
How did their perception of evil America become their reality?
About this episode
Get every episode summarized
Each time Podcast | America Out Loud News publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
Transcript ready
947 searchable segments. Every word is indexed and playable.
Full transcript
Podcast | America Out Loud News — How did their perception of evil America become their reality?. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
One in the grip of oppression I fought for my liberty I've paid with the blood of my people Freedom has never been free Now my door's always open To dreamers and prayers But when I'm a child I protect and deepen Because my name is America I stand proud and free Everyone and welcome. This is Karen, showing you listening to the Prism of America's Education Board to own the America Out Loud.News Network. Folks, after listening to all of the horrors that have been going on in the world I decided that it's time to take a break and look at the good of America
And unfortunately our kids are not hearing that in school And the kids have grown up, become parents and they have no clue either So in view of the fact that this is the 250th anniversary of this wonderful country called America I thought it would be a great idea to give each of you a taste of history that you can share with your family and friends And today we're going to be talking to we the kids They have put together an incredible program bringing in history for children of all ages From babies all the way up to those who are 100 plus It's always wonderful to learn something And then a unique project that they're working on with the sheriff So I'm going to let Judy Frazier, who is the president of We The Kids Let you know what's going on
Welcome to We The Kids Hi, I'm Judy Frazier, president and founder of We The Kids We The Kids puts God back into America's history Listening to We The Kids' radio show will inspire you and your kids to have a positive American identity Clear direction and a powerful purpose for your life Thank you for listening I got a lot of allegiance to the flag of the United States from America And I see the republic for which it stands for one nation on the ground In New Mexico with liberty and justice for all Welcome to We The Kids' radio show for kids from 8 to 108 I am our chunner, a father, a husband and a historian And I'm Lydia Nuddle, a mom and executive board member for We The Kids An author of forgotten American stories celebrating America's Constitution And later on in the show we're going to hear from the We The Kids' Liberty players
The mission of We The Kids is to put God back into America's stories To help American kids be proud to be an American, to love and defend America's Constitution And learn the principles of freedom that is established, unprecedented freedom in our country So that they can preserve freedom in America And that is so important, that's why we're doing this show So we're glad you're listening And today our forgotten American story is, what are the stories behind the Statue of Liberty? Your ancestors come to America, your own parents, your grandparents, or great or great great grandparents If they did not come here by choice, then why did they stay in America? They came to America for a new opportunity to work, to get ahead, to prosper, to get an education
To get out of poverty, to be able to adequately provide for their family with food, shelter, clothing To own their own property and land and house and furnishing, to be able to walk down the streets of America without fear To start their own businesses, to escape civil unrest and needless wars Where they would never be benefited and to experience religious and political freedom This is the American dream, so as we begin our show today, the Statue of Liberty So Lydia, how did we get the Statue of Liberty? Well the story behind the Statue of Liberty is something I never learned in school And learned as an adult, and I love the story in teaching it to kids because it's about kids It's because of our youth, the youth in the kids in France And the kids in America in addition to adults help contribute to the funds necessary And raise the funds necessary to create the Statue of Liberty
And the kids in France did that and the kids in America raise the funds to help create the pedestal that the Statue of Liberty stands on So it's an amazing story of how we can all make a difference just in our own sphere of influence There were a teenager or a child or just one man, one woman, where there were older, young, rich or poor We could all make a difference and that's why I love the story of the Statue of Liberty So it starts in the late 1700s and I know you were just a young whippersnapper back then, Arch I was in high school Yeah, yeah you were So in the late 1700s, the citizens of America and France were both suffering from the oppressions of tyrannical governments And tyranny is not a word that we typically hear these days, but tyranny basically means ruling arbitrarily Making random rules and random laws based on whatever the ruler wants to do, thinks is right or whatever And so both France and America had governments that were tyrannical
And the citizens of both our countries were fervently wanting freedom and liberty for our people So as a result, both countries, America and France experienced revolutions And thankfully, because France and the latter part of the Revolutionary War in America, this would be in the late 1700s, they came to our rescue They came to America's rescue and were able to help us as Americans win our independence from Great Britain They were ruling over us in a very tyrannical way, taking away so many of our rights And we were able to establish a stable Republican form of government Now, Republican in this sense does not mean the party, the Republican party and the Democrat party doesn't mean that it means it's a form of government It's a representative form of government where a republic So in a republic, citizens elect representatives to make decisions on our behalf It's different from a monarchy, a king, because that's how we in America used to be ruled by the king of Great Britain
And the people of France were written by a monarch also And often in a monarchy, the king makes all the rules Whatever makes sense to him, that's what he does He doesn't consult necessarily the people he may consult some close friends that are in his little group of rulers But for us, we have a republic, we elect representatives that are supposed to make decisions on our behalf And to prevent our government from becoming tyrannical in the future, the American people ratified our written constitution in 1788 And what makes the constitution important, and I'm telling all this because it's good background for the Statue of Liberty So what makes the constitution important is when we elect these representatives back then and now they don't have absolute power like a king would have Their power is held in check by the rules, the written rules that are found in the United States Constitution And all of our representatives take an oath promising to support an obey and defend the United States Constitution before they take office and service
So that's the kind of government that America was able to establish after we had our revolution It said no thank you, King George III, we no longer want to be ruled by you We want to be ruled by we the people, by we the people's rules, and here they are, here's our United States Constitution And we want a republican form of government But fortunately the French had a revolution also, but it did not result in peace And in an awesome United States Constitution in a representative form of government Instead it resulted in decades of government that promoted horrible violence, bloody, you know, bloody terrible war, social unrest And there was so many Frenchmen that wanted the revered American model of a republic And so after studying our United States Constitution, a French patriot named Edward the love you lay And I'm sorry those of you that speak French, I don't and so I'm probably slaughtering his name, but his name was Edward
I know that much and his last name was the love boule Dedicated his writings and his speeches to an impassioned theme and that was liberty for the people of France And so he hosted a dinner party in 1865 and invited really close friends and prominent people that were also impassioned about this theme of liberty for the people of France And they discussed gifting to the American people a monument that would represent liberty And they wanted this monument to be ready and timed to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of America's independence And they hoped that it would cement the bond of friendship between America and France And recognize the Frenchmen who sacrificed their lives for the beliefs in the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness That America's Declaration of Independence talked about And so that's what the purpose was of this dinner party Okay, how can we gifting to the American people something that would represent liberty and bring our two countries together
Because we helped you guys when you're independence and establish a republican form of government And that's what we want to and we want to be friends and we hope to see liberty for all people So that was the purpose of the dinner party put on by Edward the love you lay And what's amazing to me is I didn't really realize art, how many Frenchmen died here on American soil At the tail end of the revolution I wore fighting for our independence hoping that it would then bless them in some way in their future with independence And a republican form of government also Have you been to Yorktown? I'm sure you have I've been to Yorktown many, many times And you've seen and so this is something new to me too when I was there last summer with my daughter who was 14 at the time She and I went to Yorktown and visited the gravesites or the places on that land where the French fought in many blood and died On our behalf as Americans and it's a very I don't know to me it was a very sacred feel there
Did you feel that too when you're there? Yes, it's very sombring. It's very sacred. It's very quiet now But as many times I've been there Lydia when you go there you know that something extremely important happened at that site And that's something I never maybe I was taught that in school but I you know Maybe I had my mind on the boy sitting across from me or whatever and how cutie was somehow all that just kind of went over my head But just being there it does have a special feel and my life was changed by being there and learning about those French that died on our behalf so that we could be free I just love that and I love being there So back to the dinner party There was a man there named Frederick Bartoldy and he was a passionate patriot He was also a very well-known and talented French sculptor And he decided that he would volunteer his skills, dedicate his skills and his talents to create the Statue of Liberty
Now at the time they didn't know it was going to be the Statue of Liberty that we have today But at least he dedicated himself to creating something that would represent liberty for the people of France and America And of all people and so the American leaders agreed to raise the funds to create and build the huge massive pedestal on which Lady Liberty would stand And that pedestal had to complement the Statue of Liberty's scale She's 151 feet tall that's huge and also be able to anchor her firmly to the ground So it was kind of a joint cool project that combined both countries' efforts to produce a monument really for the world And so it took 10 years, this is what's amazing when you learn the story of how it's a big huge goal Right? You don't come up, we'll use both countries and try to come up with a statue that would represent liberty
You know, what's it going to look like? And where are we going to get the funds? And who's going to make it? And how will we ship it to America? And you know, on and on and on, it could totally something like that when you set that kind of a big goal That's enough to sometimes make you just not even want to get up out of bed You know, pull the covers and the sheets over my head, draw the blinds, it's too much, I'm overwhelmed, anxiety But this is what's awesome about this story is Frederick Bartoli broke down this goal in little bites in little goals And he set little goals for himself and this is a good lesson for us all to remember when we want to achieve something big To break it down in little goals because if we start feeling anxiety, it's probably because we don't have it broken down And enough little goals that are more manageable and doable And so the first thing was the French people needed to raise the money for the creation of the Statue of Liberty And within five years they raised it, they raised $600,000 and this is in $18.80 and we're able to start the Statue of Liberty
And here's what's cool, the funds were donated primarily by the wealthy at bankwits and at an opera where the artist performed a contada name liberty It was written by a famous composer and they donated the proceeds to the statue Famous artists donated their funds from the sale their paintings Frederick Bartoli signed replicas of the statue once he knew what he wanted to make He signed replicas of the statue and then donated that money to the cause And then this is what's awesome, 181,000 small towns and cities and thousands of schoolchildren and adults contributed whatever amount they could And helped raise the necessary funds with puppet shows, carnivals, fairs and contests So you could just see all these kids getting involved too and I love that part Now that's what's going on in France, meantime in America, we needed to get our act together and start earning money And so we started going to the rich people to help get them excited about this project and to donate money
And at one point, and this is almost embarrassing to say, but the Statue of Liberty was actually finished and ready to pack up and ship to America And we realized we ran out of funds for the pedestal, we don't have any more money And we needed an extra hundred thousand dollars to complete the 270 thousand dollar project And again, that's in 1880 dollars And it looked like the, okay, here comes the Statue of Liberty across the Atlantic Ocean And we have no place to put her because the pedestal isn't done and we don't have enough money to finish it So enter the stage, Joseph Pulitzer, he was the owner and publisher of the world It was a daily New York newspaper He was an immigrant from Hungary who came to America when he was 17 And he appreciated the values that Liberty gave to him And he was really discouraged by the lack of financial donations from the wealthy in America So beginning in 1885, while the French are packaging up, taking apart the Statue of Liberty packing her up
And getting her ready to ship over, he started encouraging the American people And this is his own words, quote, let us not wait for the millionaires, give something, however little We will publish the name of every giver no matter how small the sum And so that's what he did, so in addition to publishing those letters that accompanied the donations There are letters such as, yeah, I'm going to quote here I am a young man of foreign birth and have seen enough of monarchical governments to appreciate the blessings of this republic And there was a monetary donation from this young man And then this one was so cute I am a little girl only six years old and have 25 cents in my savings bank, which I send to help build the pedestal And so pretty soon dollars and pennies start coming in to the world And the newspaper company that Joseph Pulitzer was the owner of and publisher of And they were coming in from working men and women, the elderly, the poor immigrants
People didn't been there for a long time as well as children And I love this part of the story, there are 12 schools in New Jersey who worked together and raised $100 Again, don't forget this is in 1880s currencies, you know, maybe it would be $1000 and that's a huge accomplishment By kindergarten class in Iowa sent in $1.35 in New York And office boy wrote a letter and sent in a nickel And within five months, this is what's amazing, within five months, the $100,000 that was needed to complete the pedestal was raised by more than 120,000 contributors So I did the math and it's kind of easy math, but when you figure that all out, most of those contributions were less than a dollar And what's really cool, the finalized the story is when the pedestal was completed here in America in April of 1886 The workmen sprinkled coins into the mortar as a reminder that 120,000 gifts that were mostly under a dollar made it all possible
For America to have the pedestal built and ready so that when the Statue of Liberty came on the ship They were able to disassemble her and put her together and place her on top of the pedestal Tada, what do you think of that story? At the beginning, you were talking about we have a republic, a democratic republic, and it's a representational government of the people You just gave us a great story of the Statue of Liberty and how we the people were so important in making the Statue of Liberty, in getting the Statue of Liberty here and establishing the Statue of Liberty And I read that a few weeks ago how the Statue of Liberty was such a beautiful example of we the people Absolutely, it is, it we the people, and you could just say we the people of the world are at least a france of America at the time But now it represents something that all the people around the world love, but not everybody knows and lose in and that's liberty
So it's a very special story and I love it, so thanks for asking me that question and giving me the opportunity to share that story And when you were talking about the American Revolution not only did the French said many soldiers here, but through our revolution They sent many officers and generals to help us create and help us maintain an army to be able to fight for our freedom And the French Revolution was a tragedy and a terrible revolution and ours was a successful revolution And the French were trying to encourage their citizens and their countrymen to begin and have a government like ours as they gave us the Statue of Liberty Let me quote one of our founding fathers, Lydia, then please comment on this, it's from Benjamin Franklin He says, where liberty dwells there is my country Oh, I love that, where liberty dwells there is my country He just wanted to live in liberty, don't we all?
And so he would go, it shows me he would go wherever liberty was And thankfully he was a huge instrument, I believe in the hands of God, to help establish liberty in our country In fact, I believe in you tell me because you're the historian, even more than I am since you taught it in school He was over in France building a good relationship with France and was instrumental in having France come to our aid Am I right on that? Yes, Benjamin Franklin was in Europe for 14 years, Lydia, trying to get support for our revolution, trying to raise funds for our revolution And then ultimately getting to the place where he finally got the British to sign the peace treaty so that we could have all the British soldiers fondly out of our country So Franklin was there 14 years Wow, well my hat is off to him, I'm grateful for the work that he did And Franklin thought it was very important that all of our founding fathers were we hear the phrase taxation without representation as tyranny
The emphasis, it's all about what we were talking about, that to them what was most important was not the taxation, it was the lack of representation And therefore they wanted to create a democratic republic, which this is why they thought the revolution Hi, my name is Samantha Schwartz, I am 15 years old and I live in Utah Today I have with me Miss Noodle, and you just shared the story of a statue of liberty Miss Noodle, what is your favorite thing from that story? My favorite part is how you can take a big, huge goal, like building a statue of liberty that's humongous And break it down into little goals that you do every day so you can actually have in front of you your own very statue of liberty So yeah, that's my favorite part, take those big goals, break them down to little ones so you don't get overwhelmed, anxiety, stressed, just do little bites That's what I loved, how about you? I just love how the nation came together to support this, this was a big endeavor
So they had to get lots of help and they had just like a lot of tiny donations, more were no less than a dollar But it was just so astounding to me that like just even the little school children were putting nickels and pennies And just it shows to me that like what we can do is the people is so great And we just, if we have these walls that divide us, we can't get there So we have to just see each other as you know children of God and we have to keep pushing forward I love that, we need a message that's so fitting for us today, it's a message of unity And both countries of kids, the French and the American, yeah really pulled together to really help the statue of liberty become a reality So everyone, that story actually comes from my book, here it is, it's called Forgotten American Stories, Celebrating America's Constitution It has that short story in there and 26 other one-page stories with full-color pictures, activities, geography, vocabulary, hands-on activities for your family or classroom, kids to do
And it's available for purchase at wethekids.us So a great way to support We The Kids and preserving liberty in this country So thank you for listening I hope you enjoy this bit of history, which is one of the projects of WTK My name is Judy Frazier, I'm the founder of We The Kids We believe in a hands-on approach to teaching kids of American history One of the many exciting projects we're working on is teaching the value of accurate truth in journalism We chose the role of the sheriff since there's so much confusion on this topic The kids wanted to know the truth, I am excited to announce WTK has partnered with Sheriff Mack and his national organization, Constitutional Sheriff's and Peace Officers Association
CSPOA on a nationwide project teaching kids how to conduct interviews The importance of the truth in journalism while learning the role of the sheriff I will let Sheriff Mack explain it to you Welcome to We The Kids, I am Mallory Tidwell, teen assistant In 1776 our founders believed that without God, country and the Constitution there would be no secure foundation for family Many gave their lives and fortunes so that we could enjoy the freedoms we have today Our goal is to return God to America's story Using primary source documents and teaching families the truth about our nation's founding Today we are honored to have Sheriff Richard Mack with us Sheriff Mack has dedicated his life to defending the Constitution and educating Americans about the proper role of government Sheriff Mack thank you for being here with We The Kids, we are grateful for your leadership and we are ready to learn from you
Well thanks Mallory and it's an honor for me to be here As Mallory told you my name is Sheriff Richard Mack and that's a title that I kept ever since I was Sheriff Way back in the 90s in Graham County, Arizona And a lot of you might know me because of the national organization I formed about 15 years ago called the Constitutional Sheriff's and Peace Officers Association or CSPOA And I travel the country a lot In fact, I've been to all 50 states Can you imagine that? I've been to all 50 states I bet you're wondering which one is my favorite That's easy It's Hawaii But I love every state they're all amazing But I've discovered with all my traveling That very many people know what a sheriff is and what he does And that he's actually appointed by us the people We the people actually elect the sheriff
He's the only elected law enforcement officer anywhere in the country And he answers directly to us But Do we really know Do the people of America know what branch of government the sheriff actually works for? Does he work for the judicial branch? The legislative branch? The executive branch? Well, maybe you'll find that out someday soon It is for that reason that I'm really happy To announce that the CSPOA and I are partnering with we the kids And what a great organization We the kids is teaching kids that are interested in journalism The importance of history, truth, and this is a new and accuracy in a journalism The first assignment that these kids will have Will be to interview sheriffs on the podcast Nationwide
And this will be aired on we the kids.us and cspway.org We're proud to be a part of that Anything to do with kids and anything to do with truth and journalism We're all for it Imagine having a group of journalists who understand the topic And can communicate that truth about America to the audience Best news? You can be a part of the process Your support helps us grow, helps the kids By bringing more families and kids into hands-on projects that teach America's history While building are we the kids patriotic journalism classes Where children alongside their parents learn journalism integrity As they interview sheriffs all across this country
Now, how can you help this? Well, I want to make sure that we get this right because I want all of you to know First of all, there's donations that you can make And for 25.95 you get this amazing, I love this shirt We the kids, God country and the constitution But if that is what I've been fighting for the last 30 years, I don't know what was This is perfect. Folks, a nice beautiful shirt For 25.95 Then you make it a $50 donation And you get absolutely the most astonishing education of your life You get The county sheriff, America's last hope Authored by You're truly So folks, one of the best books in the country And the best book about sheriffs that has ever existed
Everybody needs to get this Oh, and by the way, you'll find out in here What branch of government the sheriff actually works for And then the miracle book And then the miracle book The most important book you can have that fits in your shirt pocket, okay? First, you should have a pocket constitution Second, you should have the Supreme Court case In 1994, I sued the federal government I sued the Clinton administration And we won We beat him at the United States Supreme Court The case is called Mac-Prince Prince, PR-I-N-T-Z But if you just Google Mac, V-U-S, it'll come up If you Google Prince, V-U-S, it'll come up P-R-I-N-T-Z We were the two sheriffs that went together to the United States Supreme Court in 1996 Boy, that sounds like a long time ago And then Justice Scalia wrote the decision
In June of 1997 This is the most powerful tenth amendment decision In the history of our country And Justice Scalia actually quotes the constitution And the federalist papers Has he describes The issue of federalism And that the federal government is not the boss of your sheriff You are And so for just $50 you get The best book on sheriffs The best Supreme Court case in the history of America about sheriffs In the history of America about sheriffs This is the only time in history In 250 years Sheriffs sued the federal government And won And you can have a copy of the book Free with your $50 donation to We The Kids Remember all of this All of this is By your support This is how We The Kids grow This is how their journalism
And their classes grow And this is where We rebuild America Folks, it's time That we return to these basic fundamental principles And I'll close with the Last line of the Declaration of Independence This is what the founding fathers promise to each other And for the support of this declaration With a firm reliance on the protection Of divine providence We mutually pledge to each other Our lives Our fortunes And our sacred honor Today we must do likewise Thank you so much My name is Judy Frazier I'm the founder of We The Kids We have proudly partnered With Constitutional Sheriff And Peace Offices Association Danny for Faith Freedom and the Constitution of the United States of America At We The Kids At We The Kids
We teach American history And the Constitution through Primary Source Documentation And Hands on Learning We train young people In journalism And through our partnership With the CS, POA Our Teen Reporters Interview Sheriff's Nationwide Giving students Real World Experience And a Voice Constitution in History Classes And support families Through the Aaron Keflik Scholarship Fund Established in honor of Marine Gunnery Sergeant Aaron M. Ken Fleck Our mission is simple To inspire young Americans To love their country And to be prepared to protect it Through Journalistic Integrity We need your partnership Sign your children up To support our mission As Sheriff Max said I would like to thank all the families
And their kids Who were part of making this video And a special thanks To our board member Jeff Polynesian For his donation of $100 To kick this fundraiser off God bless America Always For more information about We The Kids Go to WeTheKids.us This is Karen Shown You have been listening to the prism Of America's education Brought to you on the America Out Loud.News Network Special thanks to Judy Frazier And Sheriff Mack And all the kids Go to WeTheKids.us And I will be right back So don't go away too far See you in a minute We'll get ready my fellow Americans July 2nd 3rd and 4th AmericaOut Loud.News In partnership With Clear and the Wellness Company Invites you To Nashville, Tennessee For a red, white, and blue celebration
You'll never forget We're saluted 250 years of America And 10 incredible years Of America out loud news Stand in strong, for truth, justice And the nation we all love Three days of high-impact speakers Powerhouse Voices Deliver in dynamic Unforgettable insights that will fire up Your Patriot Spirit And on July 4th Now brace yourself Because your experience America's most explosive fireworks show Lighting up downtown Nashville And pure patriotic glory You can reserve your spot With early bird pricing Right now, out of America Out Loud.News In just two minutes per day You could reclaim your health And cut your grocery bill in half With one simple convenient product Our doctor formulated green 85 Juice Formula's powerful dose Of ultra-concentrated essential nutrients Stops hunger in its tracks
And supplies your cells With what's missing in the grocery store food Go to chemicalfreebody.com 4th slash out loud today Get nature super multivitamin Green 85, empower your immune system Cut down on your grocery bill And save 20% on your first order Look me for a fluoride-free Peptide-based toothpaste Try smile for the wellness company This doctor formulated formula Combines powerful peptides, Remineralizers, and probiotics To rebuild gum tissue, Strengthened teeth, and fight harmful bacteria All with refreshing mint flavor Visit twc.health4th slash out loud And use code out loud For 20% off your first order Oral hygiene hasn't changed in 50 years But our diet and the way we eat has Creating an environment in your mouth For bacteria to wreck havoc on your teeth And gums For better oral health Get spry dental defense And oral care line designed to combat Acid creating bacteria The toothpaste, mouthwashments, and gum
All contains xylitol And natural ingredients Shown to dramatically improve oral health Spry can be found online And all fine natural retailers Have you been looking for a healthy snack For on the go? Well, not all energy bars Are soft and sugary Bear bars, or a crunchy savory bar Made from just six simple natural ingredients Bear bars, or plant-based Organic gluten-free Contained six grams of protein And are low temperature dried For a unique crunch Most energy bars are based on chocolate Or fruit And are held together with syrups Or sweeteners To learn more, just visit bearbar.com-slash-outloud Well, did you see Google Quietly updated its AI principles Removing its pledge Not to use AI for weapons Or surveillance They promised they agreed to in 2018
Where the American people have seen Google's track record prompt in the question Is Google an untrustworthy player in the AI race? Now is our time My fellow Americans America outloud.news Liberty and justice for all Hello everyone and welcome back Hope you had a great time Listening to New things about the Statue of Liberty Man, I didn't know that The base was built by American children Sending in their dimes And nickels Remember at the time when the Statue of Liberty Came a diamond and nickel Was actually worth a diamond and nickel Today they're probably going to be getting rid of coins Eventually because they're Consaying that they are Too cumbersome to carry
Merton 30 money Anyway, we have another treat From a good friend of mine Kenny Edwards Who has put together A program to help Americans Adults Understand what's going on in America And be able to go back And say wow I learned that today Isn't that wonderful? Kenny thank you so much for joining me It's always great to talk to you About this exciting project that you're working on Thanks Karen It's great to be on your show again I call it Hidden truce Of America's founding And you're talking about You know me being a Want to be historian I've been reading American history Really for the last couple of decades And mainly Being a pilot for as long as i was We get layovers all over the country And i'm not one that ever watches television
So the tv in my hotel room Never got touched I'm always outside walking around looking For maybe to use bookstore And i kept stumbling on Upon Stories of American history That when i would sit there in these bookstores And read I would be Amazed that how much i didn't know And how much i thought i knew But i guess i didn't And of course a lot of you know Most of us really are Knowledge of American history Comes from textbooks And therein lies the problem So you go into bookstores And you look at books many of which were published before 1940 You start seeing things And reading about things that you never knew Happened or existed Or were significant So that's where this whole thing started And i started Putting it together I'm a solo musician So i put some music into it
Because music kind of breathes life into it And i do grand canyon tours As a tour guide So i took the story telling That i typically use In these long Tours that i'm doing And i tried to make it Interesting I guess is the best way to put it Because most people look at history And roll their eyes And have lovely memories of having Having to remember dates and names And places But there was no context to any of it And it has to be a story And then you have to kind of Personify the characters in the story For anybody to really take interest in it At least that's what i found So that's what i did And the things that i found were Again somebody who thought he knew history I was amazed at what i didn't know And in particular Our constitution has been turned upside down
In ways that we didn't realize Had been done And that's where the story begins As you know we believe that You know as we should The founders The main point When they put this constitution together Was to essentially save us from ourselves Humans are always going to make the same mistakes And they knew that So they worded it very very carefully And they separated You know the federal government of course from The states and the people And what Enumerated powers were not given In the federal constitution By virtue of the 10th amendment Affirming this Were given to the states and to the people And when you go to the first amendment The subject of a religious expression Is the very first thing covered in the Bill of Rights Not only is it in the first amendment
It's there's five different aspects to the first amendment But it's this is the first one they even mentioned So you know it was significant in their minds First So what is it that we don't know Well Relax Yeah let's look Exactly and it's In this particular case They made it to where the federal government Could never touch freedom of Or religious expression cases That that was off limits for the feds That only states And churches and you know anything within the state really Could touch these cases If somebody was Was accused of something or somebody sued somebody Or whatever it was These were only cases that could be heard by state Or a lower court And that was how they made the constitution
They did not want the feds to ever have any jurisdiction Over how we worshiped So What I do is I walk you through First of all the separation of church and state Does that exist? No It was a letter written by Thomas Jefferson To a group of Baptists the year after he took office The Baptist because they were anti-federalist And they had their anti-federalist president, Thomas Jefferson They asked him specifically A question in a letter that they had written to him And it pertained to the First Amendment And he responded In a letter back to them And he told them In a I should say within context When he told them this That there was a separation, a wall of separation Is how he ordered it between church and state So
That was The answer to the letter that they sent But it wasn't anything official It wasn't anything that was written into the constitution It wasn't the result of a Supreme Court case None of that It was simply his way of explaining to the group of Baptists How he perceived it How he sees it He basically was agreeing with them Kenny, wasn't he agreeing that The federal government has no Business directing one particular religion But religion and the church Does have a right to talk about the government So it doesn't matter what religion it is The federal government can't tell you You can't practice that one or you can't practice that one But it had nothing to do with the church Being able to say
This is a bad idea Government don't do it Wasn't it kind of that way? That's all That's true His point to them Again, this is very specific to the question that they asked him You have two different aspects to the first amendment Congress shall make law establishing Respecting an establishment of religion Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof So you have the first part And then you have the second part They wrote to him about the second part saying Well, doesn't a government that writes this document That says that Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof Based on that power that they gave themselves to write that document Does that not mean that In the future, if different Politicians take office That the opposite could be said as well In other words, they can just change their mind later on
If they have the power to do one, they have power to do the other And that's what the anti-federalist argument was at the time So when Jefferson wrote back, he said I absolutely wholeheartedly agree with you And that's why we put a separation between church and state Well, what he meant was in that particular argument There's a separation between church and state Within the context of the question they asked him It was not a blanket statement by any means That's the opposite The founders were very, very adamant about religious expression Being allowed and encouraged That's what they wanted And there's a thousand different Quotations that backed that up And there's none that go the other way So there's no question what they met There's no question what what Jefferson met And for 150 years from the point of that letter being written Only two times did the Supreme Court cherry pick that out out of Jefferson's library And use it as a basis for their decision in a particular case
But both times in the 150 years that they used this Did they Use it within context within what ever Let me rephrase that They used it within context of what Jefferson meant But it wasn't until 1947 in the case Called ever since versus the Board of Education Out of the state of New Jersey And it was a challenge to the First Amendment Some some knucklehead decided that the busing question Where the state would reimburse the schools Was illegal because some of the schools that were being reimbursed with the busing Were parochial schools or religious schools So They ended up going to the Supreme Court And the Supreme Court Justice agreed That That basically That they were going to the Supreme Court That they were going to the Supreme Court And the Supreme Court Justice agreed That they were going to the Supreme Court That basically
They agreed that the person who Challenged it was wrong But what they did was they did two things actually They reinforced the phrase that Jefferson used Separation of church and state They reinforced that And said that the wall needs to be built high and impregnable Meaning there can be no religious expression At all in the public square But the second thing that they did Blows my mind I never knew any of this And that is They coupled the 14th amendment To The first amendment Well, what's the 14th amendment? Well, you got three amendments right after the Civil War You know, 13th freed the slaves The 15th gave them the right to vote But the 14th Gave them the right to live in a state that they live in As citizens without any discrimination of any kind By the state Well, who would have to First that over the states The federal government that's the only Possible way it could be enforced
So the government Gave themselves The federal government gave themselves the power That the founders strictly prohibited them from having By use of the 14th amendment Well, that's where they got their foot in the door That's where they They just got that enough of an opening to get started It took them decades In court cases Coupling this 14th amendment To other parts of the bill of rights And in this case, the case In 1947 that I'm referencing That is the case where they Challenge the first amendment They gave the federal government now Bold jurisdiction Overall things religious expression And that's when all these crazy verdicts started And now there's there's hundreds of them And it's growing the federal government is shutting down Every single thing that we try to do where we express
Or profess our faith or show our support for our faith Every time that gets challenged in court now the feds hear it Whereas the founders made made sure that that was the one thing we would never do It's amazing to me that A group of men, nine men Have the power to To dictate that When in reality all they're really supposed to be doing is saying This law is constitutional, this law is not constitutional They're not supposed to make laws They're not supposed to make Opinions like that Because to me Allowing no religion or allowing no religious discussion Is a religion If you're an atheist or you're agnostic it's still a religion It's your belief and you are inflicting your belief on someone else
Which is what they said no you cannot do Everybody should have their own belief And should be able to believe what they want And allowing the people to dictate You can't discuss God You can't discuss this You can't discuss that That's the same as having a religion in itself So I think that everything needs to have a revisit It starts with that I mean I'm giving you one side of it That they've shut down the religious expression side of it To American history more than anything else, at least in my mind Is that to go back to what the pilgrims believed when they came over And that is that they believed that God had put together a divine plan Was put together before humans ever inhabited the earth And they believed that what they were doing by leaving western Europe and coming
To America For the purpose of raising their children in a world where materialism was not prevalent And godliness was prevalent because in western Europe materialism was becoming way too big And godliness was going out of style in their opinion And they wanted to get away from the possibility of raising their children in such an ungodly world So they thought that by coming over on the Mayflower and starting their own colony here Was going to put them within that plan that God had put together That's what they believed Okay, Kenny, how do people find out about this wonderful It's of information that we are so lacking How do they get the presentation? How does that work? You hire me to do it Basically, I have an honor
I have a trailer on my website It's KennyRichardsLive.com KennyRichardsLive.com You will find that on the website That is wonderful Folks, we are so lacking in the truth of American history And no wonder that our children have no clue as to what freedom and liberty actually mean And it's very sad for me to see as a former teacher So I am so excited Kenny I think this is such a fabulous thing to bring people And these are tidbits of forgotten American history If we don't learn and understand what our history is You can't fight for it You can't fight for peace of paper If you don't know what's on it And worse than that, you can't fight for a piece of paper if you can't read it
So it is up to us It is up to we the people They said we the people for a reason And that reason is America needs its people to participate in its government In its education And in its community And if we don't do that, we have the horrible feeling of losing our country So Kenny, once again, give everybody the place where they can go and find that Your information It's KennyRichardsLive.com Okay, I left out the live part. That's great. I will put that in the newsletter That was very interesting And thank you so much for sharing with us Folks, this is Karen Shown You have been listening to the prism of America's education brought to you on the America out loud.newsnetwork We are going through a lot of turmoil in our country
And it's up to us to hold it together It's up to us to come together That was a main theme that our founders put throughout We must be unified We have to stick together as Americans And for those people that don't like America, I have one word for you And that is, please Go someplace else And find another country to destroy In the meantime, we're going on Thank you all for listening And I will see you again next week It's my day
More episodes
More from Podcast | America Out Loud News

America’s reckoning! Socialism, midterms & lessons we forgot
Podcast | America Out Loud News

Why we should remember and honor Charlie Kirk
Podcast | America Out Loud News

When ideology clouds our view of history
Podcast | America Out Loud News

The American Dream: Is it dead or alive?
Podcast | America Out Loud News