Herzog, YAF equip students to integrate faith, politics

They’re young, equipped and ready to effect change.

Seventy high school seniors from across the country gathered in Kansas City last week for the first Faith & Nation, a four-day conference run by the Herzog Foundation, which publishes the Lion, in partnership with Young America’s Foundation.

Speakers including former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker presented on topics such as Christian leadership in government, the moral case for free-market capitalism, the perils of socialism and responding to the transgender movement.

 “You can’t actually change sexes,” said Dr. Ryan T. Anderson, a Ph.D. who has written multiple books on the subject. “Sex change surgery (and) hormonal transition, these things are physically and metaphysically impossible because sex wasn’t assigned in the first place; it can’t be reassigned later in life.”

Bethany Campbell, a student at Prodigy Leadership Academy in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, asked Anderson what caused the trans movement.

“Three things,” he replied. “The sexual revolution (which went from) hook-up culture and cohabitation to gay marriage and transgender ideology; politics imposing it on people; and then technology making it feasible. … When my grandparents were kids, this would be implausible because the technology didn’t exist.”

Daniel Di Martino, whose family fled Venezuela after the onset of socialism, explained how that nation went from one of the most prosperous in the world to poverty. 

“Nationalization of industries, price and currency controls and massive deficit spending,” he said. “How does the country with the largest oil reserves in the world not have gasoline? Venezuela is a country that has been starved, starved to death; millions of people are malnourished.” 

This prompted student Jack Wedlake from Logos Preparatory Academy in Sugar Land, Texas to ask, “Having seen the fall of Venezuela, are you starting to see some of the key indicators that started leading to the fall in our nation?” 

“I think the thing that really concerns me the most is the growth of government over time,” said Di Martino, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in economics and is one of YAF’s speakers on the evils of socialism. 

“It’s not a short-term thing or a long-term thing. And then you saw how people reacted even during the pandemic: we were very comfortable to allow the government to do things that people have never imagined, which tells you that this belief that, ‘Oh, in America, this is never going to happen, we are never going to allow it,’ yes, actually, you very likely will, because it’s a slow boiling.” 

Di Martino urged the audience to find ways to “drastically cut the size of government,” something he said most politicians won’t do because “even the conservatives are not willing to reform the ever-growing entitlement state” of government benefits. 

Students followed each talk with small-group discussions to debrief what they had learned and discuss how to implement it in their lives. Herzog Ambassadors, recent college graduates who are experiencing a one-year national outreach program with the foundation, hosted the discussions. 

Teachers who accompanied their students held their own discussions during the breakout times. 

Students said they appreciated learning how to challenge society’s narrative by using the Socratic method to ask questions and draw out someone’s beliefs. 

“As a young person, especially hoping to go maybe into the business field, maybe into the political field, there’s so much I can learn now that I can use later on,” said Gillian Carson, who attends Providence Academy in Rogers, Arkansas. 

“Learning how to have these discussions with people without becoming argumentative but opening up conversations, asking people questions and getting them to start questioning their own beliefs, that’s been one of the biggest things.” 

Free-time activities at Faith & Nation included horseback riding and archery, as well as in-depth discussions on various issues. There was also a party on election night that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. 

Gregg Preston, a teacher at Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Minnesota and a 2024 Herzog Teacher of the Year, said he was “thoroughly impressed with the range of speakers that are here. From apologetics to social issues of the day to government, who they brought in were just top notch and I think delivered so clearly to the students too.  

“In a short time that we’re here, I think that students have just gotten a lot of really great biblical theology and practical kind of world view issues here at the same time,” added Preston, who teaches sociology, history and Bible and came with two students. 

“For our students, the big issue is for them really to go into the world, to be able to be salt and light for the gospel with sharp academic minds and a servant heart too. And so, I’m hoping that as they go back home, they’re really able to articulate and talk about the importance of that with their peers before they graduate.” 

Herzog President Darrell Jones celebrated the event. 

“By all indicators, including feedback both from students and from teachers, the inaugural Faith & Nation Student Forum was a great success in helping connect the biblical worldview of Christian students with the current social issues of our day,” Jones said. “As we wrap up this year’s event, our team looks forward to rolling up our sleeves and developing next year’s student forum.”

Students were also grateful for the experience and excited for what the future might hold. 

“I’ve grown up in the church my whole life and I’ve gone to camp every year K through 12, and to Bible classes,” said Ella Sterling, who attends Cair Paravel Latin School in Topeka, Kansas. “We’re doing apologetics this year, and all that is super interesting, but to get more of the political side of hearing the real truths that God has present in the social issues of our society has really impacted me. 

“And especially being here with all these fellow Christians and beliefs has affected me greatly.” 

“I feel like it rounded out the basic information I have in a way I could not get in school,” said Conrad Smith, who attends Calvary Baptist Academy in Midland, Michigan, and who plans to pursue a career in engineering. 

“I’m more grounded in what I believe, so when others present their beliefs, I have something to weigh it against.” 

Camilia Guerrero of El Paso, Texas, agreed. 

“I feel more confident talking about my political views now,” said Guerrero, who attends Immanuel Christian School and plans to study psychiatry in college. “I feel like I’m able to debate them both biblically and with reasons, too. I felt that that was a really big thing.”