How States And Congress Are Reclaiming Religious Liberty - with Jason Monks

A lot of political coverage trains us to expect the worst, so when real momentum shows up it can feel almost unbelievable. We zoom out on the good news we’re seeing at the intersection of faith and culture, where religious liberty and state-level leadership are producing wins that many people never hear about in their day-to-day “bubble.”

From Washington, DC, we unpack Senator Josh Hawley’s press conference on mifepristone, often called the abortion pill, and why he’s making a medical safety case instead of a partisan pitch. We talk through the claims about adverse event rates, how FDA standards have treated other drugs with far smaller risk ratios, and why distribution channels and oversight matter. Even if you’re tired of culture-war framing, this part of the conversation is about patient safety, informed consent, and whether our institutions are applying consistent rules.

Then we’re joined by Idaho House Majority Leader Jason Monks to discuss a statewide call for prayer and fasting. He explains why humility and self-reflection are the point, how leaders need divine guidance, and why the “separation of church and state” line is often used without knowing the history. We also dig into what “answered prayer” would actually look like: lower rhetoric, more patience, and the ability to disagree without turning each other into enemies.

If you want more hopeful stories grounded in biblical Christianity, American history, and constitutional principles, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the intersection of faith and culture. It's the WallBuilders Show. Taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective, Rick Green here with David Barton and Tim Barton, our websites, wallbuilders.com and wallbuilders.show. And yes, you hear excitement in my voice because just so many good things happening. I mean, things are shaking loose in Washington, DC, in Texas, and even in Idaho, we've got an Idaho rep that'll be with us here a little bit later in the program, but guys, I mean I've heard you know, Kelly Shackelford say it, David, I heard you say it. I mean, more religious liberty than at any time in our lifetime. And now we're seeing great opportunities at the state level. And I guess we could talk some Washington DC stuff as well, but it's the stuff at the State level, breaking loose legislators file on all kinds of great legislation. I don't know how many States you guys have testified in in the last. Year, but It's a lot. And, so it's just, it's, it' good to see a lot of things we talked about for years, planted seeds for, worked for, talked to people about, worked on grassroots organizing for. But now we're starting to get to see some incredible fruit. 

Tim Barton [00:01:06] Yeah, God is on the move in incredible ways. And, you know, Rick, we at times talk about this off air, how privileged we feel that God allows us to travel the country and connect with so many good people around the country. For a lot of people that they're in a bit of a bubble and it feels lonely in their bubble. And especially depending on what kind of bubble you are in, what kind town or makeup or church or whatever kind of dynamics are around, it can be lonely. But guys, there are things that we are seeing happen all around this nation that we've been praying for and working for, for decades. Dad, literally things that were part of the reason that you felt God called you into this ministry in the first place are literally starting to unfold and this last week, we all got to be up in Washington, DC. One of our good friends, Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri had a press conference and Dad, I think you definitely should tell some of the details about that in a moment. Rick, you and I were at an event at the White House with Faith Office. And just so many things happening that a lot of people just in their normal walks of life would not see and aren't always privy to this. And so I, I think we have to take a little time, just highlight some of what's going on because there is so much good happening around the nation. So dad, you were up in DC last week with Senator Josh Hawley at a press conference where the pretty unique idea, obviously there's going to be challenges getting any legislation through the House and the Senate. But the fact that we have a senator promoting something really, really great, having a press conference to highlight it, prioritize it, it was a really cool deal you were part of. 

David Barton [00:02:45] It was, it was a kind of an unusual press conference. And I think it was handled brilliantly. It was dealing with Mifepristone, which is kind of like the abortion pill, the pill that can be taken to create an abortion without having to go to a clinic, et cetera. And he came at it from a purely a medical standpoint. It was really quite amazing. He had several people there who had been through with the pill and had really bad medical reactions. You know, some wanted an abortion, some didn't want an abortion. Some was the boyfriend gave it to the girl without her knowing it, which could not be done with, you know, something else like, like that. So, there was all these angles on it. But what was amazing was that Josh pointed out the number of drugs that have lost their FDA certification because they had a negative incident ratio of 0.001. And so that's a, that's a small amount, but that is a lot of people. When you look at 300 million people, if they're all taking that drug, that that's, a lot folks. So, he was pointing out how many drugs have been taken off the market, lost FDA approval because of 0.00 or 0.01 negative incidents, what we have currently based on the stats right now is roughly a 9% instance. That is a incident rate that is thousands of times higher than they've allowed for other drugs, which goes to show that the Biden decision to make this available with no FDA regulation, sell it over the counter, sell it. And by the way, it's being shipped in mostly from foreign countries. It's not being provided in America. It's other countries sending it to America. Thus, it lacks all the safety features that we would have with normal drug production. So it really, I didn't realize how political the drug had become. Now I knew that the Democrats are fully behind it. It's the abortion industry loves this thing. Now it doesn't matter how many states ban abortion. You can just order this drug through the mail and get an abortion in your state, wherever you are. So that's a way for them to get around all the state laws. But I had not realized the high, high medical incident level that was there and how much this was not based in the United States, but outside. So as part of that, there were four, four young women that gave they're compelling testimonies and it was compelling. And I tell you what, even if pro-abortion people heard what happened to these women and don't have concern for them, then you know, there's something really, really, really twisted. What these women went through, abortion aside, what they went through medically should never happen to anybody. And so, the, the really blanket opposition the Democrats have to this particular abortion drug is illogical once you see what's out there. And Josh Hawley did a fantastic job of laying that out really well. 

Rick Green [00:05:44] David, what is the, what's the temperature in, in Congress for something like that? I mean, I would think this would maybe take several sessions or years or to, to, to get passed, but I mean just starting with the science and starting with the response and, and, you know, not just the you know, pro-life or pro-abortion arguments, but, but laying out the things that he did, you know makes total sense. But what do you think the what's likelihood that we could get something like this done?

David Barton [00:06:11] What the likelihood that the Sun's going to come up in the West and go down in the East that bad, huh? 

Tim Barton [00:06:19] You're facing south instead of north, then is it like, then is that how it goes? 

David Barton [00:06:25] Yeah, no, I didn't say left and right, left and right is, you know, that that's changeable. But East and West, it's not going to happen there. I don't know of any scenario with abortions or with the gender or with how many injuries happen in sports to women who are hurt by men who claim to be women, I don, I, I. Don't know how many negative scenarios you can put forward and not, you're I'm not gonna get. You might get Fetterman, Fetterman has done some unusual things recently. That might be the only Democrat you pick up is Fetterman. And he is the last guy I would have thought three years ago that we would ever pick up, but it's strange. 

Rick Green [00:07:06] Yeah, so David, I'm a bit of an optimist. So, you're, you're saying it's kind of like when I'm, you know, if I'm campaigning in a really Democrat area and I'm knocking on doors and someone at the door says, you go to the door and say, hey, I Rick Green. I'm running for state representative. Da da da da. Here's why. And then they look at you and say. I know who you are. I'd never vote for you in a million years. You're awful. You know, you pro-life. You're pro second amendment. I think you're destroying America and they slammed the door in your face. And then you go back and you're making your notes in the car about each person at the doorway and you say, instead of yes or no, you just say maybe. 

David Barton [00:07:39] Yeah, right. Well, this reminds me of the line out of an early Disney movie back when Disney movies were really good, where Angels in the Outfield and the line was, well, it could happen. This is kind of, it would take a huge miracle from Heaven. But it could happen. 

Tim Barton [00:07:56] Well, and speaking of huge miracles from heaven, as we're celebrating 250 years, we're gonna be telling a lot of stories about some of those miracles from Heaven in the birth in the nation. I'm reminded, Dad, one of the verses in the gospels is what's impossible for man is possible with God. So, this could totally happen. When we have a year, when we have president on May 17th, who's gonna have a big event in DC to rededicate America to God. That was not on any of our bingo cards. None of us saw this coming and God is already doing some amazing things. And I actually think that's part of the conversation today, with our friend from Idaho, as they're doing a call to prayer and what that looks like. And so, this is a good time to have these days of prayer and hope to see God move in incredible ways. He's done it before we're praying. He does it again. It certainly would be a miracle, but man, if you could stop the abortion pill drug from being distributed so freely across America and restore the value of life on some level, it would take a miracle, but we serve a God who does that. 

Rick Green [00:09:03] Well, and one of the best things about this is that it raises the negatives and helps women know the risks of using it. So that even on an individual decision, or somebody's giving advice to somebody, somebody asks a friend or whatever, at least it's raising those negatives and making it less likely that someone would use it, even if the FDA doesn't get rid of it. Okay, guys, we do have, as you said, Tim, Jason Monks with us, representative from. Idaho so let's take a quick break we'll be right back with Jason stay with us you're listening to the WallBuilders Show 

Rick Green [00:10:44] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. Representative Jason Monks with us, Assistant Majority Leader there in Idaho. Thank you so much, Representative, for joining us today. 

Jason Monks [00:10:52] Thanks for having me, appreciate it. Can I clarify one thing? 

Rick Green [00:10:55] Yes, sir. 

Jason Monks [00:10:56] I'm the majority leader, not the assistant majority leader. 

Rick Green [00:10:58] Well, where did, why did they tell me assistant majority leader? You either got a promotion or I'm just misinformed. Hey! 

Jason Monks [00:11:05] That was, that was a while ago. 

Rick Green [00:11:06] A while ago, 

Jason Monks [00:11:08] Majority leader for the last four years. So, we're, we're all good though. 

Rick Green [00:11:11] Majority leader. Hi. And I, in Idaho, how do you guys do that? Is that a caucus vote? Do you just kind of like, is that how it works? 

Jason Monks [00:11:17] Yep. Caucus vote. 

Rick Green [00:11:18] And when your majority leader at the state level like that, Is it sort of like at the federal level where you kind of whip the votes, you're kind of in charge of getting, making sure the caucus shows up and, and kind of gage the caucus before a bill comes to the floor. I mean, what, what are the different things you do as majority leader? 

Jason Monks [00:11:34] Well, I'd say in Idaho, there's no such thing as a whip because we're not trying to corral anybody here. This is all a bunch of individualistic leaders. And so it's usually just trying to figure out where the caucus wants us to go. That's my job, figure out where you want us to go and I'll help get you there. 

Rick Green [00:11:52] You'd have a mutiny on your hand if you had if you tried to whip the vote in Idaho 

Jason Monks [00:11:56] Yeah, yeah, the last majority leader that happened to the last majority leader. 

Rick Green [00:12:00] Oh, that's hilarious. I'm glad. I've glad we went there then that's a good lesson. So that's...You know, Idaho is interesting. Well, every time I do patriot we do Patriot Academy in June I think there every year and it, I always hear about how much better Idaho Is than Texas, of course, you know as we Texans are quite obnoxious about that sort of thing so we always have a hard time hearing that sort of thing. But then we start talking about gun legislation or life or all these core conservative issues. And when we look at the Idaho law and the Texas law, I have to go, wow, you guys beat us again. No, y'all actually do a great job up there. 

Jason Monks [00:12:35] You know, we get, we, it's funny. We get accused all the time. People will see that some state did something and sure enough, I'll get some posts somewhere and they say, Idaho ought to do this. And, and it's always like, you know, we did that like three years ago. 

Rick Green [00:12:48] That's right, that's right. I love it. Well, hey our topic for there's so many things we could talk about man. But you know, the call for prayer fasting I mean, this is this is something that immediately when you do something like this you probably got a ton of calls, oh separation church of state or you guys aren't supposed to be involved in this kind of thing. But it's so important to do this. There's such a rich history of the Founding Fathers doing this before we you know went live and started recording we were talking about the painting behind you and just the type of leadership we had in the Founding Era. What for you guys, you know, why, first of all, why did you want to do a call for prayer and fasting? Then let's talk about the protesting against it. 

Jason Monks [00:13:26] So, you know, it's been part of my religion, fasting and prayer, but it's been part our country and the founding since the beginning. 

Rick Green [00:13:33] That's right. 

Jason Monks [00:13:34] I think in the first three or four years of the founding of our country, congress called, I think it was 15 times they called for a fasting and prayer. And it was not just for Divine guidance, which we obviously need, but it was also for humility and repentance and telling the people, if you want God's health, then you've got to be a righteous people. And, you know, fasting and prayer is part of that. It helps us to become a little bit more humble, and... you know, do a little bit more self-reflection as far as, you know, what are we doing in this world? Are we making the place better or are we making it worse? And, you know that was, that was part of the call to help us here. You know? Idaho is, we're immune from a lot of things in this world, but we're not immune from everything. And we still have our own strife here. And, as a leader in, in this state, I want Divine guidance. I want the people praying for me so that I make wise decisions so that I don't get too far afield from where I'm supposed to be. So, for me, it was a call for help to the citizens of Idaho that says, please help me out. Please help us out, do a better job. 

Rick Green [00:14:39] I got to tell you, man, that it's the first time I've done a lot of prayer and fasting discussions over the last 30 years of doing this. And we've got all the proclamations, of course, in the WallBuilders library and everything. But almost every time I ever asked anybody about this, especially legislators, governors, that sort of thing, it's usually about we need the Lord's help on this thing or that thing. The fact that your focus was on the humility part and how it sets our heart right. I love that! I mean, that is, I can't remember, I think it was Hancock said prayer fasting and humiliation. Right. So, the fact that you know, keyed in on zeroed in on that bro, that's, that's rare. I don't know what in your background gave you that. Maybe I should ask you that like why for you was that even you were willing to, to, address that part?

Jason Monks [00:15:27] You know, it was funny, the very first time, and I'll try to make this a shorter story, but the first time I ran for political office was actually for the mayor of a small-town Meridian. And I ended up losing that race. So, no spoiler alert here, but right after I got done with a town hall meeting, the incumbent mayor met with me and had made a comment to me that really stuck with me odd, because the question was asked and I said, I don't know the answer to that. I'm not the smartest person even in this room. And they pulled me aside afterward and says, you know, if you're gonna be in politics, never ever say that. I said, say what? That you don't know the answer and that you're not the smartest person in the room. And it really kind of struck me a little bit. I thought, well, that's the truth. You know, we're not the smartest people in the group and we need help from a lot of different peoples. And so, I always remembered that because I thought it was bad advice and I've tried to remember that as I go forward here. You know, we don't know all the answers and anybody who says they do, you know they're selling you something. So I think the best thing we can do is listen to the people out there, listen to Lord and He's gonna tell us. If we listen and you know, and we're humble and we do all the things we're supposed to, He'll tell us if we're going the wrong direction and sometimes, we need that, we all need that help. 

Rick Green [00:16:48] Amen, amen, more of that, my man. That's part of what we try to instill at Patriot Academy with the kids and I think it's the opposite of what people expect today in quote unquote politicians. I know you probably hate that term as much as I do, but patriots and statesmen, right? That's what we strive to be, a politician's only thinking about the next election. A patriot or statesman thinks about the next generation and I can already hear it in your voice. That's your mindset. Okay, so let's talk about the protest. Why were people upset that y'all would want to be humble? And want to ask God for help. 

Jason Monks [00:17:21] Oh, you know, I had people who've come, who've just, you know, they reach out and they say, you should be doing something different. You should worry about all the other problems. That's, that a lot of the people, some people get frustrated that we're, we're calling religion into, to politics. Again, there is no separation between church and state. That's a, that the misnomer you probably preach that a lot, we just didn't want to have a state defined religion. That's the only difference there. We weren't supposed to be an ungodly people. But a lot of other people, I think it's just that frustration that they're not religious and they don't like us to say we are. And I think there's some of that. Which I've always found interesting. You know, our court systems have said and tried to limit prayer in a lot aspects over the years, and fortunately a lot that's been removed as far as whether or not we could do that. And I always thought, well, that is a religion, that's atheism. And so, we are promoting atheism if we're not allowing people to pray. And so, I think it's a little bit of a fallacy there to say that we shouldn't be mixing the two. In Idaho, we lead off every session that we have on the floor with a prayer, and that's how we start off. In our leadership meetings, we start off with a prayer. In the joint leadership meetings, we have with the Senate, we start off with a prayer. Our chairman's meeting here in Idaho, we start with a prayer. It's part of who we are, and I think we all recognize here, again, in Idaho. I think most of us recognize that we can't do this without help, and we need God's direction is His assistance to be with us at all times. 

Rick Green [00:19:00] Amen! Ah, that's what we want to teach, not only the young people, but our citizens and the next generation of candidates, right, the next generation people that go into office. And the people that protest usually they just don't know the history, right? So, it also gives you an opportunity not only just to have the prayer-fasting humiliation, but to educate. So, you get a chance to teach them about that history and all of those times in history when our Founders did exactly what you're talking about. So, what would be, let me ask you this before I let you go. What would be... How would you know that the Lord had answered the prayer, right? Like what would be the evidence of the shift in attitude or a particular thing to happen? Like what are you looking for, for the signs that, not that we have to have that, right. I mean, we're called to pray and fast and be humble no matter what. But what would you point to or look for, I guess, to say, you know what? God's smiling on us at this point. 

Jason Monks [00:19:57] You know, I think that happens a lot of ways and I think for God it's about the one, right? You know Christ left the 99 to find the one and that's still I think important today and are we changing, you know, one person's life and that should start with myself, right. And if I have a little bit more humility and if I had a little more patience and understanding and wisdom when I deal with the next problem here, then I call it success. What else I would love to see here in the state is kind of dialing down a little bit of the rhetoric. And you know, I hate to say it, but you know it does happen a little bit on both sides. You know, we all like to say the other side is more guilty of it. And in some circumstances, I think that's very true. So, I don't want to diminish that either. But does it mean that we handle situations, you know perfectly as well? No. And I think that's what I'd like to see is us just to be able to have a disagreement and be a little bit more agreeable in our disagreement. And not be so personal. Instead of taking all this stuff that because that person disagrees with me, they must be a bad person. And that's not always the case. You know, in Idaho, we have Democrats, we have Republicans. Some of our Democrats in Idaho are much more conservative than you'll find in other states, you know? And so, you for the most part, a lot of us, we just want the state to be a great place for our kids to grow up. And I think when we remember that, then we do a better job. And that's what this really is an attempt to do, is to just get us to recognize that we're all God's children. God wants the very best for us. And we need to recognize that and recognize that these are just God's children who are doing the best they can right now. And at the end of the day, that's we want. We just want us all to be a little bit more humble, a little more forgiving in our relationships. Politically and personally, that's what we're looking for. 

Rick Green [00:21:59] That almost sounds like civil discourse, you know, maybe like, maybe Patrick Henry had it right, "according to the magnitude of the subject got to be the freedom of the debate. Only in this way can we arrive at the truth". And actually, you know. respecting other people when we're in that debate. Good stuff, man. Representative Jason Monks, majority leader, not assistant majority leader. Hey, we really do appreciate you coming on today, man, thank you. And thank you for doing the proclamation. 

Jason Monks [00:22:23] Absolutely. Thank you much. 

Rick Green [00:22:24] Stay with us, folks. We'll be right back with David and Tim Barton. 

Rick Green [00:23:34] Welcome back to The WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. And, man, guys, I, one y'all probably should have done that interview cause you could have rattled off all the different prayer proclamations, I was trying to remember some of them, but man, you guys have them hanging all over the place in the file folders. And when I say file folders for folks at home, these things are giant. Like they're, I don't know what guys, 20 by 30 or 15 by 30? Blown up proclamations of governors and Continental Congresses and all kinds of people call it for prayer. But cool to see this effort in Idaho as well. 

David Barton [00:24:06] Yeah, and we at wallbuilders.com have a whole section with pictures of proclamations. We have a section where they are transcribed. There were 1400 proclamations issued in New England alone by 1815. So, there's lots out there. But what I find absolutely phenomenal about what has happened with Jason is this is not a day of prayer. It's a day a prayer and fasting and a day prayer and fasting, you have to go back quite a ways to start finding that in American history anytime in recent decades. I remember a few years ago when a representative in Kansas wanted to do that, a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, which was very common with the Founding Fathers and the media went ballistic and said, what? You want us to humiliate ourselves? How are you going? And it was just, they didn't understand what the word meant. They did not know how to process that word. And so here you got in the legislature, they're actually not only processing that word, they are encouraging that word fasting, humiliation, and prayer. What a great thing. And so, you know, Tim, as you mentioned, we're already seeing things we never thought we would see in recent years, and this is one of the, I think one of the great miracles happening across America. 

Tim Barton [00:25:12] And when you have state legislators who recognize, as explained, the tired argument of the separation of church and state, and they recognize that the idea from our founding inception, even the Constitution, we were never intended to have a secular government. When we have state elected officials that are figuring that out, and by the way, figuring it out from the highest level from president Trump all the way down, guys, this is so encouraging! As we mentioned, May 17th, where President Trump is going to have a rededication ceremony up in D.C. Where we're saying America's God's. But even in just a couple of weeks, we're going to be up in DC, all of us again at America Reads the Bible, an event being hosted by Museum of the Bible. But so many members of Congress and leaders of faith and pastors from across the nation are coming to just take time and read the Bible out loud in Washington, D. C. There is so much good stuff happening in the midst of the craziness and chaos. God is on the move and it's really cool to see. 

Rick Green [00:26:12] Yeah, and of course, we'll keep bringing more and more of these stories throughout the 250th as a lot of these things happen. And of course, always on Friday, just gathering a ton of good news stories for you folks. But definitely stay tuned into WallBuilders and then spread the news, help other people get encouraged as well. That's the great thing about this. You can easily share the WallBuilders Show. It's uplifting to people. We hear from people all over the country about how much they enjoy the show because of the optimism and because of all the good news stories that they don't get to hear anywhere else. So, check that out at wildbuilders.show and share that with your friends and family. Thanks so much for listening to The WallBuilders Show.