WEBVTT - An Assault on Religious Liberty with Travis Weber 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:04.160 What is the Respect for Marriage Act? The United States 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:07.960 Senate is going to be considering this legislation this week, 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:12.240 But what does it really do? Innocuous on its face 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:17.040 and entitle it seems like it's no big deal. Remember 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:19.840 how they told us that the Inflation Reduction Act would 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:24.000 actually reduce inflation, and then after it was passed, they said, 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:27.080 l L, just kidding. It's a climate bill. So what 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.520 is the Respect for Marriage Act? Now? Supporters of it 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:32.519 would say that all it does is that it federally 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:36.240 recognizes same sex civil marriage. You know, no big deal, 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:39.839 they say, But if you look under the hood, what 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:43.879 would that do to institutions, to to people, to churches 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:48.479 who abide by biblical teachings that marriages between a man 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:50.880 and a woman, would that put them in the cross 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:55.160 hairs of lawsuits or are from the federal government. Now 0:00:55.560 --> 0:01:00.320 those who oppose the legislation have expressed great concern. Learns 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:04.520 Rabbi Akov mentioned. The founder of Project Genesis had this 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:06.959 to say about it. He said that so called Expect 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:10.440 for Marriage Act is the federal government explicitly declaring the 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:12.679 Bible is wrong. He goes on to note that the 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:17.160 legislation allows any private actor to initiate a lawsuit if 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:21.039 a religious school wishes to recognize only traditional marriages. Also 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:24.920 concerns that it goes way beyond that, that if it 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:29.200 becomes law, it could affect employment decisions employees, spousal benefits, 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:34.199 eligibility for grants or contracts, accreditation, tax exemptions, even put 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:37.960 faith based foster care and adoption agencies in the cross 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:41.920 hairs of lawsuits and potentially the federal government. Many Senators 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:44.960 have also expressed concern as well. Senator Mike Lee has 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:49.560 introduced an amendment to try to actually protect religious liberty 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:53.400 in America, but the Senate is not even allowing for it. 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:57.280 They won't even take up Senator Mike Lee's amendment, and 0:01:57.280 --> 0:01:59.520 Senator Mike Lee has said that what this actually is, 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:03.960 what they're back for marriage actually is this act, this legislation, 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:06.200 is that this is a show game that ends in 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:10.760 the destruction of religious liberty in America. Senator Lindsey Graham 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:13.400 had this to say. He said that the sponsors refusal 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.480 to adopt Senator to Lee's amendment, which clearly protects religious institutions, 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:20.360 says all I need to know about the potential risks 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:22.920 of the bill. So We're going to turn to Travis Weber, 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.040 who is the vice president for policy and government Affairs 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.720 at the Family Research Council, to find out what the 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:34.040 bill actually is, what would it do if this legislation 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:37.040 was passed, and what does it mean for religious liberty 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.840 in America more broadly. I hope you will tune in 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.120 for this really important conversation. I believe it's truly a 0:02:43.120 --> 0:03:04.000 really important conversation because not everything is always as it seems. 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:07.880 I wanted to talk about the Respect for Marriage Act. Obviously, 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:09.960 you know, Democrats are really good at giving sort of 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.799 these are Wellian names to things, you know, the Inflation 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:14.639 Reduction Act, and then they were like, l O, L 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:17.360 just kidding, it's a climate bill. So you know, I 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:19.320 want to I want to get into, you know, what 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:23.600 actually is the Respect for Marriage Act, what's the intent? 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:26.639 But also what does it actually do? Yeah, I mean 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:30.480 I think that their intent is to try to to 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.960 take advantage of the moment politically and push something that 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:38.000 they think will help them out, even though no, no Republicans, 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:42.360 no one is trying to otherwise address this issue right 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:46.200 now legislatively at the national level. Uh, They're they're claiming 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:49.160 this is in response to a threat from Justice Thomas 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:54.200 Concurrence in the Job's case. But they're the ones raising, 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:57.200 you know, making cultural war, so to speak, right now 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:01.280 with this bill. Um the bill, the bills titles also deceiving. 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:04.400 It's it doesn't respect marriage. I mean that the problem, 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:06.600 you know, we were inventing something. We get into the 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.640 area of same sex marriage as a society, and this 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:14.280 is a dangerous road to be on. Additionally, their issue 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.000 that we are trying to help people understand about this 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.919 bill right now is that it's implications for religious liberty 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:26.800 would be drastic by by repealing the defense of marriage 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.240 back in federal law, which is what the bill does, 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:34.520 mandating full faith and credit based on a state's definition 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:37.520 of same sex marriage or however otherwise the state would 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:41.880 define marriage. Uh and failing to protect religious liberating the 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:46.240 bill the bills that it becomes law, it's gonna unleash attacks, 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:55.440 let litigation, marginalization, and other social, legal, and economic consequences 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:58.200 for those who disagree. And that's the significant point of 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:00.800 really trying to help senders understand and right now, the 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:04.320 builders does protect religious liberty. So you've got some senators 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.760 coming out now saying this version protects religious liberty. That 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:11.440 version does not, because all it does is say churches 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:16.880 and religious organizations can't be forced to perform same sex 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:20.960 marriage ceremonies in essence on their facilities. That's not an 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:23.640 issue right now. The issue is that all the other 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:28.920 consequences of dissenting from the view that same sex marriage legitimate. 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:31.359 So religious college wants to have a code of conduct 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.120 and forced it on its campus would not be protected, 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.400 for example, among many other examples. So the current text 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:41.719 fails to protect it. Even though you hear Republicans um 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:45.520 the the compromise between Senators tell Us, Collins and Baldwin 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:49.400 going around saying protect religious liberty. This is unfortunately, I 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:52.560 think as hoodwinked a number of other Republicans, twelve of 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:56.080 whom voted for this the first procedural vote, but they're 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.520 just misinformed. It doesn't protect religious liberty. Senator leads of 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:02.240 them would protect religious liberty. We're gonna have more votes 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:06.400 after this weekend. That's the nutshell of of the situation. 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:09.520 But it really doesn't protect religious liberty, and you've got 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.640 a lot of religious leaders who are raising concerns about 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.640 what this could do. Was reading this Daily Signal article, 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:21.400 and Rabbi Yakov Menken, the founder of Project Genesis, said 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.160 that essentially what the Respect for Marriage Act would do 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.520 is saying that, you know, the federal government would explicitly 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:30.839 declare that the Bible is wrong. Uh, you know, you 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.640 go on too. You know, there's other you know, some 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:36.880 bishops recently raised some concerns as well. And so the 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.799 Respect for Marriages Acts rejection of timeless truths about marriage 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:42.720 is evident on its face and in its purpose, it 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:46.320 would betray our country's commitment to the fundamental right of 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:50.200 religious liberty. That's from Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:56.479 and Bishop Robert Baron of Winona, Rochester, Minnesota. So, you know, 0:06:56.520 --> 0:07:01.640 religious leaders here raising concerns and essentially saying declaring what 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.560 they believe, what the religion teaches, what the Bible teaches, 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:08.680 is inherently wrong. Yeah, no, that's right, you know. And 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:10.960 and one of the things that bill would do is 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.240 send a signal that the federal government are people's voice, 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:20.320 and Congress is saying that, um, same sex marriage is legitimate, 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.520 other views of marriage are not legitimate. That's a dangerous 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:28.120 place to be because uh, that's going to be the 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:33.160 basis of finding a federal and national public policy um 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.120 in favor of same sex marriage that will be used 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:40.160 to revoke tax exempt status of anyone who disagrees. Religious 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:45.600 organizations eventually churches, synagogues, mosques, you mentually grabbed by Menkan 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:49.560 He's represents the voice of many traditional Jews in the 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:54.080 Jewish community who disagree with the push, the ideological push 0:07:54.240 --> 0:08:00.560 against traditional more religious values and so um the public 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.680 policy finding could follow from this bill that would be 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:07.360 disastrous for anyone who doesn't agree with what the bill 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:09.560 is doing. So so very much so the signal that 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:14.679 sends against the scripture, against traditional Judaism and you know Islam, 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:20.560 anyone who who religiously or otherwise disagrees, and especially the 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:23.360 point it's not you know, it's not just religion. It 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.720 could be if you disagree with this as a policy um, 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:31.000 the bill could be used eventually against you. Is if 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:33.120 we have a national public policy in favor of same 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.800 sex marriage. And so so that's you know, the signaling effect, 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:40.760 the impact on the landscape of the litigation that's been 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.000 playing out for years already. You have Jack backed small 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:46.120 business owners like Jack Phillips Bariteld Stutsman at the sucreen 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:50.559 Court multiple times trying to defend their rights to simply 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.360 exercise their faith in their business right. So we don't 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:55.800 want to create a cake for same sex marriage. The 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.560 her their opponents are showing up in their shops forcing 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:00.760 them to using the course to wors than to when 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:04.800 other shops will create that same cake. And so um, 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:06.920 these people are going to be totally thrown under the 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:10.800 bus by this bill if it passes. There are multiple 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:14.000 problems with it well, and you know that's why, you know, 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.520 Senator should be encouraged to take on Senator Mike Lee's 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:24.199 amendment because we can't. There's no there's no understanding that 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:26.400 the Left would act in good faith because, as you 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:30.199 just pointed out, they continued assault on Jack Phillips masterpiece 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:34.480 shop in Colorado and the undermining of him, trying to 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:37.520 drive him out of business, trying to target him. And 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.440 this is just one example. So the idea that somehow, 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:43.400 you know, we should just trust that they would act 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:46.079 in good faith has already been thrown out the window 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.280 when you know, as you pointed out, what they've done 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:52.160 to Jack Phillip and uh in Colorado. Yeah, you're you know, 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:54.880 when we when the nation was having a discussion and 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:58.440 various core cases on the issue of same sex marriage 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:00.800 years ago, what we heard was, you know, we were told, 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:04.480 you know that that others will be tolerated and we 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:08.360 just want marriage and will respect those who disagree. The 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.800 bill doesn't do that, and behind this is a threat, 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:16.200 as you note, to people like Jack Phillips, including um, 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:19.640 you know, anyone who wants to sort of exercise their 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:23.560 views in the context of the federal government, those who 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:28.400 want to receive public money, contract with the government, UM, 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:31.200 anyone in the marketplace, because the bill will open up 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:35.000 invite more litigation against them, like Jack Phillips. Religious colleges, 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.680 universities be able to live out their faith. Um. And 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.079 I'm aware that you know they're there schools College of 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.640 the Ozarks, and other schools in Missouri, the home state 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.880 of Roy Blunt who voted for this bill, who are 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:52.880 very concerned about the impact that their own Senator UH 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:58.400 will be helping achieve the negative adverse effect on their 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:00.880 own religious liberty. The Senator blood is helping usher in 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:05.200 so you know he Joni Earns from Iowa, Todd Young 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:10.280 from Indiana, Synthing dilemmas from Wyoming and and the others 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:14.439 who voted for this. It's a significant problem that they 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:19.160 would fail to see that this does not protect religious liberty. Um. 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:22.680 I think you know, they could just be there's some 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:25.480 messages out there that this does based on the language 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:29.120 of the bill, but I already reviewed how it doesn't. 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:31.880 You know, it just it would only protect them in 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:36.160 these these pastors and these groups who related to the 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.360 solidnization of a marriage, that that is not protect your 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:44.200 religious liberty. And you know it includes perfunctory language about 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:47.960 this bill will not impact religious liberty. Well, as you noted, Um, 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.720 that statement requires trust and no one should have it 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:55.440 that that. You know, the people who oppose religious liberty 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:59.120 in the area of marriage will honor a statement like that. 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:01.400 They will not. And the courts in the full way 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:05.040 to the government we brought down on people's heads. You disagree. 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.800 So you know, Senator, the twelve who voted for this, 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:15.840 Senator Blunt, Burr, Capital Collins, Ernst Lumas, Rokowski, Portman, Romney, Sullivan, 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:19.679 Tillison among those twelve Republican senators need to understand that 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:23.360 this is not protect religious liberty. Well, and to your point, 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:26.000 it broadens out, you know, who could get you know, 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.120 suit or faith persecution for their beliefs. And the rabbi 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.640 had mentioned earlier, Rabbi Mecan. He also went on to say, 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:35.400 any private actor to initiate a lawsuit or this legislation 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.800 allows any private actor to initiate a lawsuit if religious 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:44.559 school wishes to recognize only traditional marriages. The National Catholic Register, Uh, 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:47.640 you know, talked about an analysis that was done on 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:50.680 what this said and and said that you know, it 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.400 could affect, as your pointing out earlier, even more broadly, 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:58.960 employment decisions, employees, spousal benefits, eligibility for grants or contracts, accreditation, 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.480 taxi rexemptions, you know, goes on faith based foster care 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:07.439 and adoption agencies, housing providers. Uh, you know, goes on 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:09.600 and on and on about the amount of people that 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.160 could be impacted by this, uh, you know, simply because 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:17.199 you know, they believe what the Bible says. Yeah, that's true. 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.280 I mean basically, if you look at the last you 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.240 know what seven years now since the burgen felt even 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:27.240 ten years lest you know, decade of struggle in the society, 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:32.400 society over people's freedom to exercise their beliefs about marriage. 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:37.160 You look at that landscape, and anything that we've seen 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:41.600 in that landscape likely is fair game under this bill 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.840 because again, the bill only protects the soleimnization of marriages 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:50.240 related to certain organizations who are engaged in the practice 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:54.160 the further insert of religion. So it's very narrow. Everything 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.760 you just outlined, everything I've discussed already here I would 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:02.160 not be protected. And uh, this is a serious problem 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:06.440 because this is where the freedom, the disagreement, and the 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:09.440 struggle over freedom has played out over this issue. It's 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.600 not been over the performance of marriage. No one. No 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:15.720 one's showing up in a church and saying I want 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:18.000 you to marry me. And if if if they did 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.800 that to a pass or disagreed, that case would likely 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:23.240 find its way into court and the path through be 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:27.040 protected under the First Amendment. That's not something we've seen. 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:31.520 We've seen everything else, which is, um, we want this 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:34.720 religious school to to house us in their dorms just 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:38.520 like anyone else, provide the same treatment, just like in 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:42.360 contravention of the beliefs of the one they're asking to 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.760 provide that treatment. That's that's the religious freedom issue that 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.560 Jack Phillips a small business cases. You mentioned adoption, that's 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:52.880 a big one. UM. The treatment, accreditation, taxigent status of 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:57.160 religious organizations and others with and their interaction with the 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:01.720 federal government, contracts, grants, um. In addition to just the 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:06.000 ability of you know, those exercising faith to live it 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:10.000 out in their business or local community or society in 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.160 other ways. I mean this, this is a serious issue, 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:16.120 and and the beliefs of those who dissent are going 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.120 to be just pushed to a side more and more. 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:21.160 They're not gonna be treated as legitimate. This is going 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:25.440 to be the basis of actors in society to justify 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.840 originalizing it. So we're Congress past this bill. We don't 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.440 have to give that person a voice or platform, and 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.680 we can claim we're having a fair debate over the issue. 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:35.400 We don't need to hear from that because they're beyond 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:39.320 the balance of polite society, because they're defending marriage between 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:40.800 a man and a woman. That's kind of what we're 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:42.280 going to be looking at here, and that's why this 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:44.840 is so dangerous. And if there wants to be this 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:49.760 broad our conversation about inclusion, then why are people of 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:53.320 faith being excluded? There's no there's no good reason. There's 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.440 no good reason for senators to not consider Sendor Leads 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:01.560 amendment as protective of religious liberty. The fact that Schumer 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.560 sunder Schumer and all you know, his allies who want 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:07.960 to see this bill past, the fact that they don't 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:11.120 want to consider Senator Lee's amendment to it, tells you 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.520 what you need to know about their respect religious liberty 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.040 and about where this is all going. Because if they're 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:20.640 not even consider his amendment, that tells you they don't 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:25.400 believe the protections and his amendment deserved consideration, and those 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:30.360 protections are common sense protections. That his amendment simply says 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:36.080 that the people shall not be UM UH treated on 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:40.080 the basis of UH, shall not be subject to discriminatory 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.920 action because of their religious belief for moral conviction that 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:47.040 marriage is the union of a man and a woman UH. 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:49.920 And it says it goes on to protect the context 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:57.120 attacks treatment UM funding for grants, contracts and contracts, loans 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:01.600 and other agreements with the federal government and federal benefits 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:06.320 and use of federal property and accreditation and and so. 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:10.960 If that's not even so, if people pushing this bill 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:12.800 are saying we want to protect religious liberty. They're not 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:14.800 even able to consider that. They don't want to protect 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.240 relgious liberty. And that needs to be understood by the 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.760 two Republicans who voted voted for this, and everyone looking 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.680 at this debate. Well, and that's what Senator Lindsey Graham said, 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:27.879 who voted no undability. I believe he tweeted this that 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.480 the sponsors refusal to adopt Senator Lee's amendment, which clearly 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.880 protects religious institutions, says all I need to know about 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:38.439 the potential risks of this bill, Josh Holly, is that 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.920 this bill could lead to coercion Senator Mike Lee, who 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.639 introduced the amendment that we're talking about, so that this 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.520 is a shell game that ends in the destruction of 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:51.639 religious liberty in America. You know, I believe was it 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.720 the le amendment was already was it already voted down? No, 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.159 it's not being considered, you know. And so far the 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:02.000 Democrats have not have not have have refused to consider 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:05.480 Senator Leaves amendment. Um, you know, if you refuse to 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:08.800 engage that in discussion that I'm aware of, um, you know. 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:12.520 And so a senators should vote against cloture unless sender 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:15.439 leaves amendment is adopted at the bill, a Senator LEAs 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:19.600 amendment is not attached this bill. Those senators, even the 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:21.679 ones who voted so far for this bill, should refuse 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.040 to vote for Culture. We're going to see two more 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:27.680 votes next week and the five thirty on they thirty PM, 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.600 there's a vote schedule that requires sixty centator, so they 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:35.840 need they need ten of those twelve to um uh 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:39.160 to vote for for the that on that on that 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:42.520 procedural vote. On the twenty two days after that, there's 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:46.320 going to be another sixty vote threshold vote I think, 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:48.760 to proceed to quote final, the final culture vote, and 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:51.760 then they'll be final passage requiring fifty votes. So so 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:54.880 they but senator leaves amendment's not even been in the mix. 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.439 And so you know, our our our position is that 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:00.880 you know, senator should not vote for Culture on this 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.040 unless Senator leads amend it is actually adopted at the bail. 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:07.760 If it's not, the discussion over the over good faith 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:09.720 and religious freedom is over. They don't want to protect 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:13.400 religious freedom. That's the end of the story. Um So, yeah, 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:15.720 they have refused to consider it so far. Though. Let's 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:18.560 take a quick commercial break. More on their respect for 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:27.600 Marriage Act. On the other side, how fundamental is religious 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:31.679 freedom to a free society really just liberty to a 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:36.160 free society. I mean it's yeah, it's it's totally essential, 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.719 you know, and I think there's a you know, it's 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.480 an interesting to reflect on this over Thanksgiving as well, 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:46.119 right because the faunidly of our country was related to 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:51.080 to the people fleeing, you know, across an ocean to 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:54.040 have the freedom to live out their faith. And so 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.399 it might not be equal points to everyone that everyone 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:02.600 should recognize the value that it contributes to a society 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:06.359 and the necessity of allowing the space for those who 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:08.040 want to live out their faith. No one should not 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:10.879 be forced to violate their conscience in a free society, 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:12.960 and that's what we're dealing with here in this in 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:15.600 this context, but we need to provide the space for 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:18.159 people of up their faith. Not only is it the 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:20.679 right thing to do as a as a matter of 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:25.320 American um a principle you know of our American constitutional 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:28.760 or public going back to our founding um. You know, 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:31.600 not only is it right on that score, you know, 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:34.199 when we look at for people who can't relate to this, 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.960 maybe as much personally. Look at freedoms that they enjoy, 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:39.320 freedom of the press or freedom of speech, free speech. 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:43.560 These are things that have defined America since its founding. 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:46.720 So they're foundational and that in that score because they 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:51.400 produce the full even flourishing, allow people to research full potential. 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:54.159 But they also add value. Right, there's millions and millions 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:56.720 of dollars of value added to our society by the 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:01.960 contributions of religious foster adoption provide ters for example, um, 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:05.400 those caring for for for the poor and needy, those 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:10.480 providing housing housing for the poor and needy, educational institutions, 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:12.760 and those contributing to the education of our society. These 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:17.199 are these are massive inputs from religious community. So if 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:19.560 you don't allow the freedom of the religious committees to 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:21.800 do to live those areas out as they got to 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:24.280 their faith, and force them to violate their conscience in them, 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:26.680 there's compably gonna drop out, They're gonna cease and doing 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:30.560 then they're gonna withdraw. That not only stamp stomps on 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:33.240 the freedom of people that America should be ashamed to 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:36.679 be stomping on, but but it actually it causes a 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:40.879 degradation of our society's well being. Uh, you know, we're 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:44.600 taking the institutions society, tearing them apart. A big part 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:49.040 of those are religious institutions. What is this administration, the 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:53.240 Biden administration's record on religious liberty. Yeah, I mean it's 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:56.439 it's it's not good. You know. The Biden administration has 0:21:56.480 --> 0:22:02.040 made a point to undo virtually all of the previous 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:06.919 administration's accomplishments on religious liberty, which include the protection of 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:11.560 conscience for um, those in the healthcare community with regard 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:15.200 to their they're they're forcing them to participate in abortions 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:19.840 or other medical procedures against their conscience. Um. The administration 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:25.240 is undone. The other federal actions and tax are executive 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:30.040 orders that that that President Trump had put into place. Um. 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:33.600 The administration, you know, it does not supporting for instance, 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:36.159 in this context they want to sign this bill into law, 0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:39.360 they don't. They don't want religious freedom protections in it. Um. 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:44.320 They they've failed to prioritize the issue internationally. As Secretary State, 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:47.320 like Pompeo, Investador at Large, Sam brown Back, you've done 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:50.160 in the State Department under under the previous administration, We've 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:53.240 made a point to send the signal and that we 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:55.680 will protect those around the world according to their faith 0:22:56.359 --> 0:22:58.320 and um and actually do it. You know, we we 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:03.480 pressured Turkey when they detained Pastor Andrew Brunson, put economic 0:23:03.560 --> 0:23:06.959 sanctions on them, forcing his return, them to release him 0:23:07.000 --> 0:23:10.000 to come back to the United States. That matters, you know. 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.840 Now this administration is instead is dropping it's its promotion 0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:19.040 of religious freedom worldwide, instead going around and pressuring governments 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:23.480 to modify their cultural stance on crazy gender ideology issues. 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:26.480 I mean, this is the priority of the Biden administration Internationally. 0:23:26.520 --> 0:23:30.399 It's casting a shameful shadow over the US. You know, 0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:33.199 I've talked to people internationally and they think, they're like, 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:35.359 this is you know, this is this is shameful what 0:23:35.480 --> 0:23:37.600 we We're looking to the US for help and we're 0:23:37.600 --> 0:23:40.800 feeling pressured by the US on our on our social 0:23:40.920 --> 0:23:43.080 views and our countries. And they think everyone in the 0:23:43.119 --> 0:23:45.880 US believes these things. And I'm I'm telling them though, 0:23:46.080 --> 0:23:48.040 you have a big segment of the US population that 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:52.280 is not agree with Biden's heavy hand pushing these issues 0:23:52.320 --> 0:23:56.199 around the world. And so yeah, overall, the the the 0:23:56.400 --> 0:24:00.360 rectord has been pretty bad and it needs to be better. 0:24:00.400 --> 0:24:03.840 I mean, we've you still got u the issue China's 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:10.040 treatment of weakers in its concentration camp system, and treatment 0:24:10.080 --> 0:24:14.360 of Christians across the Middle East, treatment of the believers 0:24:14.359 --> 0:24:18.439 in Iran, and we need to be highlighting these situations 0:24:18.480 --> 0:24:22.760