Guests - Mark Burrell, Laurie Moore, Betsy Smith

Mark Burrell: Rediscovering America's Covenant as We Approach Our 250th Anniversary

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, there's a growing conversation about returning to our founding principles. Mark Burrell, author of "Rediscovering the American Covenant" and "The Duty is Ours," has dedicated years to studying how America's founding covenant—the Declaration of Independence—provides a biblical template for governance that we've strayed from in recent decades.

"For many generations, the church embraced its stewardship role to pass on these principles," Burrell explains. "But for the last 50 years, the modern church has turned away from this responsibility."

Burrell's work addresses a fundamental question: Is citizenship optional for Christians? His research led him to discover that America's founding was deeply rooted in biblical principles, particularly those found in the Old Testament.

"When the founding fathers separated from England in 1776, how was that justifiable biblically?" Burrell poses this question that every American should be able to answer. His conclusion: "When a civil authority is governing unjustly or immorally over a long period of time, with no intent of changing course, they forfeit their God-given responsibility to lead and must be removed using all legal means."

The Declaration of Independence, according to Burrell, is not merely a "Dear John letter" to King George, but "the most crisp summary on the theology behind what God intended for civil government." It addresses the fundamental question of how people can live in harmony with neighbors who may be on different faith journeys—which, Burrell notes, is what the founders meant by the "pursuit of happiness."

"Their whole intent was that every individual pursue their own faith journey at their own pace without being encumbered by any individual or institution," he explains. "But to do that, the way to do that is to establish a covenant with the people you're choosing to live with."

While many Americans might point to "all men are created equal" as our most important founding principle, Burrell suggests the true foundation is found in the phrase that precedes it: that all are "entitled to live in harmony with the law of nature and of nature's God."

"When they say laws of nature, they're talking about those laws that should be obvious through conscience and reason," Burrell explains. "But then the second part of that phrase, 'and of nature's God,' that's a direct reference to the moral law in the Bible summarized by the Ten Commandments."

From this recognition that we are all entitled to live in harmony with God's moral law flow our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

So what must happen for America to return to its founding principles? Burrell points to the Old Testament pattern of national renewal, where wayward nations would formally recommit to their covenant.

"If you look through the Old Testament, you see Solomon, for instance...renewed the covenant in a big way. It was a multi-day celebration, and Israel was at its zenith under his rule," Burrell notes. Similar patterns occurred under King Josiah and Nehemiah.

"The template to restore a wayward nation is not just individual prayers. It's when a nation, or some critical mass in a nation, come together, acknowledge that they're sinning, and ask God to heal their land," Burrell emphasizes. "We're not going to fix that. We need help. This is a God-sized problem."

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Burrell suggests a formal recommitment to our founding covenant next July. He encourages families to print copies of the Declaration of Independence and read it together, believing this practice will deepen Americans' understanding of their nation's biblical foundations.

"We have to acknowledge it's possible," Burrell says of national renewal. "Is it easy? No, but is it possible? Yes."

Betsy Smith: Tackling Crime and Homelessness in Tucson

Betsy Smith, spokesperson for the National Police Association, addressed Tucson's growing crime and homelessness crisis, highlighting how the city has become the most dangerous in Arizona while police resources remain stagnant or diminish.

"Pima County crime continues to go up, especially in the city of Tucson, and while crime goes up, police resources are stagnant or they go down," Smith explains. The situation has deteriorated to the point where "you've really got to be in peril to even get a Tucson police officer to respond."

This isn't the fault of the officers themselves, Smith emphasizes, but a reflection of insufficient staffing. "They're down what, 700-800 officers? It's a ridiculous amount—same staffing as the 70s," she notes. "That's a problem with the political leadership, and quite frankly, that's a problem with police leadership as well."

The crisis is most visible in Tucson's rampant homelessness problem. After attending an event on the west side of town, Kathleen Winn reported counting "43 homeless people from the place where we were till we got to the freeway."

Smith criticized the Pima County Board of Supervisors' approach to homelessness, which focuses on housing without addressing underlying issues: "The problem is with housing the unhoused—when you simply house them, that doesn't change their addictive behavior. It doesn't change any of the destructive things in their lives."

She pointed to previous failed attempts at this approach: "I've seen this where they go into a perfectly nice new place, and then a month later, two months later, you go in there and it's uninhabitable. They've sold off every fixture, everything that they could to get money for their drug problem."

The Board's plan to use up to 3% of their budget over the next ten years to reduce homelessness will likely lead to higher property taxes, Smith warns. "That means our property taxes are going to go up because the endless flow of federal money has been stopped. Instead of turning to the federal government, they're going to turn to us, the taxpayers."

Smith also criticized the city's current leadership, particularly noting Mayor Rehena Romero's use of police resources for personal protection while citizens struggle with safety concerns: "While citizens of Tucson are struggling to deal with the homeless crisis, they're struggling to deal with the lack of law enforcement resources, they're struggling to deal with the increasingly high taxes, Rehena Romero's being driven to the Phoenix airport."

The discussion touched on recent violent incidents in Tucson, including "two major hatchet attacks in the city of Tucson in the last couple of months" that Smith says were "downplayed by police leadership."

Smith encouraged Tucson residents to support their police officers during this challenging time, noting that nationwide, "we have had well over 200 police officers shot in the line of duty this year." She urged citizens to "give them a smile, a wave, buy them a cup of coffee" and consider donating to the National Police Association.

Lori Moore: Challenging Pima County's Approach to Homelessness

Lori Moore, a regular speaker at Pima County Board of Supervisors meetings, shared her recent comments to the board regarding their approach to the homelessness crisis. More challenged the supervisors' plan to build low-income housing for the homeless, arguing it would destroy communities without addressing root causes.

"In their attempt to be nice and kind and help people that have fallen, they are destroying our county," Moore stated. She compared the situation to treating a broken arm with an ice cream cone—it might help temporarily, but won't fix the underlying problem.

Moore highlighted the inconsistent enforcement of existing laws that could help manage the crisis: "It results in these people having to beg and panhandle, which are the people we see in the middle of the median. But there's a fine of $140 that the town never imposes on these people."

Similarly, she noted that the massive accumulations of possessions by homeless individuals constitutes littering, which carries fines starting at $500, yet these are never enforced either.

Moore proposed that the county should start imposing these fines, and if individuals can't pay, "then you could say, 'Well, I have to arrest you and put you in jail,' which would be okay because at least they'd get cleaned up, fed, and away from whatever substances."

She also suggested offering one-way bus tickets to sanctuary cities like those in California, pointing out the disparity in how the county treats homeless citizens versus illegal immigrants: "You gave 600,000 people who have no allegiance to this country at all...a one-way ticket wherever they wanted to go. They were treated like royalty. These people came across, had free food, free housing, free shelter, they didn't have to beg for anything. Why aren't you treating our U.S. citizens, these people that are homeless, are U.S. citizens—they're not getting any help at all."

Moore believes the supervisors' focus on low-income housing is fundamentally misguided: "That sounds nice until your neighborhood gets destroyed and we still have the same problem."

She views the county's approach as opportunistic rather than compassionate: "I think it's a money grab. I think these vagrants are being used as pawns. They are going to play on our sympathies... 'We're going to help them get off drugs, deal with their mental health issues, give them a home, and help reestablish their credit.' Is that what the supervisors proposed yesterday? Oh my gosh."

Moore concluded that without addressing the underlying issues, particularly the influx of fentanyl and carfentanil, the county's housing plans are "just some hair-brain solution that someone came up with."

The Growing Border Crisis and Law Enforcement Challenges

The conversation turned to national security concerns and border issues, with former ICE Director Tom Homan warning that Americans are at risk of another major terrorist attack due to approximately two million "gotaways" who entered the country illegally and remain unaccounted for.

Betsy Smith referenced a recent incident in Boulder, Colorado, where "an illegal alien here on a visa overstay" killed three people by setting them on fire. Not only was the perpetrator apprehended, but "his entire family, who are all here on visa overstays, including his daughter," were taken into custody.

The discussion highlighted the Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement, with Smith noting recent operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that apprehended "almost 1,500 criminal illegal aliens during a month-long operation," focusing on "transnational organized crime members" and "the most egregious of cases like child molesters, murderers, rapists."

Smith praised the coordination between federal agencies, noting that "ICE just did a big operation with the Houston Police Department... where they deported another 142 criminally illegals back to Mexico. They were all Mexican. They have collectively committed 473 crimes among these 142 people."

The conversation also touched on the return of the Trump administration's policy of "naming and shaming" sanctuary cities, with Smith recounting how Tom Homan had responded to defiance from Boston officials by saying, "We're coming to Boston and I'm bringing hell with me."

While acknowledging the progress being made, Smith emphasized the scale of the challenge: "We have to undo four years' worth of damage, which sounds like, 'Oh, we could do that in two years,' but it's probably going to take eight."

Winn expressed frustration that resources are being diverted to problems that could have been prevented: "We have to restore order, and we have to be the better people... Let's just start to be good people and do what's right and what's needed. Let's all be able to follow a set of rules... Stop interfering with law and order."

The article concluded with a sobering reminder of the dangers faced by law enforcement, referencing an Apache Junction police officer who was in critical condition after being shot by a fleeing suspect. Smith noted that nationwide, "we have had well over 200 police officers shot in the line of duty this year," and encouraged citizens to support their local officers.