FBI Swat-Style Arrest Typical of Sexual State

In this week’s episode of “Driving Home the Faith,” Dr. Morse and Fr. Rob Jack discuss the recent early-morning FBI raid of a pro-life sidewalk counselor, taking him from his home, at gunpoint, in front of his wife and screaming children. How is this not a violation of this man’s civil rights, Fr. Jack asks. Listen in.

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Please note that transcripts are auto-generated and may contain errors.

Transcript

Fr. Jack: With us now, who needs no introduction anywhere in the civilized world, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse heads the Ruth Institute, an interfaith nonprofit organization helping defend the family and repair the damage of the sexual revolution. Her book is really a treatise or a primer on really the world in which we’re living right now. It really helps us see who the real people are that caused this. It’s called the sexual state, how elite ideologies are destroying lives.

Dr. Morse, thanks for being with us today.

Dr. Morse: Hey, thanks for having me on.

Fr. Jack: I’ll tell you, it’s a shame that even in a country that promotes religious freedom or is supposed to be promoting religious freedom and supposedly has a Catholic president and supposedly has senators and members of the Congress that are Catholics, why is the FBI being used to attack Catholic pro-life people?

Dr. Morse: Boy, that’s the real question, isn’t it? That that was quite something over the past since we talked last.

Fr. Jack: Yes, it is.

Dr. Morse: This guy in the Pennsylvania area having his home, basically being arrested at his home in front of his wife and children with basically a SWAT team, you know, at gunpoint, 20 FBI agents land on his doorstep. Is this incredible?

Fr. Jack: Well, I mean, you consider you see the crime that’s going on and all the major cities, people getting thrown off of subways platforms, getting shot and beat up all over the place. You see it all over. No one’s arresting them.

Dr. Morse: Yeah, right. Right. It’s like the FBI has nothing else to do.

Fr. Jack: Yeah, exactly.

Dr. Morse: Law enforcement has nothing else to do. Well, you know, the I think it would be well to walk people through what’s really going on here. Father, in my mind, this is the sexual state at work. I mean, the sexual state. This is it. 

Fr. Jack: This is the militant sexual state, I guess we would say.

Dr. Morse: Well, my point in the Sexual State in the book, The Sexual State, is that the sexual revolution can’t survive without the help of the state. And so what you have here is a federal law enforcement agency being used by advocates of the sexual revolution to promote their cause, basically to suppress dissent from their cause. And to strike terror in the in the hearts of the people who oppose them.

Okay. And if you think about what the abortion regime is trying to accomplish, they’re basically trying to create a world where sex and babies are completely disconnected from each other and which is a world that cannot be right no matter how hard you try. Some of those little babies are going to slip through and you’re going to somebody’s going to figure out that sex is related to babies somehow.

Right. But they’re trying to create a world where everybody can have all the sex they want and you never have to worry about a baby ever happening. That’s what abortion is all about. That’s what the contraception is all about, that it’s trying to create that world. Well, since that world is impossible, it takes a lot of force to do the impossible.

And that’s what they’re doing here. You know, this guy has got to be stopped. You know, I mean, he’s in the way of their of their dream world coming into being. Right. And so the agents of the state have been deputized, basically using the force of law, the majesty of law, the physical power of law for what is essentially a lawless purpose of creating a fantasy that really if you left people alone, people don’t want this.

People don’t want a world where sex and babies are completely disconnected. People don’t want abortion on demand without apology for all nine months pregnancy. People don’t want this. You know. And if you leave people alone to think it through and if you weren’t banging on people with propaganda endlessly, which of course they are, you know, they have to be doing that to you know, the thing would have fallen apart a long time ago.

And that’s why they’re so mad about the Dobbs decision. Before they had the federal the Supreme Court and the federal government of the United States, 100% in their corner defending their point of view. And they lost that. And now they’re hysterical. Look at them. They’re hysterical. So that’s what we’re dealing with.

Fr. Jack: Well, and when you’ve seen a video that this pro-life activist, Marc Hock, had done, and it was a very interesting video because he’s like many people, they go they stand outside in front of the abortion clinics and pray. And he takes his children with him, including his 12 year old son. And he I saw his talk where you were saying he and his son were there.

And they saw a woman coming out who they believed had had an abortion. So when she came out again, they didn’t disrespect the property or anything. They knelt down and began to pray. And that brought out such a visceral reaction to her that she just went after them and was cursing, you know, terrible. And here he was with his 12 year old son.

And his comment was, you see, this is what Jesus said. He said, they’re going to hate us because of what we stand for. And so that was the first story. And the second story was, of course, he was out there again with his 12 year old son and a 71 year old man comes up to the son and begins to accost him.

Okay. And so being the father, he pushes that man away, which is self-defense. And as a result of this, of course, he gets reported to the police. Now, this was over a year ago. Now, mind you, no one was hurt. And there are no charges filed. Well, now a year it’s been a year since that event happened when he protected his son from a 71 year old man who was trying to push him around.

Now they’re trying to bring him up on charges. And so how do they do that? A man who is peacefully protesting, they come armed to the teeth, to the man’s house. And there he was with his children and his wife. And he’s taken out of a home. This is the stuff that’s not supposed to be happening in America.

I remember way back when remember the Elian Gonzalez thing back in Miami in the nineties? Yes. I also I have a personal friend of mine here in Cincinnati, a lady who is a lawyer who during the presidency of President Obama, when he used the IRS to target pro-life groups. And she almost I think well, actually, I think she did end up going bankrupt a couple of times because of what the IRS was doing to her.

And she was doing nothing illegal. But they’re using an arm of the government. And now this man, a good man, a family man, and they couldn’t probably find any dirt on them if they’re trying. And he’s now public enemy number one while people are dealing fentanyl, while immigrants are coming over the country, while all this stuff is going on, and yet an innocent man is being persecuted.

Dr. Morse: And it’s worse than that in a way, because, first of all, they tried to have a civil suit against him for this so-called assault that he did. They threw it out. The lower court threw it out. You know, there was nothing there. And when you compare this treatment of this pro-life man with the way that the Department of Justice has ignored, for all practical purposes, the spate of vandalism and arsons and out and out attacks on both Catholic churches and pro-life pregnancy centers, it’s appalling.

Not to mention the death threats to Supreme Court justices. Right. So really what you have and the pretext for this particular case is the federal law, the federal clinic access law. I forget what it’s called. There’s the acronym for it is FACE. But the Congress passed that law. So that they could make a federal case out of these clinic access situations.

Normally, that would there wouldn’t be any right for them to do that, right. So you’ve got a guy here who does not meet the threshold for an ordinary if this action took place anyplace other than in front of an abortion clinic, it wouldn’t have been an issue at all. Right. But the government created this special law simply to target this particular kind of activity in front of this particular kind of place.

It’s there’s just no question they’re using the state to prop up their bankrupt ideology. And this is essentially lawless behavior. They’re using the law for lawless purposes. And that’s in a sense, the worst part of the whole thing is the way we we’re losing the law. We’re losing the majesty of the law because people like these are taking it over.

Fr. Jack: Dr. Morse, can you stay with us over the break? And we’ll continue our discussion about this.

Dr. Morse: Sounds good.

Fr. Jack: Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse is  the head of the Ruth Institute. And today we’re talking about the latest press release which talks about the raid on the home of pro-life advocate, Mark Houck, who was, you know, taken in on federal crimes which are basically trumped up cases. You can find it on Fox News. You could find it on Catholic News Agency.

Doctor, thank you for staying with us.

Dr. Morse: I’m glad to do it, Father.

Fr. Jack: And I was just looking at the Catholic News Association report here, and it’s clear his wife, Ryan- Mary Houck, told Catholic News Service a SWAT team of 25 people came to my house with 15 vehicles and started pounding on our door. But then the FBI says that’s not what happened. You know, they just say no SWAT team or SWAT operators were involved.

FBI agents knocked on his door, identified themselves, asked him to exit the residence. He did so was taken into custody without incident pursuant to an indictment. Okay. Who’s telling the truth?

Dr. Morse: Well, you notice they didn’t mention how many guys were actually there.

Fr. Jack: Right.

Dr. Morse: How many? How many agents did they actually send? And were they armed? And where were their guns? And, you know. Yeah, it’s. What do you call that? It’s a diversionary tactic. But what they’re doing, they’re trying to divert your attention.

So technically, technically, it wasn’t a SWAT team, but to a layperson, it sure as heck looks like a SWAT team. You know.

Fr. Jack: How is this not a violation of his civil rights is my question.

Dr. Morse: Well, you would think, you would think. She demanded to see a warrant and they did show a warrant. So at least there was that. But, you know, this incident I have an idea. This incident is going to backfire on them because it’s so over-the-top. It’s so over-the-top. But we’ll see. 

Fr. Jack: Well, everything that the current leadership is doing is over the top. They don’t do anything subtly. But as I said, when you remember, you know, the president before last, he was very over-the-top, too, with Janet Reno and the whole. It is something about the and you know, I don’t, Dr. Morse, I don’t want to talk about the politics of this, but it’s clear that one of the political parties here is definitely not being respectful of the civil rights of Americans who do not agree with them.

Dr. Morse: No, and you need to understand, too, that the sexual revolution is a totalitarian ideology. These people want to get inside your head, okay? And they claim the right to be inside your head if you use the wrong word. If you use the wrong pronoun, if you look at them funny, you know, they claim the right to be so mad at you that they can call it if they don’t call the federal government on you.

You know, and that’s what I mean when I say that this is a lawless movement. Right. You should not need a federal you know, it should not be a federal crime to stand in front of an abortion clinic. That shouldn’t be. And think about the pregnancy care centers.

And Elizabeth Warren wants to shut them down. Now, let’s think this through, Father. Every state in the United States has a consumer fraud statute, right? 

Fr. Jack: That’s right. 

Dr. Morse: Everybody has a consumer fraud statute. And the pro-abortion people claim that these pregnancy care centers are misleading women and they’re lying to women and they’re giving out false and misleading information.

But in fact, what they’re doing comes nowhere near meeting the threshold of proof that you would need to use a consumer fraud statute. So what do they do? They come up with a new crime that can only be committed by pro-lifers. Right. And that’s what I mean when I say that this is using the law for what is essentially a lawless purpose to single somebody out because they’re in your way politically or ideologically, and you’re using the power of the law to get what you want.

There’s no justice. There’s no equality. These people are always talking about equality. Where’s the equality here? You know?

Fr. Jack: Well, and it is interesting. I mean, obviously, the more of the back story that this gentleman, Mr. Houck, had actually volunteered to turn himself in when this happened, and they refused that. They refused it. 

Dr. Morse: Why was this done? Father, it’s intended to scare people. Okay. And so pro-lifers, you need to understand, you must not allow yourself to be intimidated by this stuff. You must not allow that. Okay, that’s because that’s what it’s about.

Fr. Jack: You know, like I said, a lot of this just leaves you speechless. It was today I don’t know if you heard about in Indiana. A judge overturned a law today that required that aborted children, their bodies, be given a decent burial. And a judge struck that down because the Satanists who consider themselves a religion said that was a violation of their civil rights.

Dr. Morse: Of their civil rights?

Fr. Jack:  Yes. Because they want to be able to do with their aborted children or whatever they do, you know. 

Dr. Morse: Oh, my golly. 

Fr. Jack: No, I heard this this morning.

Dr. Morse: You know, that’s a very interesting admission on their part, that they want their fetal remains for some nefarious purpose.

Fr. Jack: Oh, yeah.

Dr. Morse: That’s a very interesting admission, isn’t it?

Fr. Jack: But there’s nothing the government is going to do to stop that. I mean, we have the terrible situation in Ohio, Cleveland, where they found these baby parts in trash bins, as well as medical records. And it was a slap on the wrist and everything went as normal. So you’re right, the people pulling the strings are anti-family. They’re anti-women, they’re anti-children.

And yet somehow they were elected into power. And as Catholics, as Christians, as really human beings who care about the dignity of life, we don’t have any choice but to challenge them directly.

Dr. Morse: That’s right. That’s right. I mean, look, our country is at a crossroads. And if we allow things to continue on the way that they’re going, nothing is going to turn around or get better all on its own. It’s only going to stop. It’s only going to improve if people like us stand up and say something. So it’s very important that people do that.

And I would like to say, if I may, before we sign off here, that I really hope people will come and sign up for the Ruth Institute’s newsletter because they are censoring us, Father. They are taking down some of our videos off of YouTube and it’s only a matter of time before they shut us down completely over there.

So if you want to keep track of us, you need to go to our rumble. Yeah, we have a little rumble page where. Yeah, I mean, we have all our videos there, so it’s big in that sense, but we don’t have a very big following yet. But the safest place to communicate with us is through our own newsletter, through the email.

They can’t stop us from sending you an email. Okay, so that’s the best way, the most reliable way to keep in touch with us and find out what’s going on so that you hear about these things, you know, and that you hear our take on them. Because not that many people talk about such things as boldly and as decisively as we do.

And I, you know, I just think it’s really necessary for people to have this information so they can share it without cowering, you know?

Fr. Jack: Well, Dr. Morse, I’m out of time, but thank you so much for sharing this. And we look forward to talking to you again soon.

Dr. Morse: Sounds great. Thanks, Father.

About the Ruth Institute

The Ruth Institute is a global non-profit organization, leading an international interfaith coalition to defend the family and build a civilization of love.

Jennifer Roback Morse has a Ph.D. in economics and has taught at Yale and George Mason University. She is the author of The Sexual State and Love and Economics – It Takes a Family to Raise a Village.

To schedule an interview with Dr. Morse, contact media@ruthinstitute.org.

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