Phil Robertson: ‘We Need God and Prayer’ More Than Ever

Phil Robertson may be known primarily as the star of A&E’s reality television series “Duck Dynasty,” but he has a much greater passion.

For him, sharing the Word of God and his deep belief in the Almighty is more important than anything.

Call him unorthodox, but in a persuasive new book, he explains why so many Americans today could use some biblical refreshing.

The father of four, grandfather of 21, and great-grandfather of six lives in West Monroe, Louisiana, with his wife, Kay. LifeZette connected with him by phone just as his new book, “The Theft of America’s Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies That Are Destroying Our Country” (Thomas Nelson) was coming out in February 2019.

The conservative Christian, in blunt prose, exposes such lies as “God is dead” and “virtue is outdated” — and shares the steps Americans can take to address these falsehoods, both in their own lives and in their larger communities.

Here are excerpts from LifeZette’s interview with him.

Question: It’s abundantly clear you care deeply about American culture and many of the problems we’re facing today. What propelled you to share your ideas and your faith in a new book like this?
Answer: We see carnage in the nation’s rehab centers. We see murders. We see people shooting other people at schools and concerts and other places. We need to take a step back and really realize that we must help our country get back on the right track.

We need the Scriptures. We must go back to the Bible. We have to love our neighbors and forgive each other. We need patience, kindness, goodness. And we must instill this in our children so that they can instill it in their children.

We need God and prayer — and we need to understand the difference between good and evil.

Q: How do you share your back-to-basics beliefs and wisdom with your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren when they’re growing up in a tech-driven and tech-obsessed world — something you say you abhor?
A: One of the keys is to make sure they know that their grandpa loves their grandma. You start there. You see what I’m saying? And you take the Scriptures, and you raise your family in a godly environment, with a life of restraint. My four grown sons have thanked me for this many, many times in their lives, now that they are parents and even grandparents themselves. It becomes generational.

And the schools need to be part of the solution, not the problem. They should be helping families.

When people run God out of the schools and out of the formative years of our children — then they wonder what has happened in America.

Q: You say you’ve never owned a cellphone. Why?
A: Things can get pretty vile on those phones, with everything that’s offered on them today, so I stay off. I’m into living a quiet life, minding business, and working with my hands, so that I won’t be dependent on anybody. It’s why I don’t deal with high-tech gadgetry and all of the stuff that’s out there.

Many people seem obsessed with all of this. But people need to stop and really talk to other people.

And let’s try loving God and loving each other for awhile.

Q: You spend a lot of time in your new book warning people away from the powers of Satan. Why?
A: Take murder and lies — just those two things to start. And let’s look at what is happening in America right now. People were standing on their feet in New York City recently cheering the fact that they can now slaughter their own offspring. Think about that.

Children can be slaughtered inside their own mothers — and people are standing on their feet cheering about it. Here we have the greatest nation on Earth, with God’s help — our Founding Fathers were all godly people — and we have risen to great heights. But now too many people are without love. They’re unforgiving, they’re boastful, they don’t have self-control, and they’re lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.

Look at the news media. Look at Hollywood. Look at many of our institutions of higher learning. When was the last time you heard any of those people mention the word “sin”? Give me a break. I am just trying to help people get up in the morning and do good in their day.

Q: If you could spend five minutes with President Donald Trump right now, what would you say to him?
A: I’ve already had my 10 to 15 minutes with Donald Trump [just before the 2016 presidential election]. During our conversation, I reached into my pocket and brought out a sheet of paper with a hieroglyph on it. It had an arrow coming down out of heaven — God made flesh — then [lines showing] His death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection.

And I showed the drawing to Trump and I said, “Whatever happens, don’t miss this.” I told him God became flesh and that Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

I said, “Trump, you do have sins, don’t you?” He said, “Oh, yeah.” I said to him, “He took them away right there.” I said, “Three days later, He solved your other problem — physical death. Because we’re all going into a casket one day. But when they killed Him, three days later He came back from the dead — so He even solved that problem for us.” And I said, “Now, we’re just waiting on the return.”

Well, Trump looked at me and he said, “Can I have that?” And I said, “Sure.” And I handed it to him, and he took it and kept it.

That was my 15 minutes with Donald Trump. My job was to tell him. And I did that. It’s up to Trump as to whatever he does with that in his heart.

I can’t judge anybody or condemn anybody. I just gave him the good news.

We are all sinners. But we have Jesus to believe in and to remove our sins. It is the greatest gift God has given us.

That’s my message. That’s the main message of my book. Our nation is on the wrong course and people have forgotten about God. We need Him back in our lives. Immortality is riding on this. It’s as big as that.

Q: You’ve had many professions in your life. It appears you feel this one is your most important — the sharing of God’s Word with other people. Is that true?
A: Yup. Everything else is way, way in the back.

I was 28 before I even investigated Jesus. Once I investigated Him, and heard and got to know the Gospels, I thought, How in the world did I ever miss that? The schools certainly didn’t tell me about it.

When I first said the words, “Jesus is Lord” — that’s when my life was changed forever.

“The Theft of America’s Soul” is available here.