The John-Henry Westen Show - Police Officer Jacob Kersey ｜ Christian Marriage UNDER ARREST

00:00:00.000 people who have same-sex attraction, do you hate them?

00:00:03.960 I disagree completely with the idea that just because you disagree with someone means you hate them.

00:00:09.560 That is not true. That's not American whatsoever. 0.97

00:00:20.220 Imagine being a young man and getting your dream job.

00:00:24.260 And since you're a Christian, you happen on your own time outside of work to stand up for traditional marriage.

00:00:33.920 On your own Facebook page. Nothing to do with your work.

00:00:37.340 But then being called in and told, well, no problem.

00:00:42.660 You got your dream job here. You take it down and promise to never say that again.

00:00:48.200 Then you can have your dream job.

00:00:50.340 And you'd be like, wait a minute, wait, what?

00:00:53.560 So I can't be a Christian and have my job?

00:00:55.640 No, no, you were told.

00:00:57.900 That actually happened.

00:00:59.660 And it didn't happen in communist China.

00:01:03.380 Didn't even happen in communist Canada.

00:01:05.400 I mean, well, you know what I mean.

00:01:07.380 It happened in the United States.

00:01:09.000 And it didn't happen in California.

00:01:10.720 It didn't happen in New York.

00:01:12.860 What if I told you it happened in Georgia?

00:01:16.320 There's a young man, a young police officer by the name of Jacob Kersey,

00:01:20.220 who is facing exactly this right now.

00:01:23.020 And we've got him right here on this episode of The John Henry Weston Show.

00:01:27.620 Stay tuned.

00:01:28.060 Hello, friends.

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00:02:15.940 May God bless you.

00:02:18.620 Jacob, Courtney, welcome to the program.

00:02:20.720 Hi.

00:02:20.980 Thank you for having us.

00:02:22.340 Let's begin, as we always do, with the sign of the cross.

00:02:23.960 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

00:02:29.140 Amen.

00:02:30.380 Jacob, it is an honor to speak with you.

00:02:33.760 And I really believe that a lot of people have been looking forward to hearing from you directly.

00:02:38.600 If you could, for those especially who don't know your story yet, tell us what happened.

00:02:42.820 Well, thank you so much for the opportunity.

00:02:46.000 So January 2nd of this year, very beginning of the year, I made a Facebook post while I was off duty,

00:02:53.080 in which I expressed my deeply held religious belief in God's design for marriage.

00:02:59.580 And the post stated,

00:03:01.000 God designed marriage.

00:03:02.500 Marriage refers to Christ in the church.

00:03:05.080 That's why there's no such thing as homosexual marriage. 0.86

00:03:08.020 The following day, I was also off that day, but I received a call from my supervisor on January 3rd,

00:03:14.360 telling me that someone had complained, and that failure to do so could result in my termination.

00:03:21.220 I respectfully told him I could not do that, as it violated my religious beliefs,

00:03:26.900 and asked him what other steps maybe could be taken to resolve this complaint.

00:03:32.960 He told me to contact my lieutenant, and I spoke with my higher-up commands.

00:03:37.380 They assured me that we're all Christians here.

00:03:39.420 However, you know, offensive Christian beliefs, such as what I had stated, 1.00

00:03:44.540 is a liability to the department, and they don't want to deal with the paperwork.

00:03:49.060 My major called me shortly thereafter, telling me to turn in everything that belongs to the city

00:03:53.440 the following day, on January 4th.

00:03:56.540 What that means to any law enforcement officer, especially if they're listening right now,

00:04:00.280 they know that means you have been fired.

00:04:01.980 You're done.

00:04:02.460 You're terminated.

00:04:03.240 That's what it means when you turn in everything.

00:04:04.980 So I wrestled with that belief all night long, knowing that I had just worked so hard for months

00:04:10.220 and months and months to get this job, and now, just like that, it was all gone due to my belief

00:04:15.860 in marriage.

00:04:16.780 So I go in on January 4th.

00:04:18.700 I have a meeting with my command staff after turning in everything, in which they informed me,

00:04:23.640 finally, that I was actually not fired, that I was being placed on administrative leave,

00:04:28.980 and that they were going to conduct an investigation.

00:04:31.060 This was the first time I found out that I was not actually fired.

00:04:34.320 So for a week, I'm on paid administrative leave while the city investigates.

00:04:38.560 I was brought back in.

00:04:40.620 I was told that they had found no wrongdoing, that I had violated no department policy, no

00:04:46.580 rules, no laws.

00:04:48.600 However, don't do it again.

00:04:50.680 Or in other words, we're not going to tolerate you being outspoken, even off duty, on your own

00:04:55.920 personal time.

00:04:56.640 We're not going to tolerate you being outspoken about your Christian beliefs. 0.91

00:05:00.260 They informed me in this meeting that, you know, just be mindful.

00:05:04.200 We can fire you at any time for any reason, because you're in your work test period, which

00:05:10.280 is not a very good thing to say to someone who's coming right off of administrative leave.

00:05:15.360 My command staff wanted me to sign a letter of notification.

00:05:18.160 In other words, they wanted me to agree to abide by what we had talked about in the meeting,

00:05:22.140 that as long as I didn't share any of my offensive, off-duty Christian beliefs, that, you know,

00:05:27.960 everything would be just fine.

00:05:30.160 They had given me an ultimatum.

00:05:31.520 You can resign now, or come back, and we're going to fire you if you don't agree to this.

00:05:36.680 And so under tremendous pressure, I resigned on January 17th of this year.

00:05:43.480 It's unbelievable, because basically they told you, absolutely, you can still be a police

00:05:50.800 officer, as long as you don't share your Christian beliefs.

00:05:55.520 So I know it's on your own time, doesn't matter, but you just can't do that.

00:05:59.560 If you don't do that, well, come on, you got a job with us.

00:06:03.140 That's mind-blowing.

00:06:04.620 That's absolutely mind-blowing.

00:06:06.800 Courtney, if you could tell us, is that legal?

00:06:10.360 I mean, this sounds so crazy.

00:06:12.300 This is America.

00:06:13.340 You were in Georgia, were you not?

00:06:14.900 Yes, in a small town police department right outside Savannah, Georgia, called Port Wentworth.

00:06:19.800 Courtney, what's the law here?

00:06:21.620 I mean, is this allowed?

00:06:23.080 This sounds nuts.

00:06:24.540 It's certainly not allowed.

00:06:25.540 Putting Jacob to that choice, how you described the choice between censoring his private religious

00:06:30.700 speech and keeping his job is an unconstitutional choice.

00:06:35.640 So the department violated Jacob's First Amendment rights, both his right to the free exercise of

00:06:41.880 religion and his free speech rights when they forced him to make this unconstitutional

00:06:48.460 choice.

00:06:49.480 You're from First Liberty.

00:06:51.180 What has First Liberty been doing about this case right now?

00:06:54.980 And what's your vision of where it is at right now?

00:06:59.960 Right now, we've sent a demand letter to the city and to the Port Wentworth Police Department,

00:07:06.000 essentially asking for two things.

00:07:08.580 The first being an apology to Jacob for blatantly violating his First Amendment rights, as I just

00:07:15.720 described.

00:07:16.220 And the letter also asks the city to respect moving forward to implement policies or revise

00:07:23.260 their existing policies to respect the religious liberty rights and also just the constitutional

00:07:29.960 rights of their employees as a whole.

00:07:32.860 And so we're hopeful that the city will take the appropriate steps to making these necessary

00:07:40.020 changes.

00:07:41.320 And so that's where we're at right now.

00:07:43.240 That still, though, would leave Jacob without his employee, which was unlawfully taken from

00:07:50.000 him.

00:07:50.460 Is there some kind of redress to that, his monetary loss, loss of job?

00:07:56.020 We're trusting God's guidance and Jacob, especially, is trusting his guidance on what we want to do as far as

00:08:03.100 Jacob's position is concerned moving forward.

00:08:06.680 We're just trusting the Lord and hopeful that he will guide us in the right direction as far as

00:08:11.620 Jacob's future employment is concerned.

00:08:13.980 Take us a little bit back from how you got there.

00:08:18.160 You were a police officer for how long?

00:08:21.300 And you had mentioned to me this sounded like your first employee that you had spent a long

00:08:25.300 time getting into.

00:08:26.220 Tell us a little bit about that background first.

00:08:28.420 I grew up with a dream to be a police officer.

00:08:31.760 Law enforcement was involved in my life at a very young age due to a custody battle.

00:08:35.960 I grew up in a broken home.

00:08:37.540 And so I encountered law enforcement officers a lot during that custody battle.

00:08:41.000 So I grew up.

00:08:41.460 This is something I always wanted to do.

00:08:43.300 When I turned 16, I became a Savannah Police Explorer, which is a program in which if you're

00:08:51.260 an upper high school student, you can get involved with law enforcement.

00:08:55.160 Just kind of you come to meetings every once in a while.

00:08:57.820 You meet and you just you learn a little bit about law enforcement.

00:09:01.120 So this is something I've been wanting to do a long time.

00:09:03.560 When I turned 19 years old, I had joined the Portland Police Department.

00:09:08.160 They told me that they would pay to put me through the local police academy, which they did.

00:09:13.300 May of 2022 is a year ago, almost a year ago from when we're recording this.

00:09:20.640 They hired me.

00:09:21.560 They sent me to the police academy during the summer.

00:09:23.680 And then I had completed my FTO program by the end of December.

00:09:27.940 So I was a rookie police officer.

00:09:30.640 I was brand new to the job.

00:09:31.900 I had received nothing but compliments.

00:09:34.860 In fact, in this meeting, my command staff had expressed to me in the meeting what they

00:09:40.160 expressed to me many times off to the side.

00:09:43.400 You're wise beyond your years.

00:09:45.900 You're an old soul.

00:09:47.500 You're going to make a great officer.

00:09:49.140 They had nothing but good things to say about me.

00:09:52.020 Even my training sergeants, lieutenants all had great feedback about the work I was doing.

00:09:59.240 And I was very grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to do this, for giving me

00:10:02.920 the ability to do the job.

00:10:04.220 It's a tough, tough job.

00:10:05.960 And we need good quality candidates to be law enforcement.

00:10:10.720 Law enforcement is struggling in general.

00:10:13.200 Even in Savannah, I've heard they've had, in the Savannah area, they've had a tough time

00:10:18.220 at getting new recruits.

00:10:19.840 It's a tough job to do.

00:10:21.400 And thank God I was able to do it.

00:10:24.520 And so shortly after I had passed my FTO program, I was a solo officer now, new to my

00:10:30.940 shift, getting along great with everybody, is when this incident took place.

00:10:34.960 Just as soon as my career started, I walked out the door.

00:10:39.240 But I know God is sovereign.

00:10:40.540 God is in control.

00:10:41.320 He saw this coming way before I did.

00:10:44.160 And I trust that even where we're at now, he's used this story to bring himself glory

00:10:49.580 and honor.

00:10:50.480 And really, what we're trying to do with First Liberty is just to ensure that this doesn't

00:10:55.400 happen to another law enforcement officer ever again.

00:10:59.340 I've worked with great police officers.

00:11:01.660 I've learned from great police officers, even from those from other police departments.

00:11:06.480 These are brave men and women who go day in and day out, put their lives on the line to

00:11:11.860 serve their community.

00:11:13.320 And they deserve to have their rights protected.

00:11:16.260 This is super tough.

00:11:17.840 But I think the world sees this as, okay, it must have been something hateful.

00:11:24.540 They want to stop hatred.

00:11:26.580 What's your take as a Christian on dealing with people who have same-sex attraction?

00:11:34.840 Do you hate them?

00:11:35.680 Well, we live in a time where words have been redefined, terms have been redefined, especially

00:11:42.580 when it comes to what it means to love someone and hate someone.

00:11:46.080 I disagree completely with the idea that just because you disagree with someone means you

00:11:52.340 hate them.

00:11:52.980 That is not true.

00:11:54.020 That's not American whatsoever. 0.95

00:11:57.000 Part of being an American is we're unified in the fact that, you know, as Americans, we

00:12:01.980 get to disagree.

00:12:03.660 And yet we're still countrymen.

00:12:06.220 We're still Americans.

00:12:07.960 There still is bond and unity in that.

00:12:10.740 And so just because I disagree with someone doesn't mean I hate them.

00:12:15.300 But when it comes to loving my neighbor, you know, a lot of people have tried to throw

00:12:20.180 scripture at me, you know, and said, well, doesn't scripture teach you to love?

00:12:23.120 Doesn't Jesus say don't judge?

00:12:25.140 Well, number one, I'll point out that judging, if you say don't judge, that in and of itself

00:12:29.820 is a judgment.

00:12:30.960 So we have to make correct judgments.

00:12:32.940 We have to make wise judgments.

00:12:34.140 Even as police officers, you have to judge, especially if you're doing speed detection.

00:12:39.220 Was it that car or was it that car that was going fast?

00:12:41.780 You have to use judgments.

00:12:43.060 You have to make judgments.

00:12:44.160 It's part of life.

00:12:45.300 But when it comes to loving your neighbor, loving means telling them the truth.

00:12:50.260 You know, ultimately, as a Christian, you don't want to affirm someone in sin that's

00:12:54.960 going to damn their soul to hell. 0.92

00:12:57.860 As Christians, we point out even our sin, we point out the truth of our sin, of our fallen 0.98

00:13:03.220 nature, of our fallen condition, where we're at.

00:13:05.540 And we point out that, hey, there's a savior that loves you so much that he died on the cross

00:13:10.400 for you.

00:13:10.680 He took your place. 1.00

00:13:11.740 You deserve to die. 1.00

00:13:12.580 You are a rebel against God. 1.00

00:13:14.540 You had broken his law.

00:13:16.540 And God, the judge, and his justice had a right to demand justice, to pour out his wrath.

00:13:24.320 And because he loved you so much, he poured out that wrath on his son so that he could bring

00:13:28.900 you to him.

00:13:29.500 When you come into his presence, he's going to make you new.

00:13:32.680 He's going to make you a new creation, a new person.

00:13:34.880 And so loving people means telling them that when you come to Christ, you can come as you

00:13:39.540 are, but in no way will you stay as you are when you stand before a holy God.

00:13:45.140 So as a law enforcement officer, responding to calls, I seen the brokenness.

00:13:50.160 I saw the sin.

00:13:51.360 My job in that moment was not to try to convert people to my beliefs, but it was just to practically

00:13:58.040 look at everybody as being created in the image of God, loving people, and putting my

00:14:03.640 life on the line, just as Jesus Christ did for us.

00:14:07.440 And that's what it means to love.

00:14:09.540 It means going out of your way to put your life on the line for other people, to tell

00:14:13.860 them the truth and to stand for truth.

00:14:15.980 And, you know, I don't see how disagreeing with someone means that you automatically hate

00:14:22.140 them.

00:14:22.440 Um, in fact, sometimes disagreeing and pointing out that disagreement can be a great way to

00:14:27.580 show someone you really love them.

00:14:30.800 Just a quick note before we return.

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00:14:37.260 news, subscribe to one of our many newsletters by going to lifesitenews.com slash subscribe.

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00:14:48.020 consider making a one-time or monthly donation at give.lifesitenews.com.

00:14:53.240 And now back to the video.

00:14:56.380 Courtney, what is the law about on this question?

00:15:01.100 I mean, are Americans now, is there something changed in the law in America that no longer

00:15:08.440 allows people to voice their own religious beliefs on their own time outside of their

00:15:15.040 job?

00:15:15.400 Because that's certainly what it seems like, not only in Jacob's case, we've seen the sort

00:15:19.120 of cancel culture go on and on.

00:15:21.100 Where are things at?

00:15:22.140 The law has definitely not changed to that point to answer your question.

00:15:25.960 And the law protects employees like Jacob and all employees to respectfully share their

00:15:31.960 beliefs and disagreements, different perspectives.

00:15:35.320 Like Jacob was saying, the law protects that and certainly also protects religious perspectives

00:15:41.560 as well within that.

00:15:43.080 And I think the disconnect comes from not understanding that censoring religious perspectives is in

00:15:49.220 itself discrimination.

00:15:50.400 Like Jacob was saying, everyone benefits when employees and just people are able to share

00:15:56.540 their perspectives, their beliefs.

00:16:00.200 And so censoring one viewpoint, the religious viewpoint in this instance, is discriminatory and it is

00:16:09.760 certainly not legal.

00:16:11.540 Jacob, one of the things that a lot of people are going to wonder about, you are a young man.

00:16:17.720 You were into your dream career, just finished, just gotten in, and you were forced to either give up your

00:16:27.660 faith, basically the public profession of your faith, which is your faith, or resign from this dream job that

00:16:34.020 you always had.

00:16:34.880 Many people would say, that is soul crushing.

00:16:37.560 How?

00:16:37.920 How are you still there?

00:16:39.960 How are you still smiling?

00:16:41.260 The apostles are brought before the religious leaders and they are flogged for their faith, for preaching in the

00:16:46.220 name of Jesus Christ.

00:16:47.100 And they're sent out and told, never preach in his name ever again.

00:16:50.240 And they walk out rejoicing.

00:16:53.100 And I've had a hard time with it.

00:16:54.800 These were men who had lives, livelihoods, family before they met Christ.

00:16:59.480 And then after they, once they met Christ and they encountered him, their lives completely changed.

00:17:03.720 Now they're going all over telling people who he is.

00:17:07.800 And they were beaten.

00:17:09.520 Never before were they subjected to something like this.

00:17:13.380 And here they are being beaten for their faith and they walk out rejoicing. 1.00

00:17:18.240 I don't know how to explain it.

00:17:20.240 I'm not going to say it hasn't been hard.

00:17:22.800 There have been nights where, just to be honest, there have been tears rolling down my face.

00:17:29.480 And I struggle with what happened.

00:17:33.640 But then in a moment, the sense of rejoicing comes.

00:17:37.260 And as these tears come down my face, I can smile and rejoice, thanking God for the opportunity.

00:17:43.940 Just as the apostles did, saying, you know, they rejoiced because, Scripture says, they were counted worthy for suffering for his name.

00:17:54.240 I've never been flogged.

00:17:55.940 I've never been beaten.

00:17:56.780 I've never faced death like they did.

00:18:00.220 All I did was lose my job.

00:18:01.980 Whatever it is, whatever I can lose for the sake of Christ, I can be counted worthy of suffering for the name of the one who took my place.

00:18:11.000 What an honor.

00:18:12.920 What an opportunity to show the world how precious he is to me.

00:18:16.980 Far more precious than my dream job.

00:18:19.140 As much as I love law enforcement, honestly, when you become a police officer, if you really love the job, that becomes your identity.

00:18:26.680 That's all people ever know you as.

00:18:27.860 That's all you ever talk about.

00:18:29.220 Even when you're off duty, you want to talk about the things you did at work.

00:18:32.620 When you meet another police officer, you just talk about body cam footage.

00:18:35.580 You talk about calls you responded to.

00:18:37.200 But what supersedes that identity, what trumps over it, that identity is my identity in Christ Jesus.

00:18:45.260 When I can be counted worthy for suffering for his name, no matter if there's tears streaming down my face, I believe with the Holy Spirit we can smile and rejoice knowing that we are counted worthy of suffering for the name of the one who took our place.

00:19:02.340 Wow, that is so beautiful.

00:19:05.540 And indeed you are.

00:19:06.280 Many people might say, oh, he's not suffering for Jesus himself.

00:19:09.880 It's only this weirdo belief that he has.

00:19:12.320 I would remind everyone, Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life.

00:19:18.620 And what you stood up for was the truth, his truth.

00:19:23.060 Uncomfortable today for sure, because the scriptures tell us in the end there will come people with itching ears who won't want to hear the truth of the gospel.

00:19:31.060 But St. Paul tells Timothy, I charge you before God that you should preach the truth in season and out of season.

00:19:39.600 And yeah, you're preaching out of season.

00:19:43.940 You're doing that for love, for love, for Jesus, yes, but also for your brothers who are harming themselves.

00:19:51.600 Courtney, where is the case going now?

00:19:54.960 How can people interact with this?

00:19:57.980 How can they support Jacob?

00:19:59.000 Like I mentioned earlier, we had sent a demand letter to the city and we are hopeful that they will work with us to ensure that their policies adequately protect the constitutional rights of their employees.

00:20:12.260 And beyond that, as far as staying active in the case and certainly following Jacob's story, you can always watch at firstliberty.org.

00:20:21.060 We have our case updates on that page and you can follow what we're doing in Jacob's case through that website.

00:20:28.320 Jacob, you're a young man.

00:20:30.380 What is your advice for young men in this culture and just young people generally in this culture?

00:20:37.300 Because this is intimidating.

00:20:39.900 They might look at your case and say, oh, wow.

00:20:42.640 If I stand up for my faith, I'm just going to be crucified like that.

00:20:46.100 Because even though you say you didn't come to blows or to death or to whatever, like the apostles did.

00:20:51.820 So, there's a lot there.

00:20:55.580 What's your message?

00:20:56.820 You cannot do it on your own.

00:21:00.060 That's why Jesus promised to send a comforter, to send the Holy Spirit to empower you.

00:21:04.540 You're listening right now and you say, I don't know if I can do that.

00:21:07.560 I don't know if I can give up things that I really love and cherish that I've worked so hard for.

00:21:11.860 Well, the reality is you can't, not on your own.

00:21:16.320 It takes the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit working through you.

00:21:21.220 So, abide in Christ, abide in his word, abide in prayer, continue in prayer, be watchful.

00:21:28.600 And trust that he's going to bring about the opportunities for you to stand, for you to be salt and light.

00:21:36.840 You know, salt is not effective in the salt shaker.

00:21:39.820 It has to be applied.

00:21:42.860 So, as you abide in Christ, trust in him, he's going to present those opportunities for you to stand.

00:21:47.020 It might be something where you stand in a big way and you give up something big for God, or it might be in small ways.

00:21:55.740 But trust in him, abide in him, check your motives, ensure that everything that you do is first born out of love for God,

00:22:02.940 a passion for the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all things.

00:22:06.340 And secondly, after that relationship is right, then out of a love for the souls of mankind, out of a love for those people around you.

00:22:17.980 So, abide in Christ, rely on him.

00:22:20.140 Trust him, knowing that you can only do all this through favorite songs by City of Light is called,

00:22:27.140 Yet Not I, But Christ Through Me.

00:22:30.460 If that's your prayer, that's how you can take a bold stand in love for Christ Jesus.

00:22:36.500 That's beautiful.

00:22:37.500 From St. Paul, I live no longer, not I, but Christ lives in me.

00:22:41.140 Many people are going to be wondering, what have you been doing since January?

00:22:46.460 You're off work now.

00:22:47.620 What have you been up to?

00:22:48.960 Well, we've been sharing this story.

00:22:50.740 I've been traveling, doing a lot of interviews, a lot of media coverage, just sharing this story,

00:22:54.840 trying to encourage people to stand for their faith, but also just to get the word out there,

00:22:59.900 let people know that this is happening.

00:23:01.860 These are real stories.

00:23:03.140 You know, when this first happened to me, I realized, I'm like, this happened in Georgia,

00:23:07.100 of all places.

00:23:08.540 You know, sometimes you expect to hear stories like this out of California or New York,

00:23:13.600 and it shouldn't be happening there, because that's also the United States of America.

00:23:17.680 But you kind of get numb when you hear it coming from California or New York.

00:23:22.200 You're just like, oh, yeah, that's typical California, New York.

00:23:25.020 But out of Georgia, out of a small town, that was shocking to me.

00:23:28.840 I knew people needed to hear it.

00:23:30.820 This is happening, people.

00:23:32.440 We have to wake up.

00:23:34.100 So we've been sharing this story, but just spending a lot of time plugging it in to my

00:23:38.480 church community and to reading, to education, to educating myself.

00:23:42.500 And God's been doing a lot of powerful things in my life, and I'm just grateful for the

00:23:47.380 way that already we're about halfway through this year, the way that I've grown in him.

00:23:52.580 And I'm just really excited to see what he has in store for the rest of this year and beyond.

00:23:57.080 I know if I was your dad, I'd be incredibly proud.

00:24:03.180 I don't know if you can, but can you share your parents' reaction?

00:24:06.280 I grew up in a broken home, for the most part, raised by my grandparents growing up.

00:24:13.240 And my father is around.

00:24:16.240 And for the most part, they were shocked, just like me.

00:24:20.980 Couldn't believe that this happened.

00:24:22.880 In fact, I remember when I first got the phone call, I walked, and I went to tell my

00:24:29.280 grandmother, and I told her, I think I lost my job.

00:24:33.160 And she looked at me like she couldn't hear me and asked me to repeat myself.

00:24:37.400 And I told her, and they've just been in complete shock.

00:24:40.480 But they've been super grateful at the outpouring of support at the organizations, especially

00:24:46.400 First Liberty, just being willing to stand with me in this.

00:24:49.340 And praise God that there are people out there who stand with us.

00:24:53.060 And I know there are probably other families just like mine who have been completely shocked

00:24:57.620 or blindsided or will be at what's happening in this country.

00:25:01.420 Just know that there are organizations out there, just like First Liberty, who every single

00:25:05.440 day, day in, day out, they wake up to protect.

00:25:09.300 But the most important of our liberties here in the United States, and that is, as they say,

00:25:15.760 the very first one that we had, religious liberty.

00:25:19.180 There are people doing this day in, day out.

00:25:20.820 And I hope people are encouraged by that.

00:25:22.840 How are you making do for yourself job-wise or how are you surviving?

00:25:28.440 Stuff like that.

00:25:29.280 I grew up listening to Dave Ramsey.

00:25:31.800 My father listened to him a lot.

00:25:33.820 The local radio station we have around here, he came on at nine in the evening.

00:25:38.480 So pretty late for us as we go to sleep early.

00:25:42.800 My family, we're not night owls, we're early birds.

00:25:45.660 You know, I learned that saving is very important.

00:25:49.360 And so praise God that I learned to save money.

00:25:54.060 And, you know, if you learn to save and learn how to spend it, it can last you a little bit

00:25:59.720 of time.

00:26:00.440 I've been able to do some side jobs here and there, whether it's washing a car or whatever,

00:26:05.420 time it, you know, now and again to help.

00:26:07.520 But, you know, praise God for those opportunities as well.

00:26:11.740 Courtney, any final words from you?

00:26:13.440 No American should be forced out of their job for their religious beliefs.

00:26:17.460 And that is like the core of Jacob's case.

00:26:20.020 And really a portion of the message that we want to, you know, spread is that this is

00:26:26.020 violative of the Constitution and state and federal civil rights laws.

00:26:31.640 And so employers just simply can't censor religious perspectives in this way.

00:26:39.060 Jacob Kersley, thank you so much.

00:26:42.400 It's an honor to speak with you.

00:26:44.340 Thank you for standing for the truth of Jesus Christ in this time that's just where there's

00:26:49.540 so much rebellion and you've shown an amazing example of both the courage, the willingness

00:26:56.460 to stand for Christ, and even rejoicing in being able to suffer for standing for his truth.

00:27:03.160 Amazing.

00:27:04.240 Thank you so much for the kind words.

00:27:05.900 I really appreciate you having me on.

00:27:07.860 God bless you, Jacob and Courtney.

00:27:09.560 Thank you.

00:27:10.060 Thank you.

00:27:10.380 And God bless all of you.

00:27:13.180 And we'll see you next time.

00:27:14.020 Hi, everyone.

00:27:22.380 This is John Henry Weston.

00:27:23.520 We hope you enjoyed this program.

00:27:25.140 To see more like it, be sure to hit the subscribe button below to get all the latest content from

00:27:29.800 LifeSite News.

00:27:30.680 Check the links in the description to read more and connect with us on social media so that

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00:27:38.980 Thanks for watching and may God bless you.

The John-Henry Westen Show - May 25, 2023

Police Officer Jacob Kersey ｜ Christian Marriage UNDER ARREST

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