The WallBuilders Show
The WallBuilders Show is a daily journey to examine today's issues from a Biblical, Historical and Constitutional perspective. Featured guests include elected officials, experts, activists, authors, and commentators.
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Faith And Culture Wins From Courts To Campuses
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Silent prayer led to arrests while real violence against pregnancy centers often seemed to fade into the background. We dig into the latest reversal: the Justice Department firing prosecutors connected to FACE Act cases and dropping remaining actions tied to targeting pro-life Americans, plus why these decisions matter for religious liberty, equal justice, and the long-term health of free speech in public life.
From there, we pivot to something constructive: a real alternative to a higher-ed pipeline that feels increasingly hostile to faith and freedom. We talk about the Patriot Academy Institute, a nine-month, live-on-campus leadership training program in Texas built around mentorship, practical experience, and purpose-driven growth. We break down what students actually do week to week, who it’s for, what it costs, and how scholarships can make it reachable for more families.
We also hit a rapid-fire set of good news: the closure of Margaret Sanger’s original Planned Parenthood clinic in New York City, a Florida church baptizing over 2,500 people, Indiana putting the “success sequence” into classrooms and expanding admissions options with the Classical Learning Test, and an Oklahoma company paying a $4.25 million EEOC settlement after firing employees who requested religious exemptions to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
If these stories encourage you, share the episode with a friend, subscribe for more Good News Friday updates, and leave a quick review so more people can find it. What part of the conversation do you want us to go deeper on next?
Links to Good News Stories:
https://www.lifenews.com/2026/01/29/margaret-sangers-abortion-clinic-shuts-down/
Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the intersection of faith and culture. It's the WallBuilders Show on a Friday. So that means it's good news Friday, my favorite day of the week for wall builders love the David Barton and Tim Barton collect all these good news stories for us. Gets us encouraged going into the weekend. Rick Green here with the Barton boys and we're going to dive right into some good news. By the way, if we don't get you enough, which I think we will, but if we don't give you enough good news today, then go to our website, wallbuilders.show that's the radio site and you can scroll right back through those programs, all the Friday programs, you can pick up some more good news. And then our main website, wallbuilders.com. Wallbuilders.com and wallbuilders.show. Let's get some good news in. David, what's our first piece of good news?
David Barton [00:00:47] So you may remember the earliest week we had Jeremy Dys on, and he was talking about the Religious Liberty Commission hearings across the country and looking at things that they've been happening. And part of the things that we're looking at was how that the Biden administration actually weaponized and went after a pro-life people simply for being pro-life. There was what's called the FACE Act; Freedom Access to Clinic Entrances, and it's supposed to protect pro-life and pro-abortion clinics, either one. You're just not supposed to be able to use violence or intimidation, keep people from going in. And under the Biden administration, they were arresting people for praying silently. We talked last early this week about the grandmother who got arrested just for praying silently and they had to ask, are you praying? Yes, I was praying. All right. That's it. And how the Biden ministration was recommending up to 78 months in jail for some of those people praying. On the other hand, there were about 200 attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers, everything from fire bombings to destruction of property, burning offices, etc. And they were averaging about 12 months recommendation for jail time for them. So, if you're praying, that's six to seven times more jail time than not praying. And I just saw this report where it says the Justice Department Has Fired Four Prosecutors Who Were Involved in FACE Cases, meaning freedom of access to clinic entrances. They have been fired. They've already let some others go, but they have terminated the employment. This is their quote. We've terminated, the employment of personnel responsible for weaponizing the FACE Act. So Trump, when he first came in in the second term, pardoned 23 pro-life Americans who'd been convicted in the FACE Act and they'd had lengthy rage. Tim, you mentioned earlier this week about Mark Howe, who they went in at night with his kids, broke the doors down and arrested him, handcuffed him, took him off in front of his kids. So those kind of things, and they've also now not only gotten rid of those prosecutors, they've dropped all the other FACE Act cases that Biden administration had going against pro-life people simply for being pro-life. So that's good news, that's a reversal, that's kind of a follow-up from earlier this week. That's good news that Trump has socked the weaponization of the FACE Act against prolife Christians.
Rick Green [00:03:11] Yeah, there's been so many good turnarounds, you know, there was such abuse during the auto-pen Biden administration, and we've uncovered a lot of that, but also, you know, righting a lot of those wrongs, not just having the pardons, but even now the, you know, weaponization fund that they're fighting over between the Trump administration and, and the Senate, but just all of these efforts to get real justice. I mean, that, that in and of itself, just that there's an effort, even, even regardless, that that's good news. All right, Tim, what's next, man?
Tim Barton [00:03:41] Well, Rick, I saw something this week that I think is really good news. It was something about a student leadership program. That is being done by really a, a good friend. I think his kids are even better than he is. I, I might be biased. But Patriot Academy, you guys are doing something that, that actually I got to come down and speak to your, your leaders this last year. And of all the opportunities I have to speak to different groups and especially young people. It's, it's pretty easy to note when you're in a room full of really special young people. And what you guys did this year, Rick, with your year long intern program. And I say year long. You can clarify it's, you know, nine months, whatever it is. But what you did with this program and the caliber of students you have, the things that y'all poured into them, having the leaders and mentors down there guiding them, it it's so impressive. And so you guys got to go on a road trip. You talked about it up in DC and the different things y'all have done, but y'all are getting ready to open up signups for round two. And, and we talk often for anybody that listens to this program very much. We talk often about the brokenness of academia and where academics have gone awry in many areas. How institutions of higher education, as they used to be known, are not really the bastions of freedom and liberty and entrepreneurship and go down the list anymore. They're really Marxist indoctrination centers more than almost anything else. And that includes, unfortunately, even a lot of these Christian universities and institutions. But I just saw a video the recap of what you guys had done from last year but also then encouraging people to want to sign up for the future. So, I want to say my first piece of good news I'm so excited for what you guys are doing and signing up. But Rick, what are you doing just so that everybody listening for the parents or grandparents and they have kids and grandkids and they're going you know I'm not sure that we want to send them to college right now? And you know dealing navigating all these things if they want somewhere to send their kid to make some of the best friends they're ever gonna have in their whole life, to get some of best training they're every gonna get anywhere, where couldn't they go to find out more information?
Rick Green [00:06:07] This sounds amazing, Tim. What is this thing called again? Because it sounds really cool. I like the sound of this, like Patriot something, Patriot Institute. That would be, oh no, man, I appreciate that. I, we are very excited and you're so right. I mean, the Lord brought the right students to us last year and we're praying for that same thing to happen this year. It was just an incredible, incredible mix. Like you said, they, you know, they became best friends. They learned from each other just as they learned from us. And, and it was just a, an amazing experience. Lots of great teaching. I mean, obviously they get to hear from me and from you and from David and Krish Dunham and, and kind of the normal WallBuilders kind of crowd people. But then they also get, we bring in special speakers and trainers and things throughout the year as well. So it's, it's just an incredible year. And now we're making it available. If they want college credit, they can, they get college credit for the time with us. And we're super, super excited happens at the Patriot Academy campus in Constitution City, Texas. So, they live on site on the campus nine months. And you know, spend about 25 hours a week in class, and then they spend time doing service hours with, with things in the community and helping people out, or they get part-time jobs in town or on the campus or whatever. So, they kind of, they get to do some life as well as not just study, study, study, and them, like you said, lots of cool trips as well. And, and Tim, I will say we've got, I mean, this is way, way less expensive than, than college. It's 15 grand for the, for the year for their lodging in their, in their tuition. Um, but I've got some $10,000 scholarships. We had some people come alongside us and do some scholarships. It's actually a matching grant. If anybody wants to go help with the matching grant at our website, they can, but, but we've already got enough raised that we can give away some $10 thousand scholarships to some wall builders families, and then they only got to cover the five. So, if anybody's interested in that.
Tim Barton [00:07:50] Rick, hang on a second. So, if we were gonna go find somewhere just to live for nine months, I mean, what do you, like, bro, this is crazy. $5,000 for a nine month, and by the way, so obviously you wanna fill up and you want everybody there that can be there and you have limited space and I get all that. And I'm saying this because, there's families out there that are like, man, this is worth $15,000 to our family, right? For some of these kids, they've had jobs. They've been saving up. And I say that because, man you know, I don't want everybody to be like, I want the $5,000 and not the $15,000. If those $5,000 scholarships are at least worth the five, it's $10,000 scholarship where it's only $5 thousand cost. If those are eaten up, I just want to again clarify. This is worth every bit of $15,000. And again, just If you had to find a place to live for nine months, you'd have a hard time doing it for less than $15,000 just to live, not including the training, the environment, the friendships, the trips, the connections. One of the things that certainly we've seen from Patriot Academy, from the Leadership Congress, is so many of the incredible open doors that God has given, where, I mean, Rick, we're in D.C. a lot. My dad and I are there independently, but I mean, virtually every week. I was there this last weekend. I'm gonna be there next weekend. I'm going to be there a lot in two weeks. Dad, I know you're going to be making some visits as well. Literally while we're recording this program, I'm getting texts from somebody at the White House, but I say all of this context that I'm up there a lot and when I'm there, the majority of times, I see somebody who came from Patriot Academy Leadership Congress, who is working in the Administration, there's people that are holding elected office, that are working in different campaigns and different congressmen and senator's offices, etc. So this is something that the program we're talking about, this is incredible connections across the board. And I mentioned political stuff now for sure. But I mean even the friendships that are forged for life, every bit of this is worth all of the investment. And I probably don't need to, I'm not trying to upsell anybody on this. I fervently believe this, which is why I'm saying it. But I know there's parents and grandparents out there that are understanding, they appreciate, and they would want that. They do want it for their kids and their grandkids. But for those that are listening, going oh, man, I don't know if we could afford $15,000, Rick, that is incredible. That there are donors out there going we want to help underwrite this. And maybe somebody's listening right now and they're like i would help a kid go. Rick would you be open to people offering additional scholarships for kids to go?
Rick Green [00:10:46] I don't know, Tim. I don't know if we would be willing to accept. Yes, we would. Absolutely. That'd be fantastic. That means more students get to come. And, and, and you know, it's funny, you mention the Washington thing. Cause a couple of the kids, they just graduated and got, you know positions in the White House and are going to be starting in the fall. And others were going into other areas. And, and like you said, it' not just for the ones that want to do politics. I mean, we have Adam Curry there, the pod father that invented the podcast with Steve jobs all those years ago and he trains them on media. And we have, you know, Supreme Court Justices, they come in and talk about the law and we get journalists that come in to talk about how to do that. So it's kind of a big part of it honestly, Tim is them finding their purpose and so they don't have to come already knowing what they want to do. We do a lot of training on just, you know, searching what God has for them and, and, and figuring out what the, what He wants them to do so. Yeah, man, I would really encourage parents, grandparents, anybody you got young people in your life and it's, it's 17 to 25 is the age range we had quite a few that came for their high school senior year. So we call it a super-senior year and they got to basically finish out there is you know, some of them were homeschooling some of private schooling, but decided to do their senior year with us at the Institute and that that worked out great. It was really good. They got you know you can do dual credit and all that. So anyway, there's a lot more on the website I'm sorry for taking up so much guys, but man, I am excited Tim. And I and I do know It's a life-changing program. I sat through you know each of them spoke at the graduation just like Leaders Academy does and bro, man, just it clarified our purpose at Patriot Academy, knowing this is what God wants us doing. And so we're super excited about the '26/' 27 year. Patriotacademy.com/institute. That's our link or just go to Patriotacademy.com and you'll see it there on the on the homepage. I appreciate it, man. That was a good piece of good news. Let's take a break. We'll come back and go to David Barton's next piece of good news. Stay with us, folks. You're listening to the WallBuilders Show.
Rick Green [00:13:48] Welcome back to The WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us on this Good News Friday. Next piece of good news coming from David Barton.
David Barton [00:13:54] This one deals with a business that opened in New York City in 1916. So we're talking 110 years. This business has been open and it now is closed. It has gone under, no longer there. And the business I'm talking about is Margaret Sanger's original clinic. Now, Margaret Sager is the founder of Planned Parenthood. She was the one that was big in eugenics and racial purification. She didn't want the white race to be contaminated by anybody from any other race. So we need to abort as many babies from those races as we possibly can. And this is eugenics and all about racial cleansing and purity. And so Planned Parenthood got started from her. And this clinic that she started is 1916 and it is no more. It is now boarded up. Now don't think that means that abortions are going down. That's not the case because now with get being able to order method pressed on the abortion pill through the mail abortions are up they've gone up, but at least the physical facility of Margaret Sanger has gone down and that is at least a symbolic victory. God only knows how many babies were killed inside that building It's got to be a haunt of demons literally. I'm just looking at the article talking about this and it's written from a Christian perspective, but man all the death and destruction that went in that building just can't say what went on there. And the author of this article actually had a couple of really interesting Bible verses one is out of Revelation 18:2 and it says: Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. Babylon will never rise again. I hope that's the case but it's like she is the great Babylon, at least personification in this area and that part of the city and what she did for Planned Parenthood and the abortion movement. At least that symbolic beginning now no longer exists. They no longer call it Margaret Sanger Square, they've even changed the name and she no longer even has the recognition that was there for all those years. So that's good news
Rick Green [00:16:14] Yeah, you already said the word, but the one that came to mind for me was symbolic. I mean, obviously good that the, it closes itself, but you know, that, that it's closed that in of itself is good, but so symbolic that that's where it all started and, man, just there's been so many pro-life victories over the last few years, we've had so many good news programs about it. And just to, you know reminder to everybody that the pro-light battles didn't end with the Dobbs decision. There's still a lot going on in every single one of the 50 states. So there's still way for you to be involved in helping to save lives. Tim, what's your next one, man?
Tim Barton [00:16:46] Well, this one is coming from Florida and it's from a pastor that I have grown to really appreciate who is a just a man's man kind of pastor. His name is Joby Martin and he was part of a big baptize event that the title of the article says Florida Church Baptizes Over 2,500 People. It goes through the article that Florida based church, the Church of Eleven22 recently had over 2500 people Baptized. So here's part of the quotes from the pastor where he says 2552 times we heard someone renounced the sins of their past, pledge allegiance to Christ and proclaim out loud for the whole world to hear that Jesus Christ is their Lord and savior, there is truly nothing better than that. The church is alive and well, the spirit of God is on the move, and the gospel of Jesus Christ is still changing lives today, Pastor Joby Martin said. And guys, we've talked a lot over the last year or two about some of these major events where there's thousands of people being baptized. And this goes from college campuses to out in California and other areas as well. I think this is just in the last couple of weeks when this happened. This is something that is super encouraging and yet again reflective of this idea that God is on the move in some pretty significant ways. We've talked a lot about the revival that's been going on for the last several years. We can point to very vivid, clear data-tracking moments. The young men that are returning to church, the Bible sales that are increasing, and that's being going on, for years, way before the Charlie Kirk Memorial. But then, of course, the Charlie Kirke Memorial, where 100 million people Livestreamed it and estimated now like two billion people have watched some portion of it Again, it's so clear that God is on the move and the fact that a church in Florida baptized over 2,500 people is just absolutely encouraging. So overall major win coming out of Florida. So kudos to the Church of Eleven22 and Pastor Joby Martin for leading that effort down there.
Rick Green [00:19:08] All right, David, we got time. I think we got one more each we can get in here, depending on if you have 17 parts to your next piece. You know, Tim, he's been pretty good lately. He's been doing one piece of good news.
Tim Barton [00:19:21] It has been much better. It's true.
David Barton [00:19:25] Much better? Better? Is that the word we're going to use? Better?
Tim Barton [00:19:26] I'm saying that your counting has been a little more accurate more recently. That's I, yes. I having a four- and seven-year-old that we're homeschooling and we're helping them learn their numbers. Grandpa did pretty good the last several weeks of counting out his Good News articles. So good job, Grandpa.
David Barton [00:19:47] I want to see the written rules on this. I don't recall any written rules
Rick Green [00:19:52] We don't do that because if we did Tim and I couldn't change them whenever it suits us.
Tim Barton [00:19:56] That's right That's right
David Barton [00:19:59] Okay guys this one comes out of Indiana and this based on the fact, Tim, you've talked about this that studies have repeatedly shown that the best path for staying out of poverty is to graduate school, to get a job, to get married, and then have kids. Those four ingredients are the best thing for staying out of poverty. Well, Indiana has now turned that into law. And so Indiana they've just joined several other states doing the same thing. That you have to in the classroom teach that sequence. This is a statement that was released on the bill and it's interesting, it's also got another part of the bill that's also good news, but it says this Act, Act 88 Indiana, requires schools to teach the quote Success Sequence, end quote, so that's what it's called, the Success Sequence of obtaining a high school diploma, securing full-time employment, and waiting until marriage to begin having children. A sequence which research has showed a 97 percent success rate of avoiding poverty. I mean when you get to that 97 percent you're usually plus or minus five or seven or whatever. That's almost like saying a hundred percent because there's always some degree of variation but that's awesome. But here's the other part, the law also requires that any Indiana public university accept the classical learning test results. In the same way the school accepts ACT and SAT. Now those are college entrance exams, but the ACT and the SAT over the last 20 years have really gone woke. They used to be all about facts and numbers and stats. And then they got into philosophy and then they started including DEI and all the racial equality stuff and no longer was it knowing the facts, you had to know the philosophy behind it. So the classic learning test is a throwback to just what knowledge do you know? What philosophy? Not what indoctrination can you repeat? Do you know what two plus two is? Can you actually identify Newton's three laws? Etc etc. So the CLT is what home schoolers and Christian schoolers have been using and now the state accepts that for any university in Indiana. If you've got a CLT or Classical Learning Test Score then that is acceptable as ACT and SAT. And so it says by requiring public colleges in Indiana to accept the CLT we're giving students more options demonstrate their knowledge and therefore more options when applying for colleges in our state. So kudos to Indiana that success sequence is great and also the fact that they're not no longer letting ACT and SAT dominate the college entrance stuff that will help clear some college stuff as well.
Rick Green [00:22:46] All right, Tim, you get to take us into the weekend, man. What's the final piece of good news for us?
Tim Barton [00:22:52] All right guys, this last piece of good news is coming from Oklahoma and reading the article, gaining more context and information, it's a little boggling. So it's good news. The good news, is that there was a company that had a COVID-19 mandate that they fired 43 people, not giving them a religious or medical exemption. Now the majority of those 43 actually, all of those 43 had sought a religious exemption. And a couple of those 43 actually had doctor's note saying that because they had other underlying medical conditions that that experimental vaccine would not be good for them for a variety of reasons. This company rejected all of those. Now guys, thinking about Oklahoma, what kind of company and again, this is Oklahoma, generally very red, very conservative. What kind of company do you think would enforce a COVID-19, the vaccine mandate? You have to get the vaccine or you're fired. What kind of company would hold that kind of liberal belief from Oklahoma? Just big picture. What kind of company comes to mind?
Rick Green [00:24:12] Oklahoma, the company like that. Hmm, healthcare, it's got to be some kind of hospital or something.
Tim Barton [00:24:18] Yeah, because I mean, so generally, Rick, I'm with you. I was thinking it's got to be some really liberal, I was taking maybe like an IT something, right? Like this, some kind of Apple, Google, something, something more woke. Dad, what do you think?
David Barton [00:24:34] Well, you've already set it up by the tone of your question, just about the tone of your questions. So I'm going to, I'm gonna say it's gotta be, it's got to be something like a church or the Oklahoma Republican party or, or something that you wouldn't expect at all, just by the way you're asking it.
Tim Barton [00:24:49] So it's, it's the Ag Equipment Company. That's the name.
Rick Green [00:24:54] No
Tim Barton [00:24:57] Like, wait a second. Ag Equipment Company? You mean like the Rednecks who make like farm equipment and tools and like, what in the world are you doing? So it is actually a compressor packaging manufacturer, Ag Equipment Company that fired these people. Now, the end of the story, the good news is there was a lawsuit against them by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because you cannot fire someone, you can't discriminate against them because of their religious beliefs, etc. Obviously, there were lots of problems that happened in COVID because of this. So there's a 4.25 million dollar settlement and it's yet to be determined how all or yet to revealed how all of that is going to be spent for the people that lost their job. So what level of compensation each individual gets, et cetera. So we don't know all of the details, but we do know at least that this company had to pay the $4.25 million fine. And it's going to go to help bring some level of restitution to those who were harmed by it. So the good news is that the COVID-19 vaccine mandate where people got fired, they... They lost their position in argument. They are being penalized. It just blows my mind. It was an ag equipment company. Farmers come on. We got to do better. This is crazy.
Rick Green [00:26:21] Well, it kind of goes back to our first topic, you know, this stuff that is getting, you know, finally justice is coming. Just taking time. Oh, man, this is years later, right? And we're starting to see more and more of these stories and huge settlements, which I think is a good deterrent that this doesn't happen again in the future. Thanks for all the good news, guys. Everybody have a great weekend. Thank you so much for listening to The WallBuilders Show.
