting. This is scary, and it's real and it's happening in America. But we've got Ralph Reband to help us fight in Michigan. All right, we'll cover more and this right after this break. Pirate Money Radio, helping you give, spend and invest in ways that align with liberty, security, and values.

 Can Christians be involved in politics? Should they?

Welcome back with your host, Kevan Freeman. And I'm joined, by Ralph Reband from Michigan. He's a pastor, chaplain to law enforcement, and he's entered the very difficult and challenging world of politics. Ralph, you're a Christian. Can Christians be involved in politics? Is it possible? Should they?

Ralph Rebandt: They should, and I will even say they must. if you look back at, the Revolutionary War, the people leading the charge, Kevan, were pastors. They would go out and fight during the week. They'd come back and preach on Sunday, give a report to their congregation of how well things are going or where they're needed, where help is needed. Then they would go back out into the field and fight. The pastors understood that if we don't fight, there's no one else who's going to stand up. They knew that if they really were to follow Christ's command to love your neighbor as yourself, that that meant not simply the people in their congregation, but their community. So many of the pastors and I know you know this, we could go into details and historical stories on that, but in reality, nothing amazing, nothing good has happened in America without the church leading it. The first Great Awakening gave rise to the revolution and our freedoms. The Second Great Awakening ended slavery, Dr. Martin Luther King, civil rights. The church led the charge. I believe the problems we're facing now is because the church has stepped out of that arena and God has ordained three the family, the church, and government. And I can't imagine God ordaining one of those three and then saying to his people, don't be involved in it. You have to be involved because God has ordained it.

Kevin Freeman: Well, you know, I was just with. I was just in Boise, Idaho, and was speaking to legislators about our pirate money initiatives. And, up from the audience pops Neil Mammon, who's our friend, who's published a book with American Family Association. So it all kind of ties together and you can learn more by looking up Neil Mammon or going to Amazon or whatever, but his title was Jesus is involved in politics. Why aren't you? Why isn't your church? So it's a great book and it's an inspiration because the church really did. Historically, politics was determined by birthright. You would be a lord because you were born into a certain household and determined whether or not America was different. America's government was the strongest man, beating up the weaker and taking power and control. That's the history of where government came from, world history. And we're going to try a new thing here in America, and we're going to have individual liberty and we get to select our own leaders. And our good friend Bill Federer, says, you know what's different about America? The people are the king. we have a king. The people are the king. You know, no kings, all that. The people are the king. We get to choose, we get to decide. But if all the Christians say, I'm not participating, what happens? And they just walk away. It means that people who don't know Christ control and run everything. And the first thing they're going to do is say, hey, you weirdos over there that serve God, we're going to take your stuff and we're going to be a democracy and not a republic, and we're going to steal from people. And pretty soon it's all according to plan. Pretty soon you're going to be in a socialist dictatorship. And that's what's happened around the world and America. It's happening here in America. It's happened in California and other places. It's time for us. We have to stand up. So a lot of times it comes down to one word. I'm going to see if you know what the one word is. It's green pieces of paper. What's the 1/3? Sometimes it's all about the fiat money. Money. Okay, you got two words in there, which is pretty good. Fiat money. And it also shows that you're educated. And we're going to talk about that in a second. Because real money is a unit of account, a store of value and means of exchange. Fiat, money is not a good store of value, but it all sometimes comes down to the money. And there are only three things you can do with your money. You can give it, you can spend it, or you can invest it. Here at Pirate Money Radio, we work to explain solutions that support all three areas in a way that promotes liberty, security and values. Patriot Mobile. It's a mobile Phone company. It supports the Pirate Money radio program. Patriot Mobile uses US carriers including AT&T, Verizon and T Mobile, and operates on both Apple and Android phones. More information about the economic war room and Patriot Mobile is available@PirateMoneyRadio.com AFR that's PirateMoneyRadio.com AFR and I gotta tell you, Ralph, I'm, full disclosure, I'm an investor in Patriot and Patriot Mobile. I use it as a service. I needed help. my iPad stopped working on the self service. I needed help. So I said, just give us a try. This customer service line. It was so refreshing to call and have an English speaking person here in the United States who not only listened to my problem, but then said, hey, do you have other needs? I'd be happy to pray for you. And then if you're open to it, I have a scripture verse to share with you today. It's the verse of the day I've been meditating on. I share it with all my customers. I've never had a customer service experience like that.

Ralph Rebandt: Now that's incredible. My wife and I actually have Patriot Mobile as well. It's a powerful tool. When I had Verizon, you know, there were areas in Michigan that I could not get service well, and that's.

Kevin Freeman: True with AT&T, that's true with Patriot Mobile. By the way, Patriot Mobile uses all three carriers. So if you happen to be on Verizon in Michigan, you won't get coverage there either. So that's true for every mobile phone company. The thing though is what I liked was I liked having a Bible verse shared with me. I don't know, that's a small thing in a day, but it was kind of cool.

Ralph Rebandt: It is cool. I'll add one other thing. I just recently had a question called customer service. English, speaking woman, very nice. Helped me out. But here's what was interesting, Kevan. She called back two days later and said, how's it going? Did you get it figured out? I mean, who does that? follow up calls? Are you kidding me?

Kevin Freeman: Maybe AT&T, every phone company should do that. It's just nice to have a good customer service experience, isn't it?

Let's talk about some of the constitutional issues facing Michigan right now

All right, so let's talk about some of the constitutional issues that you're facing in Michigan. I wrote down several of them. Freedom of speech, life, property and money. Tell me about, your stance and Michigan, where they are and what you think. Michigan, whether you're governor or not. What should Michigan be doing to bring Christ Likeness, biblical truth, morality, and so forth to your state.

Ralph Rebandt: Whitmer's administration has really crippled every one of those. I'll start with the freedom of speech. I think it was two years ago she signed what's called the anti conversion therapy bill, which means if you are a Christian counselor and someone, a young person comes into your office, they're struggling with their sexual identity, are they male or female? That bill she signed said, you cannot seek to dissuade that child from changing his or her gender. You can't seek to, you know, say you were born, born a boy. God created you as a boy. God wants you to be. Grow up to be a man. You can't do that. If someone, if the, you know, if he's thinking about being a woman, so.

Kevin Freeman: Or a girl, is that worth work? Both directions. Somebody walks in and says, I, you know, I've been homosexual, but I want to be heterosexual. Can you do that?

Ralph Rebandt: I don't know how far that goes.

Kevin Freeman: That's an interesting question, isn't it?

Ralph Rebandt: It's a legitimate question. The other thing is, in terms of that, they were working on a hate speech bill in Michigan. And the hate speech bill would have made it illegal for a pastor, to hurt someone's feelings. So if I stood up on a Sunday morning and I said, I believe, you know, God's principle of marriage, he ordained it between a man and a woman, and there was a couple out there that was gay, and I hurt their feelings. The way it was originally wrote was that I could be sued. I could. It would be a felony if it goes through. And if it's a felony, they take your guns away and you could do jail time. Well, they tweaked it a little bit, so it's not just a one time or one off thing. But if they find a history of you hurting people, people's feelings, they can still come after you. That is Michigan law right now.

Kevin Freeman: But hurting people's feelings is essential to helping them recognize that they're sinners and that they need a savior. So essentially, that's shutting down the promotion of the gospel. If you're obeying all of that, I can't even imagine. So you walk into a service and somebody says, thou shalt not steal. And cheating on your taxes is stealing. That hurts my feelings. I like to cheat on you. I don't. By the way, irs, if you're listening, I don't cheat on my taxes. But, I mean, it gets to the insane, right? If you follow that line of thinking.

Ralph Rebandt: Well, that's the definition of a liberal. They cannot take their position to its logical extreme. Logical conclusion, I should say. They just can't.

Ralph Munson says consultants are telling candidates not to talk about abortion

so that's one of the things you mentioned. Out of the four. did you mention life? M. Life? Oh, my goodness. For sure. Yeah, we just, not we. I didn't, I actually fought proposal three. Proposal three was an amendment to our constitution which basically said you can get an abortion anytime. sexual freedom for all, had, no boundaries on age or anything. So right now in Michigan, a parent of a 13 year old girl cannot find out what her medical history is unless the 13 year old girl says, I want my mom to know they have removed that parental, that constitutional right. Now that's what they're saying. And it's actually, I've got a letter from Munson, that sent a letter to a woman at a church that said, unless your child gives you permission, I can't share with you what's going on.

Kevin Freeman: A 13 year old gets to make the decision and then a counselor gets to talk the 13 year old into doing something. Doesn't go both ways. We've already established that it only goes the one way. You can talk a 13 year old into believing a girl into believing she is a male and should have, her breasts chopped off to hormones, everything, all of that. You can do that, but you can't tell a 13 year old you're beautiful the way that you are and God made you the way that you are. and the parents don't even get to know about it. Whether it's abortion or sex change or what. That's scary.

Ralph Rebandt: It is, it is. Could I bring up one other thing? On the life issue, the consultants for the political candidates who are running for governor are telling them, don't address the issue of abortion. It's already in the Constitution. If you talk about abortion, you're not going to get elected in the general. That's what they're telling them. So if the candidate. Now the other candidates are listening to their consultants tell them don't talk about this so you can get this result, they're already compromised. Because that's no different than having a lobbyist say, hey, vote for this and we'll give you money. Now there's money involved in it. Yeah. So they're already compromised. The candidates that are not talking about it are compromised. Now they'll say, well, we'll talk about it if someone asks us about it. But Kevan, this is such a significant issue that I can't go before the Lord one day and say, you know, have him say, you know, Ralph, I gave you the whole state to talk about the horrors of abortion, the trauma, the murder of the baby, the trauma on the woman, the things that it does, you know, to their bodies, their likelihood of cancer, all of the things. But you are silent about it. I can't have that happen in my life. I want the Lord to say, well done, my good and faithful servant. My point is, I would rather hear, well done, my good and faithful servant, than hear. Than sit in a seat and land.

Kevin Freeman: And here's your $10,000 or whatever.

 If you choose death, you're complicit

All right, I want to talk to the people of Michigan, or if you have a friend in Michigan, I want to say this very directly. I don't. I'm not endorsing candidates here or what, But I will tell you this. God said, I lay before you life and death, a blessing and curse. Choose life. If you choose death, or you're silent on the subject of life, you're complicit. Silence is consent. And if you're not willing to, deal with this issue with your politicians, then you're at fault and you will get run over in every area of life. Life is that important. This is an important issue to God. So find the candidate that supports God's way and do that. That's what we're here about at Pirate Money Radio. We're wanting to do things God's way that will make your life better, not worse. So that's why we're talking with Ralph Reband of, Michigan. Find a politician that you can support, that you chooses life. We'll be right back. Pirate Money Radio helping you give, spend and invest in ways that align with liberty, security and values. Welcome back with your host, Kevan Friedman. And let's talk about those issues. Liberty, security, values. Those are important issues. That's life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness kind of thing. But we need security. We need protection from evil forces, outside forces. and we talked about freedom of speech, and that's perhaps the most significant right. I mean, the First Amendment is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly. These kind of things. They're important. Important. If you don't have them, you don't have any liberty. Second, Amendment is very important because you are able to protect the First Amendment. That's what makes it so important. But, you know, it all comes down to. And we covered this a little bit. It all comes down in a lot of cases. Money, money. If you are able to, like Mandami says, that, you know, we're going to be socialists and we're going to literally take the money away from people and give it to other people. Well, that's not good. That's not biblical. In fact, the only taking away that took place was the people that had were given more because they'd succeeded in the Bible. And then it says the government maybe shouldn't be taking care of the people that are hurting and poor, but the church should. M. You've been a pastor of a church. Somebody has a need, do you ignore them? Are you harsh to them? What do you do with someone in need in the church?

Ralph Rebandt: Well, not only in the church, but people outside the church. We took care of their needs. we had people call me every week and say, you know, I need money for diapers or my child's sick and I can't afford the, prescription. And so I would just say, look, we're here to help. Show up on Sunday. We're here to help. We'll sit down with you, talk about your situation. we always wanted some confirmation that their story was legit because there are a lot of people who are out there lying just to get, money from churches. But we put them through a few hoops to guarantee that their story was legit, and then we helped them out. Now, we didn't give them cash. We would give them a gas card, we'd pay a bill, write it out to consumers Energy or whatever. We would help them specifically for a need or a mortgage payment or whatever it was. But, yeah, it is the church's responsibility to care for people. Kevan, government cannot love anyone. It cannot really hold anyone accountable because they really don't know what's going on in their lives. But if someone's connected with a local body, you know, body of believers, there's responsibility, there's accountability, and there's love. You want to take care of those folks.

Kevin Freeman: And that's why a lot of people come to Jesus, is they feel and sense the love of the church, and they have a need, and they come in and the church meets the need, and that opens the door for them to receive the gospel. And of course, on Sunday, somebody shows up and says, I need this. So on Monday, you order everybody to line up in your church. You pull a gun out, and you look at them and say, well, you make this much. This is what you pay, and you make this much. that's how it works. Oh, no, that's government that does that. That is our April 15th duty. You know, I've never met a cheerful taxpayer. You know, they're not cheerful. I have to pay my tax. Oh, I owe money to the irs. I got to pay tax. I don't say, hey, I owe extra money, I get to write them. Nobody's ever cheerful as a taxpayer. But the Bible talks about a cheerful giver. What's the difference?

Ralph Rebandt: The difference is you love people as God does. You're going to be compassionate, you're going to be merciful, you're going to share with those who are in need. I mean, that's what, as James says, is pure and undefiled religion. To care for the widows and the orphans. That's our responsibility. And we care for our families, we care for those, scriptures say do good to all men, especially those who are of the household of faith. So there's not just the caring for the congregation, but we have to care about our community.

Kevin Freeman: I love that. See, and that I don't believe is a legitimate role of government is wealth transfer. I don't believe that's the purpose of government. I believe government is, to actually make sure that the rules are followed and that everybody's on a level playing field and that we protect life and we protect against foreign forces and bad forces. So defense is a legitimate thing, protecting life is a legitimate thing. But governments become distorted. Because you said it, people think that God has become gov.

Ralph Rebandt: Right?

Kevin Freeman: So, all right, I want to talk about this because a lot of people are having a struggle being a giver these days. And you know, we could get into tithing and all of that. But God loves a cheerful giver. He wants somebody with the right heart and attitude. But sometimes it's hard to do that if you're facing the reality of inflation and your money has gone down in value. I mean from 1971 to the present, I was a 10 year old kid in 1971 and Hershey bar was a dime. I went to the dollar store. They can't even keep a Hershey bar at a dollar. It's a dollar and a half now, right? It used to be a dollar store. You could buy a pack of Hershey bars. Now you can't even get one for a dollar. So a dollar and a half. So it's 15 times more expensive. That means that the dollar's lost more than 90% of his purchase purchasing power since 1971. We talk about this all the time on Pirate money radio. It's because fiat money, it's backed by nothing. and yet you have a proposal on your website, and I'm not. Again, we don't endorse candidates here, but it's sure nice to see a candidate for governor that puts pirate money or constitutional currency or transactional gold and silver as one of your platform planks. Of the things that you're going to do, what are you going to do in Michigan? What we've done in Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri and make gold and silver money?

Ralph Rebandt: Yes, we will. it's the only way to protect our citizens in Michigan and protect their generational wealth from global digital currency. It allows people that even if someone tried to take their bank account and devalue their dollar, which we've heard and we've seen, the WEF World Economic Forum hit is made these statements that we can adjust the value of the money that you will have in your bank. If you have a gold depository in your state, not only will people want to move there to protect their generational wealth, but it will be an opportunity for them to not have the globalists take their money away from them. Because it's in Michigan and we have what's called the National Guard and we have people that are going to protect that for our citizens. There's. You're right. There's no other candidate that's running on that. And Kevan, I have to give you the kudos for that because it's profound. Article 1, Section 10 of our Constitution says that states can use gold, and silver as legal tender and to be able to buy a pizza with a gold card. That's awesome.

Kevin Freeman: Yeah. No, and you've seen it happen. You could put, $100 or $10 or $1,000 into gold or silver.

Ralph Rebandt: Hold that.

Kevin Freeman: So right now, $1,000 would buy about one fifth of an ounce. It would be held in Michigan at a depository, and then you could go spend that or a fraction of that. You could spend $10 of your gold and buy, well, I guess pizza would be $25. It used to be 10.

Ralph Rebandt: Right.

Kevin Freeman: $25 of your gold and buy, a pizza and feed your family with that. And you wouldn't have to worry about an inflation at that point because the gold would continue to go up in value as the inflation happened. But it's a state's right to do this under the Constitution, and it's optional. If I read you correctly, you're not going to tell anybody in Michigan, oh, you can't use US Dollars anymore?

Ralph Rebandt: Oh, absolutely not. This is just a protection, a layer of protection that will protect citizens in Michigan from The global digital currency that the world economic.

Kevin Freeman: You're giving them an opt out.

Ralph Rebandt: That's exactly right.

Glint offers an alternative way to store and use gold for modern spending

Kevin Freeman: All right, so I've got to share this. Support for this program does come from Glint. It's a financial technology service offering a debit card and mobile app that enables users to access their gold holdings and silver holdings for everyday purchases. With Glint, users maintain ownership of allocated physical gold or silver. It's stored in a managed vault at the time of transaction. The gold or silver is sold in real time to cover the purchase amount and location. Local currency. Glint offers an alternative way to store and use the value. Combining gold and silver with modern payment infrastructure like a debit card, Glint clients can monitor their gold and silver balance, view transaction history and manage their account through the Glint app, available on major mobile platforms like on your Patriot mobile phone. more details about how vaulted physical gold can be used as money are available@glentpay.com Goal247 Again, that's glintpay.com Gold247 Glint providing access to gold for modern spending. Now, we can't go into all the details, Ralph, on this, but if people want to learn more, they can get Pirate, money book@PirateMoneyBook.com and read about it. You read about it and you said, I think the people of Michigan should have the same opportunity that the people of Florida.

Ralph Rebandt: That's right, yeah.

Kevin Freeman: And people of Florida, they like their Governor DeSantis. I've been there. I've been with Governor DeSantis. They like him. People of Texas, they like their Governor Abbott. And people of Arkansas love their Governor Sanders. people of Michigan, I think they should have a governor they love too, don't you?

Ralph Rebandt: Absolutely. It's interesting because, you know, most people are shoot from the hip. They're worried about what's going on today. I'm looking at the future, Kevan. And this is the, you know, transactional gold is one of those things that's a future. It will happen in my administration. But my point is it'll protect the. In the future. And so, long after I'm not governor anymore, the point will be they, they will look back and say, boy, what a great move that was.

Kevin Freeman: All right, so if you're listening in, where's Troy? It serves the Detroit area, right?

Ralph Rebandt: Yep.

Kevin Freeman: WAXU 91.1 is our station. It's an FM station in Troy. WMCQ M 91.7 is an FM station in Muskegon. And there's, WTHS 89.9 FM M in Holland. All of these are Christian radio stations there and they get our programming. So you're going to tell your friends to listen to. This is pre recorded. You'll tell them to listen on Saturday, to any of those three, stations. So here's a question. How can we pray for you? You're out there serving, first responders as chaplain, you're serving your congregation as pastor. You've done that in your life. Now you're running for God governor. how do we pray for you?

Ralph Rebandt: Well, pray for our campaign. Pray, that God will continue to open doors in amazing ways. We've seen it, Kevan. That's why we're in it and in it to win it because we are. Our eyes have seen the glory of the Lord. And in the campaign, we have so many things that we could spend another hour just talking about answers to prayer, miraculous things that God has done that have just blown, us away and our team. And when people hear these stories, they're just amazed at what the Lord is doing.

Kevin Freeman: Okay, so if we were talking, if you wanted to Rebant Michigan, like rebrand, but Rebant Michigan, where would people learn more?

Ralph Rebandt: It's Ah, rebant. FourGovernor.com Is it for spelled out or.

Kevin Freeman: For the number we bought?

Ralph Rebandt: Both.

Kevin Freeman: Okay. Belt and suspenders kind of guy you.

Ralph Rebandt: Are, I guess, thinking ahead.

Kevin Freeman: All right, so if you have questions or prayer needs or comments, you can email us@afritemoneyradio.com and Ralph, it's just been a pleasure having you here. We just have a few seconds left. Can you just give like a very short pastor's prayer for America?

Ralph Rebandt: Yeah, let's do it. Our God in heaven, we are thankful that you have, as the old hymn says, shed your grace on America from sea to shining sea. And, and Lord, we realize that in your, good pleasure you have blessed this land. And we pray specifically for America and for M. Michigan that you will open people's eyes to see how you have.

Kevin Freeman: Blessed in Jesus name. All right, listen wherever you get your podcast. Joined by Ralph Reband and Pirate Money Radio.

 

Pastor and Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ralph Rebandt joins Kevin Freeman on Pirate Money Radio to discuss integrity in leadership, the spiritual roots of American liberty, and restoring constitutional principles in the Great Lakes State. The conversation covers Michigan’s rich heritage, current challenges in policy and transparency, and a bold plan to protect citizens’ purchasing power with optional gold- and silver-backed transactions. They examine free speech, parental rights, and life issues, alongside practical solutions that align with liberty, security, and values. Listeners get an inside look at faith-informed governance and strategies to strengthen communities without expanding government control.