What Happens When We Evict God From Public Life

Power without principle always finds a way to dress itself up. Today we take a sober walk through history, Scripture, and conscience to ask whether a nation can thrive after pushing God to the margins. We contrast the empty promises of control-first ideologies with the hard, hopeful demands of a Christ-shaped public life: repentance, truth-telling, courage, and care for the weak.

We start by challenging party loyalty that eclipses moral clarity. Measures over men becomes more than a slogan—Davy Crockett’s words remind us that integrity is worth more than applause. From there, we open Matthew 12, where Jesus exposes divided kingdoms and calls fruit the final test. If our policies harm the vulnerable while our rhetoric sounds pure, the harvest tells the truth. That biblical lens frames a striking moment from 1861: a federal judge sentencing a slave-trade captain, urging repentance, and anchoring justice in God’s character. It’s a snapshot of courts that once spoke openly of moral law and human dignity.

The thread continues through Psalms and Proverbs, pushing back against envy of the violent and the myth of moral neutrality. We confront complicity, the quiet that enables cruelty, and the drift that turns a cleaned house into a haunted one. The alternative is not utopia but a return: placing God at the center of private lives and public duties, evaluating leaders and policies by their fruit, and protecting the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the unseen. That path asks more of us and gives more to those who need us.

If this conversation sharpened your thinking, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review so others can find it. What principle will you refuse to trade for a temporary win?

Transcript

Welcome, Thanks, And Opening Prayer

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Sure do appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others, tell others about it, thank you. Very, very grateful for that. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you very much. Need your prayers and want them. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins through the merit of your son Jesus Christ. Thank you for the people that listen to and share the podcast. Please be with them, be with their families. Guide them, bless them, surround them with your angels, protect them from evil of any kind. Help us to pray unceasingly, Father, to turn to you consistently, constantly. Be with our leaders in the pulpit and in the state. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help them to rule in fear of you. Be with our military, law enforcement, firefighters.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

EMS. Keep them safe. Bring them home safe to their families. Guide and protect them as they protect us. Be with our farmers, our ranchers. Fishermen. Foresters. Give them bountiful crops. That hurts. Be with those who are scared and alone. Who are anxious. Depressed, worried. Comfort them, help them. To feel your peace and your joy and your presence.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Forgive us our sins. Father, forgive us our greed, selfishness, pride, arrogance, gossip, slander, lust, covetousness, judgment of others, laziness, procrastination.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Cowardice and unbelief help us to overcome them all we do believe. And please guide my words here, Father. In your Son's name we pray. Amen.

Evil Of Totalitarian Ideologies

SPEAKER_01 2:50

So the monologue's kind of gonna get spread out, I think, throughout this podcast. I I'm sure most of y'all are well aware about a week ago, maybe a little more, that we sent forces in to capture the Venezuelan dictator and his wife.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

And I'm not really gonna talk about that process.

Ideals Over Parties And Politicians

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Really, all I'm gonna talk about is the evils executed under communism and socialism, right? And there's a court case we're gonna talk about briefly. There's two court cases I'm gonna try and get to today. One of them we're just gonna kind of brush the wave tops on. But uh there's there's two thoughts within this. One, this dictator, socialism, communism, leftism, Nazism, fascism, Islam, right? They're evil. They're just flat out evil folks. There's no compromise with them, there's no negotiation with them. The only time you hear them talking about peace and tolerance is so that they can gain power. And look, the the difference between those evils and conservatism isn't that one group of them sins and the other doesn't. It's that one pretends they sin and they pretend that they're not sinning, while the other side acknowledges that they sin and that they need to repent of that behavior and they strive to change, even if imperfectly. And maybe this is all going to make sense to y'all, and maybe it's not, but but be really careful right now that you're clinging to ideals and not a particular politician or party, folks. Because there's a lot of people, for example, pick on the conservative side, there's a lot of people in the Republican Party that are not conservative at all. There's a lot of Republican politicians that are not conservative, not Christian at all. It's really it's impossible to be conservative if you don't follow and promote the principles of Jesus Christ. So you go back to this Maduro thing. Make sure that you're not supporting it or against it just because of who executed it. Whatever your view is, make sure that you're supporting it based on the ideals that you stand for, which should be the ideals of Jesus Christ, the principles of Christ. And make sure that you remember that we have a responsibility to care for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy. And that communism does the exact opposite. That whole bucket of isms, including and Islam, they do exactly the opposite of caring for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy. I'll leave you with a Davy Crockett quote and then we'll move on. I would rather be beaten and be a man than to be elected and be a little puppy dog. I have always supported measures and principles and not men. I have acted fearlessly and independent, and I will never regret my course. I would rather be politically buried than to be hypocritically immortalized.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

This was in a a letter following his defeat in the 1830 election.

Davy Crockett On Principles

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Out of a book, I believe, by James Atkins Shackelford or Shackford.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Davy Crockett and the Man and the Legend.

Song Of Solomon Reading

Matthew 12 And Spiritual Authority

Psalms And Proverbs Reflections

Medal Of Honor Story

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Marriage verse for today we're gonna get back into Song of Solomon, run through that again. The young Shulamite bride and Jerusalem's daughters. The song of songs, which is Solomon's. May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. Your oils have a pleasing fragrance, your name is like perfume perf purified oil. Therefore the maidens love you. Draw me after you and let us run together. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will rejoice in you and be glad, we will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you. I am black but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, for the sun has burnt me. My mother's sons were angry with me. They made me caretaker of the vineyards, but I have not taken care of my own vineyard. Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where do you pasture your flock? Where do you make it lie down at noon? For why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions? Solomon, the lover speaks. If you yourself do not know, most beautiful among women, go forth on the trail of the flock and pasture your young goats by the tents of the shepherds. To me, my darling, you are like my mare among the chariots of Pharaoh. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of beads. We will make for you ornaments of gold with beads of silver. While the king was at his table my perfume gave forth its fragrance, my beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh, which lies all night between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi. How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are. Your eyes are like doves, how handsome you are, my beloved, and so pleasant. Indeed, our couch is luxuriant. The beams of our houses are cedars, our rafters, cypresses. Scripture for today gonna go back into Matthew twelve, start with verse twenty two. Then a demon possessed man who was blind and couldn't speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. The crowd was amazed and asked, Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah? But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons. Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive. And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has arrived among you. For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger, someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house. Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me. So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come. A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes, how could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you. One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority. But Jesus replied, Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it. For they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here, but you refuse to repent. The Queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it. For she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here, but you refuse to listen. When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest, but finding none. Then it says, I will return to the person I came from. So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation. Psalm sixteen verses one through eleven. Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge. I said to the Lord, You are my master, every good thing I have comes from you. The godly people in the land are my true heroes, I take pleasure in them. Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods. I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood, or even speak the names of their gods. Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance. I will bless the Lord who guides me. Even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead, or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence, the pleasures of living with you forever. Proverbs three verse twenty seven through thirty two. Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it is in your power to help them. If you can help your neighbor now, don't say, Come back tomorrow, and then I'll help you. Don't plot home harm against your neighbor, for those who live nearby, trust you. Don't pick a fight without reason when no one has done you any harm. Don't envy violent people or copy their ways. Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord, but he offers his friendship to the godly. Medal of Honor for today is somewhere Henry Van Ness Boynton, Lieutenant Colonel, highest rank, Brevit Brigadier General, US Civil War, thirty fifth Ohio Infantry, U.S. Army, November twenty fifth, eighteen sixty three, Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, led his regiment in the face of a severe fire of the enemy, was severely wounded. Accredited to Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio, not awarded posthumously. Presented november fifteenth, eighteen ninety three, born july twenty second, eighteen thirty five, West Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, died june third, nineteen oh five, Atlantic City, New Jersey, buried Arlington National Cemetery, two TAC, ten ninety six, Arlington, Virginia.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Severely wounded Henry Van Ness Poynton. So I'm gonna try and get through this without stealing too much of your time.

Second Case And Warning On Complicity

Call To Return To God

SPEAKER_01 15:50

I was gonna go ahead and pass on these court cases that we started talking about on the last podcast, I think. And showing the judges talking to these men convicted and sentenced to die about their need to turn back to God, just as another example of how God was integral to our public life as a nation, our institutions, including our constitutions, which we've talked about often, and our courtrooms. There's two cases I'd like to try and get to today. I'm going to start with the longer one because I was able to find the article from the New York Times back in 1861. The title was The Slave Trade, The Sentence of Captain Gordon of the Silver Erie. And so this man had packed up a bunch of slaves in his ship. And I think you'll get enough of it. I'll just read. This is the sentencing commentary by the judge William Davis Shipman. I think he was a federal judge, I believe. You are soon to be confronted with the terrible consequences of your crime, and it is proper that I should call to your mind the duty of preparing for that event which will soon terminate your mortal existence and usher you into the presence of the Supreme Judge. Let me implore you to seek the spiritual guidance of the ministers of religion, and let your repentance be as humble and thorough as your crime was great. Do not attempt to hide its enormity from yourself. Think of the cruelty and wickedness of seizing nearly a thousand fellow beings who never did you harm, and thrusting them beneath the decks of a small ship, beneath a burning tropical sun, to die of disease or suffocation, or be transported to distant lands, and be consigned they and their posterity to a fate far more cruel than death. Think of the sufferings of the unhappy beings whom you crowded on the Erie, of their helpless agony and terror as you took them from their native land, and especially think of those who perished under the weight of their miseries on the passage from the place of your capture to Monrovia. Remember that you showed mercy to none, carrying off as you did not, not only those of your own sex, but women and helpless children. Do not flatter yourself that because they belonged to a different race from yourself your guilt is therefore lessened. Rather fear that it is increased. In the just and generous heart the humble and the weak inspire compassion and call for pity and forbearance. As you were soon to pass into the presence of that God, of the black man as well as the white man, who is no respecter of persons, do not indulge for a moment the thoughts that he hears with indifference the cry of the humblest of the children. Do not imagine that because others shared in the guilt of this enterprise yours is thereby diminished. But remember the awful admonition of your Bible. Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished. Turn your thoughts toward him who alone can pardon, and who is not deaf to the supplications of those who seek his mercy. Gordon was hanged a few weeks later in February. So when you read through this, there's a lot there, folks. But the overall point that I wanted to get on the podcast is just our nation had God and Jesus Christ, not Allah, not Buddhism or Hinduism or Mother Naturism or Satanism, the one true God, the Father of Jesus Christ, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They were involved in our institutions, in our courtrooms, classrooms, constitutions. The reason that That we're struggling so much today is because we've kicked them out. And that was the founding. It's like being part of a company that makes a certain kind of widget and then and then destroying that product, right? It's like being part of a car manufacturer and then you stop making that. Not only do you stop making that, but you fight against it, right? You destroy the whole company. And that's what we're doing. That's probably a poor analogy, but hopefully y'all get it. We're undermining our own foundation. You can't, it's not based on Allah. It's not based on Hinduism, Buddhism. Not all religions are equal. Not all faiths are equal. This is a Christian nation founded on the principles of Jesus Christ, and it can only function as such. So there's another court case I wanted to get to. I could not find the original source for it. So if you're really interested, there's a little snippet out of the Founders Bible by the Wall Builder Association. And I'm not going to read through that. I did find some commentary about the court case, and it was a man uh who murdered his wife and children, and then literally cut up his wife and tried to bury her and burn her body so that she uh so that he could escape with it. And he did for a couple months, I think, if I remember right, and then they caught him. And this was another great case because the judge looked at him and said, Hey, you're about to die, you got to repent. And so it was a good case to illustrate the connection between Jesus Christ. But the interesting thing here is, folks, we listened to that and it just sounds atrocious, right? But what did the Muslims do in Israel a couple years ago in October? They literally put babies in ovens and cooked them alive, and they sliced off the chest, the breast of women, right? Not to mention rape some to death, right? That's that's Islam. And those Muslims were following the Quran. We've talked about the commentary from the ambassador to Tripoli to Jefferson and Adams before, right? They were doing what the prophet and the Quran told them to do. And if you if you don't think so, you maybe you say, okay, well, I get that, I can see that, but but surely not our fellow citizens that support the left, right, or Islam. They're moderate, right? Folks, the only reason they appear moderate is because they're complicit, they're quiet, but they're complicit, folks. They're going along, they're biding time, whether they'll admit it or not, until that bucket of Isms or Islams gets total power. And then there won't be any more peace or tolerance. And all you have to do is look at one of the modern communist states today, look at China, and the fact that they go in and forcibly harvest organs from political prisoners.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

And you think that this same kind of stuff isn't gonna happen today.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

The only hope we have, folks, is turning back to God and Jesus Christ as a nation and putting God and Jesus Christ back in the center of not only our individual lives but our public life.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

Is it gonna mean that we're perfect?

unknown 23:36

No.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

But we're gonna be a heck of a lot closer, striving for perfection for Jesus Christ, than if we go along and try and peacefully coexist with those who openly strive to do evil. Right? You go back and you look at the psalm from today. What did it say? That just popped in my head. Where is it? No, it's Proverbs chapter three. Don't envy wicked people or copy their ways. Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord, but he offers his friendship to the godly.

Book, Support Links, And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Right? If you are looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, I would humbly recommend Countryside.

SPEAKER_01 24:25

It's along the lines of Narnia, Hobbit, uh, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, but hopefully uh a little bit more tailored toward the principles of Jesus Christ than so much of the worldly secular values that we get today. And if you think you're getting something out of a podcast, if you have five or ten dollars a month to donate, there's a link down at the show notes on the Buzz Sprout website where you can do that. And if uh if you would leave a review of the books or the podcast, all of that helps a great deal, folks. Also, YouTube, if you're looking, if you'd like to listen to the podcast on YouTube or you know somebody that does, uh the podcast is listed there now. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all, God bless your families, God bless your marriages, God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.