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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Ordinary people serving an extraordinary God can accomplish the most remarkable things. That's the premise of a new book by former Republican presidential candidate Senator Tim Scott, who points to his own faith as a driving force in his personal and political life.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): In this episode, we sit down with Senator Scott to talk about the role faith has played in the shaping of America and the role it should take in the public sphere moving forward. I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Saturday, August 23rd, and this is a weekend edition of Morning Wire.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): First of all, thank you so much for joining us, Senator Scott.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: Absolutely. Good to be with y'all.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So in your book, you highlight Christian figures from various eras who made profound contributions to American society. What criteria did you use to choose these individuals?
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: You know, very often I was looking for names that people haven't heard yet. And I think one of the beauties of the book, One Nation Always Under God, is it tells the stories of ordinary Americans who accomplish extraordinary things by depending on their faith and prayer and an expertise that they had developed over a number of years
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: If you think about some of the profiles of Christian Courage you can go to Dorothea Dix who spent the greater part of her adult life working to make those who are in mental health institutions to make their conditions more sanitary, more sound, and have more dignity. She understood that crisis because she studied it, she lived it, so she wanted to work with people to make that better.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: or someone like Norman Burlock who spent his lifetime as a farmer. And he saved more than a billion lives by praying and using the expertise he had in farming to make the miracle happen using the soil in areas where they could not find good production. So story after story after story. The through line is that ordinary people serving an extraordinary God can accomplish the most remarkable things.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: whether it's William Lloyd Garrison as an abolitionist, or whether it's the Green family with Hobby Lobby. Throughout American history, the one consistency is this Judeo-Christian ethos that permeates in all of the institutions of power. And when it does, we have a stronger, more powerful country.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Were there any people whose stories especially surprised or moved you during the research process?
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: You know, it's hard to deny the impact that Fred Fox, an actor who was then drafted into World War II, he finds himself wanting to be on the stage. And the military, they saw his talent and they literally helped him create basically a veil of army prowess and potency by having literally inflated weapons, sound systems to make it sound like troops moving.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: This is a real story in World War II where Fred Fox, using his expertise as an actor, was able to save thousands and thousands of lives by throwing our enemies onto the wrong trail while the actual army moved in and got the kill, so to speak. So his story stands head and shoulders out.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: And Jim Lovell, an astronaut who was lost in space, literally everything was going wrong, 200,000 miles away from home. And he, through his prayer, finding peace, was able to then use his skills to come up with solutions to conserve the oxygen, to save the lives of astronauts.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Ordinary people serving an extraordinary God can do the most remarkable things if we can remember that. I think that's our future, to be honest with you. America's greatest future to be the city on the hill requires us to remember who we are, whose we are, how we got here, and where we're going.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): The element of faith here, why is it so important?
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: You know, one thing to build an expertise, and a lot of people do this, why does the faith, the Christian faith in particular, take this to the next level and turn it into a transformative thing?
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: I think it has as much to do with the foundation of this nation, how we as a nation turn to the Lord. Our birth certificate or our Declaration of Independence reflects upon that very early on, that we were given inalienable rights that come from God, not from man.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: In other words, no person can tell you your value because God has already established that. I believe that that worldview allows you to see more in yourself, more in your country, and more in your future. That kind of power motivates and inspires people to do the remarkable things that are in us.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: And that's why I think it's such an important part. It's not just our expertise. It's availing ourselves to this new capacity that only comes through faith so that we do amazing things, not just for ourselves, but for other people around the world.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): I love C.S. Lewis. And one of the quotes I remember from him. Oh, yes. That's how he talks about, you know, you would think that somebody's focus on the afterlife would make them care less about the world, maybe be less actually self-giving, maybe less brave in the face of danger. But it's the opposite. They're actually more likely to run into, you know, face the Nazis, face off against the enemy because they're not only concerned with the worries of the world. They're thinking of the afterlife.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): You draw a strong connection between Christian values and the foundations of American institutions, and you connect that to education, health care, et cetera. Are these principles being included in today's policy debates?
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: You know, not enough to be honest with you. I think too often in today's America, we have too many people celebrating the wrong people who are doing the wrong things. And I wanted to write a book right now to encourage us to look to our future with hope and optimism because we have stories in our past and, frankly, even modern stories.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: St. Jude Hospital was founded by a guy named Danny Thomas, who was on his last leg, so to speak. He was lost. He was about broken and broke. And he prayed. And he believed that the angel of mercy, St. Jude, responded. And he said he was going to build a shrine to St. Jude in a way of honoring the Lord for the resources that came his way.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: And it those stories that we need to hear more of not celebrating the wrong people doing the wrong things but let celebrate ordinary people doing the right things. That what makes America American exceptionalism It real
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Your book seems to be part motivational guide in a sense. Was that part of the purpose?
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: Oh, absolutely. I am a kid that grew up in poverty in a single parent household. And I had to look around my community and then beyond my community to find people who would inspire and encourage me to go beyond my circumstances.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: Today, so often, we allow ourselves to be victims because we've been victimized. But the truth is, my mom was right. You can be a victim or you can be victorious, but you can't be both. And that is a very important part of being able to see beyond your circumstances because you believe in America all things are possible.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: And because they are, you can do the most extraordinary things no matter where you start. It's how far you go, not where you start in our great nation.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): We've seen some conflicting reports on religiosity in young people in America. And you're talking about building hope for the future of America. Do you see young Americans, especially young men, moving toward religion or away from it?
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: Well, you know, it's a mixed bag. We see a lot of young people pulling away from religion altogether. But shockingly, in the last five years, we've seen the strongest increase in interest in faith and interest in Christianity than we've seen in a couple of decades.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: You can remember some of the Bible studies and so-called revivals on college campuses like Ohio State University's football team leading these amazing days of Bible study and enthusiasm around their faith. This is happening on college campuses around the country.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: We need it to happen in our nation's capital as well. Not just lawmakers, but we need to celebrate law enforcement officers. We need to celebrate emergency responders. We need to create a culture once again, especially in every major city in this nation, that America and Americans, we can do exceptional things when we apply ourselves and believe all things are still possible.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): We've got to have that dual. We've got to do all we can while believing in something bigger than ourselves in order to achieve the things today that feel and seem impossible. They're still possible. You'll read about that in my new book, One Nation Always Under God.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Well, we highly recommend it, Senator. Thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate you taking the time.
--:-- Senator Tim Scott: Thank you, sir. God bless. See you soon.
