New "Focal Point" program with AFA begins July 6

The Idaho Affiliate of the American Family Association

Friday, June 26, 2009

Bryan Fischer, Executive Director

NEW “FOCAL POINT” RADIO/TV PROGRAM WILL BEGIN JULY 6

Just a quick information item for those of you who would like to tune in to my new talk program, “Focal Point,” which will be broadcast from the studios of the American Family Association in Tupelo, Mississippi (the birthplace of Elvis, don’t you know – come on down and I will take you on the “Elvis Presley Driving Tour,” where you can visit the very hardware store where Elvis’s Momma bought him his first git-tar.)

The show will air live from Noon to 2 pm in the Boise area and southern Idaho, and from 11 am – 1 pm in North Idaho.

Although American Family Radio has network affiliates in 37 of the 50 states, we

do not currently have one in Idaho. However, thanks to internet technology, both audio and video streaming versions of the program will be available at the links below. You can listen in anytime you’re near a computer, and I hope you will! In addition, the televised simulcast of the radio program will be available to Sky Angel subscribers.

The call-in number is 866-963-2037, and I hope you’ll make liberal use of it – I’d love to hear from you! I know from my email exchanges with many of you over the years that you have genuine insights to contribute to the dialogue over public policy. Plus it will be a way for us to stay in touch!

So get your Rush fix from 10 am to Noon and then skip the last hour of Rush and come on over to AFR Talk where we will pick up where Rush leaves off. I will not tie half my brain behind my back, just in order to give me a fighting chance, and I will hold news stories in my never-nicotine-stained fingers.

FOCUS OF THE PROGRAM

Former Rep. Henry Hyde (now deceased) once famously said, “Politics is the extension of ethics.” In other words, if an individual extends his ethical worldview – and everybody has one – far enough, it will intersect with the world of public life and public policy.

It is that intersection – the place where the Judeo-Christian worldview intersects America’s public life – that will be the “Focal Point” of what we want to do with the program.

Just to give a quick example: the travails of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford this week obviously raise serious questions about fidelity to marriage vows, adultery, hypocrisy and how all of these things affect a

man’s qualification for public service.

Sanford has obviously shredded any hope he might have had of running for president in 2012, and from one vantage point, this is a very good thing, for it indicates that there is still enough moral fiber left in America for a brazen affair to bring a man’s political career to an end.

And it should. If we cannot trust a man to keep his sacred vows to his wife and the mother of his children, how we can believe any promise he makes to voters? A man willing to break greater promises will certainly have little difficulty breaking lesser ones.

The ultimate conflict in American culture right now is precisely the conflict between secular fundamentalists – who are just as rigid, doctrinaire and dogmatic as the most ardent evangelical – and those who hold the Judeo-Christian worldview of the Founding Fathers.

Which of these two worldviews triumphs in this great contest will determine whether America has a future at all, and what that future will look like.

It’s been a privilege for me to promote and defend the Judeo-Christian tradition and its proper role in America’s public life while serving with the IVA, and it will be an honor to do the same in the service of American Family Radio. My hope is that you will continue to work alongside me as we fight for the values we cherish, the values which will make America a prosperous, free and secure place for our children and grandchildren.

AFR - American Family Radio

Listen Live to AFR Talk

TREASURE VALLEY PACHYDERMS TONIGHT

My good friends John and Redgie Bigham head up the Treasure Valley Pachyderms, a group of conservatives who meet once a month. If you haven’t been before, I invite you to attend tonight. Debbie and I will be there, and it will give us a chance to say goodbye before we head to points south.

The Pachyderms will meet at 6 pm at Eagle City Hall for dinner with the meeting to follow at 7 pm. RSVPs are needed for dinner – please call Redgie at (208) 919-8322. I hope to see you there!

IVA IN “WHISPER MODE” JULY 1

The IVA will go into “whisper mode” on July 1 as I transition to my new responsibilities with the American Family Association, and as conversations continue regarding the future of the IVA. The website and all its content will remain accessible, and the contact information will continue to work.

Those who have subscribed to receive the daily Scripture readings and prayers will continue to receive them. If you are not now receiving them but would like to, you can sign up for them here.

A huge “Thank you” again to all of you who have contributed to the work of the IVA. We could not have made the impact we did without your generosity and faithfulness. May God bless you for your kindness.