Point of View August 11, 2026 – Hour 2 : Unbreakable Courage

[00:00:04] Across America, live, this is Point of View. Kerby Anderson. Second of our day, we'll spend some time as we can connect up with our good friend Max Lucado. I thought I would focus for just a few minutes on some of the articles that I was going to start the program with. But of course, we moved Victoria Churchill to the very beginning. But one of those I mentioned yesterday.

[00:00:34] And if you think about the conversation we had yesterday about Iran, this is a real interesting set of circumstances. This piece by Demetri Bolz says, Iran fears this Trump official more than any other. Here's why. And part of it has to do with the fact that the economic pressures being brought to Iran are very significant. And so as a result, I want to point you to that particular article.

[00:01:02] And a little bit later, we'll get into another one that we have on that as well. But we are privileged now to spend some time with our good friend Max Lucado, individual that you know, of course, as a bestselling author, over 150 million products in print, as well as an individual that has been all these years the teaching pastor at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. And Max Lucado, thank you for joining us today here on Point of View. Hello, Kirby.

[00:01:31] It's so good, as always, to hear your voice. I hope you're doing well. I'm doing well. And of course, we always want to know how you're doing, because we've almost always encouraged people to pray for your heart and your blood vessels. That's something I think about from time to time when I pray for you and hope you are doing well. Well, that's so kind of you. You know, I'm doing great. I really am. I feel like I'm 71, closing in on 72 years old.

[00:02:00] But I'm feeling as healthy as I have in 20 years. Wow. I'm just by God's grace. I'm doing better. I'm sleeping better. I'm working out more. I'm trying to eat better. I've lost a few pounds. And I read a story the other day, Kirby, about a fellow who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro at the age of 90. 90 years old.

[00:02:24] And he said his goal is that when he dies, people who go to the funeral will say, hey, I just saw him last week. He looked great. I want to be like that. Well, we'll do our best to do so. But I'll do my best. Again, the book is entitled Unbreakable Courage, Strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, Chaos and Exhaustion.

[00:02:47] And when I first heard about the book, I was thrilled because, Max, you may or may not know, I, of course, teach at Prestonwood Baptist Church. And we've had an 18-week series on Elijah and Elisha. And I was supposed to have finished it yesterday, but we will actually finish it next week, which is a summary of all of that.

[00:03:06] So when you open up this book, and it's all about the kinds of things that we talk about so often when we talk about Elijah or the things we preach about if we are fortunate enough to be on Mount Carmel, this is what your book is all about, isn't it? I would have loved to have listened in on that series. Was this a series that you were bringing, or is it the entire church was studying Elijah and Elisha?

[00:03:34] What they do is they require all the people that teach a Sunday school class, and I'm one of the teachers. You know Jack Graham, of course, you've been there as well. And so we've all been teaching through that. Did Pastor Jack preach about Elijah? No, he has. Well, he's done some in the past, but it's really something we do separate from the pulpit, which has been helpful for me because, Max, here's something else that's interesting. As we get into this, we have here at Point of View done actually three different interviews over the last couple of months on archaeology.

[00:04:02] This is kind of this golden age of archaeology. And we've talked about how if you think about Nabob's vineyard, we have the archaeological evidence for that. We have an obelisk that shows King Jehu as well as, of course, all sorts of other finds, including finding latrines in destroyed temples of Baal.

[00:04:25] So for people that say, well, again, Max Lucado is just telling stories out of a Bible that never really happened, we have archaeological evidence for the very things you're talking about in your book, don't we? Isn't that the truth? And it is such a rich story. I cannot recall exactly when I became such an admirer of the story of Elijah.

[00:04:50] But it's probably about 15 years ago that I started reading and rereading it, digging in and doing the research for this particular project really was a joy for me, Kirby. And I won't be telling you anything that you don't already know, but I do think that his story is a lot more relevant than people think. It was a dark, dark day in the history of Israel.

[00:05:17] The nation had given itself over to the worship of Baal and Asherah, and they had even participated. They would participate in temple prostitution, even child sacrifice, as terrible as that sounds. And then the worst of the worst, Ahab and Jezebel.

[00:05:38] You know, the king and queen underwrote the 850 false prophets by providing food and sustenance for them. And these are the children of Israel. I mean, this is a dark season. And there are times that we feel like we live in a dark world, and indeed we do. And the story of Elijah tells us, though, that every time there's a dark season, God has his Elijahs.

[00:06:06] And that's why stories like his give us some courage. Let's start out with the obvious one, and that is Ahab and Jezebel. God flexes his muscles. I think most people know that one as well because that, of course, not only shows the power of God and our faithfulness, but in a few minutes we're going to talk about being down and discouraged. And that's one of the things I love about Elijah because one minute you're learning about how to listen to God.

[00:06:33] Next minute you're learning how to be dependent upon God. Next minute you're learning about what to deal with this divine disruption. And in some respects you're having to deal with depression and discouragement. He was all over the map. But let's, if we can, talk about this idea of Elijah-led level prayers after we take a break real briefly because that's, of course, a story that many people know.

[00:06:58] And then we'll get into, of course, just after having this incredible and intense outreach, then depression. And those of us that spend a lot of time going out and speaking and ministering and then we come back home, sometimes our wives say, what's wrong with you because you've given so much out. And so we can perhaps learn some lessons vicariously from, of course, Elijah. And if you find yourself saying, well, I would like to know a little bit more about this book, as always,

[00:07:28] just go and look for it in your local bookstore. But we, of course, as you might imagine, have information about the book on our website as well. This is just a great place for you to learn a little bit more about some of these really important issues. And, of course, if you go to the website right now, we give you a chance to actually go and find out more about the book itself, which, of course, is just coming out right now. And you should be able to find it in your local bookstore.

[00:07:55] But if not, we have a place for you to get it in hardback and Kindle. And we're with our good friend for a few more minutes, Max Lucado. And I wanted to give you a chance to know about the book and encourage you to find out a little bit more about him and some of the resources that are available associated with that. So even though I'm coming to the end of my teaching on Elijah and Elisha, although I'm going to borrow some of it from this book next Sunday when I teach,

[00:08:21] I certainly want you to be able to use that and apply it to your life and also to the people that you may be ministering to as well. Again, Max Lucado, Unbreakable Courage, Strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, Chaos and Exhaustion. We'll continue our conversation with him right after this.

[00:09:00] This is Viewpoints with Kerby Anderson. What is the socialist vision for America? The standard answer is to look at the platform for the Democratic Socialists of America. But some might be inclined to believe that the DSA platform is merely a set of campaign promises rather than a clear plan for the country. No, the DSA platform is exactly what the socialist candidates want to implement.

[00:09:27] Fox News anchor Shannon Bream interviewed the DSA national co-chair Megan Romer. The interview tells you all that you need to know because she wholeheartedly agreed with every plank of the DSA platform. Now, Charles Cook gave Romer credit for her thoroughness, and they even added that she managed in the space of a minute to demand the abolition of every load-bearing structure in America. For example, to abolish the Senate is not only in effect to abolish the states, but to abolish the Union too.

[00:09:56] To abolish the Supreme Court is to abolish the rule of law. To abolish our borders and our military is to abolish our sovereignty. To abolish prisons is to abolish ordered liberty. And to abolish private property is to abolish our economy. I would encourage you to follow the link to the commentary by Charles Cook provided in this commentary, or even watch the interview Shannon Bream did with Megan Romer. You may hear that all the support for socialist candidates

[00:10:23] is merely an attempt to address economic concerns about affordability, but the agenda is much broader than many American voters might understand. Charles Cook even goes so far as to say it's an attempt to abolish America. It is time to educate yourself about the socialist vision for America. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:10:49] Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net. That's pointofview.net. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back once again with our friend Max Lucado, Unbreakable Courage. Publication date, August 11, which is today. So, again, you should be able to find it in your local bookstore, but if not, we have quite a bit of information available to you on the website pointofview.net.

[00:11:19] And, Max, listen, we can talk about, of course, this very significant event in the life of Elijah, because Elijah certainly helps us understand the importance of what you call the Elijah-level prayers. And it is important for us to recognize that even in the midst of uncertainty, even in the midst of darkness, God can still break through, and that's why we need to be people of prayer. Can you tell us more?

[00:11:48] I would say that is our highest privilege, Kirby. I really do. And I long to be a man of prayer anywhere in the shadow of Elijah, because he had such a conviction about prayer. We think about the village of Zarephath where he went, and he was cared for by the widow. The widow's son died. She retaliated. She got angry at him, kind of blamed Elijah, but he didn't respond.

[00:12:17] He immediately went into prayer, threw himself three times over the boy and prayed for him, prayed for him. The boy came to life. Now, he had no, you know, Elijah, there was no precedent for this. Somehow he just knew that he could talk to God about anything. He prayed for the rain to hold off, and it did for seven years. He prayed for the rain to return, and it did. He prayed. He was a man who interceded.

[00:12:47] He was one who communed with God. In fact, it occurs to me, and I don't think I mentioned this in the book. I'd like your thoughts on it, but you can't talk about his story without talking about his depression. You know, after the Mount Carmel incident, when he fell into such a deep period of sadness that he actually said, Lord, take me in, and you're done with me. It didn't seem like right then he was that man of prayer. He was more a man of despair, of despair.

[00:13:14] And I wonder if he had treated that fear he had of Jezebel with prayer. It was a time in which he did not behave like Elijah behaves. But, you know, we all have those seasons. We all have those dark seasons, those wilderness seasons. And if someone's in one right now, take courage, because Elijah shows us that God even comes to us when we are in a prayerless time. So call yourself out of it. Turn yourself to the Heavenly Father. Bow your knees. Bow your head. Tell him what's on your heart.

[00:13:44] Be like Elijah. He's remembered in the New Testament as one who prayed and God heard. And he was a man just like we are. It is amazing to me that as I went through this series, and of course you can speak to this as well, we always think of Elijah as the forerunner of John the Baptist. But if you look at some of the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, these are miracles that Jesus did.

[00:14:09] And sometimes those of us that are Gentiles and maybe weren't as familiar with the Old Testament, we don't realize how they are seeing those miracles now happening in the life of Jesus. So there's a significance there. But since you did mention this, and we only have so much time before I know you're going on probably to your next interview, there is this, as you mentioned, a time in which you reach exhaustion and discouragement and depression.

[00:15:06] As a traveling speaker. And even before that, a missionary. I know that you probably had some of those experiences. And that's another very important aspect in your book about the fact that we as believers need to be aware of that, be prepared for that, and be praying about that as well. We all have emotions, and Elijah had them as well. Soon after the famous Mount Carmel incident, soon after he prayed for the rain to return, and it did.

[00:15:36] Soon thereafter, he learned that Jezebel was out to getting. And yet rather than respond with courage, he responded with fear. And he ran into hiding and ran for weeks and finally fell exhausted beneath a tree. And the Lord in his great mercy, the Lord in his great mercy, he could have said, what else do I need to show you, Elijah? But he didn't.

[00:16:00] In his great mercy, he sent an angel to give Elijah food and urge Elijah to rest. He brought him more food, gave him more rest. And that's what he needed. He was exhausted. He was depleted. And then you remember he got up and he went into the cave at Mount Horeb, and God called him out of the cave. And I think there's a lesson there that, you know, when we're depressed or discouraged, we want to isolate ourselves. But really the opposite is needed.

[00:16:30] We need to be in community with others. And then God spoke to him, not through the wind or the fire, but through that still small voice. And he reminded Elijah later in the story that he had 7,000 others in Israel who had not bowed their knees to Baal. So he reminded Elijah, you're not alone. You may think you're alone, but you're not.

[00:16:53] But those are some practical steps that we can take when we're feeling down and discouraged or depleted or exhausted. I'm very confident that somebody hearing our words today is right there, maybe a housewife, maybe a businessman, maybe a pastor, maybe a schoolteacher. Make sure you're getting rest. Make sure you're in community with others. Don't isolate yourself, not just in a cave, but under your covers.

[00:17:21] Come out, connect with others. Listen for that small voice of God. Listen, open your heart, open the scripture, and let him tell you. He's got, there are other people with you in this. You're not by yourself. Let's see if we can talk about how people can use this. 150 some odd pages of your material. And then your daughter, Andrea Ramsey. Questions for reflection. About 40 pages of great material there.

[00:17:47] So as you've put this together, it could be something that we all love reading through the Max Lucado stories. But it is also put together, Max, in a way that small groups, pastors, Sunday school leaders, and others could use this book to, and again, drive people through and guide people through the scriptures. And then to spend some time on reflection. And I think that is a very significant aspect of the book as well, isn't it? I think that's really helpful.

[00:18:16] I love studying these Old Testament and New Testament characters. Aren't we glad that God gave us a Bible full of stories about people? People just like you and me. And using these as an example to inspire our own lives is exactly what I believe our Heavenly Father intended. I cannot wait to meet Elijah. You know, he was raptured, wasn't he, Kirby?

[00:18:42] He was taken up into heaven in that fiery chariot. A whirlwind. Yeah. A whirlwind. A whirlwind. So does that imply to you that he is still in a fleshly body after all these years? I wonder about that. Yeah. In paradise. Yeah. You know, he, like Jesus, ascended into heaven. He'll stand out in the crowd no matter what. I'm looking forward to meeting him.

[00:19:10] Well, he shows up on the Mount of Transfiguration, too. So you can be... In Moses. Yeah. So very interesting. These are the great theological issues we love to consider as well. But just before we go, I was just thinking this book is certainly necessary at any time. But the subtitle of your book, Faith in a Time of Anxiety, Chaos, and Exhaustion, that's really the time that we find ourselves in today. And if you don't think so, just listen to Point of View.

[00:19:39] Because every day I talk about all these really difficult issues that we have to address here from a Christian point of view. So in some respects, your book is more necessary than ever before, don't you think? We feel outnumbered, don't we? And I do appreciate so much what you do, Kirby. I'm so grateful that God has given you the insight, the intellect, the capacity to grapple with these cultural issues.

[00:20:03] You take scripture and you apply scripture to the tough questions of our day, whether they be questions out of the entertainment industry or out of the political world. And we desperately need people like you to help us to think clearly, to face the world with sober judgments. And so I'm grateful for you and your steadfastness over these many, many years and all these many different topics that you've addressed. Well, again, back at you. We've appreciated your books.

[00:20:33] Certainly, we've known each other for decades. And it always means a great deal that you would still want to come on the program and share some of that. So one last time, just before I let you go, Unbreakable Courage, Strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, Chaos and Exhaustion, published by our good friends at Thomas Nelson. If you can't find it in your local bookstore, and I'm sure you will, just because it's coming out, we have a link to it as well. So, Max Lucado, always great to have you on the program and look forward to the next opportunity. Thank you, my friend.

[00:21:03] Same to you. We're going to take a break. And when we come back, we'll get into some of those issues in the news that we've just been talking about. But if you're looking for a great antidote, this book is one I think you will really enjoy. And I'm just thrilled that as the book comes out today, August 11th, you can find out more by going to our website. And you should be able to find it in your local bookstore. But if not, we've given you a way in which you can order it as well. Let's take a break. We'll be back with more right after this.

[00:21:33] Many years ago, they began saying that we live in the information age. Well, today, there is so much information coming at us from every direction. The hardest thing is to discern which issues are really important and how can I make a positive impact without wasting my time trying to figure out accurate information. Let me give you a suggestion to help with that. Visit pointofview.net. Look at the tabs across the top.

[00:22:02] Find the one named Viewpoints. Kirby Anderson and others on our team are constantly watching for news to identify those issues that you really need to know about. They boil things down in a brief summary. And then you can decide if it's something on which you want to learn more and get involved. Again, when you go to pointofview.net, click on Viewpoints, you'll see exactly what I mean. You'll see the issues that we are covering right now.

[00:22:29] And when you like what you see, I honestly think you will, you can slide on over, enter your email, and get them automatically sent to your inbox each day. That's it. Take a minute now. Be informed. Pointofview.net. Click on Viewpoints. Point of View will continue after this.

[00:23:00] You are listening to Point of View. 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 Kirby Anderson. Back once again, we're going to spend some time talking about some issues in the news. But let me just give you kind of a program note for tomorrow. And that is, we're going to be talking a little bit about Anthony Fauci.

[00:23:25] Of course, that is the whole question as to whether or not Congress will hold him in contempt, what that means, and the rest. So we'll get into that in a little bit of detail. One that's a little bit of a cultural issue, but I thought it was very interesting. This particular radio program and some of the individuals involved have said, you know, these dating apps are treating people like shoes. True. Like you're buying shoes on Amazon. And what that means to the church. And I thought that was a very interesting conversation, which we will have briefly.

[00:23:55] We won't spend a lot of time on it. And then we're also going to talk about UFOs. Because there's a very good book that's out, which is very much tied to a movie that came out. Kind of a documentary. And so we'll get into some of that as well. And, of course, before we get into any of that, we will spend some time looking back at what happens tonight as we get these reports from various primaries across the country.

[00:24:22] These will be the last major primaries before, of course, the election in November. So we'll be looking at those. And I hope that you can join us all the way through the program tomorrow because there will be a lot of topics to address. And, of course, we've already addressed quite a few, as you have noticed. We had, of course, Victoria Churchill talking about Abdul Al-Sayed and what's happening in Michigan, what's going to happen in Minnesota, what the midterm elections might look like.

[00:24:48] Of course, we've talked with Ty Perry about giving blood for Israel and, of course, Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. Of course, our good friend Max Lucado, his book Unbreakable Courage. But my original plan was to begin by talking about Iran, in part because you might remember yesterday we had Mike Cote on the program to talk about this.

[00:25:09] And I thought it was helpful to mention at the time this article that came out with Dmitry Bolt in which he said basically the Iranians are more fearful of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett than the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. And that's at least according to the ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz.

[00:25:31] On Sunday, Mike Waltz said that every time the United States negotiates with Iran and the Iranian regime, Tehran actually focuses on one thing above all else, cash. They want to talk about this issue of access to frozen funds, relief from U.S. sanctions, the whole issue of transit around the Strait of Hormuz.

[00:25:54] And as he put it, the regime may be willing to absorb, and this is a sad commentary, willing to absorb the deaths of soldiers, the destruction of its military, but it cannot absorb record inflation, frozen cash, and an economic blockade. And I think of nothing else, it was just a great illustration as well about the impact that the economy is having upon them as well.

[00:26:22] So I thought I might just mention that this particular article goes into the issue of how Operation Economic Fury, which came from the Secretary of Treasury, Scott Bessett, is devastating the Iranian economy. Now, again, here's one of his quotes. Operation Economic Fury, led by Secretary Scott Bessett, is devastating the Iranian economy.

[00:26:50] As I say this jokingly, but seriously as well, the Iranians are more afraid of Secretary Bessett than they are of Secretary Hegseth right now. And this again comes from the U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz. He says, when they're coming to the table to our negotiators, they're talking about cash, cash, cash, because they'll absorb the bombing.

[00:27:13] They almost don't care about the military, don't care about their soldiers, even care about their Iranian people after they've massacured 40,000 of them. But they are worried about something else, and that is their currency, which is tanking, inflation, which is the highest in 80 years, and, of course, the IRGC, the Islamic Guard, and the rest.

[00:27:38] He says, because of this corrupt, elite, religious, fanatical regime that has devastated their economy for many, many decades, they're constantly asking for cash and access to cash, access to their assets, which have been frozen. And, of course, this is what the president is talking about, coupled with the blockade, which is really causing them to move. So you really get two different pictures of the world.

[00:28:07] The picture you get from the Iranians and from, frankly, a lot of the legacy press is that they are negotiating from a position of strength. The image you get from President Trump, the image you get from the U.N. Ambassador, the Secretary of Treasury, the Secretary of War, and maybe some of the conservative media, is that President Trump holds the stronger hand.

[00:28:34] And so I thought this would be just a helpful little article for some of you that, as you're looking at some of this, might say, well, I'm having trouble making sense of how the media has been covering the Iranian war. So it's one of our articles we've posted on the website at pointofview.net. Now, last week, you might remember when we were talking about some of this, I did a live broadcast from our friends up there in New Hampshire,

[00:29:02] that we, of course, now have the first grocery store that is being opened up in New York City. And that has not been without its problems, because the candidate, Zoran Mamdani, is now the mayor. It's one thing to run as a candidate, come up with all sorts of slogans and ideas. It's quite another to actually deal with the reality of all of this.

[00:29:28] And so the first thing is, is this is going to be a little more expensive than I think some people in New York City might have expected. $70 million is the original statement. You know there's going to be a cost overrun. And there's going to be some reasons for that, because it gets into the bigger issue of fraud. If indeed the mayor does keep his promise to reduce some of the prices by, say, 30%,

[00:29:56] then again, you're going to be dealing with some very significant issues indeed. And so that, I think, illustrates only so well the fact that there are probably going to be people that are going to go into the grocery stores, buy the groceries at 30% off, and then go sell them on the black market. Well, they can make quite a profit that way. So they're already talking about, well, then they'll have to maybe require an ID so people don't come from out of state

[00:30:25] or even outside of the city buy the groceries, load them up, and then sell them. And, of course, isn't that interesting? You can't even be required to show an ID to vote in New York City, but you might have to show an ID to buy groceries. And, of course, that only covers the people from out of state. What about the people in state that want people in the city that want to buy those groceries?

[00:30:48] Well, again, that is going to have to require maybe a limiting on the number of groceries anyone can buy. So this is going to feel a lot more like a socialist economy indeed. And then, finally, of course, there's going to be the clearing out of some of that. And so while we're talking about grocery stores, I thought I might mention that I've got a commentary coming out next week because there's this great video I would encourage some of you to watch.

[00:31:15] It's called The Simple Questions Socialism Couldn't Answer. The individuals producing this are ones I've been watching before. I think very highly of them. But they use a good example about grocery stores because if you have been paying attention, sometimes we've had a social experiment over these many, many years. And one of those is after World War II, Germany was divided in half and the city of Berlin was divided in half.

[00:31:44] A lot of people started leaving East Berlin for West Berlin. So, of course, the East Germans built a wall. So now you had almost a perfect social experiment. So the video tells the story of two grocery stores. One in East Berlin, there's only 3,000 items. That sounds like a lot, but it isn't. There's only one form of mustard, not even spicy mustard. In West Berlin, the grocery store has 7,000 items. Why? Because they're competing with other grocery chains.

[00:32:14] The store in East Berlin has prices that were determined by the Politburo in Moscow, whereas the prices and supply of products in West Berlin are determined by what people buy, and occasionally the price is determined by the store manager occasionally adjusting prices. Well, as you would imagine, this is a perfect social experiment because the West Berliners enjoyed a better standard of living than those who lived in East Berlin.

[00:32:43] The people in West Berlin lived longer than the people in East Berlin. The people in West Berlin enjoyed more freedom, more consumer choices, and less government corruption than East Berlin. And so, as we've talked about grocery stores, we have a great illustration from history of the difference between a grocery store in East Berlin and a grocery store in West Berlin. Now, as I've pointed out before,

[00:33:12] it's quite possible that that won't be quite as affected because he will take advantage of some of the free market benefits by purchasing these for the grocery stores. But I still see the same kind of trajectory if this was implemented as rigorously as it was in Berlin. True, New York City's not Berlin, but I think we can learn some lessons from history, and that's one of those lessons I thought I would pass on

[00:33:41] to the mayor of New York who obviously is not listening. Let's take a break. We'll cover another issue right after this. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. As we're winding down today, let me, for just a few minutes, talk about what's called the cancel culture.

[00:34:09] And this is a piece written by Sasha Stone, who is probably a rather unlikely individual to be quoted on Point of View. She first went to New York University, went to Columbia, eventually graduated from UCLA. She writes primarily about films and the movie industry, but she's had an interesting epiphany, if you will. She has been a Democrat until 2016, and then she left the Democratic Party.

[00:34:38] And now, interestingly enough, writes a newsletter called Free Thinking Through the Fourth Turning. Now, if you're not familiar with the Fourth Turning, we have a booklet that kind of gets into that, but I think most of you probably have understood that this is this recognition that we go through various trends and ages and things of that nature. And nevertheless, she is, I think, a really interesting person because she has been really pretty much a liberal, a Democrat,

[00:35:08] and then left the Democratic Party. And then sometimes when she addresses an issue with some level of clear thinking, maybe even reminding some of us of Bill Maher or somebody like that, she gets criticized relentlessly. But her piece is simply this. Democrats are shocked by the cancel culture they built. And she says, you know, every time we bring up somebody like Hassan Piker,

[00:35:37] and if you're not familiar with him, go to Wikipedia or something. I mean, again, he's an individual that says just outrageous things and does outrageous things. And nevertheless, when he makes some really vile comments about 9-11, about, well, just about everything I can think of, about Jewish people and on and on and on, he says, whenever we hear someone bring up Hassan Piker, what you hear from the Bernie Sanders,

[00:36:06] the AOCs, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or even Abdel Al-Sayed, is we have to get over cancel culture. And Sasha Stone says, I almost fell out of my chair. Now we're noticing cancel culture. Whereas before, there was always, well, there's no cancel culture. But she says, cancel culture is not over on the left. She says, I'm living proof as someone who's been canceled and is still canceled. If they want to be over it, well, then let's be over it.

[00:36:35] But we're certainly not over it. All of these, and she calls them monsters, are still carrying pitchforks and screaming at the right, calling them racist bigots and transphobes. None of that has gone away, she points out. Why do they think no one showed up to America 250 celebration or they would not play the Kennedy Center? Well, it's because of Trump, of course. She says, Taylor Swift allows her music to be played by everyone except you know who. She's saying that Trump and his voters

[00:37:04] cannot be included in her world. And so the point she's making is, look, the left still has cultural power and they'll decide who gets to stay and who has to go. And it's all based on one thing, conformity. If you go along, you can stay. If you push back, you have to go. And so she picks up one that I talked about yesterday. Sophie Cunningham made news recently just for stating that she believes in biological reality

[00:37:33] and it turned into a major scandal driving the news cycle for weeks. Now, yesterday, I spent just talking about getting clotheslined. But of course, the other issue is is that she actually said the same thing that a fairly significant number of people have said over the years. We can talk about J.K. Rowling, you know, and people of that nature that are very liberal but nevertheless get canceled

[00:38:02] because all of a sudden Harry Potter can't be purchased because after all, J.K. Rowling says, I don't think it's a good idea to put men in women's prisons even if they call themselves women. And so again, as she points out, Sasha Stone says, okay, well, Sophie Cunningham wasn't thrown out of the WNBA, which is progress, she says, I suppose. That doesn't mean she hasn't been punished or won't continue to be punished. And of course, they can't cancel J.K. Rowling either but there's been the pressure that she's been under,

[00:38:32] she points out, for year after year. And then she brings it back to the whole issue of the movie industry because she points out now that the Paramount Skydance merger with Warner Brothers shows just how far and wide the cancel culture is used as a method of social control. All of Hollywood, all the celebrities, the New York Times, the trades, are all pummeling the deal for one reason and one reason only,

[00:39:02] Donald Trump allowed it. And so again, she's reminding us that again, this cancel culture is alive and well. Now, she says, don't tell me cancel culture is over. It is not. It's still on the outside of the left's totalitarian doomsday cult and it will likely stay that way until I leave this earth. They're not giving it up. They're just pretending to because now they have some

[00:39:31] problematic issues. We can think of, of course, Hassan Piker. We can think of the former senatorial candidate in Maine. We can think of the current senatorial candidate in Michigan. Some of the statements they've made don't fit so well. And so again, she points out that don't tell me cancel culture is over because in fact, this whole idea of deplatforming people

[00:40:00] came from whom? Well, it came from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. So again, Hassan Piker, he says, likes to be controversial just like on the right if you want to call them on the right Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson. But again, she says, if you start having people say, well, there's cancel culture on the right, she says, okay, that's true, but the people are attacked and sometimes exiled for their views but the right does not have the same kind of power. It reminds me

[00:40:30] of Jordan Peterson. Many times he was criticized by individuals saying, you are so critical of the extreme left but you're never critical of the extreme right. Well, he stops them right there and says, first of all, I have been critical of the extreme right but I spend less time talking about them because they don't have any power. If they have any power, it's negligible compared to the power of the extreme left and this is the comment that you have

[00:40:59] from Sasha Stone here as well. So she concludes by simply saying this, I would love it if cancel culture was really over but it isn't. These democratic socialists are lying. They aren't giving up their most powerful weapon against the right that they own everything, they run everything in most of our culture and institutions. They have been abusing that power for 10 years. I, for one, am happy to see it splash back on their faces like something they didn't expect. She uses words I won't use.

[00:41:29] They deserve it. If cancel culture is over, let it be over. Give up your power over all of us to decide who can say what and what people have to believe. Let's all be one country again. Let every person who voted for Trump know how they've treated by most of our cultural lords every single day for 10 years. End it and then we'll stop talking about Hassan Piker. Anyway, it's a very good piece by a person who's seen both sides of Sasha Stone and again, I recommend it

[00:41:58] just if nothing else for you'll run into probably some people saying, oh, cancel culture, that's all over now. No, it's not. And she gives great documentation for it because she's experienced it herself. Just before we wind down for today, let me mention again, we do have an action item. If you have not taken time to click on that button that says take action, protect privacy against flock cameras. As I've said before, one camera is a tool. 100,000 of them,

[00:42:28] that's digital surveillance. We still have a Fourth Amendment and so let's not forget that and we are encouraging you to contact your member of Congress. They might even want to be a co-sponsor of the legislation at the very least show them that we think privacy is still important that the Fourth Amendment against unlawful and unconstitutional fetuses and surgers are wrong. That's all we have for today. As always, I want to thank Megan for help engineering the program.

[00:42:58] Derek, thank you for producing the program. It's going to be a very interesting program tomorrow so I hope you won't miss this right here on Point of View. We'll see you then. It almost 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.

[00:43:28] 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 II, never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. And that's what we say

[00:43:57] 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 pointofview.net and

[00:44:24] 800-347-5151 Point of View is produced by Point of View Ministries. Point of View Ministries