Pat Roberston mobilizes an "invisible army" of fervent believers, many…
With God On Our Side - Episode 3

- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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After Vietnam and Watergate, America is looking for a Good Father, and despite media befuddlement at the 'born-again' Jimmy Carter, his religious faith helps convince voters he can heal the nation. Carter's election heralds a new era of evangelical engagement in every area of modern life, from broadcasting to basketball. But modern life also means divorce, feminism, and gay rights, and at Carter's White House Conference on Families, conservative Christians choose polarization on those issues over reuniting the American family.
Citation
Main credits
Robertson, Cliff (Narrator)
Skaggs, Calvin (Producer)
Skaggs, Calvin (Director)
Taylor, David Van (Producer)
Other credits
Produced and directed by David Van Taylor.
Distributor subjects
AIDS/HIV; Abortion; American Studies; Christianity; Cold War; Education; Gay Studies; Health Care Issues; History (U.S.); Media Studies; Politics; Social MovementsKeywords
WEBVTT
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With God on Our Side was made
possible by the Corporation
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for Public Broadcasting and by
annual financial support from
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viewers like you.
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Major funding was provided by
The Pew Charitable Trusts, The
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Smith Richardson Foundation,
The Rockefeller Foundation,
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The Lynde and Harry Bradley
Foundation, the William H.
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Donner foundation, The Nathan
Cummings Foundation, and the
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John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation.
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Additional funding was provided
by the following.
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
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You know those songs came from
the civil war, a period like
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this time this country
could not bear again.
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And yet, recently people in high
offices have placed us in
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this position through an
issue called Watergate.
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The first time after Watergate
broke, the Texas Baptist
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Christian Commission, at our
urging, they spoke out calling
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for a time of repentance and
revival in our land.
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They stink.
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They really stink.
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I mean, see, I\'m not as educated
as a lot of people.
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But the way I feel, the way I
feel is like the people here,
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the President is supposed to
help the people in the United
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States or try to.
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And I haven\'t seen him do
anything for nobody.
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And that was the main impact
that we felt from Watergate.
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It didn\'t have particularly
partisan overtones.
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We weren\'t philosophically
engaged in a heavy way.
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We just thought, oh, my gosh.
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This is going to make it harder
than ever to convince
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people that politics
isn\'t dirty.
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You\'ve got a Polaroid snapshot
of politics at its dirtiest.
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I\'m just, in a sense,
disgruntled with politicians
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in general.
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I\'m getting very bored
and very disgusted--
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As the nation approached the
1976 election, there was great
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concern about voter apathy and
cynicism towards government.
00:03:11.690 --> 00:03:14.380 align:middle line:84%
Watergate\'s effects threatened
to spread even beyond
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presidential politics.
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We have corruption
in government.
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We have corruption at
the local level.
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And we have dishonesty
between person to
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person, between neighbors.
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We need leadership.
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We need a family where the
head of the family is
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something to follow, somebody
to show us the way.
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They ask why this phenomenon
in America, some deeper
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national yearning in the
country, a turning towards
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spirituality, a yearning
for morality.
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There are many reasons for it.
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We\'ve lost a great deal of
confidence in some of our
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institutions and there\'s a
vacuum in the country.
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There\'s been a moral
permissiveness that has
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frightened millions of
people as to what the
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future is going to be.
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There\'s been a breakdown
of the home in America.
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And now in the realm of
politics, it has come in to
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discussion.
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Americans want more than
anything else this year, in
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their President, the
spiritual quality.
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The most important thing in
my life is Jesus Christ.
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[APPLAUSE]
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It was a brand new phenomenon
to have a man running for
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president who would so clearly
state his faith and as the
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campaign unfolded, clearly
coming out of
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the religious community.
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And I formed a very close,
intimate, personal
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relationship with God through
Christ that has given me a
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great deal of peace, equanimity,
the ability to
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accept difficulties without
unnecessarily being disturbed.
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Most of the reporters who were
with him at the time had no
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idea what he was
talking about.
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It caught the mainstream press
by total surprise.
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That born again business,
what is it?
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What was this kind of thing?
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It smacked of a kind of
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backwoodsy, southern tradition.
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It was suspect.
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So we wouldn\'t see a
Cabinet composed
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exclusively of Baptists.
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No.
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As a matter of fact, Doug, I
don\'t know how many Baptists
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we have on my immediate staff.
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The mainstream press in this
country didn\'t really know
00:05:34.930 --> 00:05:36.460 align:middle line:90%
what evangelical was.
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The Washington Post wrote that
you have to understand that we
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don\'t know much about this sort
of thing because we don\'t
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know any of these people.
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Now what does she mean?
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Are they from another planet?
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Do they not have telephones?
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Are they unable to read?
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I ended up spending a good
portion of that campaign,
00:05:55.320 --> 00:05:58.330 align:middle line:84%
certainly far more than
I would have expected,
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attempting, as a candidate\'s
press secretary, to provide
00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:04.430 align:middle line:84%
some rudimentary understanding
to journalists about Southern
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Baptist theology.
00:06:05.690 --> 00:06:07.850 align:middle line:84%
As a matter of fact, John
Chancellor, who was anchoring
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the NBC Nightly News at the
time, after Carter had
00:06:10.430 --> 00:06:13.750 align:middle line:84%
acknowledged that he had been
born again, got on national
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television and said we\'ve looked
up this born again
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business and it\'s nothing new.
00:06:18.470 --> 00:06:21.680 align:middle line:84%
We have checked on the religious
meaning of Carter\'s
00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:22.870 align:middle line:90%
profound experience.
00:06:22.870 --> 00:06:25.310 align:middle line:84%
It is described by other
Baptists as a common
00:06:25.310 --> 00:06:27.670 align:middle line:84%
experience, not something
out of the ordinary.
00:06:27.670 --> 00:06:31.260 align:middle line:84%
Well, millions of Americans
just guffawed at this.
00:06:31.260 --> 00:06:34.270 align:middle line:84%
It would be like saying we have
considered the state of
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African Americans and we have
determined that they are human
00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:39.920 align:middle line:84%
beings or that we have studied
the history of women and we\'ve
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decided that they are
equal to men.
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It is amazing to hear something
like this from an
00:06:45.190 --> 00:06:46.290 align:middle line:90%
educated person.
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And everybody is asking, what
does it mean to be born again?
00:06:50.470 --> 00:06:53.100 align:middle line:84%
I was asked by the American
Jewish Committee to come and
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speak to their regional meeting,
their state meeting,
00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:58.060 align:middle line:84%
and explain what being
born again meant.
00:06:58.060 --> 00:07:02.140 align:middle line:84%
I was interviewed by the press
and local television all over
00:07:02.140 --> 00:07:04.740 align:middle line:84%
the place about what\'s
an evangelist?
00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:05.790 align:middle line:90%
What\'s an evangelical?
00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:06.650 align:middle line:90%
What\'s a Baptist?
00:07:06.650 --> 00:07:07.930 align:middle line:90%
What does born again mean?
00:07:07.930 --> 00:07:09.510 align:middle line:90%
Where does this come from?
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And Jesus answered and said unto
him, verily, verily I say
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unto thee, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the
00:07:18.770 --> 00:07:20.350 align:middle line:90%
Kingdom of God.
00:07:20.350 --> 00:07:24.210 align:middle line:90%
That phrase is as familiar--
00:07:24.210 --> 00:07:25.570 align:middle line:90%
or it was--
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and as uncontroversial to me
as almost anything, as our
00:07:36.460 --> 00:07:37.960 align:middle line:90%
Father who art in heaven.
00:07:37.960 --> 00:07:40.430 align:middle line:84%
How can a man be born
when he is old?
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Can he enter a second
time into his
00:07:42.380 --> 00:07:44.200 align:middle line:90%
mother\'s womb and be born?
00:07:44.200 --> 00:07:48.520 align:middle line:84%
And Jesus answered, verily,
verily, I say unto thee,
00:07:48.520 --> 00:07:52.870 align:middle line:84%
except a man be born of water
and of the spirit, he cannot
00:07:52.870 --> 00:07:54.790 align:middle line:90%
enter into the Kingdom of God.
00:07:54.790 --> 00:07:57.360 align:middle line:84%
That which is born of
flesh is flesh.
00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:59.780 align:middle line:84%
That which is born of
spirit is spirit.
00:07:59.780 --> 00:08:07.230 align:middle line:84%
Marvel not that I say unto you,
you must be born again.
00:08:07.230 --> 00:08:10.650 align:middle line:84%
The interesting thing is that
with respect to Jimmy Carter,
00:08:10.650 --> 00:08:12.930 align:middle line:90%
none of this was contrived.
00:08:12.930 --> 00:08:16.130 align:middle line:84%
This was, in fact, a very deeply
felt part of his own
00:08:16.130 --> 00:08:17.560 align:middle line:90%
background.
00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:20.170 align:middle line:84%
He did teach Sunday
School on Sundays.
00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:21.800 align:middle line:90%
He did go to church.
00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:25.000 align:middle line:84%
It was not somehow inventing
him in an unreal situation.
00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:27.590 align:middle line:84%
It was, rather, capturing
the whole person
00:08:27.590 --> 00:08:30.400 align:middle line:90%
that had to be portrayed.
00:08:30.400 --> 00:08:33.610 align:middle line:84%
And so there was a desire to
portray that, but at the same
00:08:33.610 --> 00:08:38.390 align:middle line:84%
time, not to exaggerate it
because to exaggerate it would
00:08:38.390 --> 00:08:42.690 align:middle line:84%
exaggerate the degree to which
the religious side was
00:08:42.690 --> 00:08:48.000 align:middle line:84%
critical to his role as governor
and future president,
00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.400 align:middle line:84%
but also would risk a
counter reaction.
00:08:51.400 --> 00:08:55.720 align:middle line:84%
In the eyes of a lot of
reporters, look, there\'s no
00:08:55.720 --> 00:09:00.020 align:middle line:84%
way on this earth I would ever
go to church every Sunday
00:09:00.020 --> 00:09:06.340 align:middle line:84%
unless it furthered my career
or my prospects or whatever.
00:09:06.340 --> 00:09:08.610 align:middle line:84%
Jimmy Carter is going to
church every Sunday.
00:09:08.610 --> 00:09:12.260 align:middle line:84%
It must be some cynical
manipulation or exploitation
00:09:12.260 --> 00:09:14.630 align:middle line:90%
or hypocritical gesture.
00:09:14.630 --> 00:09:17.044 align:middle line:84%
We have room for about twenty
or thirty more folks if you
00:09:17.044 --> 00:09:19.190 align:middle line:84%
all want to come on in
and worship with us.
00:09:19.190 --> 00:09:22.860 align:middle line:84%
Newsweek, June 7, said about
that candidate, his illusions
00:09:22.860 --> 00:09:25.960 align:middle line:84%
to his personal relationship
with Jesus Christ are
00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:29.220 align:middle line:90%
considered bad form.
00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:31.775 align:middle line:84%
Brother, if there\'s anything we
need, whether it\'s bad form
00:09:31.775 --> 00:09:35.400 align:middle line:84%
or good politics, is a man who
is more proud of his faith in
00:09:35.400 --> 00:09:39.114 align:middle line:84%
Christ than any political
aspirations he might have.
00:09:39.114 --> 00:09:47.800 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:09:47.800 --> 00:09:50.350 align:middle line:84%
And it would certainly be
improper for me to call that
00:09:50.350 --> 00:09:52.480 align:middle line:84%
man\'s name, but his initials
are the same as our Lord\'s.
00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.140 align:middle line:90%
00:09:55.140 --> 00:09:58.470 align:middle line:84%
Interestingly, on the upside,
there was no question but that
00:09:58.470 --> 00:10:03.320 align:middle line:84%
this resonated amongst a whole
group of people who, I must
00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:07.010 align:middle line:84%
say, I was unaware of up to
that point, who consider
00:10:07.010 --> 00:10:10.230 align:middle line:84%
themselves, literally millions,
as born again, the
00:10:10.230 --> 00:10:12.930 align:middle line:84%
whole notion of having a sort
of religious revival
00:10:12.930 --> 00:10:14.260 align:middle line:90%
in their own life.
00:10:14.260 --> 00:10:16.870 align:middle line:90%
I loved Jimmy Carter.
00:10:16.870 --> 00:10:20.920 align:middle line:84%
In the United States of America,
who we say we allow
00:10:20.920 --> 00:10:25.190 align:middle line:84%
people the privilege of their
religion and things, and here
00:10:25.190 --> 00:10:29.630 align:middle line:84%
was a man running for the
president and very few of us
00:10:29.630 --> 00:10:33.850 align:middle line:84%
say anything about the
Lord or Jesus.
00:10:33.850 --> 00:10:35.850 align:middle line:84%
And he said, born
again christian.
00:10:35.850 --> 00:10:40.730 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:10:40.730 --> 00:10:43.930 align:middle line:84%
I can remember the
night I heard it.
00:10:43.930 --> 00:10:44.870 align:middle line:90%
And I was shocked.
00:10:44.870 --> 00:10:47.150 align:middle line:90%
But I knew what I had to do.
00:10:47.150 --> 00:10:47.760 align:middle line:90%
I had to work for him.
00:10:47.760 --> 00:10:48.740 align:middle line:90%
And I did.
00:10:48.740 --> 00:10:52.700 align:middle line:84%
I was, at the time, with Campus
Crusade for Christ and
00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:57.360 align:middle line:84%
can very well remember a number
of the people in the
00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:01.050 align:middle line:84%
movement of Campus Crusade,
fellow staff members, who were
00:11:01.050 --> 00:11:05.000 align:middle line:84%
very excited about
Jimmy Carter.
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:10.630 align:middle line:84%
And it was all built around the
concept or the reason that
00:11:10.630 --> 00:11:13.095 align:middle line:84%
he had talked about
being born again.
00:11:13.095 --> 00:11:15.990 align:middle line:84%
I supported him in Pennsylvania,
the primary
00:11:15.990 --> 00:11:18.460 align:middle line:84%
there, with some friends
that I had when he was
00:11:18.460 --> 00:11:20.940 align:middle line:90%
running as a Democrat.
00:11:20.940 --> 00:11:23.960 align:middle line:84%
We interviewed him maybe
a year before that.
00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:26.320 align:middle line:90%
So we\'re looking at--
00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.690 align:middle line:90%
he was elected in \'76 and \'75.
00:11:29.690 --> 00:11:33.090 align:middle line:84%
So somewhere in the \'74 era,
I think, we were on a plane
00:11:33.090 --> 00:11:37.310 align:middle line:84%
together to some stop in the
Midwest in those days.
00:11:37.310 --> 00:11:42.420 align:middle line:84%
So he was highly regarded by
the evangelicals in those
00:11:42.420 --> 00:11:43.330 align:middle line:90%
early days.
00:11:43.330 --> 00:11:45.260 align:middle line:84%
Only a short time remains
until the
00:11:45.260 --> 00:11:47.300 align:middle line:90%
upcoming national elections.
00:11:47.300 --> 00:11:52.970 align:middle line:84%
We have asked 225,000 pastors to
lead their congregations in
00:11:52.970 --> 00:11:56.800 align:middle line:84%
special prayer for our nation
during the seven Sundays prior
00:11:56.800 --> 00:11:58.340 align:middle line:90%
to the election.
00:11:58.340 --> 00:12:02.730 align:middle line:84%
Would you join us in praying
just 15 minutes a day during
00:12:02.730 --> 00:12:04.580 align:middle line:90%
the next 40 days?
00:12:04.580 --> 00:12:07.960 align:middle line:84%
Will you pray for your country,
for your families,
00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:11.710 align:middle line:84%
for your schools and churches,
for your government?
00:12:11.710 --> 00:12:14.460 align:middle line:84%
Will you pray that God\'s
will will be done in
00:12:14.460 --> 00:12:15.900 align:middle line:90%
this upcoming election?
00:12:15.900 --> 00:12:16.370 align:middle line:90%
Amen.
00:12:16.370 --> 00:12:22.490 align:middle line:84%
And I believe that I can be
a better president if I am
00:12:22.490 --> 00:12:26.350 align:middle line:90%
elected because of my faith.
00:12:26.350 --> 00:12:28.620 align:middle line:90%
He spoke the language.
00:12:28.620 --> 00:12:32.840 align:middle line:84%
He was wearing the coloration
that made these folks think,
00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:35.510 align:middle line:84%
hey, he must be one of
ours because he was
00:12:35.510 --> 00:12:36.750 align:middle line:90%
a born again Christian.
00:12:36.750 --> 00:12:38.540 align:middle line:90%
He spoke about that.
00:12:38.540 --> 00:12:40.510 align:middle line:90%
He was from the South.
00:12:40.510 --> 00:12:42.420 align:middle line:90%
And he had the trappings.
00:12:42.420 --> 00:12:48.190 align:middle line:84%
And people who were Christian
but apolitical
00:12:48.190 --> 00:12:49.544 align:middle line:90%
responded to him.
00:12:49.544 --> 00:12:50.936 align:middle line:90%
Thank you.
00:12:50.936 --> 00:12:52.990 align:middle line:90%
[INAUDIBLE] over the baby too?
00:12:52.990 --> 00:12:56.170 align:middle line:84%
It was very important, if a
Democrat was going to have any
00:12:56.170 --> 00:13:00.520 align:middle line:84%
chance of winning, to become, in
effect, a new Democrat, not
00:13:00.520 --> 00:13:03.600 align:middle line:84%
part of that anti establishment,
anti
00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:06.330 align:middle line:90%
traditional value mode.
00:13:06.330 --> 00:13:09.706 align:middle line:84%
They wanted a solidity, a
certain return to religiosity,
00:13:09.706 --> 00:13:15.310 align:middle line:84%
a notion of having someone who
had very firm roots, very
00:13:15.310 --> 00:13:18.590 align:middle line:84%
deeply felt family values, who
would come to the White House
00:13:18.590 --> 00:13:23.110 align:middle line:84%
and transfer those values
on a nationwide basis.
00:13:23.110 --> 00:13:28.670 align:middle line:84%
His emphasis on family values
and traditional values was in
00:13:28.670 --> 00:13:30.760 align:middle line:90%
fact absolutely critical.
00:13:30.760 --> 00:13:41.410 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:13:41.410 --> 00:13:43.980 align:middle line:84%
It was a metaphor for the
broader need to heal the
00:13:43.980 --> 00:13:45.230 align:middle line:90%
country as a whole.
00:13:45.230 --> 00:13:47.940 align:middle line:90%
00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:52.350 align:middle line:84%
We have lived through a time of
torment and now we are near
00:13:52.350 --> 00:13:54.340 align:middle line:90%
a time of healing.
00:13:54.340 --> 00:14:00.610 align:middle line:84%
Out of our national diversity
can come national unity.
00:14:00.610 --> 00:14:04.030 align:middle line:84%
I ask you to help us bind up our
nation\'s wounds to help us
00:14:04.030 --> 00:14:05.745 align:middle line:90%
reach that point of healing.
00:14:05.745 --> 00:14:19.380 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:14:19.380 --> 00:14:21.176 align:middle line:84%
Ladies and gentlemen, the next
president of the United
00:14:21.176 --> 00:14:22.810 align:middle line:90%
States, Governor Jimmy Carter.
00:14:22.810 --> 00:14:31.170 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:14:31.170 --> 00:14:34.930 align:middle line:84%
I have just taken the oath of
office on the bible my mother
00:14:34.930 --> 00:14:40.710 align:middle line:84%
gave me just a few years ago,
opened to a timeless
00:14:40.710 --> 00:14:47.180 align:middle line:84%
admonition from the ancient
prophet, Micah.
00:14:47.180 --> 00:14:51.250 align:middle line:84%
\"And what does the Lord require
of thee but to do
00:14:51.250 --> 00:15:03.140 align:middle line:84%
justly and to love mercy and to
walk humbly with thy God?\"
00:15:03.140 --> 00:15:07.130 align:middle line:84%
By the mid 1970s, evangelicals
were exalting their
00:15:07.130 --> 00:15:10.310 align:middle line:84%
Christianity in every arena
of modern American life.
00:15:10.310 --> 00:15:13.880 align:middle line:84%
And the media, inspired by
Carter\'s election, were eager
00:15:13.880 --> 00:15:17.090 align:middle line:84%
to make sense of this seemingly
new phenomenon.
00:15:17.090 --> 00:15:19.900 align:middle line:84%
Our segment three this evening,
the second in our
00:15:19.900 --> 00:15:23.850 align:middle line:84%
striking series on the born
again Christians or
00:15:23.850 --> 00:15:27.440 align:middle line:84%
evangelicals, who are, believe
it or not, one third of the
00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.300 align:middle line:90%
adult Christians in America.
00:15:30.300 --> 00:15:35.080 align:middle line:84%
Christians have come a long way
from the Roman Colosseum.
00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:38.350 align:middle line:84%
What you are seeing is a movie
produced by the evangelical\'s
00:15:38.350 --> 00:15:41.850 align:middle line:84%
leading intellectual, Doctor
Francis Schaeffer, who, in
00:15:41.850 --> 00:15:45.650 align:middle line:84%
1977, sees Christians not
as victims in the
00:15:45.650 --> 00:15:48.670 align:middle line:90%
world, but as leaders.
00:15:48.670 --> 00:15:52.570 align:middle line:84%
After we are Christians then it
is our responsibility to be
00:15:52.570 --> 00:15:54.420 align:middle line:90%
an influence on our culture.
00:15:54.420 --> 00:15:57.100 align:middle line:84%
We are to be the salt
in that influence.
00:15:57.100 --> 00:16:00.355 align:middle line:84%
Francis Schaeffer for me, as for
thousands of young English
00:16:00.355 --> 00:16:05.130 align:middle line:84%
and American students who were
Christians, was a door opener.
00:16:05.130 --> 00:16:08.050 align:middle line:84%
It was not only OK, it was
right and proper and
00:16:08.050 --> 00:16:11.550 align:middle line:84%
responsible as a Christian to
understand the whole of life.
00:16:11.550 --> 00:16:13.950 align:middle line:84%
All truth is God\'s truths, as
the early Christians said.
00:16:13.950 --> 00:16:15.080 align:middle line:90%
He was pointing at art.
00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:15.990 align:middle line:90%
He was pointing at music.
00:16:15.990 --> 00:16:16.950 align:middle line:90%
He was pointing at film.
00:16:16.950 --> 00:16:18.500 align:middle line:90%
He was pointing at theater.
00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:19.710 align:middle line:90%
He was pointing at government.
00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:21.490 align:middle line:90%
He was talking about policy.
00:16:21.490 --> 00:16:24.050 align:middle line:84%
And all these issues,
evangelicals had kind of been
00:16:24.050 --> 00:16:25.120 align:middle line:90%
on the off list.
00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.810 align:middle line:84%
We didn\'t go to movies when
I grew up, you know?
00:16:27.810 --> 00:16:29.950 align:middle line:84%
And now he was talking about the
great films, the way they
00:16:29.950 --> 00:16:31.040 align:middle line:90%
changed our lives.
00:16:31.040 --> 00:16:33.020 align:middle line:84%
We didn\'t go to Florence
to look at the
00:16:33.020 --> 00:16:35.360 align:middle line:90%
statues with leaves.
00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:38.520 align:middle line:84%
We stayed home and looked at
Sallman\'s Head of Christ on a
00:16:38.520 --> 00:16:39.600 align:middle line:90%
flannelgraph.
00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:42.670 align:middle line:84%
And suddenly, Francis was
opening the whole world to us
00:16:42.670 --> 00:16:44.430 align:middle line:90%
and saying, we\'re Christians.
00:16:44.430 --> 00:16:46.261 align:middle line:90%
This all belongs to us.
00:16:46.261 --> 00:16:51.695 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:16:51.695 --> 00:16:55.630 align:middle line:84%
Supper Clubs can fill a
community wide need for a
00:16:55.630 --> 00:16:58.760 align:middle line:84%
night spot, a family style night
spot where they know
00:16:58.760 --> 00:17:03.256 align:middle line:84%
they can go be entertained and
have a deluxe environment.
00:17:03.256 --> 00:17:10.089 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:17:10.089 --> 00:17:11.130 align:middle line:90%
We\'re an amateur team.
00:17:11.130 --> 00:17:12.950 align:middle line:84%
And we\'re all former college
athletes that have graduated
00:17:12.950 --> 00:17:14.190 align:middle line:90%
from across the country.
00:17:14.190 --> 00:17:16.869 align:middle line:84%
And we\'re joined together now
for a common cause besides
00:17:16.869 --> 00:17:20.140 align:middle line:84%
basketball and that is to share
with others the person
00:17:20.140 --> 00:17:22.670 align:middle line:90%
of Jesus Christ.
00:17:22.670 --> 00:17:23.709 align:middle line:90%
Religion is business.
00:17:23.709 --> 00:17:27.430 align:middle line:84%
And in America it is big
business, very big business.
00:17:27.430 --> 00:17:35.410 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:17:35.410 --> 00:17:38.020 align:middle line:84%
You are the self proclaimed
king of American
00:17:38.020 --> 00:17:38.415 align:middle line:90%
pornographers.
00:17:38.415 --> 00:17:40.400 align:middle line:84%
And now something has
happened to you.
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.760 align:middle line:84%
Can you describe yourself as a
born again Christian, which is
00:17:42.760 --> 00:17:44.980 align:middle line:84%
a phrase and an experience that
a lot of people are now
00:17:44.980 --> 00:17:45.460 align:middle line:90%
familiar with?
00:17:45.460 --> 00:17:47.613 align:middle line:84%
Or were you ever born the
first time in terms of
00:17:47.613 --> 00:17:48.460 align:middle line:90%
Christianity?
00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:51.890 align:middle line:84%
I don\'t think I was ever
born the first time.
00:17:51.890 --> 00:17:54.996 align:middle line:84%
I know that I am
born again now.
00:17:54.996 --> 00:18:01.950 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:18:01.950 --> 00:18:04.450 align:middle line:84%
Do not think Christianity\'s
a small thing.
00:18:04.450 --> 00:18:06.350 align:middle line:90%
Do not sell it short.
00:18:06.350 --> 00:18:09.010 align:middle line:84%
Christianity\'s intellectually
viable.
00:18:09.010 --> 00:18:13.080 align:middle line:84%
Christianity is intellectually
saleable to our generation.
00:18:13.080 --> 00:18:15.450 align:middle line:84%
Christianity covers the whole
spectrum of life.
00:18:15.450 --> 00:18:17.740 align:middle line:84%
You need never be
ashamed of it.
00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:20.340 align:middle line:84%
No matter how far you go, you\'ll
never sail off the end
00:18:20.340 --> 00:18:22.330 align:middle line:90%
of the world.
00:18:22.330 --> 00:18:23.990 align:middle line:84%
The Bible is there
and it covers the
00:18:23.990 --> 00:18:25.230 align:middle line:90%
whole spectrum of life.
00:18:25.230 --> 00:18:28.560 align:middle line:84%
I lay upon you, God has given
us a beautiful thing.
00:18:28.560 --> 00:18:32.380 align:middle line:84%
Please do not truncate it and
do not sell it short.
00:18:32.380 --> 00:18:34.820 align:middle line:90%
This is the 700 Club.
00:18:34.820 --> 00:18:38.850 align:middle line:84%
On this edition, we speculate
on man\'s future in space.
00:18:38.850 --> 00:18:41.770 align:middle line:84%
Now, here\'s your host,
Pat Robertson.
00:18:41.770 --> 00:18:44.920 align:middle line:90%
00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:47.170 align:middle line:84%
Thank you ladies and
gentlemen, a
00:18:47.170 --> 00:18:49.300 align:middle line:90%
little space walk.
00:18:49.300 --> 00:18:51.210 align:middle line:90%
Hey, Mr. Spock, good morning.
00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:53.440 align:middle line:90%
Good morning, Captain.
00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:56.690 align:middle line:84%
We went on the air in 1973
with a station in Dallas,
00:18:56.690 --> 00:18:59.280 align:middle line:90%
Texas UHF Independent.
00:18:59.280 --> 00:19:03.340 align:middle line:84%
Up to this time, I laughingly
said we were playing soccer
00:19:03.340 --> 00:19:05.350 align:middle line:84%
and everybody else was
playing football.
00:19:05.350 --> 00:19:05.970 align:middle line:90%
There was nothing.
00:19:05.970 --> 00:19:08.860 align:middle line:84%
There were about four
full time employees.
00:19:08.860 --> 00:19:12.240 align:middle line:84%
It was 17,000 watts of black
and white television.
00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:14.760 align:middle line:84%
You couldn\'t pick up the signal
around the block.
00:19:14.760 --> 00:19:17.630 align:middle line:84%
If you had to have a radio, I
mean, some kind of antenna,
00:19:17.630 --> 00:19:20.385 align:middle line:84%
you had to get a piece
of wire or a coat
00:19:20.385 --> 00:19:21.870 align:middle line:90%
hanger to make a loop.
00:19:21.870 --> 00:19:24.490 align:middle line:90%
Nobody knew what UHF was.
00:19:24.490 --> 00:19:25.290 align:middle line:90%
Nobody got it.
00:19:25.290 --> 00:19:26.440 align:middle line:90%
Nobody cared about it.
00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:29.500 align:middle line:84%
And I began to look at the
rating books and begin to
00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:31.850 align:middle line:84%
understand how audience
flow worked.
00:19:31.850 --> 00:19:35.600 align:middle line:84%
And I understood what the
demographics in America were.
00:19:35.600 --> 00:19:40.940 align:middle line:84%
And I, therefore, began to
purchase some of the wholesome
00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:44.490 align:middle line:84%
situation comedies, the Dick
Van Dykes, Hogan\'s Heros,
00:19:44.490 --> 00:19:47.850 align:middle line:84%
Gomer Pyle, that stuff, Leave
it to Beaver, et cetera,
00:19:47.850 --> 00:19:52.590 align:middle line:84%
Lassie, some of those classics,
and began to program
00:19:52.590 --> 00:19:56.460 align:middle line:84%
our television stations with
this type of fare, with the
00:19:56.460 --> 00:20:00.680 align:middle line:84%
religious programs having a
key slot in prime time.
00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:02.950 align:middle line:84%
I think the first program, the
secular program we had was
00:20:02.950 --> 00:20:04.740 align:middle line:90%
Queen for a Day.
00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:08.690 align:middle line:84%
And when that one aired, there
were many that were just so
00:20:08.690 --> 00:20:13.750 align:middle line:84%
upset because on that first
program, that program happened
00:20:13.750 --> 00:20:18.080 align:middle line:84%
to have a number of ladies in
bathing suits, as I recall,
00:20:18.080 --> 00:20:19.310 align:middle line:90%
for some reason.
00:20:19.310 --> 00:20:22.170 align:middle line:90%
And so that got a lot of people
00:20:22.170 --> 00:20:25.030 align:middle line:90%
upset within the debate.
00:20:25.030 --> 00:20:27.430 align:middle line:84%
OK, now we\'re beginning
to compromise.
00:20:27.430 --> 00:20:30.020 align:middle line:84%
See, our first program, we put
it on the air and we haven\'t
00:20:30.020 --> 00:20:32.030 align:middle line:84%
even got a commercial and we\'re
already starting to
00:20:32.030 --> 00:20:32.960 align:middle line:90%
compromise.
00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:37.600 align:middle line:84%
Well, our afternoon audience
jumped 400% in two weeks in
00:20:37.600 --> 00:20:39.600 align:middle line:90%
our station in Norfolk.
00:20:39.600 --> 00:20:45.100 align:middle line:84%
And in Dallas we had some
extremely favorable ratings.
00:20:45.100 --> 00:20:47.840 align:middle line:84%
As a matter of fact, we exceeded
in the ratings the
00:20:47.840 --> 00:20:50.780 align:middle line:84%
Double Day, which had been
around for 10 years.
00:20:50.780 --> 00:20:52.590 align:middle line:84%
Calls are coming in right
at this minute--
00:20:52.590 --> 00:20:56.450 align:middle line:84%
For Pat Robertson, it was
important that CBN look like
00:20:56.450 --> 00:21:00.720 align:middle line:84%
the best television could do,
with as much sophistication,
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:04.860 align:middle line:84%
so that they could feel proud of
themselves as evangelicals
00:21:04.860 --> 00:21:08.480 align:middle line:84%
and that he could have let them
feel that they were just
00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:11.422 align:middle line:90%
as good as any one else.
00:21:11.422 --> 00:21:16.540 align:middle line:84%
And driving my car that weekend,
I looked at Dottie
00:21:16.540 --> 00:21:19.670 align:middle line:84%
and I said, darling, there\'s no
doubt in my mind that Jesus
00:21:19.670 --> 00:21:22.190 align:middle line:90%
Christ is the Son of God.
00:21:22.190 --> 00:21:24.700 align:middle line:84%
And Charlie Duke was
born again that
00:21:24.700 --> 00:21:27.209 align:middle line:90%
instant, praise God.
00:21:27.209 --> 00:21:32.960 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:36.790 align:middle line:84%
Compared to going in with
the moon, no comparison.
00:21:36.790 --> 00:21:40.150 align:middle line:84%
Pat, for six years, I said I
could live for 1,000 years and
00:21:40.150 --> 00:21:43.300 align:middle line:84%
never have an experience like
walking on the moon.
00:21:43.300 --> 00:21:46.450 align:middle line:84%
But that moon trip lasted
for three days.
00:21:46.450 --> 00:21:49.460 align:middle line:84%
And my walk with Jesus
is forever.
00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:53.740 align:middle line:84%
And that walk with Jesus is so
fantastic that I don\'t even
00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:55.300 align:middle line:90%
compare walking on the moon.
00:21:55.300 --> 00:21:57.210 align:middle line:90%
Praise God.
00:21:57.210 --> 00:21:59.330 align:middle line:90%
The world is lost.
00:21:59.330 --> 00:22:03.420 align:middle line:84%
But the people who make up that
lost world are made in
00:22:03.420 --> 00:22:05.970 align:middle line:84%
the image of God so they
have great value.
00:22:05.970 --> 00:22:08.410 align:middle line:84%
But the world is not
only lost, the
00:22:08.410 --> 00:22:10.700 align:middle line:90%
20th century is broken.
00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:12.430 align:middle line:90%
It is full of tears.
00:22:12.430 --> 00:22:14.200 align:middle line:90%
It has no answers.
00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:18.880 align:middle line:84%
And it\'s up to us to stand on
the word of God in order to
00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:21.910 align:middle line:84%
reach out to these people who
are not only lost for eternity
00:22:21.910 --> 00:22:25.020 align:middle line:84%
if they do not turn to Christ,
but are meaningless now.
00:22:25.020 --> 00:22:39.690 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:22:39.690 --> 00:22:41.880 align:middle line:84%
Many evangelical and
fundamentalists felt that the
00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:45.190 align:middle line:84%
very nation their parents and
grandparents had handed them
00:22:45.190 --> 00:22:48.440 align:middle line:84%
was being squandered by
the \'60s generation.
00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:50.730 align:middle line:84%
Now everything is about
sex and sensuality.
00:22:50.730 --> 00:22:52.920 align:middle line:84%
Everything is about
feeling good.
00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:55.020 align:middle line:84%
Everything is about your
erogenous zones.
00:22:55.020 --> 00:22:58.810 align:middle line:84%
Everything is about this world,
this moment, this very
00:22:58.810 --> 00:23:01.450 align:middle line:90%
nanosecond.
00:23:01.450 --> 00:23:03.570 align:middle line:84%
These are not the cause
of our decadence but a
00:23:03.570 --> 00:23:05.150 align:middle line:90%
reflection of it.
00:23:05.150 --> 00:23:08.530 align:middle line:84%
You get these things when a
nation turns its back on God,
00:23:08.530 --> 00:23:11.710 align:middle line:84%
on moral principles, don\'t teach
them at home, don\'t live
00:23:11.710 --> 00:23:14.290 align:middle line:84%
them at home, don\'t teach them
in school and reinforce them
00:23:14.290 --> 00:23:15.370 align:middle line:90%
in the culture.
00:23:15.370 --> 00:23:18.180 align:middle line:84%
To see groups that were actually
parading down the
00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:20.570 align:middle line:84%
street with big signs
that were the
00:23:20.570 --> 00:23:23.560 align:middle line:90%
Socialist Party and Lesbian.
00:23:23.560 --> 00:23:26.670 align:middle line:84%
There was a group of prostitutes
as well as others.
00:23:26.670 --> 00:23:30.780 align:middle line:84%
But these sort of things just
kind of made pictures in my
00:23:30.780 --> 00:23:33.344 align:middle line:84%
mind I hadn\'t ever
seen ever before.
00:23:33.344 --> 00:23:37.280 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:23:37.280 --> 00:23:39.610 align:middle line:90%
And that is what they did.
00:23:39.610 --> 00:23:41.390 align:middle line:84%
And they did it on national
television.
00:23:41.390 --> 00:23:44.330 align:middle line:84%
As Anita Bryant and others
have discovered, another
00:23:44.330 --> 00:23:48.720 align:middle line:84%
American minority is loudly
demanding equal treatment.
00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:52.900 align:middle line:84%
Anita Bryant was speaking out
on the homosexual movement.
00:23:52.900 --> 00:23:57.010 align:middle line:84%
And she was getting accosted
or she\'d get a pie
00:23:57.010 --> 00:23:58.100 align:middle line:90%
thrown in her face.
00:23:58.100 --> 00:24:00.850 align:middle line:84%
I have been blacklisted for
exercising the right of a
00:24:00.850 --> 00:24:05.220 align:middle line:84%
mother to defend her children
and all children against their
00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:07.400 align:middle line:84%
being recruited by
homosexuals.
00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:09.740 align:middle line:84%
I kept saying why don\'t the
ministers stand up?
00:24:09.740 --> 00:24:12.770 align:middle line:84%
Why does a woman have to stand
up and get the abuse of these
00:24:12.770 --> 00:24:13.670 align:middle line:90%
homosexuals?
00:24:13.670 --> 00:24:20.850 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:24:20.850 --> 00:24:23.420 align:middle line:84%
We got a note back from a third
grade teacher of our
00:24:23.420 --> 00:24:27.370 align:middle line:84%
youngest son inviting parents to
a meeting at the school to
00:24:27.370 --> 00:24:29.470 align:middle line:84%
discuss the growing
drug problem in
00:24:29.470 --> 00:24:30.450 align:middle line:90%
the elementary school.
00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:32.290 align:middle line:84%
And at that point, we
said this is it,
00:24:32.290 --> 00:24:33.130 align:middle line:90%
pulled them all out.
00:24:33.130 --> 00:24:35.220 align:middle line:84%
And were determined
to put them in
00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:36.540 align:middle line:90%
private Christian schools.
00:24:36.540 --> 00:24:38.430 align:middle line:90%
The American family.
00:24:38.430 --> 00:24:40.770 align:middle line:90%
Is it an endangered species?
00:24:40.770 --> 00:24:44.550 align:middle line:84%
The longer I\'m laid off, as
money gets tighter, you have a
00:24:44.550 --> 00:24:47.060 align:middle line:84%
tendency to pick at each
other a little bit.
00:24:47.060 --> 00:24:48.690 align:middle line:84%
Well, at the last yearly
count, there
00:24:48.690 --> 00:24:51.970 align:middle line:90%
were 1,100,000 divorces.
00:24:51.970 --> 00:24:56.910 align:middle line:84%
And those divorces involved more
than 1,117,000 children.
00:24:56.910 --> 00:25:00.580 align:middle line:84%
The word family has got to be
defined a lot more generously
00:25:00.580 --> 00:25:03.380 align:middle line:84%
than it has been through
our recent history.
00:25:03.380 --> 00:25:07.170 align:middle line:84%
You know, you could even have
two lesbians bringing up a
00:25:07.170 --> 00:25:08.700 align:middle line:90%
child in a wonderful way.
00:25:08.700 --> 00:25:11.510 align:middle line:84%
The birth of the world\'s first
so-called test tube baby in
00:25:11.510 --> 00:25:14.240 align:middle line:84%
England has raised fears that
women who don\'t want to be
00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:17.600 align:middle line:84%
bothered with carrying a child
for nine months may hire other
00:25:17.600 --> 00:25:19.090 align:middle line:90%
women to do it for them.
00:25:19.090 --> 00:25:21.730 align:middle line:84%
People said, why do we have
these rules about divorce?
00:25:21.730 --> 00:25:24.710 align:middle line:84%
Why do we have these rules about
pornography and so on?
00:25:24.710 --> 00:25:27.770 align:middle line:84%
These are just dead customs
passed along from our
00:25:27.770 --> 00:25:28.300 align:middle line:90%
forbearers.
00:25:28.300 --> 00:25:29.710 align:middle line:84%
We don\'t know why
they existed.
00:25:29.710 --> 00:25:32.030 align:middle line:84%
What you\'re saying is that
parents really ought to
00:25:32.030 --> 00:25:33.760 align:middle line:90%
discuss the merits of
00:25:33.760 --> 00:25:35.040 align:middle line:90%
masturbation with their children.
00:25:35.040 --> 00:25:36.080 align:middle line:90%
Yeah, they certainly should.
00:25:36.080 --> 00:25:42.236 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:25:42.236 --> 00:25:45.560 align:middle line:84%
Recent statistics show that one
half of the teenage girls
00:25:45.560 --> 00:25:48.182 align:middle line:84%
in the United States
are not virgins.
00:25:48.182 --> 00:25:50.470 align:middle line:84%
The teenager named James
who lost his
00:25:50.470 --> 00:25:52.094 align:middle line:90%
virginity in prime time--
00:25:52.094 --> 00:25:55.230 align:middle line:84%
It makes it like if you
don\'t have sex,
00:25:55.230 --> 00:25:56.880 align:middle line:90%
what\'s wrong with you?
00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:00.010 align:middle line:84%
One thing that people do, which
is probably incorrect,
00:26:00.010 --> 00:26:04.060 align:middle line:84%
is to try to persuade the young
people to stop doing
00:26:04.060 --> 00:26:05.125 align:middle line:90%
what they\'re doing.
00:26:05.125 --> 00:26:13.690 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:26:13.690 --> 00:26:17.410 align:middle line:84%
Name the issue that dominated
the \'70s more than any other.
00:26:17.410 --> 00:26:18.090 align:middle line:90%
Women\'s rights.
00:26:18.090 --> 00:26:21.660 align:middle line:84%
The Equal Rights Amendment,
abortion, affirmative action
00:26:21.660 --> 00:26:24.320 align:middle line:84%
for women in all
kinds of jobs.
00:26:24.320 --> 00:26:27.710 align:middle line:84%
Women became firemen,
astronauts, the mayor of
00:26:27.710 --> 00:26:29.815 align:middle line:84%
Chicago, the governor
of Connecticut.
00:26:29.815 --> 00:26:33.815 align:middle line:90%
00:26:33.815 --> 00:26:37.490 align:middle line:84%
The Equal Rights Amendment
is basically a fraud.
00:26:37.490 --> 00:26:41.090 align:middle line:84%
It pretends and proclaims that
it\'s going to give some
00:26:41.090 --> 00:26:43.550 align:middle line:90%
benefit to women.
00:26:43.550 --> 00:26:47.740 align:middle line:84%
There\'s no benefit
for women in it.
00:26:47.740 --> 00:26:51.820 align:middle line:84%
So we set out the call to the
various churches across the
00:26:51.820 --> 00:26:55.240 align:middle line:84%
country, told them that they
were threatened by the Equal
00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:59.230 align:middle line:84%
Rights Amendment and they needed
to come to a rally.
00:26:59.230 --> 00:27:03.030 align:middle line:84%
We had all the various
Protestant denominations.
00:27:03.030 --> 00:27:04.410 align:middle line:90%
We had the Catholics.
00:27:04.410 --> 00:27:05.440 align:middle line:90%
We had the Mormons.
00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.300 align:middle line:90%
We have the Orthodox Jews.
00:27:07.300 --> 00:27:08.990 align:middle line:84%
And when the Baptist
joined us, that
00:27:08.990 --> 00:27:10.660 align:middle line:90%
really doubled our strength.
00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:15.830 align:middle line:84%
The masses of American people
and particularly evangelical
00:27:15.830 --> 00:27:19.840 align:middle line:84%
women began to wake up to the
fact that we were being
00:27:19.840 --> 00:27:24.070 align:middle line:84%
overrun by this group of
feminists who claimed to speak
00:27:24.070 --> 00:27:25.790 align:middle line:90%
for all of us.
00:27:25.790 --> 00:27:29.190 align:middle line:84%
Most of these people didn\'t know
each other before then.
00:27:29.190 --> 00:27:30.630 align:middle line:90%
But they came.
00:27:30.630 --> 00:27:32.030 align:middle line:90%
They followed us.
00:27:32.030 --> 00:27:33.980 align:middle line:90%
We had the demonstrations.
00:27:33.980 --> 00:27:37.008 align:middle line:84%
And they realized they could
work together on behalf of a
00:27:37.008 --> 00:27:38.674 align:middle line:90%
common goal.
00:27:38.674 --> 00:27:43.910 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:27:43.910 --> 00:27:45.200 align:middle line:84%
Mr. President, I
appreciate this
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:48.170 align:middle line:90%
opportunity to talk to you.
00:27:48.170 --> 00:27:51.310 align:middle line:84%
I feel that you are violating
the states rights when you
00:27:51.310 --> 00:27:54.880 align:middle line:84%
call into the different states
and lobby for the ERA.
00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:59.260 align:middle line:84%
OK, well, I think you probably
have noticed that the final
00:27:59.260 --> 00:28:01.600 align:middle line:84%
decision is with the
state legislatures.
00:28:01.600 --> 00:28:03.890 align:middle line:84%
And although I have made a few
telephone calls since I\'ve
00:28:03.890 --> 00:28:06.520 align:middle line:84%
been in office and have talked
some personally and to some
00:28:06.520 --> 00:28:09.650 align:middle line:84%
governors about the passage
of ERA, I haven\'t tried to
00:28:09.650 --> 00:28:11.800 align:middle line:84%
interfere or put pressure
on them.
00:28:11.800 --> 00:28:14.960 align:middle line:84%
When I ran for president, I made
it clear that I was in
00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:18.460 align:middle line:84%
favor of the Equal Rights
Amendment passing and still am
00:28:18.460 --> 00:28:20.610 align:middle line:84%
in favor of it and hope
it does pass.
00:28:20.610 --> 00:28:24.050 align:middle line:84%
I remember Jimmy Carter coming
out as an evangelical born
00:28:24.050 --> 00:28:28.210 align:middle line:84%
again Baptist and remember the
great spirit of cheering that
00:28:28.210 --> 00:28:32.430 align:middle line:84%
went up on first hearing all
across the evangelical world.
00:28:32.430 --> 00:28:34.570 align:middle line:84%
And then to begin to find out
that his politics were more
00:28:34.570 --> 00:28:38.330 align:middle line:84%
liberal, and then they
got confused.
00:28:38.330 --> 00:28:41.510 align:middle line:84%
He invited 12 ministers
in for breakfast.
00:28:41.510 --> 00:28:46.050 align:middle line:84%
And I was one of the
12 invited in.
00:28:46.050 --> 00:28:49.640 align:middle line:84%
And I asked him something about
why he, as a Christian
00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:54.510 align:middle line:84%
and a pro family man as he
protested to be, was in favor
00:28:54.510 --> 00:28:56.865 align:middle line:84%
of the Equal Rights Amendment
in view of the fact that it
00:28:56.865 --> 00:28:58.800 align:middle line:84%
would be so harmful
to the family.
00:28:58.800 --> 00:29:03.210 align:middle line:84%
And he gave some way off the
wall answer that the Equal
00:29:03.210 --> 00:29:05.590 align:middle line:84%
Rights Amendment was good
for the family.
00:29:05.590 --> 00:29:07.730 align:middle line:84%
Well I knew when he said that,
he was out to lunch.
00:29:07.730 --> 00:29:11.810 align:middle line:84%
I think during the Carter
administration, because he was
00:29:11.810 --> 00:29:14.810 align:middle line:84%
a self proclaimed born again
Christian, he had an enormous
00:29:14.810 --> 00:29:16.900 align:middle line:84%
amount of goodwill among
evangelicals.
00:29:16.900 --> 00:29:21.270 align:middle line:84%
I think prayer was not so much
for the nation as for him and
00:29:21.270 --> 00:29:24.490 align:middle line:84%
to encourage him that we might
see some shift away from the
00:29:24.490 --> 00:29:27.220 align:middle line:84%
malaise and so forth that
they talked about.
00:29:27.220 --> 00:29:30.820 align:middle line:84%
And before his administration
was finished, however, the
00:29:30.820 --> 00:29:33.500 align:middle line:84%
evangelicals had become totally
disillusioned with
00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:36.740 align:middle line:84%
Carter and were praying that
somehow the Lord would deliver
00:29:36.740 --> 00:29:38.200 align:middle line:90%
us from him.
00:29:38.200 --> 00:29:43.030 align:middle line:84%
One of the most difficult things
to sustain as president
00:29:43.030 --> 00:29:47.680 align:middle line:84%
is sort of subliminal,
general themes.
00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:50.510 align:middle line:84%
And I think one of our
difficulties, perhaps
00:29:50.510 --> 00:29:53.880 align:middle line:84%
failings, was not doing
a better job of that.
00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:56.150 align:middle line:84%
But the reason why it\'s so
difficult is simply that a
00:29:56.150 --> 00:30:02.420 align:middle line:84%
president has to make real life
decisions, hundreds and
00:30:02.420 --> 00:30:07.590 align:middle line:84%
hundreds of decisions, economic
decisions, foreign
00:30:07.590 --> 00:30:13.020 align:middle line:84%
policy decisions, which tend
to overwhelm these more
00:30:13.020 --> 00:30:14.800 align:middle line:90%
subliminal messages.
00:30:14.800 --> 00:30:17.860 align:middle line:84%
Now, we did in fact, in many
ways, try to carry through the
00:30:17.860 --> 00:30:21.010 align:middle line:84%
family values, traditional
values notion, the dealing
00:30:21.010 --> 00:30:27.000 align:middle line:84%
with things like the marriage
penalty in the tax code, with
00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:30.530 align:middle line:84%
him going to church and teaching
on Sunday even as
00:30:30.530 --> 00:30:35.330 align:middle line:84%
President as a part of his
regular routine, of having a
00:30:35.330 --> 00:30:39.740 align:middle line:84%
prayer before meetings with
congressional leadership.
00:30:39.740 --> 00:30:42.360 align:middle line:84%
And there were a number of
things like that were done and
00:30:42.360 --> 00:30:45.620 align:middle line:84%
that were, again, not at all
contrived, part of the
00:30:45.620 --> 00:30:47.240 align:middle line:90%
essential Carter.
00:30:47.240 --> 00:30:49.200 align:middle line:84%
Ladies and Gentlemen,
the President
00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:50.670 align:middle line:90%
of the United States.
00:30:50.670 --> 00:30:57.050 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:30:57.050 --> 00:31:02.540 align:middle line:84%
I talked last Sunday night about
a crisis of confidence
00:31:02.540 --> 00:31:04.320 align:middle line:90%
in our country.
00:31:04.320 --> 00:31:09.720 align:middle line:84%
And the family is very much part
of that crisis, part of
00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:11.620 align:middle line:90%
the problem, yes.
00:31:11.620 --> 00:31:13.620 align:middle line:84%
But much more importantly,
it is a
00:31:13.620 --> 00:31:17.580 align:middle line:90%
major part of the solution.
00:31:17.580 --> 00:31:21.390 align:middle line:84%
Without question the American
family is in trouble.
00:31:21.390 --> 00:31:24.920 align:middle line:84%
The family has survived,
though, many social and
00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:27.760 align:middle line:84%
technological revolutions
in the past.
00:31:27.760 --> 00:31:30.230 align:middle line:84%
And our families
can survive the
00:31:30.230 --> 00:31:33.020 align:middle line:90%
current changes and stresses.
00:31:33.020 --> 00:31:34.980 align:middle line:90%
They are too precious.
00:31:34.980 --> 00:31:40.210 align:middle line:84%
The families are too basic, too
essential not to survive.
00:31:40.210 --> 00:31:44.320 align:middle line:84%
Ultimately, the family may
emerge from this test even
00:31:44.320 --> 00:31:48.890 align:middle line:84%
stronger if we are successful
and the American people are
00:31:48.890 --> 00:31:53.880 align:middle line:84%
successful in facing facts
and acting together.
00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:56.050 align:middle line:84%
I had no intention for working
for the White House conference
00:31:56.050 --> 00:31:56.830 align:middle line:90%
on families.
00:31:56.830 --> 00:32:00.130 align:middle line:84%
But then we talked about how
they might go about trying to
00:32:00.130 --> 00:32:03.450 align:middle line:84%
listen to families and
accomplish some things.
00:32:03.450 --> 00:32:05.720 align:middle line:84%
And my advice to them was they
ought to get it out of
00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:06.850 align:middle line:90%
Washington.
00:32:06.850 --> 00:32:09.290 align:middle line:84%
They ought to listen more than
they ought to talk, that I was
00:32:09.290 --> 00:32:11.300 align:middle line:84%
not very enamored of traditional
White House
00:32:11.300 --> 00:32:15.180 align:middle line:84%
conference on families and that
they ought to spend less
00:32:15.180 --> 00:32:17.590 align:middle line:84%
of their energy on a big
Washington meeting and more of
00:32:17.590 --> 00:32:21.000 align:middle line:84%
their energy on listening to
families and hearings and
00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:24.160 align:middle line:84%
state dialogues and sort
of decentralize it.
00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:28.010 align:middle line:84%
And they liked that idea for
some reason and decided that I
00:32:28.010 --> 00:32:29.110 align:middle line:90%
ought to do it.
00:32:29.110 --> 00:32:31.880 align:middle line:84%
Organizers tried to make the
conference a model of public
00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:33.740 align:middle line:84%
outreach, with hearings
and delegate
00:32:33.740 --> 00:32:35.550 align:middle line:90%
elections across the country.
00:32:35.550 --> 00:32:37.570 align:middle line:84%
To help determine the conference
agenda, they
00:32:37.570 --> 00:32:39.890 align:middle line:84%
commissioned a nationwide
Gallup survey.
00:32:39.890 --> 00:32:42.680 align:middle line:84%
It revealed that Americans
were most concerned about
00:32:42.680 --> 00:32:45.860 align:middle line:84%
economic pressures on family
life, such as inflation,
00:32:45.860 --> 00:32:48.010 align:middle line:90%
taxes, and health care costs.
00:32:48.010 --> 00:32:50.480 align:middle line:84%
Is there anything in it that
surprised you or that really
00:32:50.480 --> 00:32:51.550 align:middle line:90%
struck you?
00:32:51.550 --> 00:32:55.130 align:middle line:84%
I guess some of the intensity of
emotion surprised me a bit.
00:32:55.130 --> 00:32:59.320 align:middle line:84%
For one thing, 80% of the
American people say that their
00:32:59.320 --> 00:33:02.860 align:middle line:84%
family is the most important
thing in their life or one of
00:33:02.860 --> 00:33:05.480 align:middle line:84%
the very most important things,
not their job, not
00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:07.290 align:middle line:84%
some hobby, not some
other outside
00:33:07.290 --> 00:33:09.040 align:middle line:90%
activity, but their family.
00:33:09.040 --> 00:33:11.870 align:middle line:84%
And I guess, secondly, there\'s
some fairly traditional values
00:33:11.870 --> 00:33:13.810 align:middle line:84%
that showed up that
were very strong.
00:33:13.810 --> 00:33:17.010 align:middle line:84%
And I don\'t think they had
any glimpse of the
00:33:17.010 --> 00:33:18.880 align:middle line:90%
difference in worldview.
00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:22.610 align:middle line:84%
I don\'t think it had come across
their radar screen that
00:33:22.610 --> 00:33:25.860 align:middle line:84%
there were people out there, let
alone a significant number
00:33:25.860 --> 00:33:29.670 align:middle line:84%
of people out there, who didn\'t
think government was an
00:33:29.670 --> 00:33:33.140 align:middle line:84%
extension of themselves and
performing the works of
00:33:33.140 --> 00:33:36.450 align:middle line:84%
charity, who didn\'t think that
government was always to be
00:33:36.450 --> 00:33:39.040 align:middle line:90%
trusted and looked to.
00:33:39.040 --> 00:33:42.830 align:middle line:84%
I don\'t think they realized that
there were intelligent,
00:33:42.830 --> 00:33:46.780 align:middle line:84%
articulate, credible people out
there in large numbers who
00:33:46.780 --> 00:33:49.010 align:middle line:84%
had a totally different
point of view.
00:33:49.010 --> 00:33:53.050 align:middle line:84%
In the evangelical world family
seminars, marriage
00:33:53.050 --> 00:33:58.120 align:middle line:84%
seminars, children seminars,
parenting, those kinds of
00:33:58.120 --> 00:33:59.840 align:middle line:84%
things were natural
and normal.
00:33:59.840 --> 00:34:04.470 align:middle line:84%
And speakers traveled all over
and tapes were disseminated.
00:34:04.470 --> 00:34:07.400 align:middle line:84%
It was just a natural
part of our world.
00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:11.080 align:middle line:84%
And to then see that a White
House conference on the family
00:34:11.080 --> 00:34:14.760 align:middle line:84%
was going to take place and it
was kind of like these people
00:34:14.760 --> 00:34:18.989 align:middle line:84%
weren\'t even a part of it, I
think that created, at the
00:34:18.989 --> 00:34:23.060 align:middle line:84%
grassroots level as well
as in my own mind,
00:34:23.060 --> 00:34:24.820 align:middle line:90%
something\'s wrong here.
00:34:24.820 --> 00:34:28.560 align:middle line:84%
Either it\'s been rigged or they
genuinely don\'t know what
00:34:28.560 --> 00:34:29.190 align:middle line:90%
they\'re doing.
00:34:29.190 --> 00:34:32.850 align:middle line:84%
I remember going up to a
meeting of conservative
00:34:32.850 --> 00:34:36.214 align:middle line:84%
political groups on the hill
organized, I think by Paul
00:34:36.214 --> 00:34:39.560 align:middle line:84%
Weyrich or somebody else, where
for about an hour and a
00:34:39.560 --> 00:34:41.909 align:middle line:84%
half we were told what
we were doing to
00:34:41.909 --> 00:34:43.350 align:middle line:90%
destroy American families.
00:34:43.350 --> 00:34:46.780 align:middle line:84%
And we invited them in and
said get involved.
00:34:46.780 --> 00:34:49.020 align:middle line:84%
This is going to be a
process, a dialogue.
00:34:49.020 --> 00:34:51.650 align:middle line:84%
I think this has been the most
open White House conference in
00:34:51.650 --> 00:34:54.120 align:middle line:84%
history and that we are going
to have an awful lot of
00:34:54.120 --> 00:34:56.330 align:middle line:84%
delegates here who are not
here grinding their own
00:34:56.330 --> 00:34:59.360 align:middle line:84%
particular axes but are here
to represent their families
00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:00.610 align:middle line:90%
and families like them.
00:35:00.610 --> 00:35:04.690 align:middle line:84%
I think there were about four
or six of us from the
00:35:04.690 --> 00:35:08.900 align:middle line:84%
Lynchburg County area that
went as delegates.
00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:12.090 align:middle line:84%
And I felt like maybe I was the
token homemaker that got
00:35:12.090 --> 00:35:14.080 align:middle line:90%
to go, I don\'t know.
00:35:14.080 --> 00:35:16.060 align:middle line:84%
I mean I had been working in the
political arena, there was
00:35:16.060 --> 00:35:19.110 align:middle line:84%
no question about that in terms
of public policy for
00:35:19.110 --> 00:35:21.110 align:middle line:84%
children, youth, families,
those kinds of things.
00:35:21.110 --> 00:35:25.950 align:middle line:84%
But we had really worked on very
much of a kind of across
00:35:25.950 --> 00:35:27.970 align:middle line:90%
the spectrum bipartisan--
00:35:27.970 --> 00:35:30.920 align:middle line:84%
you know, whenever we worked in
the legislature, we worked
00:35:30.920 --> 00:35:31.940 align:middle line:90%
both sides of the aisle.
00:35:31.940 --> 00:35:34.770 align:middle line:84%
You never worked one side,
not the other.
00:35:34.770 --> 00:35:38.170 align:middle line:84%
And children\'s issues were very
much bipartisan issues.
00:35:38.170 --> 00:35:38.845 align:middle line:90%
We went.
00:35:38.845 --> 00:35:42.470 align:middle line:84%
I went because I was involved
in daycare, organizing
00:35:42.470 --> 00:35:45.740 align:middle line:84%
daycare, was all over the state
of Iowa dealing with
00:35:45.740 --> 00:35:48.570 align:middle line:84%
daycare issues, dealing with
people that couldn\'t get in
00:35:48.570 --> 00:35:52.210 align:middle line:84%
daycare, trying to get
legislation through that would
00:35:52.210 --> 00:35:55.500 align:middle line:84%
help people, minorities and poor
people, to get daycare,
00:35:55.500 --> 00:35:59.540 align:middle line:84%
working on trying to see that
the children in the home,
00:35:59.540 --> 00:36:01.540 align:middle line:84%
their parents, would be able
to get training and things.
00:36:01.540 --> 00:36:03.150 align:middle line:84%
Should go in there
with all this--
00:36:03.150 --> 00:36:07.850 align:middle line:84%
people came in with research
they did and reasoning.
00:36:07.850 --> 00:36:09.020 align:middle line:90%
We didn\'t have that.
00:36:09.020 --> 00:36:12.390 align:middle line:84%
I did have work to do there
about speaking out and
00:36:12.390 --> 00:36:16.400 align:middle line:84%
representing what I knew about
child advocacy issues, what I
00:36:16.400 --> 00:36:18.590 align:middle line:84%
knew about child welfare, what I
know about child abuse, what
00:36:18.590 --> 00:36:20.460 align:middle line:84%
I knew about juvenile
delinquency, et cetera.
00:36:20.460 --> 00:36:25.230 align:middle line:84%
So I was there for that and was
committed to representing
00:36:25.230 --> 00:36:26.770 align:middle line:90%
my state in that.
00:36:26.770 --> 00:36:28.480 align:middle line:84%
How about the special
interest groups?
00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:29.890 align:middle line:84%
The special interest groups
will be here.
00:36:29.890 --> 00:36:30.880 align:middle line:90%
They\'re conservative.
00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:31.220 align:middle line:90%
They\'re liberal.
00:36:31.220 --> 00:36:35.040 align:middle line:84%
They\'re particularly concerned
about one or more issues.
00:36:35.040 --> 00:36:35.520 align:middle line:90%
They\'ll be here.
00:36:35.520 --> 00:36:36.760 align:middle line:84%
But I don\'t think they\'re
going to be able
00:36:36.760 --> 00:36:39.240 align:middle line:90%
to overwhelm anybody.
00:36:39.240 --> 00:36:41.270 align:middle line:84%
In order to get a recommendation
out of this
00:36:41.270 --> 00:36:43.350 align:middle line:84%
conference, they\'re going to
have to get a majority of the
00:36:43.350 --> 00:36:45.140 align:middle line:84%
people to buy what
they\'re selling.
00:36:45.140 --> 00:36:46.820 align:middle line:84%
And that\'s going
to take a lot.
00:36:46.820 --> 00:36:49.380 align:middle line:84%
As the delegates filed into this
conference, there are two
00:36:49.380 --> 00:36:51.070 align:middle line:90%
groups outside demonstrating.
00:36:51.070 --> 00:36:52.830 align:middle line:84%
One might be described
as conservative,
00:36:52.830 --> 00:36:54.340 align:middle line:90%
the other as liberal.
00:36:54.340 --> 00:36:56.590 align:middle line:84%
But, ironically, they\'re united
in their viewpoint on
00:36:56.590 --> 00:36:57.510 align:middle line:90%
this conference.
00:36:57.510 --> 00:37:00.040 align:middle line:84%
They both see it as an
attack on the family.
00:37:00.040 --> 00:37:03.190 align:middle line:84%
We are here to discuss
the family.
00:37:03.190 --> 00:37:05.410 align:middle line:84%
And I don\'t think that we
should get involved in
00:37:05.410 --> 00:37:08.330 align:middle line:84%
discussions without first
defining what the family is.
00:37:08.330 --> 00:37:14.030 align:middle line:84%
The first hurdle they came to
was that they could not decide
00:37:14.030 --> 00:37:16.410 align:middle line:90%
on what a family was.
00:37:16.410 --> 00:37:19.130 align:middle line:84%
They were politically correct
years before their time.
00:37:19.130 --> 00:37:22.380 align:middle line:84%
And they could not agree on a
definition of the family.
00:37:22.380 --> 00:37:24.370 align:middle line:84%
So the first thing they did
was change the name of the
00:37:24.370 --> 00:37:27.430 align:middle line:84%
conference from White House
Conference on the Family to
00:37:27.430 --> 00:37:29.370 align:middle line:84%
White House Conference
on Families.
00:37:29.370 --> 00:37:31.940 align:middle line:84%
Why would it be so hard for the
White House Conference to
00:37:31.940 --> 00:37:33.750 align:middle line:84%
say families are people
related by blood,
00:37:33.750 --> 00:37:34.910 align:middle line:90%
marriage, or adoption?
00:37:34.910 --> 00:37:37.280 align:middle line:84%
Why would it be so hard
for them to do that?
00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:39.290 align:middle line:84%
The only reason it would be so
hard for them to do that is
00:37:39.290 --> 00:37:41.320 align:middle line:84%
that they want families
to be other things.
00:37:41.320 --> 00:37:44.410 align:middle line:84%
They want homosexuals to be able
to be considered families
00:37:44.410 --> 00:37:47.420 align:middle line:84%
or ad hoc communes or Jim Jones
type of situations or
00:37:47.420 --> 00:37:48.770 align:middle line:90%
Manson families.
00:37:48.770 --> 00:37:50.410 align:middle line:90%
That\'s the danger, of course.
00:37:50.410 --> 00:37:51.830 align:middle line:90%
That\'s the greatest danger.
00:37:51.830 --> 00:37:54.430 align:middle line:84%
But the legitimization of
illegitimate lifestyles, such
00:37:54.430 --> 00:37:57.435 align:middle line:84%
as homosexuality, is really the
root of the definition of
00:37:57.435 --> 00:38:00.670 align:middle line:84%
the family question and the fact
that the White House does
00:38:00.670 --> 00:38:02.700 align:middle line:90%
not want to deal with that.
00:38:02.700 --> 00:38:06.390 align:middle line:84%
As far as I know about the
history of our country and all
00:38:06.390 --> 00:38:08.620 align:middle line:84%
the other countries, there
have been single parents.
00:38:08.620 --> 00:38:10.805 align:middle line:84%
And I would like to ask the
professional lady who just
00:38:10.805 --> 00:38:13.640 align:middle line:84%
spoke, since when have we
not been considered
00:38:13.640 --> 00:38:15.530 align:middle line:90%
a traditional family?
00:38:15.530 --> 00:38:16.610 align:middle line:90%
I am a family.
00:38:16.610 --> 00:38:17.900 align:middle line:90%
We are all families.
00:38:17.900 --> 00:38:21.510 align:middle line:84%
And I\'d like to know what
I am if I\'m not a
00:38:21.510 --> 00:38:23.380 align:middle line:90%
family with my child.
00:38:23.380 --> 00:38:27.310 align:middle line:84%
It was almost beyond me and
I\'d not been into that
00:38:27.310 --> 00:38:28.950 align:middle line:90%
controversy before.
00:38:28.950 --> 00:38:33.020 align:middle line:84%
And as I got into it, it came to
me kind of-- my sense of it
00:38:33.020 --> 00:38:36.270 align:middle line:84%
was kind of unrealistic that
this narrow, confined
00:38:36.270 --> 00:38:39.300 align:middle line:84%
definition of family when you
look at the reality of what
00:38:39.300 --> 00:38:40.600 align:middle line:90%
America is.
00:38:40.600 --> 00:38:46.310 align:middle line:84%
Well, I think from the beginning
of time, a family
00:38:46.310 --> 00:38:50.790 align:middle line:84%
has been looked at as a mom
and dad and children with
00:38:50.790 --> 00:38:52.620 align:middle line:90%
marriage bonds.
00:38:52.620 --> 00:38:56.880 align:middle line:84%
Now I\'m aware that there are a
lot of differences even in
00:38:56.880 --> 00:39:02.120 align:middle line:84%
various cultures and societies
around the world.
00:39:02.120 --> 00:39:06.080 align:middle line:84%
Of course, I feel like God has
ordained this family unit as
00:39:06.080 --> 00:39:08.870 align:middle line:90%
his pattern.
00:39:08.870 --> 00:39:13.480 align:middle line:84%
I\'m married with five children
and I guess I feel very
00:39:13.480 --> 00:39:16.540 align:middle line:84%
vulnerable right now because I
believe I\'m in a minority, at
00:39:16.540 --> 00:39:18.300 align:middle line:90%
least in this conference.
00:39:18.300 --> 00:39:20.980 align:middle line:84%
But I don\'t believe that
I am in a minority in
00:39:20.980 --> 00:39:22.240 align:middle line:90%
terms of the country.
00:39:22.240 --> 00:39:27.410 align:middle line:84%
Ladies and gentlemen, what
decides life or death anywhere
00:39:27.410 --> 00:39:32.270 align:middle line:84%
in the last 5,000 years is not
a Gallup poll or is not a
00:39:32.270 --> 00:39:36.830 align:middle line:84%
counting up of numbers,
life comes from God--
00:39:36.830 --> 00:39:39.340 align:middle line:90%
I am anti-war.
00:39:39.340 --> 00:39:42.970 align:middle line:90%
I am anti-capital punishment.
00:39:42.970 --> 00:39:46.340 align:middle line:90%
I am anti-murder.
00:39:46.340 --> 00:39:50.130 align:middle line:84%
And I am also anti-murder
of unborn children.
00:39:50.130 --> 00:39:52.830 align:middle line:84%
I am very much opposed to the
Equal Rights Amendment, very
00:39:52.830 --> 00:39:56.450 align:middle line:84%
much opposed to abortion, very
much opposed to the homosexual
00:39:56.450 --> 00:39:59.422 align:middle line:90%
issues that are here.
00:39:59.422 --> 00:40:02.460 align:middle line:84%
Mary said I\'m a mother with
children and what are these
00:40:02.460 --> 00:40:03.832 align:middle line:90%
people talking about?
00:40:03.832 --> 00:40:05.080 align:middle line:90%
Yeah, yeah.
00:40:05.080 --> 00:40:11.440 align:middle line:84%
I guess one of my real concerns
was that I really
00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:14.290 align:middle line:84%
thought that we were there to
look at all of the issues that
00:40:14.290 --> 00:40:16.050 align:middle line:90%
affected families.
00:40:16.050 --> 00:40:21.390 align:middle line:84%
And I had short patience with
people who wanted to make it
00:40:21.390 --> 00:40:23.460 align:middle line:84%
single issue, whatever
the issue was.
00:40:23.460 --> 00:40:29.180 align:middle line:84%
And so when we were to say, but
wait a minute, we\'ve got
00:40:29.180 --> 00:40:32.450 align:middle line:84%
male children who are in school
and can\'t get a decent
00:40:32.450 --> 00:40:35.820 align:middle line:84%
education and so we need to talk
about this thing about
00:40:35.820 --> 00:40:38.620 align:middle line:84%
education, and then here they
are saying, but, no, no, no.
00:40:38.620 --> 00:40:39.870 align:middle line:84%
We don\'t need to
deal with that.
00:40:39.870 --> 00:40:42.020 align:middle line:84%
We need to deal with
other things.
00:40:42.020 --> 00:40:46.090 align:middle line:84%
And I\'m supposed to go against
the interest of my people and
00:40:46.090 --> 00:40:50.240 align:middle line:84%
the interest of people in my
family or my own child?
00:40:50.240 --> 00:40:53.420 align:middle line:84%
I\'m supposed to go against that
simply because you say
00:40:53.420 --> 00:40:54.930 align:middle line:90%
this is the agenda?
00:40:54.930 --> 00:40:58.200 align:middle line:84%
I\'m strongly opposed
to abortion.
00:40:58.200 --> 00:41:02.440 align:middle line:84%
I\'ve worked on pro-life issues,
have all my life.
00:41:02.440 --> 00:41:06.570 align:middle line:84%
But my role in the conference
was not to make sure that my
00:41:06.570 --> 00:41:10.970 align:middle line:84%
position on that came out, but
to make sure that, in the
00:41:10.970 --> 00:41:13.695 align:middle line:84%
discussion, in the decisions of
the conference, people had
00:41:13.695 --> 00:41:15.000 align:middle line:90%
a fair shake.
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:18.530 align:middle line:84%
My experience was that the vast
majority of people who
00:41:18.530 --> 00:41:21.890 align:middle line:84%
participated in this process
were trying to find the common
00:41:21.890 --> 00:41:24.380 align:middle line:84%
ground and trying to build
bridges and were really
00:41:24.380 --> 00:41:28.290 align:middle line:84%
pleased and satisfied that
despite the enormous diversity
00:41:28.290 --> 00:41:32.020 align:middle line:84%
and differences of opinion,
that on a whole range of
00:41:32.020 --> 00:41:35.620 align:middle line:84%
important concerns for families,
they did find common
00:41:35.620 --> 00:41:39.070 align:middle line:84%
ground on issues that crossed
the liberal, conservative,
00:41:39.070 --> 00:41:41.340 align:middle line:90%
Democrat and Republican lines.
00:41:41.340 --> 00:41:43.730 align:middle line:84%
Nevertheless, the so-called pro
family group claims the
00:41:43.730 --> 00:41:46.280 align:middle line:84%
conference is rigged and being
used to help re-elect
00:41:46.280 --> 00:41:48.020 align:middle line:84%
President Carter by
making him appear
00:41:48.020 --> 00:41:49.600 align:middle line:90%
concerned about the family.
00:41:49.600 --> 00:41:52.780 align:middle line:84%
But what they seek to avoid are
the controversial issues.
00:41:52.780 --> 00:41:55.400 align:middle line:84%
They don\'t want debate
on right to life.
00:41:55.400 --> 00:41:57.680 align:middle line:84%
They don\'t want debate on
homosexuality and other
00:41:57.680 --> 00:41:59.730 align:middle line:84%
things, which we make the
definition of the family,
00:41:59.730 --> 00:42:03.970 align:middle line:84%
which we think are key to
whether this conference really
00:42:03.970 --> 00:42:07.627 align:middle line:84%
faces the questions on
the family or not.
00:42:07.627 --> 00:42:10.062 align:middle line:90%
[INAUDIBLE]
00:42:10.062 --> 00:42:13.958 align:middle line:84%
has the job of defining the
definition of family.
00:42:13.958 --> 00:42:15.150 align:middle line:84%
And you will have a
chance to get into
00:42:15.150 --> 00:42:17.420 align:middle line:90%
that dialogue tomorrow.
00:42:17.420 --> 00:42:19.410 align:middle line:84%
They had professional
facilitators.
00:42:19.410 --> 00:42:21.700 align:middle line:84%
Well, the job of the
professional facilitator is to
00:42:21.700 --> 00:42:26.300 align:middle line:84%
keep anything off the blackboard
that doesn\'t fit.
00:42:26.300 --> 00:42:28.810 align:middle line:84%
They be talking about women
and child health.
00:42:28.810 --> 00:42:29.830 align:middle line:84%
And somebody would
get up and say,
00:42:29.830 --> 00:42:30.830 align:middle line:90%
well, what about abortion?
00:42:30.830 --> 00:42:33.280 align:middle line:84%
Oh, that\'s not that we\'re
talking about here.
00:42:33.280 --> 00:42:35.360 align:middle line:90%
That\'s not an issue.
00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:39.280 align:middle line:84%
And so after a day of that, it
was very clear that our issues
00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:41.310 align:middle line:84%
were never going to see
the light of day.
00:42:41.310 --> 00:42:43.140 align:middle line:84%
They were never going to get
out of that first level
00:42:43.140 --> 00:42:45.470 align:middle line:84%
workshop up to the second
level workshop.
00:42:45.470 --> 00:42:47.350 align:middle line:84%
And if they didn\'t make it to
the second level workshop,
00:42:47.350 --> 00:42:49.200 align:middle line:84%
they were never going to make
it to the full group.
00:42:49.200 --> 00:42:51.020 align:middle line:84%
That\'s the rules of
the conference.
00:42:51.020 --> 00:42:52.490 align:middle line:90%
I didn\'t read that in my--
00:42:52.490 --> 00:42:52.820 align:middle line:90%
That is the rule.
00:42:52.820 --> 00:42:55.150 align:middle line:84%
Group seven will deal
with the definition.
00:42:55.150 --> 00:42:57.450 align:middle line:90%
Now, If I could go on.
00:42:57.450 --> 00:43:00.320 align:middle line:84%
It was becoming more and more
evident to everyone in their
00:43:00.320 --> 00:43:04.230 align:middle line:84%
session that what they had
presented as what we had
00:43:04.230 --> 00:43:08.640 align:middle line:84%
decided and determined in
Virginia was not being
00:43:08.640 --> 00:43:11.380 align:middle line:90%
reported as it was.
00:43:11.380 --> 00:43:16.610 align:middle line:84%
It had been changed kind of
back to fit, I guess,
00:43:16.610 --> 00:43:19.070 align:middle line:84%
President Carter\'s criteria
for what the White House
00:43:19.070 --> 00:43:21.230 align:middle line:84%
Conference on family
was going to be.
00:43:21.230 --> 00:43:27.070 align:middle line:84%
We had a president who initiated
this conference, who
00:43:27.070 --> 00:43:32.000 align:middle line:84%
used the term born again, who
said he was born again, and
00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:35.080 align:middle line:84%
yet we had that whole
world that was kind
00:43:35.080 --> 00:43:35.980 align:middle line:90%
of being left out.
00:43:35.980 --> 00:43:38.830 align:middle line:84%
So there was a real kind
of consternation.
00:43:38.830 --> 00:43:42.480 align:middle line:84%
Now, had it been a president
that wasn\'t familiar at all
00:43:42.480 --> 00:43:46.250 align:middle line:84%
with people in that world, it
might have been a little
00:43:46.250 --> 00:43:47.720 align:middle line:90%
different response.
00:43:47.720 --> 00:43:53.510 align:middle line:84%
You began to see very quickly
coalitions taking shape and
00:43:53.510 --> 00:43:56.840 align:middle line:84%
rump meetings and side meetings
and finding myself
00:43:56.840 --> 00:43:58.810 align:middle line:84%
actually caught up
in that process.
00:43:58.810 --> 00:44:01.890 align:middle line:84%
The purpose of this conference
was not to exclude people.
00:44:01.890 --> 00:44:03.330 align:middle line:90%
It was to include people.
00:44:03.330 --> 00:44:08.450 align:middle line:84%
It was to take a look at how we
can possibly come up with a
00:44:08.450 --> 00:44:12.190 align:middle line:84%
pattern or a definition of
family that includes everybody
00:44:12.190 --> 00:44:13.660 align:middle line:90%
that has needs in America.
00:44:13.660 --> 00:44:18.010 align:middle line:84%
When someone would say something
clearly insulting to
00:44:18.010 --> 00:44:23.130 align:middle line:84%
gay and lesbian people, it was
is if I had no right in my own
00:44:23.130 --> 00:44:26.280 align:middle line:84%
country to be recognized
as a family.
00:44:26.280 --> 00:44:34.260 align:middle line:84%
I\'m embarrassed to say,
but I reacted.
00:44:34.260 --> 00:44:36.040 align:middle line:90%
I did take that personally.
00:44:36.040 --> 00:44:38.300 align:middle line:90%
And I got mad at it.
00:44:38.300 --> 00:44:47.370 align:middle line:84%
And I didn\'t make sure that I
kept my respect in place for
00:44:47.370 --> 00:44:50.100 align:middle line:84%
their right to speak
as well as mine.
00:44:50.100 --> 00:44:53.460 align:middle line:84%
And, frankly, I wish they
would\'ve shut up.
00:44:53.460 --> 00:44:54.330 align:middle line:90%
Do you know what I mean?
00:44:54.330 --> 00:44:56.550 align:middle line:84%
When we got here we found that
not only were we not allowed
00:44:56.550 --> 00:44:59.640 align:middle line:84%
to discuss those issues at all,
that the definition of
00:44:59.640 --> 00:45:02.350 align:middle line:84%
family was ruled non germane,
out of order in every work
00:45:02.350 --> 00:45:03.540 align:middle line:90%
group except one--
00:45:03.540 --> 00:45:05.760 align:middle line:84%
most of the facilitators said
that we\'re not going to talk
00:45:05.760 --> 00:45:07.660 align:middle line:84%
about the definition of family
in this work group.
00:45:07.660 --> 00:45:09.760 align:middle line:84%
That\'s going to come in work
group number seven.
00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:11.410 align:middle line:84%
Well, the people in work group
number seven didn\'t get a
00:45:11.410 --> 00:45:13.640 align:middle line:84%
definition of the family out
of that work either.
00:45:13.640 --> 00:45:15.590 align:middle line:84%
That means that issue
has been killed.
00:45:15.590 --> 00:45:19.020 align:middle line:84%
There was no choice of what to
do but to withdraw, to walk
00:45:19.020 --> 00:45:23.030 align:middle line:84%
out of it because had we stayed
in and continued to be
00:45:23.030 --> 00:45:26.080 align:middle line:84%
part of that process, the
conclusions of which were
00:45:26.080 --> 00:45:30.490 align:middle line:84%
foregone against us, we would
have been giving legitimacy to
00:45:30.490 --> 00:45:31.660 align:middle line:90%
their process.
00:45:31.660 --> 00:45:36.380 align:middle line:84%
I was invited to a meeting
previous to that where they
00:45:36.380 --> 00:45:38.810 align:middle line:90%
were strategising.
00:45:38.810 --> 00:45:42.500 align:middle line:84%
And I said that I wasn\'t
going to walk out.
00:45:42.500 --> 00:45:46.570 align:middle line:84%
And my very good friend from
then until now, that was about
00:45:46.570 --> 00:45:50.850 align:middle line:84%
the first time I had met her,
Connie Marshner, said, no, we
00:45:50.850 --> 00:45:51.780 align:middle line:90%
have to walk out.
00:45:51.780 --> 00:45:53.260 align:middle line:84%
We\'re not going to change
anything here.
00:45:53.260 --> 00:45:55.470 align:middle line:90%
We\'re too small a group.
00:45:55.470 --> 00:45:56.690 align:middle line:90%
This place is stacked.
00:45:56.690 --> 00:46:01.960 align:middle line:90%
I forget, 2000 delegates.
00:46:01.960 --> 00:46:02.840 align:middle line:90%
And I didn\'t agree.
00:46:02.840 --> 00:46:05.210 align:middle line:84%
And that was a very
uncomfortable feeling.
00:46:05.210 --> 00:46:13.800 align:middle line:84%
It was just such an unwinnable
situation that I was very much
00:46:13.800 --> 00:46:15.320 align:middle line:90%
in agreement with the others.
00:46:15.320 --> 00:46:20.205 align:middle line:84%
And many of the others and the
leadership and all probably
00:46:20.205 --> 00:46:22.820 align:middle line:84%
knew more than I did, I \'m sure,
about what maybe could
00:46:22.820 --> 00:46:25.050 align:middle line:84%
even be accomplished
through this.
00:46:25.050 --> 00:46:26.330 align:middle line:84%
But they felt nothing
was going to be
00:46:26.330 --> 00:46:27.380 align:middle line:90%
accomplished anyway.
00:46:27.380 --> 00:46:29.500 align:middle line:90%
So it was futile.
00:46:29.500 --> 00:46:31.310 align:middle line:90%
Well, clearly wasn\'t the case.
00:46:31.310 --> 00:46:34.490 align:middle line:84%
I mean, their point of view
wasn\'t excluded because we
00:46:34.490 --> 00:46:36.290 align:middle line:84%
helped ensure it
would be there.
00:46:36.290 --> 00:46:39.230 align:middle line:84%
In fact, Connie Marshner was
selected by us to make sure
00:46:39.230 --> 00:46:41.440 align:middle line:90%
those voices were heard.
00:46:41.440 --> 00:46:46.530 align:middle line:84%
Their message, in part, was if
we don\'t prevail, we\'re going
00:46:46.530 --> 00:46:47.720 align:middle line:90%
to take on the process.
00:46:47.720 --> 00:46:51.380 align:middle line:84%
I remember reading in one
newspaper a woman who headed
00:46:51.380 --> 00:46:55.840 align:middle line:84%
the so-called pro family group
in Tennessee, said look--
00:46:55.840 --> 00:46:57.990 align:middle line:84%
and I think this is
a direct quote--
00:46:57.990 --> 00:46:59.500 align:middle line:84%
says I\'m going to try
and win all the
00:46:59.500 --> 00:47:01.590 align:middle line:90%
delegates in Tennessee.
00:47:01.590 --> 00:47:04.060 align:middle line:84%
And if I don\'t win all the
delegates, I\'m going to put
00:47:04.060 --> 00:47:06.720 align:middle line:84%
out a press release saying
the process was stacked.
00:47:06.720 --> 00:47:09.530 align:middle line:84%
In the midst of one of the final
assemblies where various
00:47:09.530 --> 00:47:11.900 align:middle line:84%
health and family planning
services were being
00:47:11.900 --> 00:47:15.900 align:middle line:84%
considered, some 80 delegates
staged a march to the stage,
00:47:15.900 --> 00:47:17.530 align:middle line:90%
tearing up their ballots.
00:47:17.530 --> 00:47:21.270 align:middle line:84%
Connie Marshner and 30 to 80
of her coalition left the
00:47:21.270 --> 00:47:23.410 align:middle line:84%
meeting claiming the procedures
and delegate
00:47:23.410 --> 00:47:26.630 align:middle line:84%
selection and agenda had been
rigged against them.
00:47:26.630 --> 00:47:29.930 align:middle line:84%
Are you saying that this whole
conference is a much more
00:47:29.930 --> 00:47:32.540 align:middle line:90%
liberal stacked deck?
00:47:32.540 --> 00:47:33.410 align:middle line:90%
Absolutely.
00:47:33.410 --> 00:47:34.620 align:middle line:90%
You got it.
00:47:34.620 --> 00:47:35.265 align:middle line:90%
You got it.
00:47:35.265 --> 00:47:40.290 align:middle line:84%
The hot button issue that put
together abortion, ERA, and
00:47:40.290 --> 00:47:43.340 align:middle line:84%
the only time, I believe, gay
rights was ever mentioned in
00:47:43.340 --> 00:47:45.910 align:middle line:84%
the White House Conference on
Families in a resolution,
00:47:45.910 --> 00:47:49.530 align:middle line:84%
passed by one vote the day after
40 people who said they
00:47:49.530 --> 00:47:52.360 align:middle line:84%
were opposed to those
things walked out.
00:47:52.360 --> 00:47:56.640 align:middle line:84%
So it was their tactics that,
in a way, got ahead of their
00:47:56.640 --> 00:47:57.460 align:middle line:90%
principles.
00:47:57.460 --> 00:48:00.120 align:middle line:84%
And there were a couple people
there who said, wait a minute,
00:48:00.120 --> 00:48:02.390 align:middle line:84%
you don\'t want to discredit
the whole process.
00:48:02.390 --> 00:48:04.250 align:middle line:84%
You don\'t want to
discredit it.
00:48:04.250 --> 00:48:05.890 align:middle line:90%
And I said, why not?
00:48:05.890 --> 00:48:07.390 align:middle line:90%
Why not?
00:48:07.390 --> 00:48:11.160 align:middle line:84%
The fact is the conference is
so controversial that it
00:48:11.160 --> 00:48:14.410 align:middle line:84%
spawned an opposition group
called the Pro Family
00:48:14.410 --> 00:48:15.480 align:middle line:90%
Conference.
00:48:15.480 --> 00:48:17.200 align:middle line:84%
The leaders of these
organizations are in
00:48:17.200 --> 00:48:20.700 align:middle line:84%
Washington this morning with
Carol Simpson who is there not
00:48:20.700 --> 00:48:23.430 align:middle line:84%
just to moderate, but
to referee as well.
00:48:23.430 --> 00:48:24.490 align:middle line:90%
I hope not, Tom.
00:48:24.490 --> 00:48:25.930 align:middle line:90%
Thank you and good morning.
00:48:25.930 --> 00:48:29.030 align:middle line:84%
With me are Jim Guy Tucker, who
is chairman of the White
00:48:29.030 --> 00:48:32.330 align:middle line:84%
House Conference on Families,
and Mrs. Connie Marshner, who
00:48:32.330 --> 00:48:35.820 align:middle line:84%
is chairman of the National
Pro Family Coalition.
00:48:35.820 --> 00:48:38.420 align:middle line:84%
Mr. Tucker, the White House
conference has completed three
00:48:38.420 --> 00:48:41.320 align:middle line:84%
regional hearings around the
country, and now you have a
00:48:41.320 --> 00:48:43.140 align:middle line:90%
series of recommendations.
00:48:43.140 --> 00:48:45.340 align:middle line:84%
Could you tell us what some of
those are that you\'ll be
00:48:45.340 --> 00:48:46.560 align:middle line:90%
proposing to the government?
00:48:46.560 --> 00:48:48.350 align:middle line:90%
Well, we didn\'t propose them.
00:48:48.350 --> 00:48:51.800 align:middle line:84%
In fact, we had delegates
propose them who came from all
00:48:51.800 --> 00:48:54.270 align:middle line:84%
over the country at three
conferences where they
00:48:54.270 --> 00:48:58.660 align:middle line:84%
debated, sometimes fought, and
usually agreed on major issues
00:48:58.660 --> 00:49:00.570 align:middle line:90%
facing American families.
00:49:00.570 --> 00:49:04.020 align:middle line:84%
The top issue in terms yes vote
getters dealt not with
00:49:04.020 --> 00:49:06.990 align:middle line:84%
government but with problems in
private industry, need for
00:49:06.990 --> 00:49:11.590 align:middle line:84%
flexi-time, job sharing, day
care, the problems of women
00:49:11.590 --> 00:49:13.180 align:middle line:90%
entering into the workforce.
00:49:13.180 --> 00:49:16.720 align:middle line:84%
Mr. Tucker didn\'t mention the
things like the demands for
00:49:16.720 --> 00:49:19.910 align:middle line:84%
federal financing of abortion
and guaranteed annual income
00:49:19.910 --> 00:49:22.510 align:middle line:84%
and federal funding of child
care and various issues like
00:49:22.510 --> 00:49:24.670 align:middle line:84%
that, which were also
recommended by all three
00:49:24.670 --> 00:49:25.670 align:middle line:90%
conferences.
00:49:25.670 --> 00:49:27.720 align:middle line:84%
He doesn\'t like to talk about
those because those reveal the
00:49:27.720 --> 00:49:30.080 align:middle line:84%
conference for what it was,
namely, an attempt to
00:49:30.080 --> 00:49:33.380 align:middle line:84%
resurrect a political carcass, a
liberal agenda that has been
00:49:33.380 --> 00:49:36.600 align:middle line:84%
rejected by the voters and by
Congress for 20 years in an
00:49:36.600 --> 00:49:40.390 align:middle line:84%
attempt to resuscitate it and
wrap it in the flag of family
00:49:40.390 --> 00:49:41.750 align:middle line:90%
and call it legitimate.
00:49:41.750 --> 00:49:43.410 align:middle line:84%
What is your reaction to
what she\'s saying.
00:49:43.410 --> 00:49:46.330 align:middle line:84%
Well, Connie, in my judgment,
has a vested interest in
00:49:46.330 --> 00:49:49.060 align:middle line:84%
dealing with polarization and
that\'s her view point.
00:49:49.060 --> 00:49:50.620 align:middle line:84%
Well, I object to
that, Jim Guy.
00:49:50.620 --> 00:49:52.420 align:middle line:84%
I think that\'s rather sort of
trying to con the audience a
00:49:52.420 --> 00:49:53.140 align:middle line:90%
little bit, don\'t you think?
00:49:53.140 --> 00:49:56.050 align:middle line:84%
Well, that\'s your
press release.
00:49:56.050 --> 00:49:59.030 align:middle line:84%
We feel that Jim Guy, I think,
the White House Conference
00:49:59.030 --> 00:50:01.240 align:middle line:84%
would feel that the government
can help people solve their
00:50:01.240 --> 00:50:03.550 align:middle line:84%
problems and that professionals
and human
00:50:03.550 --> 00:50:05.570 align:middle line:84%
service professionals know
better than families how to
00:50:05.570 --> 00:50:06.810 align:middle line:90%
solve their problems--
00:50:06.810 --> 00:50:09.620 align:middle line:84%
I\'m so terribly sorry
to cut this off.
00:50:09.620 --> 00:50:11.320 align:middle line:84%
Looks like we could go
on for some time.
00:50:11.320 --> 00:50:13.890 align:middle line:84%
But thank you very much and
we\'ll be looking forward to
00:50:13.890 --> 00:50:16.210 align:middle line:84%
your recommendations
and yours as well.
00:50:16.210 --> 00:50:18.065 align:middle line:84%
Now back to Tom Brokaw
in New York.
00:50:18.065 --> 00:50:18.930 align:middle line:90%
Thanks, Carol.
00:50:18.930 --> 00:50:20.650 align:middle line:84%
Nothing escapes controversy
these days it turns out, not
00:50:20.650 --> 00:50:22.030 align:middle line:90%
even the American family.
00:50:22.030 --> 00:50:25.410 align:middle line:84%
The reality here is the
definition of news is conflict
00:50:25.410 --> 00:50:26.600 align:middle line:90%
and controversy.
00:50:26.600 --> 00:50:30.020 align:middle line:84%
The fact that people from many
walks of life and different
00:50:30.020 --> 00:50:33.190 align:middle line:84%
ideological and political
perspectives can come together
00:50:33.190 --> 00:50:38.350 align:middle line:84%
and agree on an agenda for
American families is sort of a
00:50:38.350 --> 00:50:39.740 align:middle line:90%
middle of the paper story.
00:50:39.740 --> 00:50:43.780 align:middle line:84%
The fact that people are
disputing each other horribly
00:50:43.780 --> 00:50:47.340 align:middle line:84%
on abortion and homosexuality,
no, that\'s news.
00:50:47.340 --> 00:50:48.950 align:middle line:84%
In fact, that is what has
happened to the White House
00:50:48.950 --> 00:50:49.860 align:middle line:90%
Conference.
00:50:49.860 --> 00:50:52.240 align:middle line:84%
And you can probably find a
copy of the White House
00:50:52.240 --> 00:50:53.960 align:middle line:90%
Conference report.
00:50:53.960 --> 00:50:55.680 align:middle line:84%
I got one on my shelf in there
if you need to see one.
00:50:55.680 --> 00:50:57.350 align:middle line:84%
But you\'re not going to find
them anywhere else.
00:50:57.350 --> 00:51:01.010 align:middle line:84%
And it\'s not going to be cited
as a seminal document in the
00:51:01.010 --> 00:51:03.320 align:middle line:84%
development of family policy
in this country.
00:51:03.320 --> 00:51:08.010 align:middle line:84%
Every family is different,
unique.
00:51:08.010 --> 00:51:10.070 align:middle line:84%
If I ever doubt that, I have
to look at my own family.
00:51:10.070 --> 00:51:13.010 align:middle line:90%
00:51:13.010 --> 00:51:17.530 align:middle line:84%
Early in 1976 there had been
some stories around town, all
00:51:17.530 --> 00:51:20.430 align:middle line:84%
false, of course, that my
brother Billy was something of
00:51:20.430 --> 00:51:21.610 align:middle line:84%
a character and they
were trying to
00:51:21.610 --> 00:51:23.350 align:middle line:90%
probe what Billy was.
00:51:23.350 --> 00:51:25.030 align:middle line:90%
And he said, listen.
00:51:25.030 --> 00:51:27.380 align:middle line:84%
He said, I\'ve got one sister
almost 50 years old who spends
00:51:27.380 --> 00:51:29.860 align:middle line:90%
every weekend on a motorcycle.
00:51:29.860 --> 00:51:32.280 align:middle line:84%
He said, I\'ve got another sister
not quite so old who\'s
00:51:32.280 --> 00:51:33.926 align:middle line:90%
a holy roller preacher.
00:51:33.926 --> 00:51:35.680 align:middle line:84%
He said, I\'vr got a mother that
joined the Peace Corps
00:51:35.680 --> 00:51:38.140 align:middle line:90%
when she\'s 68 years old.
00:51:38.140 --> 00:51:39.880 align:middle line:84%
He said, I\'ve got a brother that
thinks he\'s going to be
00:51:39.880 --> 00:51:42.770 align:middle line:84%
president of the
United States.
00:51:42.770 --> 00:51:46.850 align:middle line:84%
He said, I\'m the only sane
one in the whole family.
00:51:46.850 --> 00:51:53.490 align:middle line:84%
What he intended for good
was turned against him.
00:51:53.490 --> 00:51:57.800 align:middle line:84%
And the very people that he
invited or through him we
00:51:57.800 --> 00:52:01.160 align:middle line:84%
invited to come and help with
the conference pulled out
00:52:01.160 --> 00:52:04.790 align:middle line:84%
their long knives and began
to slash at him and the
00:52:04.790 --> 00:52:05.650 align:middle line:90%
conference.
00:52:05.650 --> 00:52:12.000 align:middle line:84%
My political naivete, pretty
well shot right there if I
00:52:12.000 --> 00:52:15.050 align:middle line:84%
thought people of faith just sat
down and worked out their
00:52:15.050 --> 00:52:18.360 align:middle line:84%
differences for the common good,
pretty well blew it out
00:52:18.360 --> 00:52:19.180 align:middle line:90%
of the water.
00:52:19.180 --> 00:52:23.120 align:middle line:84%
The White House Conference was
a very good training ground
00:52:23.120 --> 00:52:26.970 align:middle line:84%
because it got our people
involved in a process that
00:52:26.970 --> 00:52:29.160 align:middle line:84%
they hadn\'t been involved
in before.
00:52:29.160 --> 00:52:31.540 align:middle line:84%
But they also had a
clear look at the
00:52:31.540 --> 00:52:32.720 align:middle line:90%
results of that process.
00:52:32.720 --> 00:52:35.190 align:middle line:84%
And they realized, wait a
minute, we can\'t play by the
00:52:35.190 --> 00:52:35.950 align:middle line:90%
old rules anymore.
00:52:35.950 --> 00:52:38.520 align:middle line:84%
We\'ve got to get onto a playing
field where we help
00:52:38.520 --> 00:52:39.410 align:middle line:90%
write the rules.
00:52:39.410 --> 00:52:44.690 align:middle line:84%
In the broader scale of the
political world, sometimes to
00:52:44.690 --> 00:52:48.900 align:middle line:84%
mobilize people you have
to do things that
00:52:48.900 --> 00:52:51.180 align:middle line:90%
will mobilize people.
00:52:51.180 --> 00:52:58.450 align:middle line:84%
And conservative stage walk
out was front page news.
00:52:58.450 --> 00:53:04.520 align:middle line:84%
And it woke people up all across
the country to what was
00:53:04.520 --> 00:53:07.710 align:middle line:84%
going on from their
perspective.
00:53:07.710 --> 00:53:15.020 align:middle line:84%
And so from that standpoint,
sure, we may have lost a vote
00:53:15.020 --> 00:53:17.530 align:middle line:84%
by one or two votes
in the short run.
00:53:17.530 --> 00:53:20.210 align:middle line:84%
But from their perspective,
which was much more
00:53:20.210 --> 00:53:23.650 align:middle line:84%
politically seasoned than
myself, they may have won the
00:53:23.650 --> 00:53:26.340 align:middle line:90%
war down the road.
00:53:26.340 --> 00:53:30.150 align:middle line:84%
While one may disagree with
them philosophically and
00:53:30.150 --> 00:53:35.270 align:middle line:84%
politically as I do on many
issues, one has to admire
00:53:35.270 --> 00:53:38.410 align:middle line:84%
their sense of energy, their
sense of organization, their
00:53:38.410 --> 00:53:41.850 align:middle line:84%
sense of involvement in a
political system that has
00:53:41.850 --> 00:53:46.260 align:middle line:84%
become very staid and very
moribund with declining levels
00:53:46.260 --> 00:53:50.580 align:middle line:84%
of participation in elections,
with fewer people involved in
00:53:50.580 --> 00:53:52.500 align:middle line:90%
grassroots activities.
00:53:52.500 --> 00:53:57.240 align:middle line:84%
This energy level was really
injected around the 1980
00:53:57.240 --> 00:54:01.550 align:middle line:84%
campaign and since by the
conservative movement.
00:54:01.550 --> 00:54:05.520 align:middle line:84%
And we all made a commitment
to God that day.
00:54:05.520 --> 00:54:07.870 align:middle line:84%
For the first time in our lives
we were going to get
00:54:07.870 --> 00:54:11.210 align:middle line:84%
involved in the political
process and do everything we
00:54:11.210 --> 00:54:13.560 align:middle line:84%
could to wake up
the Christians.
00:54:13.560 --> 00:54:17.680 align:middle line:84%
So I stood there and I
prayed this prayer.
00:54:17.680 --> 00:54:21.330 align:middle line:84%
I said, oh, God, we have got
to get this man out of the
00:54:21.330 --> 00:54:24.710 align:middle line:84%
White House and get someone in
here who will be aggressive
00:54:24.710 --> 00:54:27.768 align:middle line:84%
about bringing back traditional
moral values.
00:54:27.768 --> 00:54:43.704 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:54:43.704 --> 00:55:34.580 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:55:34.580 --> 00:55:37.890 align:middle line:84%
A presentation of South Carolina
ETV in association
00:55:37.890 --> 00:55:40.940 align:middle line:84%
with the Independent
Television Service.
00:55:40.940 --> 00:55:43.590 align:middle line:84%
With God on Our Side was made
possible by the Corporation
00:55:43.590 --> 00:55:46.990 align:middle line:84%
for Public Broadcasting and by
annual financial support from
00:55:46.990 --> 00:55:49.810 align:middle line:90%
viewers like you.
00:55:49.810 --> 00:55:54.660 align:middle line:84%
Major funding was provided by
The Pew Charitable Trusts, The
00:55:54.660 --> 00:56:00.830 align:middle line:84%
Smith Richardson Foundation,
The Rockefeller Foundation,
00:56:00.830 --> 00:56:05.010 align:middle line:84%
The Lynde and Harry Bradley
Foundation, the William H.
00:56:05.010 --> 00:56:10.870 align:middle line:84%
Donner foundation, The Nathan
Cummings Foundation, and the
00:56:10.870 --> 00:56:14.100 align:middle line:84%
John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation.
00:56:14.100 --> 00:56:16.440 align:middle line:84%
Additional funding was provided
by the following.
00:56:16.440 --> 00:56:21.128 align:middle line:90%
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 60 minutes
Date: 1996
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 8-12, college, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
Interactive Transcript: Available
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