Knowles: We can't embrace atheism and secularism.
One, sure, from the practical standpoint
that the political effect of those things
has been all the destruction we see around us.
But two, because it's just not true.
Student: In your book you write,
"The term conservative,
traditional,
and Christian
may not be synchronous,
but they overlap substantially
in the same way that terms such as radical,
politically correct,
secular, and leftist relate to one another."
So, as the especially Western world becomes more
areligious and secular,
do you believe the conservatives should
or should not embrace the more secular and atheist movement?
Because as I see it,
the secular idea of just do what you want,
whatever makes you feel good,
just do it.
It has led the way to destruction
of our morals and standards.
Knowles: Oh, of course.
I mean, if we were to abandon our most deeply held beliefs
because we just worry about the trendline on voters
or demographics or something
that would be tantamount to a strategy of surrender.
Surrender now and maybe they won't be too harsh on us,
but I'm not interested in surrendering.
I know that there are many conservatives
who love the idea of losing with dignity.
Of course, these are the least dignified conservatives
you've ever met in your life,
but they really love that idea.
Oh yes, we're going to go down,
but we'll go down with Romney.
Doesn't he have great hair.
We're so respectable aren't we?
No, of course not.
We can't embrace atheism and secularism.
One, sure from the practical standpoint
that the political effect of those things
has been all the destruction we see around us.
But two, because it's just not true,
and so if we pursue a political program
on the premise that God does not exist,
if we get the most basic fundamental thing wrong,
then nothing else we say is going to make sense.
If there are atheists or agnostic
or people with,
what's the...
no the one that's popularist,
I'm spiritual, but not religious.
You know that one?
It means I'm really interested in me
but I'm not that interested in God,
or ultimate reality or anything.
You know, if there are people out there who hold those views
who want to vote for us, that's awesome.
That's great.
I mean look, I was an atheist for 10 years.
That's why I have the zeal of a convert
or at the very least the zeal of a revert.
But as we talked about in the speech tonight,
you've got to get to the truth.
And so if we say okay,
the conservatives are now going to embrace atheism
and decadence,
and libertinism and,
then our country doesn't work.
The founding fathers explicitly told us
that if we embrace any of those things,
we're completely screwed,
it's just not going to work.
I mean, the country is premised on the idea
that there is a God and he endows us with certain rights
and so if you lose that,
you lose the whole thing.
I have no interest in surrendering to them.
And by the way, it's true that you,
according to some statistics,
you see people becoming less and less religious
or they're leaving some churches that frankly,
you know, I think left the true church
a long, long time ago.
You know, the churches are more known for BLM
and rainbow flags outside than for the cross.
But I think that there is a real movement
of young people awakening to religious realities.
I think that the secularism,
and the libertinism,
and the live and live,
and you do you,
that is a hangover from the 1960s.
The hippies finally are coming over with the drugs.
The hangover is setting in
and young people are looking at the destruction
that was left in its wake.
Nw we have a declining life expectancy
in the United States
because of deaths of despair,
drug overdoses,
suicides.
We have a declining birth rate well below replacement
at this point.
We have families in complete disarray.
I would say probably most millennials I know
and who knows about the zoomers,
have divorced parents.
I mean that's a very strange historical fact
and I don't think that the reaction among millennials
and zoomers is,
this is all okay, that's totally cool.
I love it when my friend OD'd on drugs,
I love it when mommy and daddy got divorced,
I love it when I'm not allowed to say what I think
or even speak basic truths.
I think they're reacting against that
and that's why you're seeing a much more
robust, virtue-oriented, substantive kind of politics
coming up now.
Especially on the right,
but even among disaffected liberals.
This is kind of the Joe Rogan effect
or the Dave Chappelle effect
or call whatever you want.
People who are saying,
whatever we're doing right now is not working,
maybe it's time for a change,
and maybe it's not enough just to spout platitudes
about doing whatever you want.
Maybe I'd like a little leadership.
What is it that we should do to have a flourishing country?
Adams said, "The country is built from moral
and religious people,
it's unfit to the government of any other."
That was not soft soap and sentimentalism,
that's a fact of politics.
And people are,
I believe, are waking up to that.
And all it takes is a little bit of leadership
and a little bit of practice,
and a little bit of doing it.
It's a great challenge,
but what an honor it is to be born in challenging times.