Being a Positive Force for the Family

At Focus on the Family we believe that in Christ the family is the building block of society and on today's broadcast will be speaking with Florida Gov. Rhonda Santos about the importance of lifting up family values and protecting children in our culture. Your hostess focus president Dr. Jim Daly and I'm John Fuller, John. We recently had an opportunity to visit with Gov. DeSantis in Florida about policy issues affecting the family, as you alluded to in the discussion you're about to hear. We talked about the importance of fathers in two-parent homes protecting children from indoctrination in our schools, pro-life issues, big tech, religious freedom, and more. He has some great ideas about faith, family, freedom, and I think you can enjoy hearing this conversation I degree Gov. Rhonda Santos has been serving in that position since 2019 in Florida. Before that, he served in the U.S. Congress for three terms, he and his wife Casey have three young children and a gym. He recorded this interview at the governor's office in Tallahassee here know Jim Daly and Gov. Rhonda Santos on something governor welcome to focus on the here okay let's let's start with your background as I was reading Yale, Harvard, and the new winged the jagged and he worked with the seal team you like a man's man what what did you learn out of that experience. Specially the seal teamwork well look, I mean I think that the military culture was is I think a very positive culture and sat help me be even more discipline help me be able to get that task accomplished and so that's is generally what you're talking about, you know with with with Navy SEALs. It's interesting we were in Al Anbar province and so this is like Falluja were Mady al-Assad, he thought all those areas. This is during the 2007 surge of troops there. Al Qaeda in Iraq and said I was kinda ground zero for US military at the time, but that was it was an interesting experience. I gave gained a lot additional respect for a lot of the people, not just people on the Odyssey, Navy SEALs, people respect that, but I was there. IBM like a helicopter with some E5 in the Army or the Marine Corps who had been in Iraq and Afghanistan more then then they been in the United States since their 18th birthday on their third or fourth deployments I one of the things I saw was how that impacted their lives back home.

I mean, you did have, unfortunately a lot of families break up over just having these are unnatural deployments. It's one thing to go for for six or nine months to go nine months then a year and then this and it was an awful lot away because we don't have a military draft you talking about people that had volunteered and that burden really fell on a very very small segment of our success. Did you know you look at that, though I could see. It seems when I'm watching you on the news or watching the many bills that you signed that support the things we believe that Focus on the Family did dusting to have like a military precision to it.

You're going bang bang bang and you don't backup which I think people are very encouraged. Why I made a lot of politicians just move with the flow. You seem to be really rooted in principle and stick with me I'll take the headwind. I'll take the first arrows but luscious. Let's move together describe that environment for us to look at the end of the day you common office not to be somebody people call you Gov. they invite Charlie's things. I mean, that doesn't really matter to me.

I'm in office to do something and accomplish things on behalf of the folks and in the state of Florida and you and I were just talking back, I was just got back from Orlando yet.

The Special Olympics international was keeping our special Olympians who were unvaccinated from competing in the Special Olympics. We applied Florida law, we let them know that wasn't gonna fly. So we now have 100 Floridians were now to be able compete. So I was able to to use my office to help those folks so that's kinda how we view it in so everything were doing is with an eye to actually accomplishing the mission.

No one thinks for us, it's about the policies do they support family. Do they work against family. It seems to me that the unfortunately and that political sphere.

People don't understand the benefit or they do understand it yet. They're still trying to break the family down. I was reading research. Obviously, which we do every day and when you look at the attributes.

What an intact family delivers for the culture. For example, children of an intact mom and dad family their more likely to graduate from high school more likely to graduate from college more likely to be successful less likely to do drugs less likely to get involved in premarital sex less likely to become alcoholics and I always wondered to myself why would politicians debate this.

If this is the right family formation type to deliver the best citizens. Why wouldn't we all be supporting why think more and more are because I think though that everything you cited is irrefutable and I think more and more Americans have come to see that is interesting. I wouldn't be governor if it weren't for Focus on the Family.

I got elected in 2012. My wife and I didn't have kids yet.

By 2016.

As I started my third term. We had our first child so I'm going up to DC on the Congressman and Mike went why am I up here when I am down there in their little and so and then we had my signing 20 eighteenths I got elected governor November 2018 with two very little ones but that was a big reason why I didn't want to serve in Congress anymore, and I wanted actually come to Florida because it's a much more family-friendly thing a man with my kids in the morning today I'm doing all the stuff around the state and I'll be back with them later tonight so my wife and I put a big, big premium on it but the if you could snap your finger and just do one thing to help our society saying every kid could grow up without with a strong intact family particular, having a father in the home because as we do know that a lot of the of the weight falls on single moms more and more over the last 50 years, and in the US so those fathers are present. The chance that they drop out of school get involved with drugs. All these things goes down dramatically if the father is not present then you see a lot of problems. We did a fatherhood initiative this year.

Big one, which was out over $70 million was a great event. We had ever of the legislators brought their kids. I had to of hike is running around there but we had coach Tony done, she who had been in Tampa Bay and Indianapolis.

He still lives in Tampa.

He's got a group called All-Pro dads which gets funding can get funding under this program grants for organizations that are doing is and he spoke and he said when he was coach at Tampa he would go minister in the prisons and when he noticed was the people were in the prison, not because they were poor race any of the other things people .2. They were in the prisons because none of them had a father in the home and it was just at dramatic so you could ensure that a lot of the other problems that we talked about in society.

A lot of those would be very very small compared to what they are. Now let's let's pick up on a couple of these you really fighting the media typically in the influence shapers in the culture. But when you sign the bill on protecting pre-k through third grade from having teachers teach them sexually oriented things that sounds like common sense and I think a lot of the country said governor DeSantis. Thank you, why would there be debate about that. I mean who should be talking about sexual issues with these kids at that age will that's the thing.

When we when we first started doing it. I was shocked at how the media was responding in the left and on and I have my staff would give me the bill. Let me look.

Are they really fighting on this hill with a K through three and and I Mike you can't be serious, so I knew that what we were doing was the right thing. 100% and we we just went right back through that, the blowback, but what I've come to find out is there is a concerted effort to inject this gender ideology and the sexuality into the discussions with the very youngest kids and it goes into the larger discussion about the proper role of parents. There's an element of our society on the on the far left that believes parents really have no role in the education of the could you drop them off at school and then they take the kids in, they impose the ideology and worldview that they want a school board member controlled by union a bureaucrat. Whoever that's the vision. Our vision is that parents have a fundamental role in the education and upbringing of their kids and they have a right to know what curriculum is being taught. They have a right to be involved, but I think the left views it as okay if you don't inject this early by the time they get older it's almost quote too late for them to get the ideology that they want. So we ended up seeing curriculum design for very young kids like the gingerbread man or the gender unicorn. These are things that are very, very real and so I think that the reason they had the reaction is because they view those very young grades. The elementary grades as where the battlefield is for them in terms of getting their worldview to stick with the students once they get older. Then it's more of the parents viewpoints and values and that's what they don't want, when you look at the awakening of parents because this is been going on for at least a decade, maybe longer in public schools were these kids been taught and actually like a grooming arena right there they're almost like grooming them to become what they want out of this children when they're in their 20s and 30s right and in that regard. Why do you think parents are waking up what's happening to her parents are now keenly in tune with what's going on in school.

I think some of the stuff has has just gotten more flagrant over the years and I think parents are saying. I do think with coded they had to be more involved all of a sudden because now in Florida, you know, we made sure to keep schools open but a lot of parts of the country they were doing remote education for a long long time and so the parents are then having to be called upon to be teachers as well and I think they were exposed to some of the things that were going on in school and I think were frustrated some of the stuff that they were saw me in one of the things that response is always get is okay.

You have the second third graders, whatever were talking about with these bills are we mastering reading and writing and all those things. So far are we doing so well there that were injecting social policies into the schools and and I think what parents are doing and serving an important function. Is there reorienting the school system away from indoctrination and back towards education where we have a premium on undoing what a core part of education should be your listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly today. Our guest is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and you can visit our website for help with your child's education.

Knowing your rights as a parent staying informed on issues affecting your kids stop by focusonthefamily.com/broadcast to learn more.

Okay, let's move forward in the conversation now is Jim and governor discussed how our fundamental rights of faith and freedom are woven into the fabric of America endowed by God River just up in DC and that we had some friends of focus their were being given a history lesson and we learned that when the capital building was built. Thomas Jefferson approved having church services that are in the capital for 40 years.

It took place right the beginning of the nation.

There is this attitude though among the left that somehow God can't be in the public square and the more we remove God from the public square. I think the more we see disaster in the culture and I guess the question from where you sit when were not teaching our kids values and virtues any longer. What we expect and to behave like I haven't say not only that, I would say what the left is doing their saying okay you know religion's role in the public square.

Should be basically eliminated and they will site like the First Amendment establishment of religion, which is that's not what it was intended to do, but let's indulge them for a minute.

They are trying to establish a religion of their own. This woke ideology functions as a religion, obviously it's not the Judeo-Christian tradition but they want that to be effectively the governing faith of our country. They want that to be the core orthodoxy in public schools and in other types of public functions and so they want to impose their values. They're not really advocating for just a pluralistic public square. They really want to impose their worldview, to the exclusion of the rest of us. And that's what's happening. HB five Florida State bill to protect the children in the womb of the on 15 weeks. Tell us about that motivation for it and the prevailing over-the-counter wins to that bill well adequate. When we did it.

We obviously believe that you know that this is a child that deserves protection of any of a beating heart capable of feeling pain when they do these these abortions particularly at that stage of me there literally dismembering the unborn child.

So it's really horrific and you go back to like the 70s with some of the Supreme Court decisions and they were not grounded text history in the structure, but that medical science was not accurate either. And so we had huge advances, people are able to see this so we felt that it that it was very common sense thing to do. We also knew that this Mississippi case was going to be in front of the Supreme Court.

We feel good about a positive outcome.

You know, one way or another. How far they'll go right in doing the doctrine I just deal reversing the doctrine, but even Roberts said basically he that this should be upheld so we felt good about that.

We also understood that we were going to get sued in state court. So that is now happen because we have a lot of state doctrine and case law that is similar, and maybe even more aggressive than some of the federal law. Up to this point, the courts have done, but we think will ultimately win that into working to fight very hard for that and you I think it will. It will certainly save save lives, but I also think it's important.

This is an expression of our values that that that every one of these kids count when you when you look at the landscape across the country being in Colorado.

Of course, Colorado has become very aggressive right to the birth canal right through the ninth month. We think the outcome of this will be over the next 5 to 10 years. What one I think you just did at the observation should be made that year they fashion themselves. The party of science and yet as the science has developed in a more pro-life direction they have gone way, way more radical left you. You got back, the average Democrat, 20, 30 years ago would never have signed up for an abortion right before the babies born here 99+ months in the pregnancy. Now that's the standard position you can't win as a Democrat unless you take these really of noxious and extreme positions to moral letter akin to an infanticide and so I think your see New York California. Unfortunately for you, Colorado. I mean, I think they are going to push it as far as they can. I think California even allows post birth abortions they are to be funding all of this with tax dollars. And then so I think you can have some a handful of really extreme blue states and then I think that the conservative red and purple states are to be much, much more protective of the road the right to life now. What the Supreme Court decides to do with Alito's opinion. Roberts is trying to pick someone off that obviously will have a big say into the latitude that different states will have and then also state like Florida you know we need to win the state challenges as well.

Otherwise, even our 15 week will witness stand, but I think were to be able to. I think I think the long-term effect could be thriving for those families in states that uphold life and I think there's a connection to all this since Roe V Wade, the dehumanizing of not just the baby but children in elementary school. I think there's a connection to all this were taking the life of the child, whether it's pre-born or post-born is less dramatic one.

Also one of the reasons we've done so much on foster care and to promote adoption is because you know I really believe and I think most authorities believe everybody counts and everybody deserves a chance. And you know they're in a tell you that that this kids not one or this kid has no chance but I can point you do examples of people that were abandoned as newborns and destitution and have now risen up to do amazing things.

In fact, we were just right next door in Gadsden County rural county in Florida, North Florida. The only majority black county in Florida and a friend of mine was a lab and then as a newborn in Gadsden County and he probably would be that the one you would point is that this kid has no chance he gets adopted he was a savant in terms of technology. He's created all these companies now worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and it's amazing but at that you would have never predicted that everyone would've said not to be successful in so giving people a chance is very very important and people can do great things.

I mean, you may have been abandoned on the side of a road that doesn't mean that God didn't endow you with very special talents.

That's true II didn't interview the other day with a woman that more liberal media person and she was saying that you know if you can afford that child. The should you abort the child is actually not mean who are you to say that a child shouldn't be born should have a life that God can use in any way he deems fit right that the child can rise out of the ashes. I feel like I was one of the children and it would never happen if I didn't have a chance to breathe, let me move into the foster adoption. You mention that, and that's the key part of what focus is doing today and we've actually worked quite extensively. Down here in Florida, but the foster effort. I mean, this is one things for the church.

We really need to step up. You know, especially again.

If that the Dobbs decision connecting these things goes to repeal Roe V Wade, the church needs to step up in a big way because these women need help foster care they need help they need homes. We need respite care givers with the churches needs to get more involved in Florida to your credit and in Florida there's many great church programs here for foster kids going in in and we welcome the involvement of the faith community in Florida.

Not every state does that and so we have a fake governor state Council we done an awful lot to harness these really great resources because you talk about different problems in society, obviously adoption, foster care one, but there's many others. One of the best resources we have are the churches in and they flip up and are able to do a lot.

So yes so were we book I'd I believe that that is a huge part of the of the solution, but part of it. We have a responsibility with our tax dollars to make sure that some of this stuff makes sense. And so we did a big increase in payments for foster parents to try to make sure that some of the inequities in our system are getting ironed out so that it makes sense to participate in this and I think we for example have done things. Where were giving huge benefits to law enforcement families if they adopt adopt the child and so it's going to be very attractive for those folks are to be able to do it.

So were trying a lot of different things, but it's a huge emphasis that we have in the state of Florida. Let's get all the foster kids into a great home. Those that are available for adoption. Get them adopted at let me move to tech here then that's a big issue in the culture. Focus on the Family we were suspended by Twitter just for describing Dr. Levine out of an Sylvania who the Biden administration appointed to big role.

We just said he was a transgendered man that means a person who was born male and believes himself to be female. That was exactly what was said and we got suspended and we thought were making a statement of fact, it wasn't controversial. It wasn't mean-spirited and boom.

We were locked out and we thought wow that's amazing.

I'm I even met with the some of the execs at twitter and they were they were wrapped around the axle. He couldn't describe it. They couldn't explain it – describe the check what's going on, especially from your governor's role in word we need to go mom. Luckily this is very Orwellian. I mean, they're basically asking us to be complicit in lies and when you had the swimmer in the NCAA swimmer you know competing as a male swimmer for three years then switches to be a quote woman swimmer and this is a biological male that's just the reality. And so when that individual is crown women's Champion that is not true.

And so I did a proclamation in Florida to recognize that one that finished second. According the NCAA who was from Florida St. she was the best women swimmer in this 500 yard thing well when people say things like that big tech once the clampdown they don't want this to be something that's out there, so they're trying to impose an orthodoxy on the country in more ways and want to mean this is one way there's a number of different ways. In almost all lines with the very far left of the political spectrum. Certainly very hostile to people that have traditional values and and traditional outlook on uncertain things and so I guess the issue is is okay will you do about that.

Sometimes it will just build your own twitter walls we saw when parlor came up all the tech companies colluded technique Parlor that Amazon Web services you had that the financial all the stuff and they were basically using their economic power to kill this company in the crib.

It's been very difficult for them since that so I don't do that. You just say like oh yeah, the market will solve it because these are massive monopolies. They are not going to allow competition you can't have it both ways. You can't say you're not making editorial judgments and therefore your immune from suit but then turn around and effectively try to exercise viewpoint discrimination against people that dissent from the prevailing narrative and so this is going to come to a head.

I think that there's gotta be a role to protect the ability to participate in speaking and what's become the main public square. There's much more discourse that's happening on these platforms, then it would happen in the actual town square nowadays and so we just have to recognize that reality. But the notion that conservatives should just do nothing about this. I think that's gonna lead Duchess getting steamrolled by very very powerful companies. These tech companies exercise more authority over American life in the monopolies of the early 20th century that were broken out those big trust did at the time and so we just have to recognize reality.

That's amazing. And that were right at the end and I'm gonna ask you where we get our hope that when you when you look at the landscape all the things we talked about the things that are rated against good people that just want to do the right thing want to raise their kids in the right way so that they have values and can live a successful life. How do we look down the line that all of these problems and have some hope.

Why think the more we have problems, the more we have a lot of deceit circling around the culture and dominating the culture it makes truth that much more powerful because people are hungry for it and I think I'm an example in Florida everything we've done, we faced a lot of opposition from the media, target for being smeared all the stuff and I don't mind that because it just means I'm doing my job and in the landlord and yeah I know I'll try to what that is part of what you expect now but what happens is people see through that media nonsense they do gravitate if you're speaking the truth and you're willing to back up your words with actions and you will stand and fight for them. There's a huge amount of people in Florida and I think the area around the country that will have your back and that want to see this they continue going or I think throughout the country. So I do think that there's hope Isaac were up against the lot, but because it's gotten so offkilter man that truth just stand for the right thing stand for these principles and speak it and live it and you can have a lot of people that are to be rallying around that flag that is so good. The women in the audience are gonna kill me if I don't ask about your wife and how should doing and maybe quickly what she went through with all of you with so so so we did, so she got diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of last summer, beginning of the fall and when you have at that time of for a three and one-year-old at home. It's a really first-rate shattering diagnosis, but the prognosis generally for this now is very good and so she had to go through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and do all that. It was not easy to do. She handled it with a lot of class and dignity and is really been an inspiration for a lot of women throughout the state of Florida because if she can go through. It is the first lady then they have hope that they can go through. It's a she's doing very well she's out and about and is a great advocate for children in this state as well as for the overall population in the state of Florida, but I will tell you this.

We first got the diagnosis. It was something that we were holding privately very difficult, very emotional and we made the decision we wanted to go public with it just because she's going to. She was non-SOI gonna be out and about as much and she is a public figure. So we announced it and the day lose of prayers and people reaching out to us was overwhelming and it lifted her up when I saw firsthand the power of prayer and how it could take somebody from kind of the depths of despair for probably the worst thing that ever happened in your life and lift her spirits and I think that that really helped her get through this. The way she has so that's a good and that's a good way for our listeners to pray for you.

Thank you for being such a great example of how to do this well you have admirers beyond Florida whole nation is watching you is grateful for the time happy to do and thanks for coming back to tell ass a bit. Gov. Ron DeSantis on today's episode of Focus on the Family and that is news about his wife, Casey, it is John and again these are the insights you're not going to hear on the evening news clip from a governor like Ron DeSantis and that's what I love doing those interviews. For that reason you get to know more about who he is and what motivates them and what drives him were dealing with some heavy things in the culture right now and I appreciate the governor's perspective and what is trying to do as he makes many many tough decisions and let me invite our listeners and viewers to visit our website for follow-up articles about education pro-life matters religious freedom and so much more.

We want to encourage you in that way.

To sign up for a subscription to the daily Citizen. It's a daily email that will keep you informed on the critical issues in the culture of our team is really talented and we have researchers and writers who are constantly keeping up with the latest news and its impact on families. You can learn more about daily Citizen and other resources when you call 800 later a inward family or stop by the show notes and you'll find the links right there when you get in touch. Please consider donating to the ministry of Focus on the Family help us in our outreach and efforts on behalf of marriages and families in pre-born babies. Any donation amount will help in the call one 800 later a inward family were dressed up by the website next time you'll hear how birth order impacts your marriage will have Dr. Kevin leaving Lieut. marrying outside of our birth order and that's a good thing because simply marrying outside your birth order increases the probability of success in their on behalf of Jim Daly and the entire team. Thanks for listening today to Focus on the Family I'm John Fuller inviting you back once more help you and your family thrive you ever wonder when it was like to meet face to face, the teachings, the long-awaited Messiah flash all in a new novel by Focus on the Family called the challenge that I have called you by name.

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