Jenna Ellis: Rights that our founders recognize come from God, not government
: Jenna Ellis in the morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: I love talking about the things of God. Because of truth and the biblical worldview, the U.S. constitution obligates our government to preserve and protect. The rights that our founders recognize come from God, our creator, not our government. I believe that scripture in the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you, and God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time.
: This is Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Senate Bill 1296 ensures teachers unions actually represent their members
Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Friday, March 13, and we're going to start with some good news this morning. Thanks to leadership in Florida, they have now passed the, Senate Bill 1296. This bill ensures that school unions actually represent their members and will expedite salary increases to teachers. And so this is a big blow to the teachers unions and Rhyen Walters, who's the former, Oklahoma State Superintendent and now the CEO of Teacher Freedom alliance, posted on X Big win for Florida teachers. SB 1296 has passed through the Florida legislature. The days of the union bosses and their corrupt allies are ending. Teachers are getting what they've been asking for. Freedom. The message is clear. Educators want common sense and less politics in the classroom. Momentum is building and this needs to be replicated in all states. So Rhyen Walters joins me now and I'm so proud of Florida's leadership. This is exactly why the, Free State of Florida has continued to lead. And so, tell us more about how, this bill impacts, students and teachers overall and how we might be able to replicate it in all of the states.
Ryan Walters: Jenna, I couldn't say enough about, the work being done in Florida, the state superintendent down there, anastasi, Governor, DeSantis, the state legislature. you know, this is a huge win for teachers, that are trying to do a good job, that are tired of union politics and actually just want to be represented, fairly. And so what you see here is again, when the legislature allocates funds to teacher salary, teacher pay, instead of a union that doesn't represent, most of the teachers in the building, determining what the salaries look like and, and the contracts, it says, look, if you're going to represent the teachers, you actually have to have 50% of the teachers show up for a vote and say they want the union to represent them. So I mean, again, it's very common sense, but what you see with this is ensuring, that the unions actually don't get to bully and control districts, teacher pay, unless that actually has members that want them to. And so you've Seen, the legislature has been smeared with all kind of lies from the teachers unions. They have just been attacked. And what it really boils down to is you've got a situation where the teachers unions want to keep the power and control over the dollars going through the schools rather than actually advocate on behalf of good, high quality teachers and actually advocate on behalf of what's best for students. And so this is a huge power shift to say no, teachers unions, we're not just going to allow you a monopoly over controlling our school systems anymore. We're going to actually make you responsive to the people that you claim you represent. and again you would think if they actually represented all the teachers that that wouldn't be a problem. But the reality is they don't. They represent a small portion and then they bully a larger portion is how, it's how they kind of work.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, I mean this sounds like Washington. Right? They don't actually represent their constituents even though they pretend to. And so this legislation is holding them more accountable. And teachers unions don't want accountability. speaking Rhyen Walters of the, the lies and the framing, you know, from the left. Florida Education association put out a letter, and this was their X caption. Florida lawmakers decided with out of state billionaire backed special interests instead of workers. By passing SB 1296. They've sent a clear message to Florida workers. They'll make it harder for you to support yourself and your family. You quote, posted that and said someone's mad their ICE protests will get less taxpayer funding now. Which I thought was a great response because we've seen how teachers unions, go after their own political activist priorities and all kinds of other things that are politically motivated instead of actually serving their base.
Ryan Walters: Yeah, I m mean look, first of all, you know, and I thought that the tech, the Florida legislators did a great job of explaining you're actually expediting teacher salaries this way. It actually moves a lot faster and doesn't allow the unions to slow down all of that. So you know, that's the point here that I think is interesting that the unions are actually bogging down pay raises, getting the teachers. But yeah, I mean, you see what really bothers them is this has been a money laundering scheme for the Democrat Party. They take taxpayer dollars, it's supposed to go to teacher pay, they siphon it off from their membership and they use it to organize ICE protests around the country. They do it organize drag shows across the country, they do all this political nonsense with it. And I mean what happened in Florida just took a m major dent in their ability to do those things. Again, when you look at what is going on with radical left wing groups like the teachers unions is that they are able to get such an enormous amount of resources that they're able to then use strategically politically across the country. The ICE protests, that was not an organic movement from, students. We were getting, Jenna, weeks ago, flyers sent to us, emails forwarded to us from our good common sense teachers in the Teacher Freedom alliance saying the unions are organizing some kind of ICE protest. So we had all these flyers, these emails and sure enough, what do you know, there's a national protest that just happened to coordinate, across schools across the country. I mean, Jenny, you can't tell me that, you know, our first graders had been working for weeks to organize a protest against ice. That's not what happened. It was your teachers unions organizing across state lines across the country.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, and this raises a broader question about union representation overall because a lot of, not just teachers, but even workers feel locked into union representation they never wanted or voted for. And so, you know, with SB 1296 giving teachers more freedom, does it give them more than just a voice in terms of, being able to potentially even opt out or, you know, not having these unions sort of have ironclad control over teachers?
Ryan Walters: Yes, absolutely. You know, one of the things that they do in this bill is, you know, they don't have these required, they call it the release times where they sit here and they literally during the school day. So while you're working, you know, they're allowing union members to utilize these times during the day to push on other teachers to join, to continue to grow their membership. And again, you know, hey, if, if there's things that happen outside the school day and outside school property and you guys want to, you know, join an organization, look, those things are, you know, those are things that can happen. But what they're trying to do is say, listen, stop using taxpayer resources, stop using the time that we're supposed to be teaching the kids in the classroom, quit leveraging taxpayer resources to grow your membership and apply pressure to teachers. And again, you know, Florida's done a great job of ensuring teachers can opt out of the union. They don't have to be locked into this union every year and then have to navigate all the web of how you escape. You know, we've had teachers that have been the unions for multiple years trying to get out, but every time they fill out an opt out form or request a meeting to get out. For some reason, it doesn't happen. So Florida's done a great job of saying, listen, you know, you're not forced into a union, number one. Number two, hey, you gotta let them out when they say that they want out. So, again, you see, the free state of Florida, it lives up to its name in so many ways, doesn't it, Jenna? And one of them is they're ensuring that, look, if you want to teach, you do not have to join the teachers union. You absolutely do not. They have spoken loudly and clearly that not only do they believe in freedom for all their citizens, not only do they believe in that as an essential right, they're also, backing that up when it comes to teachers in the classroom. Hey, if you. If you teach here, you don't have to join the union. You absolutely can exercise your freedoms here. I, think it's tremendous.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. I mean, this is basic freedom of association. And, you know, for those who are part of the union, I mean it. Again, it's the same thing as political parties in Washington.
If a union truly represents teachers, why do you think it would be difficult
I would love to ask the people who object this so strongly, if a union truly represents teachers, why do you think it would be so difficult then to demonstrate majority support? I mean, just like legislation in Washington, it's like, if you. Why are you so scared of your constituents? If you're actually doing what you claim, which is representing them, then why are you so scared to actually follow through and demonstrate that support?
Ryan Walters: Jenna, I think you are exactly right. And I frankly think this is one of those, one of those truths they really don't want out. Here's the reality. The union actually represents a very small amount of teachers. What they do is they lie to their members. They tell them things like, you have to join to keep your job, to keep your benefits. This is one we hear all the time. You could lose your health insurance, your retirement if you're not in the union. No, you don't. That's not the way that that works. That's not what the Janus decision said. It didn't say you get to keep working outside the union, but you lose all the benefits that come from your job. That's not the way that works. And then we hear all kinds of, myths around, you know, you can't get liability insurance or you can't get coverage if you're outside the union. That's not true. You know, that's part of what my organization has stepped up, the Teacher Freedom alliance, to say, look, we can offer all of these Things for you, we can offer these types of support. You don't have to be in your union. But what they do is they use those lies, they use those myths, they get people to join and then the people join it. And then, yeah, when they start seeing what the union is doing, they say, well I don't like that and I don't like this and I don't like that, but I really don't have much of a choice, do I? And if I leave the amount of bullying and pressure I'm going to get, it's just something I don't want to have to deal with. And so when you really start breaking it down, you have some of the most radical left wing activists in the country that are running an organization of people that a large amount of them are being held against their will in an organization that doesn't align with their beliefs and with what they would want to see for an organization of their colleagues. So it really does not represent the large swath of teachers that they want you to believe that they do.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, of course it doesn't and it never does. I mean this is how these types of unions and these types of groups really hold their constituents captive and they perpetuate these lies. And so, you know, with this not just being a problem in Florida, but you know, as we've discussed, Rhyen Walters, a problem nationally, what would be the best path forward, in your view to to get this in all of the rest of the states, not just Florida.
Ryan Walters: Yeah. Now look, every state needs to pass legislation like this that ah, number that number one says, listen, you actually have to have 50% of the teachers here to negotiate collective bargaining for a district. And number two, you actually have to have more than 50% of the teachers, you know, sign into the union to actually have this union be certified, in a district. And this release time part of it is so crucial as well. Stop allowing teachers unions to use taxpayer resources to grow their political endeavors. So that means, no, we don't grant you special privileges during the day to go grow union membership. No, we don't allow you to use taxpayer resources to automatically enroll members into the union yearly. No, that should absolutely not be and deduct from a teacher's paycheck. Those are things that should not be going on with taxpayer resources. So first of all, protect taxpayer resources. Second of all, understand that the union is absolutely a left wing political machine. So why, you know, why in the world would we continue to allow them those type of benefits? If every state did that, the union membership would drop dramatically across the country. And again, they would actually have to go out there and explain what they're doing and do like most organizations do and say, hey, if you want to join, you know, here you go, here's a form to sign up. If you put them in that space, they're going to have a very, very hard time actually justifying their existence and they're going to actually have to explain themselves of why they do the things they do as they go try to get people to join their organization. So if every state would do that, you would see, and frankly you would see a lot of money come out of these elections this November because they wouldn't have all of these resources to then funnel into the Democrat Party. So I think it's huge. Florida's leading the way on it. Every state should pass these common sense measures. Amen.
Jenna Ellis: Well, it's basic accountability. And Rhyen, Walters, really appreciate your time this morning and this is a huge win for Florida and for everyone listening in other states. Go to your legislators, show them Florida's bill and tell them that SB 1296 needs to be replicated in your state and you know, put them in touch with, with Rhyen. So he is now the CEO at the Teacher Freedom alliance and we want more freedom for teachers. And this does filter into so many other aspects like he was mentioning, the funding then, you know, for elections. I mean all of these things, it's all about accountability instead of just this total domination without any actual constituent representation. So again, Rhyen Walters, thanks so much and ah, we'll be right back with more here on Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Jenna Ellis talks to Pastor Jack Hibbs about Islam and Christianity
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. And you know, we've been talking a lot this week about everything going on with the conflict in Iran, the Islamification of Western civilization, preserving and protecting the foundation of our Judeo Christian heritage and of course the end times. so all of these things that are kind of put together and rapidly unfolding. And I think for a lot of Christians, this can be very scary. It can also be very overwhelming. And so we want to take a moment to to kind of talk about all of this from a biblical worldview perspective and how Christians need to approach not just the headlines of the day but how this impacts our daily life. Because that's really the question and the central question of the truth of the gospel of Christ, which is once you repent and acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ is God. He is our Lord and Savior, and he, is the truth, the personification of truth. And, he is the beginning and the end of all things, the Alpha and the Omega. The question then becomes, how now shall we live? And here to ask and answer that question is my very dear friend, Pastor Jack Hibbs, pastor of Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, who has been, ah, preaching on this in his church and on media, for the last about 12 days that this conflict has gone on and for years prior to that. Because this is just one next, instance of, how we approach looking at the world through a biblical lens. So, Pastor Jack, thank you for joining me. And, you know, let's set up that question of, you know, how now shall we live? you know, Chuck Colson's kind of famous, ask and answer.
Jack Hibbs: Yeah. In fact, the beautiful thing about what you're asking is Chuck Colson got that from the great Francis Schaeffer. So Francis Schaefer declared that, said that of course, he's, Francis Schaefer got it from Peter right out of first and Second Peter. So the beautiful thing about that is the baton. Imagine this, a baton being passed from one generation to the next. So here we are today. And Jenna, this is actually the events that are taking place right now. From the situation with Tehran, preceding that, the issue with Israel and Hamas. you mentioned the invasion of Islam into the American, continent and culture and Christianity. What do we know in the passing of the baton? History is that baton that we pass. And tragically, Jenna, just like you went through law school, you studied, you paid attention because eventually an exam was coming. There would be a day that a test would come. And now the church is entering into a time of testing. And the church, by and large, is failing because the church has failed to know its history and to know world history and to know what Islam really is. So if you study Islam, you will know that is 100% incompatible with Judeo Christian worldview. In fact, it's the exact opposite of the Judeo Christian worldview. So there are people today saying, well, why can't we just have a kumbaya get along moment? The Christians are willing to do that. The sad thing is history tells us that Islam is an expansion, expansionary, type of. Listen, this is important theocratic, geopolitical belief system. Islam is not just a religion. And, Jenna, the West fails to realize that. It is a political system. It is a jurisprudence system. A faction of. It is religious. And so it is important that we understand this. Look at world history and ask yourself this. The Christian needs to ask themselves, what were the Muslims doing invading France or Austria or Poland or Europe? Because Islam must advance. And the golden ticket, so to speak, of Islamic dominance is the Great Satan, otherwise known as America. And the church is not paying attention. The church is too busy tweeting or, or doing something. But our failure to know the times and the seasons in this area is, is really going to cost the church.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And you know, this seems to be a, a failing of the modern church. More so especially than the early church that was very aware of the times and were preparing for what they, Perce. Imminent return of Christ. I mean, there were some that thought he would return even in their original lifetime. and, and so it seems like the further we get out from, the ascension of Christ and, and Pentecost and the, the, the church age, we get further and further away from that almost, immediacy of, of a patient expectation, which is the definition of hope. Right. A patient expectation of the eminent return of Christ. And that's really the solution to all of this is to know that no matter how bad it gets this, these steps that are taken in geopolitical world history and what we've seen even over the last 2,000 years, since, since Christ's physical coming, has been just a steady progression on the timeline of God's story as it's unfolding according to his sovereign will. And there's actually great comfort in that.
Jack Hibbs: Well, there's great comfort. And here's the discipline of the true believer is to be exactly what you just said. We are to be expecting the Lord to return at any time. You mentioned it beautifully, Jenna. The doctrine of imminency. we learned this from Paul, the apostle, and what is known theologically as the we. The we, the we statements of Paul. We who are alive and remain shall be caught up. Every generation of believers is to live with that expectancy. But here comes the discipline part. We are also supposed to occupy till the Lord comes. We are to be busy about our Father's business. We don't put on white robes and sit on top of our roof. We get involved in elections, we run for school board. We. We feed our family. We have jobs. All that said, that also applies to the defense of this republic. God has given us this nation unlike any other nation on the face of the earth. No other country can boast the Judeo Christian founding. And I know Barack Obama disagrees with that, but it's because he's never read the Mayflower Compact. The Mayflower Compact makes it very clear it's one of our nation's birth certificates, that this was a Judeo Christian founding of this nation that said we are under invasion. And I'm sitting here right now, here in California, and we are under the threat of, drones that have possibly been brought into the area by ship. FBI is warning. Governor Newsom put out a notice yesterday. And we're also being told that there could be, drones or shoulder rocket launchers, south of the, San Diego border. Why is this happening? Because Tehran, the Iranian regime, is seeking to attack California. it's strange to me, but that's what we're hearing. Why is that even in the news? Because we're up against two diametrically opposed ideologies. One is the dominance of the world to establish a global caliphate and the subjugation of all non Muslims, which is the very meaning of the word. Islam is Arabic for submission. And the other one is the Judeo Christian message, which is the gospel. And some people will ask Jenna, well, can't, can't they be compatible?
Christian should stand firm on Judeo Christian founding and biblical values, says Mish
ask a Muslim, if, if Christianity is compatible or Islam is compatible with Christianity. The, the Quran makes it crystal clear that it is not. And so a lot of Christians today just want to live their life as though nothing is going to happen. But they, but there's somebody that's very much opposed to them just living their life normally. And so America right now is being, invaded. And that's not a harsh word. Zoran, Mandani was sworn in as mayor in NewSong York on a Quran that was important to him. He had to do it that way. Christians should stop and realize and ask the question, why is this happening? I had, I had some people tell me from NewSong York, Pastor Jack, after Zoan Mandani was elected, it appears that we lost September 11, 2001, because the very ideology that, attacked us is now in control. And that is a true statement, but Christians don't want to hear it.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, it's so true. I mean, Christians in the modern American, era, at least, where we have honestly faced very little persecution here, comparatively to the rest of the world. And, you know, yes. Have we gone through some hard times and particularly, you know, the COVID era where they were threatening to shut down churches and actually jail pastors. I mean, you were part of that, especially in California. but, you know, so there have been a few moments, but at least in our lifetimes and in this Modern American political era. it's almost like we have seen pluralism and multiculturalism as a self protection instead of understanding that standing firm on our Judeo Christian founding and the biblical values is actually the best protection overall. not only for our legitimacy and civil government, but our spiritual protection here in America and our eternity. I mean, and it seems like, there are so many Christians that say, well, you know, I don't, I don't really want to have, things like, you know, for example, adultery or homosexuality, you know, criminalized because you know, what, what might then society criminalize that I do that they don't like, you know. And so rather than saying no, the eternal standard of truth doesn't change and we need to be focused on maintaining that standard, not just saying, well, live and let live means that I will be left alone. Because we've seen throughout the course of world history that never goes well for the Christian.
Jack Hibbs: Yeah, that's, that's so well said. You know, again, the, the Western church is so ignorant of the reality. You mentioned homosexuality and adultery. So in America, the Christian, when the Christian finds out that somebody is a homosexual or has committed adultery, the Christian prays for them. The Christian will witness to them. The Christian will try to win them to Christ that they might consider their sins being forgiven and come to eternal life. At the exact same time, the Christian is doing that in America, in Saudi Arabia, in Iran, in Oman, in Muslim countries, homosexuals are tied to a chair and thrown off of a roof or they were hung or they are beheaded, adulterers are stoned to death. In Afghanistan and other countries, that is the decree of Islam. So if people are saying, well, you know what, yeah, you know, we can be multicultural, you can say that all you want, but those who are coming refuse to assimilate into the culture. And what's interesting is the Bible is, is full of situations, Daniel included, where they were carted off into foreign lands and they did everything they could to keep their faith intact as Jews. Right. Think about Daniel in Babylon, or in Persia eventually. I mean, my goodness, that guy lived through, various world leaders and empires. The point was he kept his faith, but many times he had to keep it private at times. And ah, other times not so much. But they were ordered to assimilate. So much so that they had to take on four names. Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah. Very few people realize that that's their Hebrew names of the Babylonian names of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego. When People come to America, or if you go to Saudi Arabia or Germany as an example, you are expected and required to assimilate. But in America, we think that we can have multiculturalism and continue to be a Judeo Christian culture with a functioning, constitutional republic that is based upon the writings of John Locke and the founding fathers, that we will be, Christian in thought. Indeed. And it's impossible. You cannot mix oil in water. Now, I'm not saying that we make this nation a Christian nation. Our founding fathers, who were predominantly Christian, made this a secular nation based upon faith values, meaning that an atheist has just as much rights as a Christian does. In America, that's a miracle. That is amazing because they understood the value of human worth. And also that you cannot make somebody a Christian. Islam believes that all you have to do is be conquered or be made to say that you are Muslim, denounce Christ, say that you're a Muslim, and that's good. With them, it's two systems that will never coexist. And we are now at the point of collision. And soon, my goodness, soon, if these threats against California turn out to be true. Sleeper cells, Islamic cells here in California, FBI is warning us today that they could act up at any moment to be on alert. What will the narrative be after that? You know, that we somehow caused this? No, this is the fact that Islam must triumph. This is, part of what I call the death cult of Islam. This is what their agenda is.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And it's so true that if we bow to the secular culture and, and agree an ascent to multi multiculturalism and pluralism, then we are essentially signing over our society, to a post Christian, non Christian, false, non truth way of life. And then we wonder why things, why we're having these conversations about abortion and about homosexuality and about, you know, gender mutilation of minors and, you know, all of these things that if we as a society unanimously agreed on some very basic guardrails and parameters for our society, then we wouldn't even be having these conversations. And so where do you think the church needs to be in America right now? Pastor Jack, in framing this for the. The average Christian that, you know, is kind of in this mindset of, well, you know, I want to live and let live. And, you know, they've borrowed these refrains from the culture to get us thinking again more biblically to, you know, not maybe be as bombastic as some of these who are just saying, well, deport everyone who disagrees with me. You know, well, okay, there's, there's kind of a happy medium here. But where. Where do we begin to say, no, let's stand up for the truth. Let's be a Christian nation again. And how does. How does the church help? the Christian practically argue for that.
Jack Hibbs: Well, Jenna, you know my answer before I even say it. I've been saying it with you for years. the church is going to go the direct that the pastor is going in, period. It's the way that God has established the. Each local church. That's why Colossians tells us. The book of Colossians tells us that Christ is the head of the church. But if the pastor is not laboring to see to it that Christ is the head of the church, then that's a headless church, if you think about it. And a pastor is going to misdirect the people, maybe with the best of intentions, he's not going to give them the truth because it might. It may cause, it may cause division or it may cause people to be ruffled. The truth is this, that we must stick to the Bible, get back to the Bible. We must, as Christians who name the name of Jesus, decide. Now, I'm going to obey the Bible, period. Not social media, not podcasters, not pastors even. I'm going to obey the Bible. And we are to be united in that.
If the church doesn't revive, then I don't see hope for America
You know, it's amazing, Jenna, getting, I mean, I was doing my morning devotion before, the call tonight, today, and I just happened to read through first, second and third John. And boy, I tell you, you know, that's. Those are the love. The love epistles. But, man, I got to tell you, there's a lot of strong words in there about if you cannot say that Jesus Christ is Lord, you are of the spirit of Antichrist. Think of that. When was the last time that was preached in the church? And these truths are the truths of God that must not be altered. And the pulpit today must get back to those eternal truths and preach them and teach them to the flock without apology. Jenna, if that doesn't happen, then, I think you'll see, America and the church continue to slide. If the church awakens and is revived, then there's hope for America. But if the church doesn't revive, then I don't see hope for the United States as we've known it. It will somehow be, somehow amalgamated, blended some homogenous mix into the nations of the world and no longer become exceptional as God made us.
Jenna Ellis: Am. Amen to that. And, you know, I. I was reading yesterday, in Galatians and similarly, you know, I was struck by, Galatians 1:6 through 8 in this context and how timely it is. especially when we look at some of these politicians like James Talarico from Texas, for example, or even, you know, some of these, these professed Christians who don't want to preach the full counsel of God or they make Jesus into a simp or you know, kind of the w. Jesus, the love, everybody, Kumbaya come together. And you know, it says, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you, let them be under God's curse. I mean, even the spiritual heavenly beings, if they say something that is separate and apart from the truth of the word of God. I mean, this is Paul's admonishment. When's the last time we heard that in church? So, amen. That's right, Pastor Jack.
Jack Hibbs: That's exactly right. In fact, that's incredible. and timely because Paul warned, if an angel or we ourselves or anyone preach a different gospel. Isn't it interesting that, for example, on the topic of Islam, isn't it interesting that Muhammad claims that an angel came from heaven and gave him another gospel? Isn't that interesting? the book of Galatians preempted, the Islam, you know, people had this, the scriptures before Islam ever came along. That said, it is a remarkable thing to realize that, Scripture cannot be, edited in some way. Cannot be. I'll take this chapter, but not the other chapter. The Bible warns about this. Paul, when he spoke to the Ephesian elders, he was, they were weeping. And Paul told them, you know, after my departure, savage wolves are going to come in and destroy the flocks, the churches of God because they're going to teach false doctrine. And he said, I just want all of you to know I am, I. My hands are clean. I have been faithful to preach to you the full counsel of God. And we need to go to churches that teach the Bible chapter by chapter, verse by verse, book by book, so that people are to have a right understanding of God. But if we just pick and choose what we're going to teach, then you're come, you're going to have the gospel according to, according to what this, Texas, candidate just said, where, it's. It's all these Kumbaya verses. You, you love me, I love you. Let's not, you know, do this or that. Never judgment, never sin, never repent. And that is dangerous because we can pat people on the back. It makes us feel better, pat them on the back, think that they believe in God. The end comes, and we patted them on the back right into hell. Because we never wanted to get to the point of telling them, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. That is the actual gospel. But people leave the word repent out because it might cause someone to feel bad. And, that is not the gospel at all.
Jenna Ellis: No. And we have to keep the main thing. The main thing which is seeking first the kingdom of God, his righteousness, and, and preaching the true gospel. Thank you so much, Pastor Jack. We'll be right back with more.
American Family Radio's Impact series focuses on how pornography affects children
: welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. And you may have heard about the Impact series available on AFA stream or, on DVD by donation only. And so this is a way that we can impact, our broader Christian audience, to say, you know, how should we live now? what I was just talking to Pastor Jack about, and, you know, a content warning, though, for listeners before we begin, to discuss this particular episode, episode five of our Impact series, we want to let our listeners know that today's discussion touches on sensitive topics involving children and sexual exploitation. While, of course, we are always careful and respectful, some listeners may find the conversation difficult. Parental discretion is advised if you're listening with little ones. So with that, I want to welcome in Heidi Olson, who's a pediatric sexual assault nurse examiner. And her, story is really the subject of the fifth episode of the American Family Studios Impact series. So, Heidi, thanks so much for joining and tell us about your story on this episode.
Heidi Olson: Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I have been a forensic nurse or a sexual assault nurse examiner for 11 years, and I never set out to talk about pornography. That was definitely not the goal. really, I just. I wanted to work with kids who had experienced sexual harm and be a safe place for them. But very quickly and early on in my career, I started to see the impact that pornography was having on kids who were being sexually assaulted, specifically that offenders, especially kids who were sexually assaulting other kids, were doing it because they were imitating what they were seeing in pornography. And no one was talking about it. And so I Think for me, it was just this burning question in my core of, like, why are we not addressing this? And the problem is skyrocketing. It's definitely not getting better. We're just seeing more and more results where more and more kids are acting out what they're seeing. And so that has really led me to a place where I feel like I need to say something. So that's kind of what we're focusing on in the Impact series is how is pornography impacting kids? And what do we do?
Jenna Ellis: Wow. And, you know, it's so sad that children that young are being exposed, to this kind of content. And, you know, as much as lawmakers are, are saying that they're focused on, you know, trying to make sure that, you know, this content is only available for a quote, unquote, mature audience. my view is it shouldn't be available, period. Because if that's on the market anywhere, then, you know, that, kids under the age of 18 and whatever mature audience means, that they'll get a hold of it anyway. I mean, it's the same thing as, you know, drugs, alcohol, anything else. if adults have it, then unfortunately and reliably it will be around kids. And, you know, this episode says that children as young as five are being exposed to hardcore online pornography, but often unintentionally. So, I mean, how does that happen for, for kids even that young?
Heidi Olson: Yeah. So I think it's important to understand the pornography industry is intentionally targeting kids. This is not an accident. They know that the younger they expose someone to pornography, the more likely they'll be a lifelong user. So we're thinking about it from a business standpoint. You want to expose them young so they go on to be addicted for their lifetime and end up paying for hardcore content because they're needing more and more of that dopamine hit and that chemical release. You know, the longer that they are consuming this product. And so it makes sense that they build this type of content into what kids are watching. Like, I've heard so many disclosures of kids being on, quote, unquote, kids, safe things where pornography pops up. whether it's YouTube Kids or just games kids are playing with advertisements are really sexually explicit to show them. Right. Pique their curiosity. What is this? I'm going to go back and look for it and see if you can get them hooked. And so there's lots of different facets and ways that they do this. and it is absolutely intentional.
Jenna Ellis: Wow. And that is just so sad. And you know, we often talk about children's sexual abuse in the content of adults, abusing children. But what your story has brought even more to light is that you've seen as a medical professional, a rise even in child on child sexual abuse sometimes can connected to this type of early exposure of violent and harmful online content.
Heidi Olson: Correct. So of course there are many adult sexual predators. I don't want to discount that. But the thing we almost never talk about in society are the amount of kids who have sexually abused other kids. So we started collecting data on this ah, at the hospital I was working at and anywhere from a third to half of the offenders on any given year were children themselves, specifically 11 to 15 year old males. So that's hundreds of kids who are sexually acting out and really violating ways towards other kids or same aged peers. And we were hearing so many disclosures where pornography is a piece of the puzzle of why a child is acting out. You know there, it makes sense, right? You're watching this content over and over and over for hours. We imitate what we see. And so if this is teaching a child what quote unquote sex is supposed to be like, then it stands to reason you're watching this all the time. This is what you end up doing with say a romantic partner or same HP or, or a child who you have access to.
Jenna Ellis: Wow. And you know, this is so disturbing. And obviously you know, the goal of ah, of this episode isn't just to raise awareness but also to equip listeners so that they can equip others in their community. What are the best ways, to encourage not only lawmakers but also just parents to be aware of, you know, how some of this happens and what they can do to help in prevention.
Heidi Olson: Yeah. what I love about this Impact series is that we leave people with a sense of hope. So as overwhelming and dark and heavy as this is, there is hope and there are things that we can do, absolutely to move the needle. And I think one of the things that we can do that is really simple but it is not easy is have conversations. And I think for a lot of parents that feels so scary or there's this disconnect or I don't want to do that, I don't want to talk about it. We have to. If your child has access to a device, they are going to see pornography. It is not if they see pornography, it's when they see pornography. And so if you're handing them your phone here and there to Entertain them. Then you need to be having conversations, about porn exposure and of course in an age appropriate way. And there's definite ways to do that. But it's frequently talking about this. So they know when I see this content I need to tell mom and dad we need to have a conversation about this. So there is that protection and that healing and externalizing it versus the kid who sees porn. They're too afraid to say something and then they just keep going back and watching and watching and watching it and next thing you know, they've been looking at for five years and nobody's had any idea and they're having, you know, anxiety and depression and all these other things. We want to stop it way before that starts.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. so well said and you know, so many AFR listeners are already vigilant parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles. but you know, this just re emphasizes how important it is to develop a very good relationship with your children and your grandchildren, or nieces and nephews, you know, before you need to have these hard conversations so that they will tell you the truth about these things, they'll ask these types of questions and you know, bring this up and it's not going to be, you know, something that's kept, hidden and all of that.
Jenna Ellis: Heidi Olson says protecting children requires parental involvement
And so the next steps, really for listeners, you know, obviously, go and listen to this fifth episode of the American Family Studios Impact series and then share that with your church, school counselors, nurses, local therapists, I mean school boards. There's you know, a lot of different, resources, lawmakers. And you can also connect with AFA action to get involved. And also Heidi, you know, if people are health professionals, how can they contact you for training in their area?
Heidi Olson: Yeah, absolutely. So you can go to my website, it's paradigm shifttc.com you can schedule an appointment with me. I would be more than happy to chat with you about any of these issues. Exploitation, trafficking, porn. It's all connected, and happy to help however I can.
Jenna Ellis: Okay. And that's, that's amazing because you know we see current laws and you know, some digital platforms that I think are just kind of trying to play catch up to what's already out there. And while a lot of this may be very well intentioned, it's not enough to just rely on the laws or you know, kind of this pop up saying are you over 18? You know, and then. Okay, go ahead. And so, you know, it really does take ah, parental involvement and making sure that we protect our own children and don't just rely on you know, the school teachers or you know, others in their lives. I mean this really comes down to parental responsibility. And so you know, in just the last 30 seconds or so we have here, you give your website again and then you know where people can find this episode?
Heidi Olson: Yeah, it's paradigm shift Swift TC as in Thom and CCAT.com and you can find this [email protected] Protect wonderful.
Jenna Ellis: Well, Heidi Olson, thank you so much for your story, for your involvement in protecting children and for taking the time to be a part of this episode and for all of the great work that you do. We really appreciate you. And that is all the time that we have for today on Jenna Ellis in the Morning. And I, as always, you can reach me and my team Jenna at AFR Net.
