In this must-listen episode of Family Talk, Dr. Dobson and Gary Bauer re-examine the predictions made in their groundbreaking book, ‘Children at Risk.’ Through a candid discussion, they address controversial topics such as critical race theory, cancel culture, and the challenges facing public education. With an eye to history and hope for redemption, they offer myriad ways Christians and conservatives can effectively engage in today’s turbulent cultural landscape.
Hello, everyone. You’re listening to Family Talk, a radio broadcasting ministry of the James Dobson Family Institute. I’m Dr. James Dobson, and thank you for joining us for this program.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, welcome to Family Talk, the broadcast ministry of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. I’m Roger Marsh, and today we are continuing with part two of a powerful conversation featuring our own Dr. James Dobson and his friend and colleague, Gary Bauer, reflecting on their groundbreaking 1990 book called Children at Risk. More than 30 years after its publication, these two longtime friends reunite in studio to discuss how their predictions have sadly unfolded in American culture. Gary Bauer brings unique insight to the broadcast booth as a Christian conservative advocate who served in the Reagan administration as the undersecretary of the Department of Education. He worked alongside Dr. Dobson for many years during Reagan’s terms, currently serving right now as senior vice president of public policy here at the James Dobson Policy Center. Throughout his career, he has remained on the front lines of defending faith, family, and freedom in our nation. And by the way, If you haven’t heard Gary’s bi-weekly podcast called Defending Faith, Family, and Freedom, you owe it to yourself to do so. You can find more information at drjamesdobson.org. Now on today’s broadcast, these two respected voices will offer valuable perspective on how Christians could effectively engage in today’s increasingly challenging culture. From education to military concerns, they’ll address the pressing issues facing families and provide much needed encouragement for those feeling overwhelmed by current events. And now let’s join Dr. James Dobson and Gary Bauer for their timely and insightful discussion on today’s edition of Family Talk.
SPEAKER 03 :
Gary, we closed the program yesterday by saying that we’re going to talk again today. And one of the things I want to pick up with was my statement that we are losing the civil war of values that we talked about, that it might be irretrievable. But I want to begin with that. Do we still have a hope of saving our nation or is it gone forever?
SPEAKER 02 :
We would sound like fools if we tried to claim that we’ve been winning over the last 30 years. We haven’t. By almost every measurement, things are worse and the trend lines are bad. There are things happening now that… Even our book didn’t anticipate like the confusion about how many genders there are. I mean, we’re living in some sort of bizarro world now where things that are clearly true can’t be said and things that are clearly lies are said regularly. But being followers of Jesus Christ and men of faith, and our listeners being men and women of faith, we know it’s never hopeless. And I still believe, although it’s going to take a lot to do, I still think we can turn this around. And of course, our Savior can always perform miracles. I think the American people know something is deeply wrong. And I’ve been encouraged, Jim, in recent weeks to see these parents, these mama bears, I guess, if you want to call them, particularly mothers showing up at these school board meetings, objecting to what’s being taught to their children. I see more men and women of faith willing to go to demonstrations and speak out. I see churches that are beginning to speak more aggressively against the popular culture. Gary, how widespread is that movement? Well, it’s hard to measure. And I think you and I share that, particularly the church part of this, you know, there’s been a lack of leadership. And as the Bible tells us, if we deprive the flock of leaders, the flock parishes. But there are churches that are standing up against this drift in the popular culture. And I think, you know, maybe broadcasts like this will encourage them to do more. The other thing that I’ve noticed, Jim, is that even some of my neighbors who are liberals I’m not saying they’re going to start voting conservative, but even they are beginning to say, you know, Gary, what is this stuff about 52 genders? And when did we think it was a good idea to start teaching our children that all white children are oppressors and all minority children are oppressed? It’s bad all the way around.
SPEAKER 03 :
Back in the day when we were writing and we were in the era that we’ve been describing, I had a lot of Christian leaders who told me we were overreacting, that there was no civil war of values. In fact, I had… very prominent Christian leaders who told me that it was wrong to even use the word civil war, culture war, and things of that nature. And we took a lot of heat for what we wrote. I wonder if those people are still out there and if they still think we’re wrong.
SPEAKER 02 :
Boy, Jim, I remember those days well. Both of us, I think, were used to getting letters from people on the other side, hate-filled, calling us all sorts of names. You were getting those kinds of letters. I was getting them at the Family Research Council, telephone calls, et cetera. That didn’t really impact me very much. we would periodically get letters from the elders of churches or from pastors of churches saying, what are you trying to do, cause trouble? You know, why are you getting us involved in politics? And those letters, I found it very hard to deal with.
SPEAKER 03 :
I don’t think we anticipated what is taking place now. And that’s why our focus is still upon the children. It has to be. That’s the next generation. We lose it there, we lose it. And we’ve got to mobilize to take back the public schools.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, we certainly do, Jim. I’m encouraged by the number, the growing number of people who are sending their children to Christian schools. I’m encouraged by the growth in homeschooling. But the fact of the matter is that for the foreseeable future, the great majority of our children will be taught in the public schools. And we can’t let those public schools be in the hands of left-wing cultural radicals that are undermining everything that we believe in. And I want to emphasize again, Jim, not only undermining Judeo-Christian values, but undermining the United States. You know, Jim, you and I love to quote the founders. I mean, I grew up in my blue collar home back in Kentucky being taught by my parents and in the school about Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and Patrick Henry. Those stories about George Washington not being able to tell a lie, those kinds of stories inspired me as a kid. and made me proud to be an American. You tell those stories today, and they got blank looks on their faces. They don’t know what you’re talking about. All they’ve been taught is anti-American history. So it’s not only that God has been replaced in our schools, it’s that love of country has been taken out of the schools.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let’s define some terms. We here at James Dobson Family Institute have devoted a couple of programs to the woke culture, especially as it’s taking place and being taught in schools and churches, for that matter, and CRT and other things that’s taking place. Describe as a place to start critical race theory as it relates to children.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, critical race theory is, in fact, racist. It is the exact opposite of Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King, of course, said that his goal was not to hate America. He loved America. He said he wanted to be sure not that the founders were thrown overboard and that the founding documents were disposed of. He wanted to be sure that black men and women were included in the promises of the founding documents. And so Martin Luther King in his famous speech said that he wanted an America in the future where men and women would not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character. Well, so-called critical race theory is teaching young people that the color of their skin is everything. It defines them. They can’t be anything other than what the color of their skin requires them to be. Jim, today, Martin Luther King, in my view, would not be allowed to enter a public school to teach what he taught when he was alive. What he taught when he was alive is being rejected today. It’s one of the reasons that when you read about critical race theory, you never hear Martin Luther King being quoted in any of those textbooks and any of those teaching materials. It’s really astonishing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Who would have believed that? I mean, it takes my breath away. I love this country. I love what it was based on. And I love the founders who gave it to us. And I believe it was based on Christian principles and teachings and scripture. And all of that is being attacked. Describe the cancel culture for our listeners.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, the cancel culture is just another word for taking away the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression, the right to say what you believe, to debate others that might disagree with you. That’s always been central to the American experience. But what we have now is a collusion between leftists and government with big corporations silencing anybody that doesn’t stick to the script of this leftist worldview that we see growing in our schools our universities all the way down to our elementary schools in our popular culture it’s something that every american ought to fight back against. But human nature being what it is, the cancel culture works. There’s research showing that Christian students and universities and just plain old conservative students all the way down into elementary and secondary school are often afraid to say what they actually believe.
SPEAKER 03 :
Talk about the military and what’s going on in the Pentagon and the effort to institutionalize a left-wing ideological worldview. Expand on that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, Jim, I know you’re aware of this, but I’m not sure many Americans are. There’s been a pattern in recent decades that any institution which has been sort of broadly associated with traditional or conservative values is ends up getting taken over by the left. Well, one of the last institutions in America that has retained an affiliation, not with one party, our military doesn’t promote one political party, but our military has certainly been associated with a set of traditional American ideas. And in recent years, we’ve seen the military become, sadly, more woke. And I mean that in the worst way that that word is understood today. It’s come out in recent months particularly that this critical race theory, for example, is now being pushed in the ranks of the military. A number of senators, conservative senators, have publicly asked for active duty military personnel to contact their offices, the Senate offices, and let them know if this junk is being promoted in the military. And one of those senators, Senator Cotton from Arkansas, that he has received hundreds and hundreds of verifiable reports from active duty military members that their commanding officers are bringing this poisonous material into the barracks, into the military chain of command. Imagine teaching the men and women in our military that if you are white, you can’t help but be a white supremacist or believe in sort of racist theories and telling the many minorities that have served in our American military that they are oppressed and that they’re being held back. And even beyond that, Jim, teaching the men and women in our military that America is an evil country, that it’s been evil from the very beginning. Countries like communist China couldn’t do a better job of defanging our military, of making it ineffective, of undermining morale, than bringing those things into the Pentagon. And yet we’re seeing time and time again that that’s exactly what’s happening.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, the emphasis on the military must exist. be as it always has been to defend the nation against enemies, foreign and domestic. And without that ability to defend us and willingness to fight and even give their lives for that purpose, we’re naked, we’re defenseless. And it would be easy to topple this great nation.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, Jim, where did the woke crowd now at the Pentagon, where do they think they get their voluntary military? I mean, now, Americans of all backgrounds, thank God, volunteer for military service. But there’s a lot of research to show it’s in homes built on Judeo-Christian values. It’s in homes that believe America was founded as a shining city on a hill. That’s the homes that produce the young men and women that end up growing up, loving our country, believing it’s a country worth defending, that disproportionately a volunteer to be part of our military and to defend our country. I’m hearing that the military right now is having trouble meeting its quotas. And that’s no surprise to me as these stories get out about what’s happening in some of the services I think the military is going to have a harder and harder time filling the ranks if it continues to wage war on the kind of traditional Judeo-Christian values that has always motivated the men and women that are willing to go off and fight and die for the United States of America.
SPEAKER 03 :
There are so many countries that hate us. Which country do you believe poses the greatest threat to this nation?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I do believe it’s the Chinese communist, Jim, as we talked about a little bit yesterday. The United States faces an incredible threat from a rising communist China. They’re catching up with us in military firepower, and they believe their day has come. Chinese leaders are saying openly that they believe America is in terminal decline. They believe that there’s nothing we can do to turn it around. Now, I disagree. I think we can still salvage this country. I know you believe in that too. But given the challenge we face, we better be sending a military into the field that loves this country, who believes that this country has done more to advance the cause of freedom than any nation in the world. If we don’t have a military that believes that, or if we don’t have enough recruits that are willing to go fight and defend our country, we could find ourselves in a mess, not 30 years from now, as we are away from the writing of children at risk, but we could find ourselves in a mess in the South Pacific in a matter of months or in the next couple of years. So it is imperative that we continue to fight against these ill-conceived anti-American ideas and anti-Judeo-Christian ideas that are permeating our schools, our popular culture. You remember a number of years ago when the debate was about trade with China, the corporate community said trade with China will change China. What ends up to trade with China changed the United States.
SPEAKER 03 :
Gary, let me interrupt you there because you and I fought a battle at that point many years ago. We saw that as a great threat and danger. And you and I lobbied the Congress, the Senate and the White House to not give that status to China. We lost that battle because of some very wealthy people, the organizations that had great influence economically.
SPEAKER 02 :
And we’re seeing the ramifications of it. And now we see this really scandalous situation where the National Chamber of Commerce is often speaking up in the corridors of government. on behalf of the position of the Chinese communists. So it’s untenable, but it’s a powerful tool that Communist China has. They’re on our university campuses with something called Confucius Institutes. They’ve got the American business community often lobbying on their behalf. And we’ve seen a Chinese company hire a guy named Podesto as a lobbyist for that Chinese communist company. So that influence makes it very hard for the United States to see clearly the danger that we’re facing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Gary, I think our time is about gone, but let me ask you just one more question. In one of your updates recently, you talk about the Abolitionist Teaching Network. Tell people what that is.
SPEAKER 02 :
The Abolitionist Teaching Network only started last year, and it was discovered that this radical left-wing group that was putting just horrible material in our public schools was cited by the Biden Department of Education as a resource for public schools that wanted to deal with the issues of racial equity in the schools. The founder of this abolitionist network has said publicly she’s not trying to reform public schools. She’s trying to abolish any school that doesn’t buy in to her radical left-wing ideas about race and racial reconciliation. Again, Martin Luther King, if he were alive, would be right on the show with us, Jim, fighting against his left-wing ideas. No question about it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, our time is gone, Gary. As usual, it’s so meaningful to talk to you. You’re right where things are happening in Washington. I appreciate what you do. Once again, people can get your daily update. How do they go about contacting you?
SPEAKER 02 :
They can go to our, O-U-R, ouramericanvalues.org. And Jim, I want to thank you for a lifetime of fighting these battles and all that you did for many, many decades of allowing me to talk to the American people through your incredible network, second to none around the country, the millions of God-fearing men and women that have followed Dr. James Dobson all these years.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you’re very kind, Gary, and let’s keep it up, shall we? I really appreciate you taking the time to be with us on these two days. It brings back a lot of memories, especially the times when we were working on a book together. I wish that book were still in print. Let’s get together.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. I want to do that. That would be fantastic. Love you, my brother. And love you.
SPEAKER 01 :
What a powerful conversation from two dear and longtime friends here on Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, Dr. James Dobson and Gary Bauer discussing Children at Risk, a book they wrote back in 1990 that turned out to be more prophetic than I think anyone could have imagined. Now, it’s interesting in a time when many conservative commentators were often labeled as extremists or alarmists, Dr. Dobson and Gary Bauer’s book, Children at Risk, did turn out to be prophetic, and it serves as a primer to help us understand how we got to where we are right now and what we as Christians can do to help our children not only survive but thrive in these challenging times. Now, if you missed any portion of today’s broadcast or if you’d like to share it with friends or family, Just go to drjamesdobson.org forward slash family talk. Once you’re there, you’ll find the complete program, parts one and two, along with a link for Dr. Dobson and Gary Bauer’s landmark book called Children at Risk that remains relevant more than 30 years after its initial publication. Again, you’ll find the audio and the book when you go to drjamesdobson.org forward slash family talk. And while you’re on our website, I also want to invite you to download a free resource for Easter called Sharing Jesus with Your Children. As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, there’s no better time to focus on passing along your faith to the next generation and the generation after that. And this practical guide offers timeless wisdom for parents who want to instill faith in their children’s lives during this sacred time of year. To receive yours, and it’s free by the way, simply go to drjamesdobson.org, click the link, and then enter your name and email address, and you’ll receive instant access to this free digital download. Again, it’s called sharing Jesus with your children, perfect for your kids and grandkids this Easter, and you can get it today. Just go to drjamesdobson.org, click the link on the front of our landing page, enter your name and email address, and you’ll receive that instant access code. You know, the culture battle that Gary Bauer and Dr. Dobson were discussing today can seem a little bit overwhelming but you know how you can join the fight is by supporting the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute your prayers and financial partnership enable us to continue providing essential resources to families all across America who are standing up for biblical values if today’s conversation stirred your heart remember your support of any amount helps us continue broadcasting truth during these challenging times for our nation You can make a secure donation online at drjamesdobson.org. You can make a secure donation over the phone when you call 877-732-6825. Or you can send it through the U.S. Postal Service. Our ministry mailing address is Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, Post Office Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, the zip code 80949. Well, I’m Roger Marsh, and from all of us here at the JDFI, thank you so much for joining us today. Be sure to join us again next time right here for another edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, the voice you trust for the family you love. This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
