Focus on the Family Broadcast

John Fuller: This is John Fuller and today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly we’ll be taking a look at the great privilege we have to vote which is especially important for us in the Christian community. There are so many critical issues coming up in the midterm elections and they’re only three weeks away. Dr. Al Mohler recently addressed this matter and he was responding to a listener who wanted to know how to be a responsible voter.

Preview:

Dr. Mohler: So, Kayla, the most important thing I can say is know what the issues are, understand the political process, and as a Christian, go into the voting booth, so to speak, prepared to vote your convictions and to vote as a Christian. And that means you are never utopian, but it also means you’re not irresponsible.

End of Preview

Jim Daly: John, that’s some great advice from our friend, Dr. Al Mohler. And to his point about being utopian, we all need to recognize that there’s no perfect candidate or political party that can solve all the problems. Ultimately, the fate of our nation is in God’s hands, and we know that.

With that said, we still have a critical responsibility to vote. And it’s tragic how many Americans, almost half of the voting age population, failed to vote during the midterms, despite the fact that the majority of our national and state leaders are up for reelection on November 8th. We’re going to address that concern today.

But before we get started, let me say this up front. Here at Focus on the Family we’re not going to tell you who to vote for or which party to vote for. That’s not our mission. We simply want to keep you informed about key issues and policies affecting all of our lives.

In particular, there are some pro-life amendments on the November ballot that we’re very concerned about, and we want to help you think through these issues from a godly and biblical perspective. And I recently connected online with Al from his office in Louisville, Kentucky, so that we could encourage and motivate you to do your civic duty to get out and vote. It’s that simple. And to pray about the pro-life battle that’s raging across this country right now. That’s our main goal with the program today.

John: And for those who may not know, Dr. Albert Mohler is President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He’s a well-known author and speaker and regularly addresses political and social topics from a Christian worldview. He is a former board member at Focus on the Family. And for more details about our guest and resources we have for follow up stop by our website. That’s focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. Or call 800, the letter A, and the word FAMILY.

And Jim, I was out of the office as you interviewed Dr. Mohler. Let’s go ahead and listen to that now on today’s episode of Focus on the Family.

Jim: Dr Mohler, so good to have you with us. Thank you.

Dr. Mohler: You know Jim, it’s always good to be with you and Focus on the Family.

Jim: Hey, let’s get to it. Um, you know, right now in the culture there’s so much turbulence on core issues. I remember Dr Dobson used to say, you know, “Abortion is not a political issue, it’s a moral issue.” Let’s start with that idea that there are things that are far above politics and they are in the arena of politics, but they’re bigger and more important than anything else. Give that some definition for the, you know, casual Christian who may not understand these things.

Dr. Mohler: You know, according to a biblical worldview God’s given to government certain defined responsibilities. But, uh, government doesn’t create marriage. And government doesn’t give life.

Jim: Hmm.

Dr. Mohler: Life is the gift of the Creator, and marriage is the creation of God, for us, as the most basic institution of human living. So, throughout the history of the Christian church, uh, life and marriage, for example, have been classified as pre-political. Which means politics is to respect them. Politics doesn’t create them. And so, when you look at the issue of say, the definition of marriage and the sanctity of human life, it is government’s responsibility to respect and to protect unborn life and, uh, and the institution of marriage. And so that is something that government has no right to redefine, uh, uh, or to subvert, or to take. I think that’s a good place for us to start.

Jim: You know Al, let me ask this follow-up in that regard because, um, again, what is the motivation, uh, to deconstruct these institutions that one, are God-ordained and two, cultures thrive when they protect those institutions like marriage, and family, and children, and protecting the weak? Um, why do people not understand that basic truth, it seems? They can’t be that, um, disconnected, can they?

Dr. Mohler: Well, they aren’t. As a matter of fact, every major government study, think of the Moynihan Report, you know, a generation ago, said that you can’t have a healthy society without healthy families, healthy marriage. Uh, parents, two parents, uh, optimally raising their children in, in a singular household. And so, the dissolution of a family is come predictably with results and frankly, there’s not a sociologist who’s I think dishonest enough to say that doesn’t matter. It matters hugely.

But, you know, the modern age is an age of personal autonomy that prizes personal happiness above everything else and says, “You deserve to be happy.” “You deserve to define your own sex life.” “You deserve to like marriage or not like marriage, or like being married or not being married.” “You have the right to be unpregnant or the right to be pregnant,” just based on your personal autonomy. And, uh, you know, Jim, that’s a, not only a horrible way to run a civilization, it unravels civilization.

Jim: The, uh, election situation. So, we have mid-terms coming up and so often there seems to be a split within the Christian community. And I can’t give you the number, the percentage. You might know it. But generally, there’s some that just don’t agree with engaging in the political process. That, you know, it’s already so bad that, um, why do it? Why be involved with something so worldly, so, um, really non-functional at this point? Give a shot to that argument that, “You know, I’m just… I don’t think the process is right and as a Christian I don’t believe I need to vote.”

Dr. Mohler: Well, I have bad news for you. If you are an American citizen, then you are voting one way or the other. Uh, you may be voting incompetently and invisibly, but-

Jim: Huh…

Dr. Mohler: … you’re voting. Because if you have the stewardship, and God’s given you the stewardship of the vote and you don’t use it, you’re just strengthening every vote against what you would say you stand for. And so, you know, not voting doesn’t mean you’re somehow clean of responsibility from politics, it just means you didn’t have the courage and you didn’t exercise the stewardship to actually vote your convictions. If you’re not voting your convictions, if you just stay out of the process, you’re actually giving additional weight to the votes against your convictions. There’s no way out of the trap when every American citizen is given the right of the vote.

Jim: You know, one of the things I’m so concerned about that I see in the culture is the chilling effect of, uh, kind of the group think. In other words, even within the Christian community, there tends to be like a blanket that rests over us that we shouldn’t be engaged or we shouldn’t be as vocal, or we shouldn’t be as strident. And I get that. There’s an attitude of the New Testament of love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, mercy. We can still embrace the Fruit of the Spirit and talk about very critical issues in the culture, correct?

Dr. Mohler: Well, absolutely. I mean, what is more merciful than contending for unborn human life and protecting it from being destroyed?

Jim: Mm.

Dr. Mohler: What’s more merciful than believing about the children need a mother and a father and working to, to hold up marriage, and to respect marriage in the law? What’s more merciful than to want peaceful and orderly community, and, uh, to allow people to prosper? Uh, you know, human flourishing doesn’t happen because we decide to say, “Spend enough taxpayer money to bring about human flourishing.” It is brought about when people say, “Okay, this is the way God intended human beings to live at the very base level. We gotta start out living that way,” and encouraging others to live that way, or there’s not going to be flourishing society anywhere.

Jim: Oy. That’s exactly right. Let me turn to the pro-life situation that we’re in right now. Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Dobbs decision. You have mostly red states that are restricting abortion to a certain degree. And then blue states that are actually… Uh, the philosophy of this, I just don’t, don’t even comprehend. You know, California, and other states where they have expanded. Colorado, right here in our state, uh, where Focus on the Family is, expanded abortion up until the point of birth as a, uh, kind of a direct response to restriction of abortion. So, our state’s gonna be the “Home of abortion,” and they’re very proud of that. Speak to what the post Dobbs decision now looks like and what do Christians do to do more to create that flourishing that you’re talking about?

Dr. Mohler: You know Jim, uh, Focus on the Family and so many others, and I have, have worked for the reversal of Roe v. Wade for about a half a century. That’s, it’s hard to imagine how long a period of time-

Jim: Mm.

Dr. Mohler: … that it is. And you’re right, the Supreme Court did reverse Roe v. Wade just a matter of, uh, of months ago. But you and I both know that really starts the next stage-

Jim: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Mohler: … or the next phase of fighting for the unborn because reversing Roe means now we’ve got 50 battles in 50 states. And we have to continue efforts in Congress, by the way, and watch the federal judiciary. But the biggest issue is… Now, you mentioned Colorado, you mentioned New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois, radically pro-abortion states. Thankfully there are some very (laughs) pro-life states as well. We’ve got to keep the argument going in those pro-life states. We’ve got to now center and magnify our effort in pro-abortion states.

And you know Jim, you know, there’s one angle people don’t think about here. Is not just a moral rebellion. It’s a profit motive. There is big money in abortion. There is huge money, by the hundreds of millions of dollars, in abortion and what a tragic, um, reality it is that abortion is a death industry in this country.

Jim: Well, in… It’s a great point you’re mentioning because, uh, I met with an abortion worker and as we talked, she was honest enough to say, “Yeah, it’s about the money. Abortions drives our-

Dr. Mohler: It’s big money.

Jim: … revenue.”

Dr. Mohler: Mm.

Jim: And that was so refreshingly honest, just to hear that. And then we started to talk about things that could be done to remedy that to do more adoption placement, et cetera. But, uh, again, I think in the, in the US the, the attitude… I mean, they are being very aggressive right now in trying to, I think, intimidate the pro-life community, including some of the arms of government, whether is the DOJ prosecuting-

Dr. Mohler: Right.

Jim: … uh, pro-life people. I think to date I think we’ve had 73 vandal attacks on, uh, the Pregnancy Resource Centers in this country. 73. Not one has been investigated. Speak to that whole thing. It feels like even government can be a raid against those things that are holy.

Dr. Mohler: Absolutely. And Jim, you’re pointing to something that just affirms our central discussion here, which is that elections matter. You know, who heads the Department of Justice? That’s decided by the person elected president of the United States.

Jim: Mm.

Dr. Mohler: And the elections have consequences. And, uh, so when you elect a pro-abortion candidate who heads a pro-abortion party, guess what? You’re gonna have pro-abortion effects all the way through the government, right down to the administrative state. Right down to deciding, you know, eventually, uh, whether a baby is… has his life terminated in the womb or not.

Jim: Mm.

Dr. Mohler: And whether, uh, pro-life industries are gonna be protected or not. And, uh, whether or not the government’s gonna put its power… You know, right now our government, because of the current administration, is actually demanding abortion rights even in other countries, and going to other countries and saying, “You need to join the LGBTQ revolution. You need to redefine marriage.”

Jim: Right. Or, or you don’t get USA ID.

Dr. Mohler: That’s right.

Jim: Or you don’t get money. I mean, that’s how they tie it together.

Dr. Mohler: Exactly right.

Jim: It’s crazy.

Dr. Mohler: Yeah.

Jim: When you pull back at that 50,000-foot view level and you look at the spiritual contour of our country, as a theologian, um, teaching young people, I mean, you’re teaching at a seminary. You’re the president of the seminary. You’re seeing young people come in with a lot of questions, I’m sure. What do you see that contour looking like at a high level, uh, about where we’re at, where young people are at, what they’re thinking…? How are they processing the, the generation that they’re born into and what the Lord is expressing?

Dr. Mohler: Yeah. You go back to 1960, uh, there’s generational change and generational distinction. But nothing like if you fast forward 2020. And when you look at the younger generation today, we’re looking at a generation that is much more permissive. It’s much more socially liberal. I mean, after all, they’ve been produced by generations every one of which has been successively more progressive, more socially liberal. But you know what? When you look at the Christians, they are more deeply committed, these younger Christians, than what’s the case in previous generations because they have to be. And so, you know, I’m 63 years old and I was born in a time when there was a lot of cultural Christianity. Well, that’s pretty much disappearing or disappeared. So, we’re about to find out where the Christians are.

And, uh, the younger you go in the generations, the more you discover where the Christians are. And I’ve got good news, as you know. There are millions of incredibly committed convictional young Christians. And I am so thankful for them. They show the joy of Christ and, uh, they’re coming to institutions like this. And, uh, you know, they’re being produced by parents who are engaged: there’s homeschooling, they’re raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Everything Focus on the Family has been focusing on, you know, for all these decades, I can tell you, the Lord honors it. And, uh, even if the larger generation… Wow, that’s gonna represent a tremendous challenge in mission field to us. You know, there is something powerful happening in this young generation of Christians. And in some ways, we’re gonna learn from them even as they learn from us.

Jim: No, I so appreciate that. I share that optimism and so often if I’m speaking with a, you know, a handful of other Christian leaders, one of the things I’m kinda down about it how down they get about the future of the church and w-, this present-

Dr. Mohler: Right.

Jim: … generation. Do you know one thing Al, it’s so critical for us to remember, we’re almost saying God didn’t know what He was doing when He placed these people in this generation. I’m not going’ there (laughs). God’s put-

Dr. Mohler: No.

Jim: … exactly who he wants here on the face of this earth for this moment, for his cause. And-

Dr. Mohler: To show His glory-

Jim: Yes.

Dr. Mohler: … in this world, in this generation of Christians.

Jim: Let me, lemme turn in the last few minutes. Let’s get very specific about some of the things that we’re facing. And again, the disclaimer here: Be informed. Vote. We can’t tell you, and we shouldn’t tell you, who to vote for. We’re just trying to make the biblical case on those things you should be thinking about when you vote, especially those things that we believe are close to God’s heart. Like life, like marriage, traditional marriage. Those are things that are critical to the survivability of the culture. And I think, and I believe you think so Al, the things that are close to God’s heart.

So, let’s hit it. Uh, California and Michigan. I was up in Michigan and we talked at length about this. But both of those state governments, uh, each have a amendments, and they’re so good with the verbiage. This is one of the things you gotta be careful about.

It, in general they’re both, uh, referencing “the right to reproductive freedom.” And both remove, both of the bills that are proposed in California and Michigan, uh, remove all restrictions to abortion, even when the baby is viable outside the womb, so past 20, 21 weeks. They also kind of, uh, give more freedom to the abortion clinics with less regulation. So, speak to those two states, specifically, California, Michigan. Perhaps two of the most radical states along with Colorado.

Dr. Mohler: Yeah. You know, uh, looking at California and Michigan, the one thing I, I wanna say is that, uh, conservative voters in Michigan really do have a chance to vote that down. It’s an insidious, uh, statewide measure that, as you say, would basically, uh, enable abortion all the way up to the moment of birth. And, uh, it is, is a, a horrible, a horrible, uh, measure.

And in California, look, uh, you know, conservatives haven’t won a statewide election in a long time. But that just underlines the fact that we got to regain ground election by election. And so, California’s law… I mean, you had the governor there just sign more than a dozen pro-abortion bills just in the last weeks of the, of the current, uh, administrative term. And you look at that and you go, “Tha- that’s just almost beyond belief.” But look, you know, y-, we been watching this a long time. The polarization means that in one sense, the liberal states right now are getting even more liberal, and the pro-abortion movement is getting more bold.

They’re capitalizing on, uh, the, uh, controversy after the end of Roe v. Wade. And so, I just wanna encourage people; your responsibility to vote, to protect a life, has never been more important that in states like California and Michigan, and Vermont, and, uh, some other states as well. Uh, where you got to go in…  And you were right Jim. The way these are written, you’ve got to look very carefully. In California and in Michigan, vote, “No.”

But the whole premise of our, of our, uh, understanding of our world is that the unborn baby is a person who deserves and demands our respect and protection.

Jim: Yeah. And, again, the clarity there, and that’s what’s so important. The media, no one’s gonna help you with that. It’s gonna become more clouded because of the high-level language that they use to try to defend taking a baby’s life. Uh, we had a, we had a speaker at an event we did, Alexandra DeSanctis, and-

Dr. Mohler: Oh, yeah.

Jim: … she made a coup-, a couple of statements that were so powerful. And her voice needs to get out further, and broader, and wider, because she said so many great things. But one of the things that she expressed, she said she had looked at every red state pro-life law and the other side often plays on the fears of that 1%, the ectopic pregnancy or something like that. And she said not in one state where there are pro-life laws is there not the ability of a, you know, that kind of situation, an ectopic pregnancy where it’s not going to go to full-term. That’s a medical procedure that needs to be done for the well-being of the mother. And in those cases, there’s no restriction that she read. She said, “I’ve read every law and here’s the difference; abortion is about taking the life of a viable baby.

Dr. Mohler: Right.

Jim: Everything else is medical, uh, you know, medical necessity. But we’re talking about restricting murdering a child. And that’s as plain and simple as it gets.” How would you respond to that?

Dr. Mohler: I’d say you said it about as clearly as it could possibly be said. Yes, the abortion that we are working so hard to end, and the lives we’re trying so hard to save, are the lives of, uh, viable infants in the womb, and, uh, unborn human beings in the womb who are being intentionally targeted for destruction. That’s what we’re trying to-

Jim: Correct.

Dr. Mohler: And, you know, yeah, they’re being intentionally targeted for destruction. We must, as a civilized society, say no to that.

Jim: And I guess the point being, can we get up out of our houses, off of our sofas, and give that baby the due respect to cast a vote on one day, every two years? Cast a vote in favor of saving those babies. And be courageous enough to defend that decision. We don’t have to hide or cower to the other side. They are killing the next generation. We can come up with systems of adoption. They say that there are as many people wanting to adopt every year that babies are aborted. About a million young couples want to adopt an infant and there’s about a million abortions a year. Why don’t we try concentrating on connecting those two, and, uh, bringing some solution to this?

Uh, Al, let me move to Vermont. Uh, that’s a state that most Christians kind of just, you know (laughs), don’t even pay attention-

Dr. Mohler: Right.

Jim: To, but-

Dr. Mohler: (inaudible) land.

Jim: Yeah, that state government has an amendment for personal reproductive autonomy. Again, great language for the bill. But the language is vague and it says basically it could allow minors access to contraception, hormone treatments, surgeries for children with gender dysphoria, all those kinds of things are wrapped up into this autonomy bill. And also, in there is no parental consent required.

Dr. Mohler: Right.

Jim: That’s crazy.

Dr. Mohler: It is the most extreme, uh, proposed measure of its kind I can imagine in all of American history. And, and, uh, you know, you and I, we’re not surprised it comes from Vermont. Uh, because we’re talking about a place that, uh, is overwhelmingly socially liberal. And, and yet… You noticed you started out using the word “Autonomy,” there it is again.

Jim: Yeah.

Dr. Mohler: Well, you wanna talk about the sexual autonomy of a young teenage girl? Is that what you talking about? What kinda sane society talks in that, that language? And, and then talks about the autonomy basically of, of, of having, you know, minors have abortions without any parental involvement whatsoever or, or contraceptive, uh, uh, use. Just given reproductive health and sexual autonomy. Uh, it’s hard to imagine anyone on the right making up, you know something like what we actually see now in Vermont. It’s real.

Jim: Yeah, and it’s crazy. Um, I know we have two more bills, Kentucky, and, and Montana. You’re in Kentucky, so let’s talk about that one, then I’ll give the close to-

Dr. Mohler: Yeah. Yeah.

Jim: … you.

Dr. Mohler: You know, Amendment 2 is an opportunity to state that the Constitution of Kentucky doesn’t have any right for abortion and can’t require taxpayers to pay for abortion. And yeah, those two things should be obvious. And, uh, that leads to one final thing if you’ll allow me. You know, elections are important. We think about governors and senators and all the rest, and even these measures. But, you know, Jim, right now, I’ve been awakened to the fact that one of the things we need to watch in these statewide elections is electing justices of the state Supreme Courts.

Jim: Yeah.

Dr. Mohler: Uh, because it really does matter. And that has a lot of do with what’s going on in Kentucky. Amendment 2 would prevent any state court from finding, or discovering, or inventing a right to abortion within the Kentucky Constitution. And I think that’s a really clear statement that needs to be said.

Jim: And Montana is very similar in, in their bill.

Dr. Mohler: Mm.

Jim: So those are yeses that you wanna support those bills in Kentucky and Montana.

Um, Al, as we wrap up, I mean, people listening, I’m trying to have that ear for the person hearing us right now, “Wow, they’re alarmists. Whew. That sounds pretty radical.” But it’s not. These are the big stakes that are now in play in our culture because we have lost that cohesion that you talked about earlier that between the parties, there’s wasn’t much distinction, uh, on these core issues of the definition of a woman, or the definition of family, or the definition of a baby. Those things were pretty well, uh, agreed upon up until now. And now it’s wide open. And, um, I think a good place to end would just speak to that, again, the Fruit of the Spirit aspect of this ’cause we can get, especially watching cable news, and trying to be informed, you can get pretty riled up! So-

Dr. Mohler: Right.

Jim: … it’s this constant battle for the Christian between my flesh being angry, and my spirit wanting to be, uh, kind and loving toward people that seemed extremely ill-informed.

Dr. Mohler: Jim, you set that up so well because, uh, you know, it’s Jesus himself who said that the First Commandment is that we love the Lord, our God without all our heart and soul, and mind. And the second is like, unto it, we shall love our neighbor as ourselves. Yeah, that’s where everything begins and ends for Christians. And, uh, you know, in our fallenness, in our, in our just humanity, sometimes we’re get frustrated with things. But our job is to love God first and to love our neighbor every day, whatever that takes. And, uh, you know, election day is not every day. And I, and you and I are both thankful for that. We, we would be, we’d be-

Jim: (Laughs).

Dr. Mohler: … exhausted. And, and Americans wouldn’t pay that much attention. You know, the American electoral system doesn’t require that much of citizens. You know, every two years in terms of these mid-term elections, every four years in terms of, uh, presidential elections. You show up, you look at the issues, you do the right thing, you show love of God of, and love of neighbor. Then you go back home, raise your children, you go back home you, you know, you build your communities. You go back home, you go to church, you, um, you know, you do your business, you help to build the community. Uh, elections aren’t every day. But election days are important days and it is nothing but unfaithfulness, uh, to fail to show up, and vote convictions on election day.

Jim: Hey, John, I so appreciate Dr. Mohler’s wisdom and insights about the great responsibility we have as Christians to be involved in voting and engaging with these moral concerns affecting our nation. I’m so honored that Focus on the Family is standing with him in the battle to protect precious human life created in the image of God. Yes, it’s right to celebrate the Supreme Court monumental decision to overturn Roe versus Wade earlier this year. But the battle for the hearts and minds of our society are far from over.

Our calling is clear to take up the mantle that pro-life believers have faithfully carried since 1973. And we need to work state by state now fighting for the rights and dignity of preborn babies and their mothers. For those with special needs, the elderly and orphans, and anyone else who is perceived as less valuable in our culture. And that’s the mission that we have. And I hope you’ll join us in that.

John: And here at Focus on the Family, we’re committed to helping you stay informed and up to date on these kinds of issues impacting our faith in our families and life. And we’re going to be posting links to our Daily Citizen website and Facebook page, along with articles addressing the midterm ballots, giving you all the information you need. Stop by the website. It’s focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.

Jim: And John, I want to encourage our listeners to personally get involved in the pro-life movement. That’s the best way to demonstrate your faith, in my opinion. I’m inviting you to stand with us in bringing God’s truth and love to this important issue. There are so many things you can do, like volunteering at your local pregnancy resource center or donating diapers and formula and other baby needs that girls and women must have when facing an unplanned pregnancy.

And you can support our Option Ultrasound program, where we provide ultrasound machines and trainings and other resources for these pregnancy resource centers, many of which are working in states that continue to support abortion. In some of those states, even to the point of birth. I mean, it’s amazing. We’ve done the math. And when you invest $60 in Option Ultrasound, you help rescue one preborn baby. A monthly pledge of $60 will save 12 preborn babies a year. And I can’t think of a better investment than that.

John: That’s right. And of course, a one-time gift is valuable as well. Whatever you can afford today, please call 800 232-6459. 800, the letter A, and the word FAMILY. Or you can donate at focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.

On behalf of Jim Daly and the entire team, thanks for joining us for this episode of Focus on the Family. I’m John Fuller, inviting you back as we once more help you and your family thrive in Christ.