Full text of Voting for Life - The No. 1 Issue in the Nation
DAVID BARTON: The number one issue for believers is going to be life. That is it. MICHELE BACHMANN: : Amen. DAVID: That is it. Our founding documents say, one, that there is a creator; two, that the creator gives certain guaranteed rights to man, among which is the right to life, the first that they mention. And then it says, "Government exists to preserve these rights." GEORGE PEARSONS: Hello, everybody. This is Pastor George Pearsons. Welcome to this special edition of the Believer's Voice of Victory broadcast. This week, "Faith For Our Nation." We are preparing for the primaries that are coming up and the midterm elections later on this year, and we have a week full of information, inspiration, and things from heaven that God is going to show us. And we have a group of people at this table that I am so excited about. I want to welcome all of our guests here that are joining me. Bishop Keith Butler, welcome KEITH BUTLER: Glad to be here. GEORGE: to the broadcast. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, welcome to the broadcast. MICHELE: Good to be back. GEORGE: And historian and amazing man of God, David Barton.
DAVID: Thanks, George. GEORGE: We are so glad that you are here, sir DAVID: Good to be here, bro. GEORGE: for these broadcasts. The the assignment has been made clear by the boss, Brother Copeland. And he wants us to spend our time talking this week about these upcoming primaries and to help our our online and television congregation to know how important it is to vote. And that really is a bottom line here in this whole thing. You know, David, you've talked about, before, the statistics of various levels of election from the presidential election to the midterm election to the local elections. And with each one of those elections, the number of people goes down, doesn't it DAVID: Yes. GEORGE: those people that vote. DAVID: Dramatically goes down. We're at a point where that, in this midterm election, when we're electing governors and U.S. senators and congressmen, it will be one out of every eight Americans that chooses the winners on this.
So that's not very much of a turnout. GEORGE: No. That's pretty serious, too, when you think about the the power that we have to be able to choose and elect our officials and how we don't use that that opportunity that's been handed to us. MICHELE: Amen. And it's and it's a confidence that God has given to each one of us, especially in this country, the fact that we get to choose our leaders. When David says that one out of eight come out to vote, that's the general election. DAVID: Yeah. It's MICHELE: Then you DAVID: It's one out of three. And this one will be it'll be excuse me, one out of four in this one, and it'll be half of that that choose the winner. So one out of eight chooses the winner. So when I said, "one out of eight," that's MICHELE: In the primary? DAVID: the winning size. It'll be lower than that in the primary. In the general, you're right, it'll be one out of four Americans that vote in the general, which is one out of eight choosing the winners. Now, you go to the primary MICHELE: And then that falls off to practically nothing. DAVID: It goes way down. MICHELE: And I think that's kind of where we want to go today GEORGE: Yeah, absolutely. MICHELE: is just talking about how important these primary elections are. GEORGE: And, oh, they are.
MICHELE: And that's right around the corner. GEORGE: Are they are the primary elections, important? KEITH: Yeah. Well, not only that, voting is your seed. MICHELE: Amen. GEORGE: Yes, sir. KEITH: Okay. And, of course, Genesis 8:22 says, "As long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest...shall not cease." And voting is part of the seedtime and harvest principle. You your vote brings a harvest to you. GEORGE: Yeah. KEITH: So if you don't plant seed, you can't get the harvest that you want. GEORGE: Yeah. KEITH: So anyone who who wants to see changes in America or anything in America, based on the Word of God, they're going to have to get involved in this. It's not just a right that you get from our, you know, Constitution. GEORGE: Yes. KEITH: This is a biblically mandated thing to do, because seedtime and harvest covers everything in your life. Your words are seeds, your votes are seeds, your actions are seeds. The world has a different name for it. They know that the principle is so, they call it action and reaction and other names that they call for it, or that they call it. But what it is is the law of seedtime and harvest. We've been talking about voting, and your voting is a seed that does bring a direct harvest to you. If you go to the Word of God and find out what God's Word says about something and you vote according to that, that's your motive for doing what you do. There's a harvest that comes to you more personally, and that harvest spreads out into your community and may even affect your kids.
GEORGE: Yeah. DAVID: And let me let me throw in kind of a little disclaimer up front, too, because we're going to talk about various issues this week. GEORGE: Right. DAVID: And they're issues that the Bible talks about. KEITH: Right. DAVID: And the issues we talk about, whatever they are and I will just say, all of us are Bible readers. We all spend great time in the Bible, and we try to shape the way we see everything around us through the lens of GEORGE: Sure. DAVID: the Bible GEORGE: Sure. DAVID: what's called a biblical world view. So in doing that, God gave very clear commands on abortion way back with Moses. So you get Deuteronomy, Leviticus. So abortion is not a political issue, it is a biblical issue. MICHELE: Amen. KEITH: Mm-hmm. DAVID: The same with economics, the Bible is very clear on what kind of taxes are good, what kind of taxes are bad, even how you tax foreign nations. When Jesus asked Peter, He said, "Peter, do the foreigners pay the taxes, or the sons pay the taxes?" Peter said, "Of course, the foreigners. Sons don't pay taxes." How does that apply to our taxes? GEORGE: Sure. Sure. DAVID: So all of this is going on.
So having said that, as we choose biblical issues, whether it be life issue, whether it be marriage issue, which is God's issue from Genesis 1 and 2, whatever those issues are, there will be people who will label that as conservative. And you've got to say, "Labels, blow them off." They don't mean anything. And the reason I say you and I, we have a friend in Australia who's running for prime minister there.
GEORGE: Yeah. DAVID: He is pro life. GEORGE: Yep. DAVID: He is pro marriage, and he's called a liberal in that nation. GEORGE: In that nation, mm-hmm. DAVID: So that's an artificial construct, labels. Labels don't matter. What matters is what's biblical. "So they're talking about conservative stuff." No, we're not. We're talking biblical stuff. GEORGE: Sure. DAVID: It just happens to be that in this culture, they call that something conservative, but that doesn't mean anything. It's biblical. KEITH: I'm glad you said that because I think for the people watching this broadcast, they need to understand. I know in my case, I'm not a Democrat or Republican. I'm not a chauffeur for that. I'm here to talk about, what does the Bible say about DAVID: That's right. KEITH: these issues. Because as a believer, your responsibility is to stand with the kingdom of God and the kingdom of God's issues.
DAVID: That's right. GEORGE: That's number one. KEITH: You know, if you want to talk about abortion, you know, we want to go go to the Word. He's mentioned it some. Here in Isaiah 44:2, it says, "Thus saith the Lord " It goes on to say here let me turn that page. It doesn't want to turn. Yeah, okay. "Thus saith the Lord says unto thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; fear not " Well, it said God formed you from the womb. Well, if God formed you from the womb, then, of course, in Verse 24 says, "Thus saith the Lord thy, redeemer, he that formed thee from the womb " okay, " I'm the God that maketh all things." GEORGE: Right. KEITH: And so GEORGE: Right. KEITH: we create bodies, but God's the one that forms and puts the MICHELE: Amen. KEITH: puts the life in it. GEORGE: Right. KEITH: So you can't just take that life for some DAVID: That's right. KEITH: nefarious reasons GEORGE: Right.
KEITH: or some reason of convenience. DAVID: I've got to point out, that happened before Roe v. Wade came down. So clearly KEITH: There we go, Roe v. Wade. DAVID: So, clearly, that's not a political issue. That's a biblical issue. KEITH: Yeah. DAVID: And what happens is we're so immersed in the culture that it talks about politics, that when we hear the same thing in the Bible, we're saying it's being political. And so we literally the polling we've done shows that right now 90 percent of Bible-believing pastors will not talk about abortion from the pulpit because they say it's a political issue. No, it's not. That was spoken before Roe v. Wade or United States or anything else ever came into existence. And that's now and jumping on something Bishop said, this is not Republican and Democrat. One of my favorite Founding Fathers, a guy named Benjamin Rush, he started the first abolitionist society, he started public schools, he started universities, he started academia, education for women, signer of the "Dec." He served in three different presidential administrations. And all three administrations had a different party for the president.
Three times, he's under three different parties. And somebody asked him one time, said, "What party are you?" He said, "Well, I've been called an aristocrat, I've been called a Democrat." He said, "I'm neither." He said, "I'm a Christ-ocrat." KEITH: Amen. DAVID: And that's that's the right position on there, and that's what the position is we're going to take all week. MICHELE: Amen. DAVID: We're going to be Christ-ocrats in this thing.
MICHELE: And in order to do that, those issues get attached to a candidate. KEITH: Yeah. MICHELE: And that's where you've got to figure out GEORGE: That's it. That's it. MICHELE: where does a candidate DAVID: That's right. MICHELE: stand on those issues. And I was just with a pastor last week, and and he he kind of took the pendulum so far that his position was, "Well, God has all this covered, and God's going to figure it out." GEORGE: Oh. MICHELE: "And so I'm really not going to worry about all that." KEITH: Well, just knowing that it would be for seedtime and harvest. MICHELE: Well, that's right.
GEORGE: Yeah, yeah. MICHELE: And as as a bishop, as a pastor of multiple churches, I think you understand the jurisdictional importance that you have as a pastor to preach biblical morality from your pulpit, but also to preach again, we've been given a huge gift. The fact that we get to vote, and to not vote, to me, is that's giving up what God gave us. KEITH: Sure. MICHELE: But we've got to know who holds onto these positions. And I think the most inefficient and disrespectful things we can do to God is actually just to grumble about the way life is KEITH: Yeah. MICHELE: and not do anything about it. KEITH: Yeah.
MICHELE: Because the bottom line, least thing we can do is get registered. I know here in Texas, the last day to register to vote in these primaries is February 5th. Now, every state's different. GEORGE: Yeah. MICHELE: But you've got to get out there and register. GEORGE: Yes. MICHELE: And then you've actually got to go vote. Because as David said I mean, think of this: One out of eight vote in the general. In a primary, maybe it's who knows? The numbers are all over the place. It could be one out of 50 people, one out of 100 people. Very few vote. But in Texas, or in a lot of states, the primary is it. Whoever is going to win the primary will be the person who wins. GEORGE: There you go. MICHELE: And there you've got the work done. GEORGE: And, Scripture tells us, in Proverbs 29, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice." MICHELE: Amen. That's right. GEORGE: "But when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." Well, who votes for the people?
MICHELE: Amen. GEORGE: That's us. That's our responsibility. MICHELE: Or who doesn't vote? GEORGE: Or who doesn't vote for the people. MICHELE: And we're just as culpable if we vote for the wrong guy as if we don't vote. DAVID: Well, it's a it's a real clear thing that if you go through the scriptures and you take Genesis because Genesis is called the seed plot of the Bible. MICHELE: Amen. That's right. DAVID: Every single doctrine in the Bible has its roots in Genesis. MICHELE: That's right. GEORGE: Yes. DAVID: So when you look, God first creates the individual, Adam. Then He creates the family; Adam, Eve, children. Then He creates civil government in Genesis 9. He doesn't even create the Church till you get to Exodus. So as you look at institutions, the first institution is family. Second institution, He created civil government before He created the Church. GEORGE: Yeah.
DAVID: That's why we have pastors in Jude and in Romans and in I Peter and elsewhere, where it says God is the one who ordains civil government. GEORGE: Mm-hmm. DAVID: So, all right, you say, "All right, government's of God. Here I live in America," or whatever nation you're in. Say, "Okay, what kind of government do I have here?" And there Bible shows seven different forms of government. Our form of government in America is what we call a republican form of government, small "r," which means we do Exodus 18:21. We choose out our own leaders of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thou we elect local, county, state, federal. Okay. So if government's ordained of God, and that is the government God has ordained in America, what God has said, "It's my government. I'm putting you in charge of it till I get back." MICHELE: Amen. GEORGE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. MICHELE: That's right. DAVID: And that's Luke 19:13. GEORGE: That's right.
DAVID: So you don't get to choose, "Oh, I don't think I'm going to participate in this." No. He put you as a steward over it. And if you look at Luke 19 and Matthew 25, the steward that didn't do anything with what he was given is the one who got in trouble. GEORGE: Yep. DAVID: And so we, in this government it's not optional for a Christian to participate. We are stewards. God ordained it. GEORGE: Yeah. DAVID: He said, you guy Luke 19:13, He said, "I want you to occupy till I come. I want you to take care of this till I get back." So that's His directive. So "Well, I'm not I don't like the candidates. I'm not going to vote." Not an option. You will vote GEORGE: Yes.
DAVID: and you will choose even if they're not the best candidates, you choose the best of the two candidates. You always stop the most wickedness you can anytime you get the chance. MICHELE: And it's also self-righteous to say, "I don't like any of them. They're all bad," or "All politicians are bad." That's actually kind of a self-righteous thing GEORGE: Yeah. MICHELE: for an individual to say, because just like in Deuteronomy, it says, "You choose." GEORGE: You choose. MICHELE: We get to choose. GEORGE: Yep. MICHELE: We choose life, or we choose death. GEORGE: Yeah. MICHELE: And in this case, we're talking about how important the issue of life is, that we stand for life. But candidates generally speaking, you'll have a candidate who stands for life, or you'll have a candidate who stands for death. And it's so important GEORGE: Yes, yes, yes. MICHELE: that we know who that candidate is GEORGE: Yeah.
MICHELE: and then, as believers, get out and exercise it's called our franchise, our right to vote that we get out there. And if just we go, that's the basic. But then we should make sure our family members go GEORGE: Yeah. MICHELE: and our friends and people at church. We can have the most profound influence in our society GEORGE: Absolutely. Absolutely. MICHELE: at this time of year. Right now GEORGE: That's right. MICHELE: we're in that season when we can impact GEORGE: That's right. MICHELE: if our country is going to reflect godly values or ungodly values. GEORGE: Well, where MICHELE: Think of that.
GEORGE: Where life is concerned, I'll read this to you. This is a word that the Lord gave to Brother Copeland in 1998. And He said, "Tell My people, wherever you go, 'Those who vote for politicians knowing their immoral policies and platforms and illegal acts had better repent. They are partners with those politicians who will be responsible for every baby's death.'" MICHELE: Amen. GEORGE: "You've taken the devil's part by not voting at all." KEITH: Yeah. Yeah. Jeremiah 1:5, of course, He talked to the prophet, and He said, you know, "I formed you " GEORGE: Yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes. KEITH: " and I called you to be a prophet from the womb." Voting is an issue about giving back to God. It's about giving for the kingdom of God. It's about walking in love towards your fellow men, making sure that they have the best possible government GEORGE: Yeah. KEITH: for them, their children, their grandchildren. GEORGE: Yeah. KEITH: So to not vote is a very selfish thing. And what it does, you're standing against God. GEORGE: Yeah. KEITH: You're standing in selfishness when it comes to men. MICHELE: Amen. KEITH: And the end result is you get that harvest back when you stand against God and when you operate in selfishness. And, of course, pride, which she was talking about, "I know better than anybody else."
MICHELE: Amen. GEORGE: Right, right. KEITH: And besides, you can't you can't believe what the media tells you anyway about what a candidate says. You know, you or, particularly today, the media today is you don't know whatever they're pray or say is true. So you can't just make a decision based on that. You've got to pray, you've got to do some research, got to find out, and you've got to follow Colossians 3:15. Just allow the peace of God to rule once you have some facts.
MICHELE: The big issue today is what is true and what is fake news. We hear about fake news a lot, and there's a reason for that. It's because traditionally we've thought if the TV or if the radio or if our newspaper says something, it's got to be true. And we've just assumed it. If they print it, it's got to be true. Now we're finding out very little of what they put across the mainstream media is true. Why is that? It's because when surveys are taken, well over 93 and 94% of all of the people in journalism tend to come from a radical leftist perspective. And what they report reflects their personal beliefs, not reality. That's a big red flag, that's a big time out, because that's a disservice to their readers and to the people who watch them and to the people who listen. We need to traffic in truth. Why? Why is that so important? Because we need to make decisions on objective information. DAVID: And let's let's put a stake in the ground on this thing, is that of all the issues that are out there and when you get a senatorial race, there are going to be 20 or 30 issues in the senatorial race. They're going to talk about everything from economics to foreign affairs to our position with Israel. We're going to look at all sorts of stuff. The number one issue for a believer is going to be life. MICHELE: Amen.
DAVID: That is it. Our founding documents say, one, that there is a creator; two, that the creator gives certain guaranteed rights to man, among which is the right to life, the first that they mention. And then it says, "Government exists to preserve these rights." So if you take the right to life first, it's significant that, in my years of political involvement for a number of years, having recruited hundreds of candidates, trained thousands of candidates, if you tell me for example, somebody running for a Senate race. If you will tell me where they are on the life issue, the abortion issue GEORGE: Yes. DAVID: if I know that with a 90 percent degree of certainty, I will tell you how they're going to vote on capital gains taxes, how they will vote on the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. I'll tell you how they will vote on the smaller arms treaty. I'll tell you exactly what they did with the Paris Accords. Because, the highway that God puts us on, if you get off that highway, which is to preserve life, once you're off, you're off all the way until you get back on that highway. And so it's significant that those that are a hundred percent voters on "right to life" score cards are also a hundred percent voters on economic score cards, whether it be Americans for Prosperity or Americans for Tax Reform or Freedom Works. If you're right on the life issue, you'll be right on the others. MICHELE: Amen. DAVID: If you're wrong on life, everything else is going to be wrong. MICHELE: And I think if you back it up from the life issue, the reason why people get it right on the life issue, I think, is because they have a reverence and an awe for God. And when you have a reverence and an awe for God, you want to to go His way, and you follow His way. And the whole idea of image of God, "We are made in the image and likeness of a holy God" GEORGE: Yes. MICHELE: and when we recognize that, when we reflect that and we recognize every single person, whether they are perfect or imperfect, it's still made in His image and likeness, that is our collective responsibility GEORGE: Yeah. MICHELE: to make sure that that life is protected. That goes to the book of Proverbs. If you start out just the first seven chapters of Proverbs, it's based on wisdom and discipline.
GEORGE: Yeah. MICHELE: It talks a lot about wisdom and discipline. We need to be rightly disciplined to know this Word. And if we are disciplined, we will make sure that we use our time wisely. And it's worth five minutes to figure out GEORGE: Oh, yeah.
MICHELE: who the right candidate is, because, ultimately, God wants us to live peaceable, quiet lives. GEORGE: Yes, yes. MICHELE: We can do that when our rulers, as you had said that when the righteous rule, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people mourn. We can save so much grief if we just spend a little bit of time, five minutes, figure out who the right person is, get registered, and vote. DAVID: Well, let me throw out something that I think is and I'm going to be a little heavy here for it, because we're told Jesus tells us in Matthew 12, everything we say, we'll give account of. We're told in I Corinthians 4, everything we think, we'll give account of. And we're told in Hebrews 4, "Everything we do, we'll give an account of." And so at some point, we will stand before Him, give account for everything. And He's going to say, "What'd you do with that vote I gave you?" MICHELE: Amen. GEORGE: Oh, yeah. DAVID: "I didn't do anything with that."
MICHELE: Amen. DAVID: Oh, let's see how that goes over with Him. MICHELE: And you thought you were going to take care of it. (Laughs) GEORGE: Yeah. DAVID: "And by the way, I saw that you used your vote, but I told you in the scriptures, though, a hand joined in a hand shedding innocent blood, you're not supposed to be joining hands with those who shed you voted for somebody who is pro-abortion. Would you like to tell me why you disobeyed?" I don't want to have to have that conversation with God at judgment. GEORGE: Yeah. DAVID: And I will guarantee you, we need to think that way, that, you know, I'm going to answer to God for whether or not I voted. And I'm also going to answer to Him for who I voted for. GEORGE: Yes. DAVID: If it takes me more than five minutes, if it takes me two hours to find out who the right person is, I better spend the time GEORGE: Yep, yep. DAVID: because I will account to God for what I used it.
GEORGE: Go ahead. KEITH: Oh, and there is there is even a natural reason why abortion is a bad issue. Of course, those who are enemies of God are saying, "Population is a bad thing." But there's been over 60 million abortions in America MICHELE: Amen. Amen. KEITH: right? MICHELE: 60 million. Million.
DAVID: That's a lot of innocent blood that's been shed. GEORGE: Yeah. KEITH: How much tax money would those people have paid? DAVID: You betcha. KEITH: How many schools would have had to have been built? How many jobs would there have been to to build those schools and to do the clothing and to grow the food and DAVID: The economic are wound is huge. KEITH: The economic bent I mean, the the what, the population of England is 60 million? GEORGE: Yeah. KEITH: So you're talking about an entire nation. You're talking about jobs, you're talking about economy, you're talking about work, you're talking about money, you're talking about taxes, you're talking about military strength, you're talking about all kind of thing. GEORGE: Yeah. KEITH: People are not bad to have. People are good to have. DAVID: Good to have. That's right. MICHELE: Well, and that's what the proverb says. DAVID: That's right.
MICHELE: "That that a king is doing well when his population grows." And when you're murdering your own population? I mean, this is significant. 60 65 million. Just pause here. This isn't just a number. 60, 65 million innocent Americans aren't alive today since 1973. That is a legacy. And the one thing that is sure is God's judgment. His love, yes. But also His judgment. And that has happened while believers have been in this country. KEITH: Yeah. That's right. MICHELE: And that's why we have to take that upon ourselves. And if so few people make a difference, the Church alone GEORGE: Oh, man. We should be.
MICHELE: together DAVID: We can own this. MICHELE: voting. We can own this. Exactly. DAVID: We can own this. GEORGE: So I KEITH: One last I'm sorry. GEORGE: Yeah, go ahead. KEITH: One last thing. You know, somebody else will say, "Well, there's some kids who shouldn't be born." One of my very best friends was
MICHELE: Who's going to be audacious enough to KEITH: a product product of a rape. DAVID: Mm-hmm. KEITH: Okay? The mother didn't abort it. He now pastors a major church with thousands of people that has drug addiction programs, all kind of things. Every life is valuable. MICHELE: Amen. Thank God. GEORGE: Father, we are coming here today where life is concerned. And we have seen from this discussion that our vote is either our vote, or lack of, is either to save a life, or we take part with the abortionists. Oh, God, forgive us. MICHELE: Amen. GEORGE: Forgive us for not doing what is right at the polls. Lord, we see the connection. And, Father, I thank You that there's a turn in this nation, that people are waking up to this. And, Father, we thank You for those that are to be born, those that are to live. And we thank You, oh, God for the revelation of the power of prayer and the power of our vote. In Jesus' name, amen. MICHELE: Amen.
GEORGE: And amen. MICHELE: Amen. GEORGE: Praise God. This has been really a great start. I am so thankful for the Lord bringing you all together. And just in the last about 20 seconds we have, how does a person know where that candidate stands? How can we help them? DAVID: Several ways. You can go to voters guides like christianvotersguide.com. You can put in your state. It'll pull up voters guides. And life is one of the things that'll always be there because there are a lot of groups who monitor that life issue. GEORGE: Yep. DAVID: If you get that issue right, the rest of it will come. But that's the number one issue.
GEORGE: Praise God. Praise God. Thank you guys so much. Hey, I'll be right back with you. DAVID: When you look at who to vote for and how it relates to the rights of conscience, you have to understand what our Declaration of Independence says. Our founding document, it sets forth five principles of government. And anyone who goes into government is to support those five principles. And the first principle there says that there is a moral law. It was called the laws of nature and nature's God. Between the Bible and nature, we know what right and wrong is. We can tell. God tells us clearly, don't steal and don't kill and don't that's a moral law. So we start with a moral law that comes from God. The second thing says, "Oh, by the way, there is a god." So we acknowledge that there is a creator. The third thing the Declaration tells us is that God gives us a certain set of inalienable rights like life and like liberty and the right of self-defense and the right for association and free speech. Those are God-given rights.
The fourth thing that the Declaration says is government exists primarily to protect God-given rights. And the fifth thing is that, below that, you get to vote on everything else. So you don't get to vote on morals, you don't get to vote on what your rights are. God gives those to you. But you can vote on how wide the sidewalk should be or what the speed limit should be, et cetera. That's fine. Now, when it comes to electing someone, if you elect someone that says, "I don't believe you should have rights of conscience. I don't I don't think that you should be able to choose what it is you want to be part of. I don't think you should be able to choose whether your healthcare does not cover abortion or we don't think you should do that." That's a real problem because now you're violating what the purpose of government is. And the purpose of government is to make sure I have the right to practice my God-given beliefs. And one of those is the rights of conscience. And if you've got an official saying, "Well, I don't believe you have a right of conscience," that's a person you don't want in your government because they will also take away your other rights as well.
