Brain Trust - Ken Klukowski

Ken Klukowski serves as the Director of the Center for Religious Liberty for the Family Research Council. Here are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview as today's Brain Trust.

Is it a bad thing to have a Bible study in your house? Is that illegal now?

It isn't supposed to be, but in a California town we have an issue with an ordinance that is targeting religious and non-profit organizations that are attempting to met in residential areas.  

Can they do that?

They aren't supposed to be able to do this.  In theory some ordinances might, legitimately, impact some religious groups, but this case the law is not being applied properly

Did this come about by someone complaining?

We really aren't sure in this CA case.  The records of the case are obscure.  Someone contacted the authorities, but we aren't sure as to the nature of that complaint or contact.

With the increased interest in home churches, what does this type of conflict/issue look like?

While I am not sure of the actual police procedure for this CA town, I do realize that throughout the history of the Christian church small groups meeting in individual homes has been crucial.  

Furthermore, our nation's constitution is there to protect this free assemblage of people.

How is this legal drama playing out?

It has been taken to court, but not yet to the district level. This is, however, a violation of the constitutional "free-exercise" clause.  So it has significance on a federal level.  

This particular ordinance targets the assembly of religious groups in residential zones.

Even if this ordinance didn't target religious groups, the limitations of people to meet freely would appear to be infringement upon the individual's rights.

Brain Trust - Ken Klukowski

Ken Klukowski, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, was featured on The Matt Friedeman Show's Brain Trust segment addressing the debt-talks.

It seems that a lot of things are out the door. There seems to be some major disconnection here. The president wants a balanced approach, but neither Reid nor Boehner has the same approach.

Harry Reid came up with what it supposedly, at least, a bipartisan senate version.

What the president is calling for, evidently, yes, (Reid's) approach is not balanced.

The president said that anything that does not involve tax hikes is not a balanced approach.

This is about the jobs. It's not about one president's lonely concept of what makes for a lonely society.

Do we face disaster on August 2nd, if the debt ceiling isn't raised?

If nothing happened...between now and then. That would risk an immediate downgrading of US debt.

Trillions of which is held by US citizens in their retirement accounts and trillions of which is held overseas.

If nothing were done, and that debt were downgraded, that could have some very serious consequences.

We bring in over $2.4 trillion every year.

The reality is, even if all that big stuff wasn't signed by that time...we pay all our debt obligations first. Then we pay our social security and troops.

The only things that would be on the cutting block would be the EPA and President Obama's alphabet soup of agencies.

At the end of the day, it's President Obama's decision, isn't it?

That is not his call to determine where money can go.

It would be an act of imperial overreach for the president to say, "If there's not enough money here, I'm going to play a game of musical chair and decide whose chairs are going to disappear from the dance floor."

If the legislature writes that legislation, would they send a message to the world that we're taking care of our debt?

The bill is already written.

It's a scare tactic to say that if we don't raise the debt ceiling, there will be terribly consequences.

Right now we're borrowing 42 cents on every dollar.

If you were to give advice  to the conservatives right now, would you say you need to fight for Cut, Cap, or should they compromise?

Hold the line in such a way to make sure our debt does not default.

Make sure the debt is taken care of, then come back to the table in a calm way.

If we just raise the debt and nothing else changes, this country is going to have a downgrade anyway.

Brain Trust - Ken Klukowski

Ken Klukowski, co-author of Resurgent: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America, joined the Matt Friedeman Show to talk about his  book as well as constitutional conservatism in general.

Could you define constitutional conservatism?

Constitutional conservatism is the form of government given to us by our founding fathers.

In that document there are eight keys to constitutional government.

Is constitutional government just a the thought that the federal government should only do what it's allowed to by the Constitution?

Well that's certainly the core of that, but it's a bit broader.

It talks about the family as the most basic unit of human government.

It talks about empowering families, empowering individuals.

So I think it goes beyond just the issue of what is the role of government to what is the role of fathers, mothers, families, churches.

Could you say that the federal government is an enemy of family?

I wouldn't want to label the government as an enemy of the family.

The government is made up of individuals, and some of those individuals have been heroes for constitutional conservatism.

I would say that in general the government hasn't been kind to constitutional government.

Was there some point in our history where an accelerator was pressed that shouldn't have been?

Absolutely.

We explained in the book that government only grows when the families fail and when the churches are silent.

In the 1930's, that's where we start to take big steps away from the family.

Why isn't voting and giving money enough?

We talk about making Americans citizen activists.

And we speak in the concluding chapter about the parable of the talents.

We make the point that the talents we are given by our creator here in America - that the right to vote is one of those talents. But our right of free speech is another talent.

The Lord expects for us to earn a return on each talent he's given to us.

Why have homosexual activists been so successful?

With the secularization of American culture, they have taken it to the next step...There should be no moral judgment.

If you silence the churches, if you jettison the churches...then you cannot have moral absolutes.