Point of View April 10, 2025 – Hour 1 : Widow’s Might

[00:00:05] Live, this is Point of View, Anna Dexter. Thank you very much for joining us ladies and gentlemen. The past couple of days have been, I guess I've got to say, a couple of busy and maybe for some people harrowing news days and we will talk about that later in the program.

[00:00:34] But I have a very special guest with me right now. And you know, in the last year I have actually mourned the death of the husbands of two of my dearest friends, both of whom who had wonderful long and faith filled marriages. And then two weeks ago, my husband's aunt Norma buried her husband, our Uncle Bob. It was unexpected, a few very tired weeks and then he was gone at age 90.

[00:01:01] Now these three women have had their worlds rocked. And they've got big holes in their lives. They've got big changes, lots of decisions they have to make. But my guest on today's program experienced something different, really the inexplicable, because she lost her first husband at age 23. And then, and we'll ask her about how this affected her.

[00:01:27] But then she married again. And by 31, she had lost her second husband. Her name is Rachel Faulkner Brown. And Rachel, thank you so much for joining me today. Hey, Pena. What an honor, honestly. And I hate that you've experienced this loss, but it does, when it comes close to you, it gives you a lot of compassion for what we've dealt with. It does. And, you know, I knew you were going to say that just from looking at your book, The Widow's Might, which we'll also talk about.

[00:01:57] But I knew that your heart would be sad for me losing friends. Oh, yeah. But what you have gone through, just tell us what happened when you were 23. Yeah. Well, it was five days after September 11th. So the whole country was reeling. I mean, needless to say, it was like, what is up and what is down? And how is this going to affect our future? And that was, you know, that was me and my husband for sure.

[00:02:22] And then on Sunday, we went to church, came home, had barbecue, talked about having children. And he went to play a game of pickup basketball, had a massive aneurysm in my best friend's driveway. I mean, I was told on the phone by my friend, she said, hey, I think he broke his leg. And it wasn't a broken leg. It was, you know, he lost his life to an aneurysm.

[00:02:48] And when I pulled up, I was met with one of our doctors. We were both pharmaceutical reps doing CPR on him. And I was like, this is not a broken leg. I was still so confused. And I just remember praying, you know, the whole way to the hospital, Lord, whatever you're doing, whatever you're doing, you know, just stay tight. Just stay tight. Because I never experienced the loss of anyone. I never lost a friend in a car wreck. My grandmother died. You know, I'd lost animals when I was in high school.

[00:03:18] But that was, that was, it was kind of things that naturally and then, you know, she was older. So it definitely was so shocking. So the, you know, the ER doctor came out and said, Ms. Fouse, we did everything we could. And I was like, well, there's no way. I mean, he had just run five miles the day before. I was so dumbfounded by my new normal. And, you know, my birthday was 10 days later.

[00:03:45] And it was just, it was so hard to believe that I was a 24-year-old widow. And the sweet ladies at church who were all in their 80s at the time, you know, they, of course, wanted me to come to their group. And I was like, I do not fit in this group. I mean, oh, my goodness. Yeah. I just, I couldn't imagine. I love them. And they were so sweet. But, you know, there was just, my life was insanely different.

[00:04:11] And that's the thing too, Penna, is people think that the widow is still the little white-haired 85-year-old. And she does not look like that. She's 59 1⁄2. That's the average age of a widow. Well, 60 is the new 40. Wow. We all know that. My husband's about to turn 60. And, oh, my gosh. I mean, 60-year-olds are rightly, and they have a lot of life left.

[00:04:36] And so you've got this, you know, you've got this generation of women who have 30, 35 more years than them if they're healthy. Then you've got this wealth transfer to them a lot of times where they're making the decisions on generosity. Big, big, big impacts for the country. Big decisions to make at such a young age. So, Rachel, you lost your husband Todd. Is his name? Yes. That's my husband's name. Yes. That's my husband's name. Oh. Also.

[00:05:05] He's 73. Yeah. But, Rachel, then you went on with your life and you married again. So tell us about your second husband. Yeah, I did. I was Todd's family and my second husband, Blair's family. They were actually best friends. They had buried each other in the sand at Jekyll Island. And, I mean, they had been on many, many, many family trips together, camping trips.

[00:05:35] And Blair was in the Air Force, so he was 10 years older than we were. And, you know, he was living his best life flying jets. And we were, you know, of course, so proud of him. So I knew him very, very well. You know, just a family friend. I'd hosted his mom's birthday party. And then when Todd passes away and I start dating again, I'm like, well, Blair's 35 and never been married. And he needs a wife. His mother would love that. So I should be her. I should be her.

[00:06:02] So, you know, and what's so funny is, you know, small town America. I'm from Florence, Alabama. And so my mom taught with Blair's mom. They taught school together. And so they'd already thought, well, this might be a, this is an idea. Lots of people were thinking that way. Maybe, maybe. Yeah. 35 and he loved Jesus. I was like, all right, this will work. And so we ended up having our first day, got married in July of 2003. And he, you know, experienced, we were in New Orleans.

[00:06:32] He was flying the A-10 and just, I mean, living the dream is, I mean, y'all, you know, everybody listens, watch Top Gun and, you know, Top Gun Maverick. I mean, it was, it was a very unique life. I mean, being married to a fighter pilot is just, it's so fascinating. And they, you know, they're dropping bombs and shooting this, you know, single seat engine. So he's flying every day. And it's just, it's an unbelievable life. And I was still a pharmaceutical rep.

[00:07:00] So it was, you know, either way through New Orleans and then we were like, let's have some children. And Hurricane Katrina came and blew us out. So we ended up in Columbus, Mississippi. And Blair was flying the T-38 airplane, airframe, which is the fighter trainer. And he went to fly on a beautiful day this month, actually, 18 years ago. And he never came home. He and his student pilot were killed on the runway. It was a freak accident. There was a cable in the wing that was broken.

[00:07:30] No one would have ever known. And when he took off, there was no lift. And his student pilot's wife was seven months pregnant with their first baby. And, you know, on the taxi out, yeah, we have, you know, we have the black box from the plane. And on the taxi out, I had just made Amish friendship bread the night before. And Blair's, you know, talking to Matthew about how much he loved it and how proud he was of his kids. And I can't wait for you to be a dad.

[00:07:58] And then not even one minute later, they were literally in the arms of Jesus. Oh, Rachel. And, yeah. In a minute, I want to talk to you about what your reaction was because this happened again. But, ladies and gentlemen, I am speaking with Rachel Faulkner Brown. If you are a widow, I think you might want to continue to listen, first of all. And then take a look at this beautiful, beautiful book that she has written, Pull Together Devotions for the Widow.

[00:08:26] And we will talk about the widow's mite. We'll talk about Rachel's ministry and all of that. So stick with us for more of Point of View. Next week, or actually May 3rd, is National Widows Day. And that's why we're doing this program.

[00:08:57] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson. Pundits and political consultants warn that the Democratic Party needs to reevaluate some of its policy positions. The editors of the New York Times argue that the party moved too far left on social issues after Barack Obama left office in 2017. So will Democratic candidates moderate their position on a topic like transgenderism?

[00:09:20] In a recent commentary, Jack Butler says it's unlikely and points to the harsh reaction from the left to California Governor Gavin Newsom's statement that allowing men to compete against women in sports is deeply unfair. Jack Butler doubts moderation will happen on the transgender issue due to three powerful forces, money, science and religion.

[00:09:40] First, there is tremendous institutional and financial network in place to ensure that Democrats, both aspiring and elected, yield to the utmost left possible iteration of transgender ideology. To understand this, just follow the money. Second, leftist science is different from other forms of science. You've probably seen yard signs that say women's rights are human rights and science is real.

[00:10:05] What that often means is to trust the science when it conforms to your view of reality and reject it when it doesn't. Third is religion. All it takes is a few religious leaders to call for transgender acceptance to reinforce transgender ideology. Jack Butler calls this a classic postmodern trick. If you can find religious differences of opinion, then there's no genuine truth. So any moderation on the issue of transgenderism will expose weaknesses and logical flaws.

[00:10:34] That is why it is unlikely to see too many Democratic candidates changing their position. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view. For a free booklet on a biblical view on chemical abortion, go to viewpoints.info slash chemical abortion. Viewpoints.info slash chemical abortion. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:11:03] Welcome back to Point of View. I'm Penna Dexter, along with my guest, Rachel Faulkner Brown. And so sadly, she has actually lost two husbands, both unexpectedly. And Rachel, the second husband, your husband, Blair, a fighter pilot. And tell me what you were thinking then, because it must have been sort of a not again type of reaction. Yeah, for sure.

[00:11:33] For sure. I was blown away. I mean, Blair and I had joked. I mean, the reality is you are more likely to die in an automobile accident than you ever are in any kind of plane crash. And so we were like, I mean, I've got the suffering card. I've already done the worst thing imaginable. And, you know, I mean, that was our thought. I was like, hey, you're good to go.

[00:11:59] And little did I know that, I mean, Scripture says in this world you'll have trouble. It's not like it ends just because you have one trouble, you know. And I just, in my head, I had just kind of made a deal with God. Like, this was enough. And at the end of the day, I was shocked. But here's what I did know, Penna. I knew there was some kind of bigger purpose. I thought it was for Blair's funeral. I thought people are going to meet Jesus at his funeral, but I had no idea that it was for something so much bigger.

[00:12:29] And really, it was for me. It was for me to really experience the gospel. I knew a religious gospel. I knew religion. You know, I knew performing for God. And all of that was stripped away. Like, so many things. My need for control, it was working, you know, because the kids were so little. And as they grew, the wheels just fell off the bus, right? And I was like, I don't know how to do this. The wheels were kind of falling off even when Blair died.

[00:12:59] But I knew, you know, I knew there was something bigger. I did not know Genesis 50-20, but it says what the, you, you know, Joseph's brothers intended for harm. God intended for good and for the saving of many lives. And then Joseph goes on and says, fear not, I will take care of you and your little children. Well, I knew there would be many lives saved, but I thought it was like a one-time event. I didn't realize. I could have never projected the future. How could you in that situation?

[00:13:27] I knew something bigger was happening, though. And, you know, I thought I was going to carry the grieving with hope banner for Jesus, which was never planned for me. That was not what God had in mind for you. He had something actually bigger, didn't he? He had something bigger, and it was so much more for me than for other people, you know, which is great. You can't give away what you don't have.

[00:13:51] And he was like, I want to show you something different so that you can give away wholeness and not halfness. Because I was half a person. I didn't know my identity in Christ. I didn't know, you know, I didn't understand the gospel. And you think, oh, you were 30, you know, 31 years old. I mean, you were a believer and you understood. You've done all the Bethmore Bible studies. And the reality is life, life is the greatest teacher. Yes. It really is. Yes.

[00:14:20] So, Rachel, I just want to tell our listeners that you are married again. I am. You're your pastor husband, and you have your two children, and you live, I think, in the Atlanta area. But I want you to talk about what grew out of the healing of Rachel Faulkner Brown. What happened? Yeah. Well, I learned that your secret keeps you stuck, Jenna. And I thought that my secret kept me safe.

[00:14:49] And, you know, I had been abused when I was 10, 11, and 12, which is one out of three women's stories. But we just sweep it under the rug like we've seen our families do. And no need to talk about all that. You know, just like tuck that under, and we'll deal with that later. Well, that later, you know, came for me at 35. And I was able to let go of my secret. I had a friend who really introduced me to Grace. I just didn't understand the gospel.

[00:15:17] I thought that forgiveness was up to me and scraping my soul every night. And I didn't realize that, you know, I just got to be invited in to a different story, that the gospel wasn't up to me because it always felt like me plus Jesus equaled the gospel. And that was just the biggest lie. And because of that, I ended up in therapy. I ended up, you know, we use a process called the Emanuel approach where you get to experience joy because when you have trauma,

[00:15:46] your circuits are really dim to joy. And so I reconnected the circuits literally in my brain and then experienced Jesus in these hard places. And that changed the game for me. And if I had not done, you know, years of therapy and the work that I did in understanding the gospel, I would have never met Rod and started the ministry that is now Never Alone Widows and helps thousands of widows every month.

[00:16:14] I could, of course, never could have seen that coming. Never in a million years. Well, Never Alone Widows, it's the largest, I guess, widows ministry, Christian widows ministry in the country. Tell us how you connect and how you minister to widows. Well, we have 65 local groups across the country in cities all over.

[00:16:39] And we hope to have 1,000 groups in the next 10 years, which I think is totally possible. Women love connection, let's be honest. And you cannot heal outside the power of community. You can heal in your mind. Yes, there's a lot of healing that happens there. But where it really transforms you and others is when it's in the context of community. And so we just believe and know just from our experience of running retreats.

[00:17:08] We've done over 36 retreats, small, intimate, for widows for the last six years, and then four conferences, national conferences for 400 widows that we kind of travel over the country. And it will be in February of 2026 in Atlanta. And we're coming back to Atlanta. So at the end of the day, you know, we want to be known and understood in our pain.

[00:17:38] And so when you have 25 widows that get together and they all have the same story, it's so unique and so rare. It's not the same story, but everybody is sitting in loss. And you're all no widow. There's no communication needed. You know she's lonely. You know she feels alone. You know what she deals with every day.

[00:17:59] And that knowing and that feeling seen is so powerful to the brain and to your heart, to your soul, to your spirit. And we just love creating spaces across the country, whether it's the conference or, you know, with a video series online on our website, or whether it is, you know, in an intimate retreat or a small little gathering of widows together in a city. Like there's just so much power.

[00:18:28] So I want to show for anyone who's watching us online today this beautiful book that Rachel has put together. It's beautiful. And it's Widows Might, 365 Days of Strength for Grief and Loss. The widows that I mentioned in the beginning of the program, I'm getting this for all of them. They're different ages. And I think I look through this and I've read many of the days.

[00:18:53] And you've pulled together the devotions from a lot of the widows that you minister to and many that you've written. They're beautiful. Yeah. And they just, you know, tell us about how you named it. It's called Widows Might. But I just want to commend it to widows that are listening and people that know widows. I just think it would be a great resource for people, a blessing spiritually. But tell us about the name.

[00:19:23] Yeah. Well, the name is M-I-G-H-T. And it's definitely a play. You know, there are about 13 widows in scripture who we're still talking about 2,000 years later. And I'm like, that woman who gave all that she had, you know, the reality was, you know, Jesus has invited us into a better story. Right. And she taught us something about generosity that we got to learn through a widow's life.

[00:19:48] But for me, you know, I think it really is based on Psalm 84 7. And in Psalms, it's a group of people. And it says, where others find a brook of pain, we find a brook of blessing. And then it goes on to say, and they are stronger and stronger with every step forward. And that's it. It's one day at a time. My mom told me the day Blair died, she was like, honey, if you can get up and take a shower every day, it's going to change how you see the world.

[00:20:19] And it was one day at a time, one shower a day, washing off the grief. And I did grow stronger and stronger with every step forward. And I'm like, that's it. That's the widow's might. It is one day at a time, one story at a time. And if he can do it for her, he can do it for me. Whether you're 80 or 90 or 25 and you just lost the love of your life. And there are stories from all of those ages in here, which is just the power of the gospel. Yeah. That's wonderful.

[00:20:47] Rachel, I wish I had another hour with you because we could go through some of these beautiful days of ministry. But I'll have to leave it there and just say thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for giving your life to the Lord and for offering your pain and sorrow up to him for this beautiful ministry. Thank you, Penna. Thank you for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. That's Rachel Faulkner Brown.

[00:21:15] And the ministry is Never Alone, Never Alone Widows. And ladies and gentlemen, you may want to take advantage of it. Stick with me. We're going to talk a little bit about tariffs for a little while. And then we have another wonderful female. It seems like we live in a different world from many people in positions of authority. They say men can be women and women men. People are prosecuted differently or not at all, depending on their politics.

[00:21:45] Criminals are more valued and rewarded than law abiding citizens. It's so overwhelming, so demoralizing. You feel like giving up, but we can't. We shouldn't. We must not. As Winston Churchill said to Britain in the darkest days of World War Two, Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

[00:22:12] And that's what we say to you today. This is not a time to give in, but to step up and join Point of View in providing clarity in the chaos. We can't do it alone, but together, with God's help, we will overcome the darkness. Invest in biblical clarity today at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151.

[00:22:38] Pointofview.net and 1-800-347-5151. Point of View will continue after this. You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:01] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station. And now, here again is Panna Dexter. Welcome back to Point of View. As we just found out from our guest, Laura Faulkner Brown, Rachel Faulkner Brown, that courage and bravery are needed in so many situations.

[00:23:27] And today in our culture, I think perhaps in great measure and certainly by the power of the Holy Spirit. And later in the program, the second hour, we are going to discuss how especially women, brave women, mighty God is the name of the book we'll discuss with its author, Laura Smith. But first, let's go to a little bit of news today. And this is just a little piece I found in the Wall Street Journal this morning about President Trump.

[00:23:55] Apparently, he took aim at a low pressure target. I mean, he's actually taking some big actions right now. But this one is this target that he took aim at is wimpy showers. He signed an executive order yesterday rolling back a federal regulation he's blamed for poor water pressure.

[00:24:16] His order would eliminate restrictions that the Obama administration placed on how much water can flow from shower heads in an effort to conserve resources. Trump relaxed those standards during his first term. But President Joe Biden put them back in place. And Trump says his order says no longer will shower heads be weak and worthless. And he's intending to make America's showers great again.

[00:24:44] He says, I'd like to take a nice shower to take care of my beautiful hair. He said to laughter in the Oval Office as he signed the order. You have to stand under the shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. So, ladies and gentlemen, be happy that we're going to have more water pressure in our showers, especially if you buy a new one. But there's a lot of news. Busy news days these last couple of days. Not for the faint of heart, I would say, for the last four or five days. But some of the news is good.

[00:25:14] Core inflation is down to 2.8 percent. It's the lowest level since 2021. Of course, prices are high. You have to remember that when inflation goes down, it just means they're not rising as fast. But they're still high, but they're not rising as fast. Employment numbers have been good for March. They were surprisingly, surprisingly positive. And then the House has passed a budget blueprint that maintains the Trump tax cuts.

[00:25:43] So, you know, that's good. The holdouts in the House. There were some holdouts who are some of our heroes wanting more cuts. But I guess they bowed to reality so that the Senate version could be passed. And this is the budget blueprint. There will be lots more budget voting that will be taking place. But we do need to see those tax cuts extended. It would be a huge tax increase if they weren't.

[00:26:09] The stock market, of course, as you I'm sure all heard in the news, surged more than 2,900 points yesterday. And then dropped somewhat this morning and dropped more during the day. But President Trump did announce yesterday that he's walking back his steep levies on nations that went into effect. The tariffs that went into effect just hours before his announcement yesterday.

[00:26:33] So what he's what the White House is calling this is a 90 day pause in the tariffs. He will be levying a 10 percent tariff on just about everyone. And then the Trump administration says that there are 75 nations that are asking the U.S. for trade talks. They want to negotiate with the U.S. So this 90 days will be used for these negotiations. The White House is saying that the Trump administration created leverage for itself.

[00:27:01] So, as I said, all tariffs are now 10 percent with the exception of Canada and Mexico, which were already on pause. There's more arrangements to be made with them, which are to be announced down the road. And then, of course, there's one noticeable exception to this pause. China, their tariff will be raised. First of all, it was raised yesterday to one hundred twenty five percent. Now the reports are out there that it's going to be one hundred forty five percent.

[00:27:27] I've heard recommendations that be elevated to four hundred percent. But mind you, we still have tariffs. We still have secular tariffs on automobiles coming down the road and also pharmaceuticals. So this is not a repudiation of tariffs, but it is a pause. And there will be negotiations and things taking place during the next 90 days.

[00:27:51] The formal announcement aside, though, there was also another sort of something that happened that I think precipitated this happening yesterday. And that was a fire sale in the bond market, which was really a catalyst. Trump even said that people were getting yippee. They're getting very nervous about the bond. And U.S. government bonds, major sell off of those other other nations were jettisoning our bonds.

[00:28:20] And it was an attempt by some of those nations to drive up the cost of our debt maintenance. So we've still got a lot of tumult worldwide in in the relations between countries on China. On China, Trump has signaled that he's going to take them on. And a lot of people are very happy about this. And people are relieved because he's taken some pressure off the markets.

[00:28:49] He has not backed away, though, from his core ideas to reduce global dependence and bring fairness to the trade that we do maintain. And I have posted an article by Joel Kotkin at pointofview.net. Joel Kotkin is the article is out of Spiked. A publication that spiked, S-P-I-K-E-D. He is a presidential fellow in urban studies at Chapman University in Orange County, California,

[00:29:17] and also a senior research fellow at University of Texas Civitas Institute. It's a pretty good article talking about Trump is right to take on the free trade fundamentalists. The old order of globalization and industrial declines failed working class Americans. And we can discuss that article a little bit later. And I'm going to take your calls, 800-351-1212.

[00:29:41] If you want to talk about tariffs and globalization and reindustrialization, all these things are on the table, 800-351-1212. But there is an element, a core element of President Trump's base who people who are dispossessed in the hollowing out of the American manufacturing sector that took place with globalization over the last few decades.

[00:30:05] And so, you know, that that concern is not going away with this 90 day pause. It's what they say it is. It's a pause. It's a time for negotiations with other countries. And we'll see how successful it is. But by the way, I do want to mention that it's not just other countries' tariffs that President Trump objects to.

[00:30:30] Also, rules and regulations, and this is a quote from Trump, rules and regulations designed for one reason, that you can't sell your products in those countries. In other words, the U.S. can't sell their products in other countries because they have certain rules. And there was a piece in the Wall Street Journal about this today. China is probably one of the, has some of the biggest complaints about its rules and regulations. But another country that's an example here, Australia.

[00:30:58] Australia is a country with which the United States runs a trade surplus. It imports more from the U.S. than it exports to us. So, you know, why are they still getting that 10% tariff? Well, it's for other trade restrictions because Trump's upset because Australia blocks beef and pork. They don't allow us to sell that in their country. They have a lot of beef and pork that they produce themselves, so you can sort of understand it.

[00:31:27] But that makes them not exempt from the 10% tariff. So, this is just a new wrinkle in this whole trade war. I guess, you know, the White House doesn't want to call it a trade war. And I think we have to be realistic that what was happening in the bond markets was a key catalyst for the decision made yesterday.

[00:31:51] Some in the White House, and actually their statement says that this was planned, that they were always planning to have a pause so that countries could come and spend some time and take the time to make a deal with the U.S. So, you know, they said it's all about the art of the deal. You've got other critics saying that it was never planned, and this was just a – it was sort of an emergency to save the markets.

[00:32:22] But let's go back for a minute and speak about this piece, because I think it's something that if you go to pointofview.net and check it out, Joel Kotkin writes about why President Trump is taking these chances and these risks, raising tariffs, trying to renegotiate with other countries the way we trade with them or if we trade with them at all.

[00:32:46] And one of the things – he talks a lot about China and why it's appropriate to still punish China. China's admission, he says, into the World Trade Organization in the year 2000 – and I remember this. We opposed it. It changed the dynamic and made this huge country that has really never been fair in trade, but it put them into the World Trade Organization and gave them all these privileges. And it was a country that was abusing its own people and really enslaving them.

[00:33:16] So, that's this piece. It's long – it's simple, though, and plain. So, I think you might want to check it out at pointofview.net. And we'll discuss some more news in the next segment. Then a little bit later in the program, we're going to go back to just talking about some reasons and ways we can have courage in our lives. So, you won't want to miss the rest of the program. Stick with us for more Point of View.

[00:33:55] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. If you want to call in during this segment, give us a call at 800-351-1212. The question I'm asking, and you'll have to call fairly quickly to get in before the bottom of the hour, is which way do you lean, higher tariffs or freer trade? And we'd love to hear from you. What do you think about that?

[00:34:21] 800-351-1212. Going back to this article by Joel Kotkin, global trade. The question is, will Trump's tariff blitz work? Will it become clearer in the coming weeks and months that it's not working or that it is working? And, you know, having tariffs across the board, is that a good idea? That's what they are right now.

[00:34:51] Is that part of the negotiating tactic? I don't know. The key strategic objective of Trump's approach is simple, restoring America's industrial power. And that's not really controversial. I think most people would like to see that, although some people think that we can make up for the loss of an industry with service industries being more important in the U.S. And Joel Kotkin says that won't make up the difference. But, you know, some of these things just remain to be seen. You have to try them.

[00:35:21] We mentioned the reindustrialization, bringing industry back to the United States. The post-industrial lobby says Joel Kotkin insists that the West can do without manufacturing due to its service exports. Yet services cannot, he says, by themselves solve the West's social or trade problems.

[00:35:44] U.S. service exports, including those that go to tech firms, represent less than one-third of overseas sales. Manufactured goods represent a larger share. So you see where this thinking is coming from. And Joel Kotkin says that the critical need to restore U.S. production became especially obvious during the pandemic.

[00:36:08] And remember that China controls and did control back then to a great problematical level many of the medicines that we needed and we couldn't get during that time of COVID. So, you know, we've seen America and also increasingly Europe become more dependent on Chinese goods.

[00:36:30] Joel Kotkin says in 2023 the Middle Kingdom, which is China, forged roughly half of the world's steel and emerged as the world's largest car exporter. So, so let me just commend the rest of the article to you because I do have one more news story that I would like to kind of relate to you. It's good news. The House of Representatives passed a bill requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for voting.

[00:36:58] This is a Trump priority and he issued an executive order to this effect. This codifies that executive order that President Trump issued. And it's been it's been passed in the House of Representatives. Four Democrats broke ranks. 208 Democrats voted against this. And it's just hard to imagine voting against requiring proof of citizenship for voting. But many Democrats actually stand against that.

[00:37:26] I've posted a piece at pointofview.net that talks about that. Democrats keep fighting for non-citizen voting. Why would you fight for for people to vote that aren't even U.S. citizens? Well, we think we know perhaps why the same reason the borders have been open in the last few years and are now that that problem is getting addressed by the Trump administration. But the House did pass this GOP bill requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for voting.

[00:37:57] And four Democrats broke ranks and joined 216 Republicans to pass that. Unless Republicans in the Senate come through, though, we may not see this pass the Senate. There's a possibility that the Senate leadership, the Republican leaders, may try to get it attached to a spending bill and get it passed. But this has been a struggle. It's called the SAVE Act.

[00:38:21] And I won't even tell you what SAVE stands for because you'll probably I can't remember the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, if you could remember that. But it's meant to restore Americans confidence in our elections and prevent non-citizens from voting. Again, it's the second attempt to do so.

[00:38:38] And it would require all applications using the federal voter registration form to provide documentary proof of citizenship in person at their local election office. In order to register to vote, you would need that. Among the acceptable documents are a valid U.S. passport and a government-issued photo ID, of course, your driver's license, presented alongside a certified birth certificate. Too much to ask?

[00:39:08] Some people think so. Some people think this is voter suppression. But I think the vote is such a precious right. And the idea that someone would vote illegally and not be a citizen, every vote that's done illegally counters your vote.

[00:39:27] In other words, if you have someone voting that's voting opposite you and they aren't even a citizen of the United States of America, it's really your vote getting stolen from you. And so that's why this has been so important. But there are people in this country who want illegal voters because they think those voters are going to vote in progressive policies.

[00:39:53] And they probably are, at least for many years until these millions of people that have come into the United States. If they're voters, they will affect the electorate for years. Maybe some of them will become upstanding business owners and begin to support more conservative policies. But for the most part, this would enshrine a progressive electorate.

[00:40:19] And it would kind of make it very difficult for conservatives to win elections. So Republicans have been supporting this. And Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, has been tying the SAVE Act, trying to tie it to other budget priorities. And we'll see if this. He didn't have to, though. It passed on its own very, very close in the House of Representatives.

[00:40:47] But 208 Democrats voted against it. So just think about that, that this that many Democrats actually want to keep fighting for non-citizen voting. And we've seen a lot of it taking place. Many non-citizens can and do register to vote in federal elections. Sometimes they get caught up in automatic voter registration schemes. And those are not good either.

[00:41:15] You should have to do a little bit of work to register to vote. It shouldn't be automatic. So we shouldn't be doing automatic voter registration. Sometimes non-citizens deliberately commit fraud. But sometimes it's just because of that, automatic registration. They think it's okay to vote. And then we have certain cities in the country who are actually trying to make it sort of a legal thing in their city,

[00:41:41] at least their city elections, to have non-citizens vote. Democrats have long turned a blind eye to this type of voter fraud. That's why it's been so difficult to pass voter ID laws in some states. But this is something, even though states have the right to run their elections, the idea that non-citizens would vote should be a national issue. And that's what the SAVE Act actually does.

[00:42:10] This goal is clear, normalizing non-citizen voting at the local level before expanding it to state and federal races. That's the goal in New York and other places. It's overwhelmingly unpopular, though, among most Americans. Most Americans have common sense, and they want to see votes cast only by United States citizens.

[00:42:33] Recent polls sponsored by the Honest Elections Project show that just 9% of Americans think non-citizens should vote in U.S. elections. In states like Ohio and Louisiana, voters have overwhelmingly passed constitutional amendments banning non-U.S. citizens from voting. So that's a good development. We'll see what the United States Senate does.

[00:42:58] And if you've got a senator that opposes requiring voter ID, maybe you want to give them a call. Ladies and gentlemen, stick with us. We've got more of Point of View. In 19th century London, two towering historical figures did battle, not with guns and bombs, but words and ideas. London was home to Karl Marx, the father of communism, and legendary Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon.

[00:43:27] London was in many ways the center of the world economically, militarily, and intellectually. Marx sought to destroy religion, the family, and everything the Bible supports. Spurgeon stood against him, warning of socialism's dangers. Spurgeon understood Christianity is not just religious truth. It is truth for all of life. Where do you find men with that kind of wisdom to stand against darkness today?

[00:43:55] Get the light you need on today's most pressing issues delivered to your inbox when you sign up for the Viewpoints commentary at pointofview.net slash signup. Every weekday in less than two minutes, you'll learn how to be a person of light to stand against darkness in our time. It's free, so visit pointofview.net slash signup right now. pointofview.net slash signup.

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