Jeff Gottesfeld and Pastor Greg CGR 21 Steps Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Remembering Americas Promise

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And now, Chosen Generation, where no topic is off limits and everything is filtered through biblical glasses. And now, here's your host, Pastor Greg. And welcome to the program. Great to have you with me. Thanks so much for tuning in. I do know you have a choice on where you can listen each and every day, and I thank you for keeping it tuned here to Chosen Generation Radio.

If you missed any part of our number one, I hope you will check it out. We talked quite extensively about a ban by Facebook of my sermon and a church service. Yeah, Facebook has decided that church services and sermons that give people hope, really that ask people the question, whom are you going to serve? Are we going to continue to serve King George? Or are we going to put God first? Are we going to serve Christ? Are we going to serve biblical principles like our founders created this country to be and the liberties and freedoms that come with that?

And I guess, you know, of course, the federal government doesn't want anybody listening to that, so their social media arm, that would be Facebook, yes, social media arm of the government, shut down and said that my message was fraudulent, was considered to be false advertising, and was considered to be a national security risk. Think about that. All right, I welcome a gentleman who has written a book for children, hoping to get our children to understand these principles once again. And the book is called 21 Steps, Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and this is something that really should resonate with every American. He is from Teaneck, New Jersey, is where he was born and raised. His influences included the World Book Encyclopedia, circa 1967, important to note that.

Orwell's 1984, and this one I picked up, there's a couple of others, but One Flow Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which is incredibly interesting when you peel that back and really look at the message that is attempted to be brought there. There's some significant depth to that. Love scallops, lobster, and escargot, and catfish. That's why he and I are fast friends right there.

That's the whole deal. I want to welcome Jeff Gottesfeld to the program. Jeff, welcome. Good to have you.

That's one of the great introductions of my life, but let me qualify something. I may love lobster, and escargot, and scallops, and catfish. I keep kosher.

I understand. You can't eat it. I'm like, good lord, why couldn't God have made lima bean not kosher?

I get it, right? Tofu is on the menu. She does an incredible job, I got to tell you, of making tofu very edible, but nonetheless, not one of your things. And brains of any kind. I remember when I was a kid going to an Italian restaurant, my aunt was a world traveler, and we actually had calf brains. Yes. Well, it's been a long time since I've had that.

Fortunately, the Hebrew Bible has many things that are available to eat, so I'm doing just fine. I love it. Oh my gosh. Well, you know, we were talking about that Facebook situation, and about free speech, and you were sharing with me having gone through law school, and the Constitution, and I'd love if you'd share with our audience some of the thoughts you were having about free speech. And I think it correlates very well to the reason why these soldiers gave their lives.

Yes, I completely agree with you. So the book is 21 Steps, Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and it's for kids, and I give great credit to my publisher, Candlewick Press. This is a major children's publisher, and we have a fantastic illustrator for it, and the book has gotten a lot of attention, and the book is something of an outlier. Because it is about that particular subject, where we've got the best of America in front of us, honoring men who gave their, not only did they give their lives, they gave their identities for American principles.

We have no idea whether the unknown is black, white, Latino, Asian, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, atheist, liberal, conservative, and it doesn't matter. Our principles are what matters, and free speech is one of our core principles. We have a Bill of Rights here. It's what sets the United States apart from many other liberal democracies and republics. Our protections are broad.

There are limits, and those limits I learned about in law school, and they make sense, but the idea that limits need to be very narrow, that's what makes our country great. In light of what you just said and helping children to understand the historic significance of these 21 steps, and we'll get into the 21 steps and what that specifically is in just a second, but how does that contrast, or does it? I don't want to set this up so much that it becomes a single syllable, but is there a contrast, do you think, between the America that these individuals gave their lives for and say the woke culture that we're experiencing today? It's an interesting question because I would think by just about any measure, we've come a long way in a very good direction.

We had African American soldiers fighting in World War I, and the tomb of the unknown soldier, the unknown is from World War I, and we had African American soldiers fighting in World War I for the first time, but this was a largely segregated America. We've come very, very far. Since then, we have a ways to go.

I think anyone would agree that until we get to our more perfect union. What I do in the book, and I tell the book from the point of view of the first unknown, who was buried there on Armistice Day in 1921, and what may be a bit of a backslide is this, and I talk to kids about this book all the time. I have tremendous respect for the kids today. They are more kind, they are taught more about kindness and tolerance and compassion than I ever was, and they are kind. When you're kind, you can build a better community, and when you're compassionate, you can see if someone is hurting, you go to help them, and tolerant, I mean, we're a big country. We're 330 million people here. If you're not tolerant, we're not going to have a country.

However, those are not the only values, and the values of the men and women who serve in the military then and now, and who gave their lives to selfless sacrifice, these are values of fidelity and reverence and patriotism and obedience and loyalty and exactitude even. That we may be missing a little bit. It's a challenge, I think.

I mean, I agree with you, and I think that when we just flat label one particular group of people in a certain manner, if we create a massive level of division, there's obviously, there are truths that are associated with certain facts. But even, go ahead. No, no, no.

You, sir. We are complex. There are going to be parts of my politics that you're going to like, and parts of my politics that you're not going to like. And to expect that anybody is going to be 100% agreeable to you, there's this wonderful story from the former mayor of New York, Ed Koch, when he was running for office. He used to say, if you agree with me on 8 out of 12 things, you need to vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 things, you need to see a psychiatrist. Right?

I mean, we are complex and sometimes inconsistent and sometimes hypocritical, but core American values, free speech, selfless sacrifice, e pluribus unum, liberty, one nation under God, these are things that it would be great if we could all get behind. It would be. I completely agree. And talk to me about the significance of 21 steps. That's a great question. Kids ask me this all the time because, you know, I talk about the book and, you know, the tomb guards are out there and if you've been to Arlington, you know what I'm talking about. If you've never been at least watch a video, but you need to go, so they're on the mat. They do 21 steps.

Paste off perfectly. Turn and face the tomb. 21 seconds of silence. 21 more steps. 21 seconds of silence. It's 21 after 21 after 21. And here's why 21 is the highest honor that the military can give to a visiting dignitary or to the president of the United States. 21 gun salute.

That's yet. Where did it come from? Kids always ask.

Here's the story. I don't know if it's true, but it's a really good one. In the middle ages, when warships used to enter a port and if they were coming in peace, they tended to have seven guns on their deck. They fired their cannons out to see seven shots. And then the shore battery would respond with 21 blanks. And those 21 became a symbol of peace and honor.

Look at that. And I have to be honest with you, I have never heard that story. And I was I'm an Air Force veteran and I have observed and had a sense of the significance of a 21 gun salute.

I understood that there was something about that all my life that was significant, but I've never heard that story. Thank you. I like it because my pleasure. 21 seconds gives you time to think. No doubt. No doubt.

That's another significant element of it. Wouldn't it be nice if we all could pause for 21 seconds every day and just kind of think about the things we're engaged in. Don't go anywhere.

We'll be back with more. Jeff Gottesfeld is with us and we'll talk about it. Now is a critical time to be vigilant in the defense of our freedom. There's no better way to do so than by joining the Association of Mature American Citizens, AMAC. AMAC is one of the fastest growing conservative organizations in America. Well over 2 million people have joined and now carry the AMAC membership card. AMAC was built by regular folks to feel the same way you do.

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And welcome back to Chosen Generation Radio. I'm your host, Pastor Greg. And there is actually, I'm looking at an article that was sent to me and it is the article that talks about the significance of the rituals, Jeff. And someone had sent me that particular article that you wrote.

Where can they find that article so that they can read it? Or with your permission, can I put it up in my blog? I would be delighted.

I will send it to you after the show and you can totally put it up. And you know, and it's important what you're talking about ritual. Because the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the changing of the guard, you know, it transforms, and I try to make this point in the book, something ordinary transformed into something with sanctity. You know, whether one is religious or not, you cannot go out there on the plaza and watch the tomb guard and realize there's 5,000 people around you at the tomb and they're all in awestruck silence.

And you're looking out at the tomb guard and then you're looking through the guard to the tomb and imagining the stories of the men from World War I, World War II in Korea who were interred there. It's not ordinary. And that's really important.

We don't get that all that much. You know, particularly if you're not a religious person, you live with that all the time. But if you're not religious, you know, the sort of simple religion of it, it's magnificent. I was sharing with my audience a few weeks back kind of my argument about how the word religion has been stolen and denigrated and how it really is a beautiful thing.

You know, my Bible tells me that true religion is to take care of the orphans and the widows and the poor. I asked a friend of mine that was on, I said, well, you know, how often do you brush your teeth? Do you eat every day?

Do you put clothes on? I mean, every single one of these qualifies as religious, but there's a difference between that and religion. But even still, why is it a bad thing to do something consistently? I mean, every book about success tells you that there are certain steps that you should repeat.

Obviously, if you do the same thing over and over and you're failing, stop. And that's, you know, and it's one of the points of 21 steps. I managed to do this somehow in 900 words, which is that the ritual of bringing the unknown home from World War I was repeated for the unknowns for World War II and Korea. And the ritual of the guard on the mat is repeated by every tomb guard who follows them. I was just with the tomb guards this last Thursday. It was one of the most extraordinary experiences in my life.

And I'm fine. And, you know, I said this before I went and I feel more strongly after the map. That is no place for creativity. It's a place for self-effacement and the continuation of the ritual. And in the executing of the ritual, that site becomes either small h holy or capital h holy, depending on what's out there.

21 steps guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier. You can find it in Amazon. If you do that, use Smile Amazon, if you wouldn't mind, and you can put in Faith Harvest Church. Smile Amazon Faith Harvest Church and pick up a copy of 21 steps guarding the tomb of the unknown. Get one for you. Get one for your kids. Get one for your grandkids and share this tremendous American history with them. Thank you, Jeff, for taking the time to put this book together.

And thanks to Matt for illustrating it. Back with more Children Generation Radio right after. I'm hungry. What's this? Beans again. Did somebody say hungry? Pistol Peach Jerky at PistolPeachJerky.com. A herd of delicious flavors.

Break bronco-busting hunger. Lasso up your order at PistolPeachJerky.com. I made it myself. PistolPeachJerky.com.

Tell them Pete sent you. PistolPeachJerky.com is the official beef jerky of the Children Generation Radio Show. When you place your order, you'll receive two free U.S. Constitutions and a U.S. flag sticker. One constitution for you to read, cover to cover, and the second to pass on to your friends, family, or loved ones. Go to PistolPeachJerky.com and use discount code CGR to get an additional 10% off. PistolPeachJerky.com and place your order today.